KUOW Blog
News, factoids, and insights from KUOW's newsroom. And maybe some peeks behind the scenes. Check back daily for updates.
Have any leads or feedback for the KUOW Blog? Contact Dyer Oxley at dyer@kuow.org.
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Amazon wants employees back at the office, announces hybrid plan
Amazon is the latest Seattle-area company to shift its work plans and order employees back into its offices under a hybrid home-remote model.
In a letter to Amazon employees, CEO Andy Jassy said the company has been able to observe working habits and models ever since the pandemic sent many office workers home. Among the lessons learned during that time, Jassy said that it is "easier to learn, model, practice, and strengthen our culture when we’re in the office together most of the time and surrounded by our colleagues."
RELATED: Should downtown Seattle go from office space to living space?
"When you’re in-person, people tend to be more engaged, observant, and attuned to what’s happening in the meetings and the cultural clues being communicated. For those unsure about why something happened or somebody reacted a certain way, it’s easier to ask ad-hoc questions on the way to lunch, in the elevator, or the hallway; whereas when you’re at home, you’re less likely to do so. It’s also easier for leaders to teach when they have more people in a room at one time, can better assess whether the team is digesting the information as intended; and if not, how they need to adjust their communication."
Jassy said that there may be some exceptions to the rule, but Amazon's new policy is that employees be in the office at least three days per week. The policy begins on May 1.
In his letter, Jassy not only makes an argument for bringing employees back into the office, he points to the business communities around Amazon's offices. He states, "this shift will provide a boost for the thousands of businesses located around our urban headquarter locations in the Puget Sound, Virginia, Nashville, and the dozens of cities around the world where our employees go to the office."
A "boost" is also the word Seattle Metro Chamber President & CEO Rachel Smith used in in a statement following Amazon's announcement Friday. Smith said the move will "provide a much-needed boost for Seattle’s local businesses and help reinvigorate downtown."
"Employers like Amazon are — rightly — recognizing and honoring that employees are placing a premium on flexibility, while at the same time understanding that humans are an essential element of dynamic workplaces, downtowns, and neighborhoods," Smith said.
Sawyer the dog
The announcement comes less than a week after Amazon ran a seemingly contradictory commercial called "Saving Sawyer" during the Super Bowl. The ad shows people working and learning from home through the perspective of Sawyer, the dog.
Sawyer loves remote work, as the humans keep him company with treats and attention. But, when the family transitions back to the office and school, Sawyer watches the family leave through the window. He is bored with no one to play with and sadly lays on the floor.
Soon, sadness becomes mischief, and he takes his feelings out on the house. Sawyer decides to be a “bad dog” by destroying the couch, remote, lamp, and more. Finally, the family orders a dog kennel from Amazon. But the kennel is not for Sawyer to be locked away during the day. It's for Sawyer’s new canine rescue friend. The commercial ends with Sawyer and his new furry buddy sleeping on the daughter's bed.
Amazon's new work policy would force humans to leave their pets, like Sawyer, at home for three days of the week.
The 90-second spot could have cost up to $21 million. It costs an average of $7 million for a 30-second commercial during the Super Bowl, according to Forbes. An estimated 113 million people watched the big game, according to Nielsen.
An Amazon spokesperson reached out to KUOW after this article was initially published and commented that the company has dog-friendly offices which allow employees to bring their dogs to work. Amazon says that it has 10,000 dogs registered with its human resources department at more than 100 company buildings in the United States and Canada. It expects to expand the dog-friendly perk to 20 more corporate buildings in 2023, including in Australia.
Seattle-area companies move back into the office
Amazon's back-to-the-office announcement comes about a month after Starbucks made a similar decision. Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz wrote a letter to employees, arguing that remote work threatens the culture of "human connection" that Starbucks strives for. After Jan. 30, Starbucks employees were ordered to be in the office three days a week. Two of those days must be on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Both Amazon's and Starbucks' announcements come roughly a year after Microsoft and Expedia, made their decisions to emerge from pandemic remote work. Microsoft fully reopened its Redmond headquarters in early 2022, and said that it would be standard for employees to work from home part of the time (preferably less than 50%). Expedia's policy was similar.
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Should downtown Seattle go from office space to living space?: Today So Far
- Why not turn empty office space into needed housing space?
- Seattle's cost-of-living woes have expanded beyond Western Washington. Eastern Washington communities are now seeing rising rents and other costs.
- Washington is among a handful of states taking aim at foreign entities that want to buy U.S. farmland.
This post originally appeared in KUOW's Today So Far newsletter for February 16, 2023.
Here's the situation: Downtown Seattle has a lot of empty office space, and it doesn't look like it will fill back up soon; at the same time, the city severely needs more housing.
Why not turn that office space into living space? That's an idea that has imaginations lighting up around Seattle.
As KUOW's Joshua McNichols puts it, downtown Seattle has financially been supported by three core groups: office workers, tourists, and residents. Office workers have been disappearing, and tourism slumped over the past few pandemic years. In turn, downtown has taken a few hits. That has folks thinking about ways to revitalize the area, included in that thought is the potential of converting office space to living space, and perhaps more.
"We could adapt oversized retail spaces, too, build some interior walls, or take some out, carve those spaces up into new kinds of spaces that allow new uses that we haven't thought of before," Joshua says in his recent story covering this issue. "Could underused offices also become day cares, schools, or performance spaces?"
Joshua's story reminded me of a visit to see my brother in Kansas City, years ago. He had found an apartment in a corner of the city that was previously more industrial. The building was not initially intended to be a residential space, but times changed. It was converted, and the resulting apartments were impressive. I would have rather lived there than in most buildings built for apartments. Similar moves have been made in Portland, Ore., around its Pearl District, though admittedly, residents there are clearly in a higher tax bracket.
The result of such moves made my brother's corner of Kansas City more active and productive. The farmers' market was up and running during the day, diners, pubs, barbers, and more operated into the night. In other words, the neighborhood was alive, instead of brief daytime activity before going dead after 5 p.m. (sound familiar?).
Tacoma has experimented with this idea too, and has already been converting office spaces into residential spaces for a while now. Seattle could benefit from that experience. But that doesn't mean there aren't challenges around such office-to-housing conversions. It also raises an important question: Who is downtown Seattle for? Check out Joshua's full story on this issue here.
Seattle's cost-of-living woes have expanded beyond Western Washington. Eastern Washington communities are now seeing rising rents and other costs.
"Living in Yakima, I have seen housing costs increase both to buy homes as well as rent," Crosscut reporter Mai Hoang told Soundside. "What surprised me when I actually looked at the data was how severe the increases were, and how severe it was in certain places."
Hoang recently reported on the rising costs of living on the east side of Washington state for Crosscut. It's not just Yakima. Other communities like Walla Walla and Spokane are experiencing rising costs of living, to a level that is pushing out many established community members. Part of the issue, according to Hoang's reporting, is that a shift to remote work during the pandemic gave people an option to live in areas they are more attracted to — smaller towns and cities, and areas closer to outdoor recreation, etc. Just as Seattle has seen after waves of higher and higher paychecks flooding into the city, other communities have now observed rents rising.
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Kent and Tukwila offer wheel locks to Kia and Hyundai owner
The Kent and Tukwila police departments are offering Hyundai and Kia car owners free steering wheel locks.
The offer comes in response to a considerable increase in car thefts throughout Western Washington. Kia and Hyundai cars are particular targets because of a flaw that thieves can exploit. Within a minute, a person can use a simple USB cable to start the car and drive away. This information has spread far on social media, prompting warnings from local police departments.
Kia and Hyundai are providing the wheel locks to Kent and Tukwila.
Tukwila residents can pick up their locks at the Justice Center at 15005 Tukwila International Boulevard between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The Kent Police Department will hand out steering wheel locks to residents on a first-come, first-serve basis on Tuesday, Feb. 28 between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. at City Hall, and on Saturday, March 4 between 9 a.m. and noon.
The offer is only open to Tukwila or Kent residents at their respective police departments. Proof of residency can be mail, such as a utility bill, sent to a Tukwila or Kent home address.
Hyundai owners in Kent must have key ignition cars that were made before 2021. There are no stipulations for KIA owners.
Like many other regions throughout the United States, the Seattle area has experienced a significant uptick in car thefts, especially of Kia and Hyundai cars. Because of this increase, Seattle is suing the car companies.
Also in response to the thefts, Hyundai is offering free anti-theft software that will prevent its vehicles from starting using the USB tactic. Hyundai began rolling out the software fix for about 4 million of its vehicles on Feb. 14.
Kia has also begun offering and installing anti-theft software for select vehicles and will continue doing so on a rolling basis, according to a company statement.
"Kia is notifying eligible owners by mail when the software is available for their vehicles and instructing them to bring their vehicle to the nearest Kia dealership for the free upgrade, which takes under an hour to install," the statement said.
NOTE: This story has been updated to include a written response from Kia America.
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Should rent be stabilized? Washington lawmakers hear the pros and cons
A pair of rent stabilization bills are making their way through the Washington State Legislature. Opponents of the bills say that “rent stabilization” is just another term for “rent control.”
“We are not predators, we are housing providers. I’m opposed to this bill,” said landlord Chris Dobler, who argued that the bills would prevent housing providers from recouping rising costs, like property taxes.
On the other side of the issue is Bothell landlord Kraig Peck, who supports the bill. He spoke at a recent press event put on by a small group of landlords in favor of rent stabilization.
“Rent control generally freezes rents indefinitely,” Peck said, adding that rent stabilization is very different than rent control. “Rent stabilization permits landlords to set the rent at any level that they want, before the renter rents from them.”
Rent stabilization allows landlords to raise the rent to whatever they want after a renter leaves a unit. While the renter occupies the unit, however, rent increases would be capped at 3% to 7% per year.
The idea aims to guard against massive rent increases. Critics say it would suppress the production of new housing during a time when the state is greatly in need of it.
The rent stabilization bills not only cover apartments (in buildings 12 years or older), but also scenarios like mobile home parks, where people often own the home, but rent the land it is on.
That’s the situation that Carolyn Hardy found herself in. She owns a mobile home in Aberdeen, but rents the land it's on. She supports the idea of rent stabilization after her landlord dramatically increased the rent, she said.
“Rent increase has turned our joy to dread, worrying that the next increase will force us to find a new place to live, maybe in our car,” Hardy said at a recent hearing on the bills. “We should have bought a bigger car.”
Mike Hoover represents a company that owns mobile home parks. He spoke at a the same hearing.
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Mike's adventures in art: 'A Long Walk to Hope'
If you are looking for some tips on how to experience art in the Seattle area, you are in the right place. In this weekly post, KUOW Arts Reporter Mike Davis gives you tips on what to do around Seattle over the weekend so you can have your own adventures in arts and culture.
FILM
If you plan on seeing "Ant-man and the Wasp: Quantimania," and I know a lot of you are, let me suggest supporting local theatres. My pick of the week is viewing this big-budget Marvel movie at a community-based cinema. Here are some options in south, north, and west Seattle with showtimes for Saturday:
Ark Lodge Cinema, in Columbia City, showtimes — 12 p.m., 3 p.m., 5:45 p.m.
Majestic Bay Theatres, in Ballard, showtimes — 12:15 p.m., 1:15 p.m., 3:15 p.m., 4:15 p.m., 7:15 p.m.
Admiral Theatre, in west Seattle, showtimes — 1 p.m., 3:45 p.m., 6:30 p.m., 8:55 p.m.
VISUAL ART
Northwest African American Museum, has reopened and they have multiple galleries that are worth checking out. I recently viewed “A Long Walk to Hope: Exploring Seattle’s MLK Annual March Through Photos.” This exhibit, which features photos by local photographer Susan Fried, chronicles marches in our city dating back to 1983. Seeing the evolution of the marches through still photos was moving. From the older pics in the 80s, to the recent marches that I attended, taking this journey of a movement through the lens of Fried was a special experience.
If you’re interested in paintings, “The Colors of Life” offers a collection of impressive pieces by four local visual artists that present abstract art in vibrant colors that celebrate the regathering of community. I didn’t get to spend as much time as I wanted in this exhibit, but over the weekend, I will definitely return. I was drawn to large canvases with dark backgrounds contrasted by fluorescent colors. It reminded me that sometimes the joy of life is in our ability to merely exist. These abstract pieces took me out of the detail of life and allowed to me to have a moment to smile and appreciate the beauty of art.
"A Long to Hope" is showing Jan. 16 to Apr. 29
"The Colors of Life" is showing Jan. 16 to June 24
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Tanya Woo announces campaign for Seattle Council District 2
A new city council candidate is running in South Seattle — Tanya Woo, a community organizer and business owner in the Chinatown-International District.
Woo grew up on Beacon Hill and currently resides in Rainier Beach. She traces her family's Seattle roots to 1887 and says her family operated the first Chinese bakery in Seattle.
She's running to represent District 2, challenging incumbent Tammy Morales. The district is Seattle's only majority-minority district. It covers a range of South Seattle neighborhoods, including the CID, Beacon Hill, Columbia City, Seward Park, and Rainier Valley.
Woo tells KUOW that community members in the district don't feel like their voices are being heard.
"I've seen the unintended consequences of these policies and I think there needs to be a stronger stance, especially on issues like public safety, housing, and homelessness," she says.
Woo's name became more widely known in the district, and Seattle, last year. She led a successful effort to stop the expansion of a homeless shelter in the Chinatown-International District and surrounding neighborhoods. She is also part of the CID's community watch, which provides food and clothing to the neighborhood's homeless residents.
The issues she is pointing out as she launches her campaign are primarily about homelessness, workforce housing, and public safety.
Three other candidates have already announced plans to run for District 2, including incumbent Morales, Dawn Lucas, and Isaiah Willoughby.
KUOW's Dyer Oxley contributed to this report.
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Could ChatGPT write for KUOW?: Today So Far
- How well can ChatGPT write, and how concerning should it be for teachers?
- How much recess time do you think school kids are getting these days?
- After a few generations of high schoolers being pushed into college, highly paid, skilled trades are experiencing a shortage.
This post originally appeared in KUOW's Today So Far newsletter for Valentine's Day, February 15, 2023.
ChatGPT, an AI writing program, has garnered a lot of headlines and concern lately. Elon Musk argues it's further proof that AI is a threat to civilization. Some teachers see it as the next wave of technology and are teaching around it. Fox News has reported that ChatGPT has a liberal bias, because, I guess there weren't any socialists under the bed that day.
ChatGPT, basically, is a computer program that writes for you. You input a question that needs answering (like from your homework), and it cranks out a written, coherent answer. It's easy to see how educators would be concerned about students typing in homework questions, getting answers written for them, and turning that in. Beyond schools, it has some worried it could replace other work out there, like, could it write a newsletter for KUOW? More on that below.
RELATED: Google's new AI chatbot made a $100 billion mistake in a demo ad
The emerging concerns over ChatGPT prompted Seattle Public Schools to block access to the program on district computers. Students can still access ChatGPT on their own devices, however. So teachers like Kira Hopkins, who teaches high school English, starting experimenting with the program. She even tried to see if it could help create a lesson plan for her classes.
"It was quite predictable, but it did give a nice set of objectives and a nice structure," Hopkins told Seattle Now. "I immediately walked away thinking, 'Well, there's a couple interesting things in terms of what I could use. But I'm still going to use my own resources and colleagues."
On one level, ChatGPT is a better version of Google. Students are just as likely to type a topic into Google and hunt down an answer. ChatGPT's AI is like a shortcut. It could also be viewed as the calculator or the laptop initially were — concerning to some, but eventually adopted as routine tools. But something about this level of AI reminds me of an old article that explored whether GPS devices can influence our brains and perhaps cause a person's navigation abilities to atrophy. What could be the consequences if we hand over the exercise of original, critical thinking?
Hopkins explained that teachers are certainly wary of the writing program. She has even encountered some student work where she wasn't sure if it was original or ChatGPT.
She notes that there are some AI detectors out there that teachers can use, but they aren't perfect. Ultimately, Hopkins says that programs like ChatGPT may be useful in some regards, but teachers need to be watchful. She also points out that modern students have grown up with technology. It's part of how they operate with everyday life.
"I think (students) are aware of what the tool can do for them. I think they are aware of what the ethical ramifications of how it can be used to get out of their work ... but I really do think that students want to learn. I really do think they have a genuine desire to improve their writing and improve their learning."
RELATED: This 22-year-old is trying to save us from ChatGPT before it changes writing forever
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Do you really love that?: Today So Far
- We say that we "love" things a lot, but does that diminish the power of the word?
- Seattle has embraced streateries, but not every neighborhood is so fond of them.
This post originally appeared in KUOW's Today So Far newsletter for Valentine's Day, February 14, 2023.
What do you love in life? And do you really mean that? I love typewriters, sushi, and Star Trek. Tom Petty knew a girl who loved Jesus, America, Elvis, horses, and her boyfriend, too. That’s a lot of affection going around. Do we really “love” people, places, and things as much as we say we do?
As Bill Radke endeavors to uncover words we overuse in our everyday life, an objection recently arose over the word “love.” Week in Review listener Claire Carter notes that people use the word to describe affection for just about everything — almonds, the rain, their city. But there are folks out there who would argue that love, twoo wuv, is something more; a complex concept, so exalted that we know it's there, but can’t always grasp it. Saying we "love" this and that could feel as if we're lessening the word's impact.
I am fond of typewriters, and I hold Star Trek in high esteem, but I would say that I love Nina, my wife. Sushi has never left me with a feeling that made a Carpenters' song suddenly make sense. Yet, after meeting Nina, I would say that birds suddenly appear, every time she is near.
Perhaps this is why the ancient Greeks broke love down into different genres. There was “philia,” for love between pals, and there was “storge” for the sort of love a parent has for a child. Then there was “eros,” which is sexy love. And “agape” for brotherly love, love of God, and general goodwill. Today, however, we don’t break this down and are likely to just say, “I love carpet. I love desk. I love lamp!”
Despite this cacophony of “love” thrown around conversations, it hasn’t stopped that deep down feeling from bringing folks together. Bronwen Stevenson sees it every day at Shotgun Weddings.
"I was knocked up, went to Vegas 30 years ago, and have been happily married ever since," she said on Week in Review, aka "Word in Review."
At Shotgun Weddings, couples can get married inside a shipping container next to the trailer park mall in Seattle’s Georgetown. For an additional fee, "Elvis" will conduct the ceremony.
"I think people come and really get to celebrate themselves, instead of having to cater to a bunch of people for this moment,” Stevenson said. “It's an intimate moment when you're marrying somebody and you actually get to focus on that person."
I have to say, I could not agree with Stevenson more. Her description of a wedding feels more genuine than the high-cost productions we commonly encounter these days. Of course, I am very biased in this regard. Nina and I eloped. Despite the small, isolated ceremony, it was just for us and felt more intimate and pure. It was beyond adoration on the level of The Carpenters. It was like a Celine Dion song.
As someone who is in the business of love, Stevenson would disagree with the notion the word is overused.
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Greater Idaho effort gets thumbs up from committee
The uphill fight to merge parts of eastern Oregon with Idaho is headed to the Idaho House floor. A committee has approved a resolution that would authorize talks between lawmakers in Boise and Salem about a proposal to move the state border.
The effort called “Greater Idaho” proposes to move the border between Oregon and Idaho, effectively handing Eastern Oregon over to Idaho.
Mark Simmons, a former Republican Speaker of the House in Oregon, said Idahoans should consider him, and others from Eastern Oregon, as “refugees.”
“We would like to be good neighbors to the folks on the west side while they continue with their social engineering experiments,” Simmons said. “Go ahead, just leave us out.”
RELATED: Idaho Legislature lends sympathetic ear to Oregon group that wants to redraw state lines
Rep. Barbara Ehardt (R–Idaho Falls) has been one of the main drivers of the movement on the Idaho side. She said combining the two regions would help promote conservative values, like opposing the legalization of marijuana.
“A lot of Idahoans are going there and getting drugs,” Ehardt said. “That will be pushed hundreds of miles away.”
But the idea does have serious logistical challenges. Both state legislatures would need to negotiate how roads, schools, prisons, and other institutions would operate under such a move. Any deal to move the state border also would require congressional approval.
Rep. Judy Boyle (R–Midvale), another Greater Idaho backer, said she wouldn’t support any kind of lump sum payment to Oregon in order to move the border.
“That is definitely not my intent,” Boyle said. “I don’t think any Idahoan wants to pay Oregon for anything.”
A total of 11 Eastern Oregon counties have voted to study the issue or to approve of the concept. Two counties in Southwest Oregon rejected similar ballot measures in May 2022.
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For this Everett baker, Turkey-Syria quake strikes a personal chord
Local relief efforts continue to help Turkish victims after one of the deadliest earthquakes in that country’s history. But for one Everett baker, the tragic event struck a personal chord.
Alida’s is a Kurdish American bakery specializing in Middle Eastern breads. But for the past two weeks it’s been selling manakish, similar to pizza that’s usually eaten for breakfast. Proceeds will go toward earthquake victims. Customer Linda Forst came to try some and stock up on flatbreads.
“I want to help in any way I can," she said.
When news of the earthquake first broke, owner Nechirvan Zebari couldn’t shake off the images of people stuck in the rubble. He understands loss. He came to the U.S. in 1997 as a refugee.
He initially thought of flying to Turkey to provide aid, using his training as a nurse—until his wife made him think twice.
“She’s like, this is a bad idea,” recalled Zebari. “Let’s sit down and figure out what we can do from here.”
In the end, they decided to rally the community and collectively send help instead. That’s what gave them the idea to sell manakish.
Zebari and his staff are from North Iraq, not too far from the Turkish and Syrian border. While they still have family near the area, no one has been directly affected by the earthquake. Even so, the tragic event is personal.
The bakery kitchen was not equipped for making manakish. There were some messed-up orders initially, but now they have a system in place.
Zebari said everyone has been working hard and putting in the hours, but it feels good knowing their efforts will be worth it. The earthquake, he adds, made him reflect on his own journey, and appreciate that even small efforts can lead to something tremendous.
“Coming as a refugee took a lot of work by other people," Zebari said. "We never saw that. We never realized until later on.”
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Seattle special election: voters approving social housing initiative
Seattle voters are deciding on one issue this February special election: an affordable housing initiative.
The measure, I-135, has approval from 53.9% of voters as of Wednesday afternoon, the second day of results.
That's up from initial results of 52.8% voting "yes" in the initial results from Tuesday night. That approval rating is enough for the measure to pass should it hold. Turnout was 21% on election night, but election officials continue to count ballots as they come in by mail.
I-135, if ultimately approve, would create a public corporation, (otherwise known as a public development authority), to build mixed-income housing.
King County has more than 15 of these public development authorities now. They mimic a government agency, but have their own board of directors and can collect their own revenue.
One public development authority exists, for example, to preserve Pike Place Market, while another operates Bellevue's Meydenbauer Convention Center.
The public development authority proposed in I-135 would develop and operate affordably priced housing. Specifically, it would build social housing which allows mixed-income tenants and is permanently affordable.
Opponents say it would bring further competition for already scarce housing dollars, when dozens of agencies are already focused on low-income housing.
The public development authority would get city of Seattle funding to get off the ground, in addition to office space and oversight from the city. The city council would have discretion to give it more funding. And, if the city were looking to get rid of land, it would need to consider the authority's needs first.
The public development authority would otherwise operate independently.
Election results will be updated each day until February 24th when the results will be certified. Results are posted here.
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A public safety state of mind: Today So Far
- Is Seattle safe? Is public safety a state of mind?
- Idaho lawmakers want to open up dialogue with their counterparts in Oregon to discuss the issue of redrawing state borders.
This post originally appeared in KUOW's Today So Far newsletter for February 13, 2023.
Is Seattle safe?
I have friends and family from outside the city who won't step foot in Seattle, despite my anecdotal accounts to counter their negative anecdotal accounts. The Seattle Police Department's annual crime report for 2022 is not going to help this perspective. It basically states that, aside from a dip in rates during the fourth quarter of the year, crime is up overall in Seattle. It's worth noting that crime is up across the region, not just in Seattle.
In today's episode of Seattle Now, Seattle University professor Dr. Jackie Helfgott says there is a factor that goes beyond the stats that not everybody considers — perception.
"If people are afraid of crime in their neighborhood, they are going to be less likely to go outside, they are going to be less likely to engage with their neighbors, and a big part of reducing crime involves knowing your neighbors, getting outside," Helfgott said. "People have discussed, 'We need more people downtown.' Crime has increased for downtown businesses because during Covid there weren't as many people downtown. So if people are afraid to go outside, there's not going to be as many people walking around, and that is going to increase certain types of crime."
"If you have people out walking their dogs, out and about, riding their bikes and feeling safe, yes, you are going to reduce the likelihood of crime occurring in those areas."
It's sort of like a crime and safety version of the chicken or the egg dilemma. Or as Rob Gordon would say: "Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?"
Dr. Helfgott adds that relative to other major cities like LA, New York, or Chicago, Seattle is relatively safe. She argues that feeling safe and perceptions of crime are more important than crime rates. As a coldhearted Taurus who leans more into facts and logic than feelings, I don't think I'm going to see eye-to-eye with the professor on this one, however, she does have a certain, valid point here.
Feelings of safety and perceptions of crime can play an important role in getting people involved. Seattle University does its own annual assessment of crime perceptions in the city, and hosts a lot of community discussions on the issue. Helfgott notes that Seattleites often state reasons why they don't call 911: They don't want to waste resources; They doubt police will come; They associate police with systemic racism. Plus, folks often want a response other than police for their 911 call. But Helfgott counters that they still need to call 911, for a variety of reasons. Even if they feel police will not respond, the call will still create a data point that officials will use deploying resources in the future. Also, 911 calls don't just go to police, they go to emergency services. Big picture, the professor says that Seattle residents need to take their feelings about public safety and use them as motivation to get involved.
"Informal social control — become involved in helping and working with the Seattle police, working with community agencies, working in the city to help increase capacity for public safety," Helfgott said. "We've all heard a lot of talk about, 'We don't want the police doing it, we can't have the police doing it alone.' So every single person who lives and works in Seattle can play a role in increasing public safety."
Check out Seattle Now's episode here.
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