Feb 18, 2016

Even as homelessness declined slightly nationwide in 2015, it increased in urban areas, including Seattle, New York and Los Angeles, and Seattle now has the third-highest number of homeless people in the country. The city’s voters have agreed to tax themselves four separate times since 1986 to pay for affordable housing. The mayor recently proposed raising another $290 million with another housing levy on the November ballot.

: A man walks around a tent blocking a sidewalk in Seattle on Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2016. Seattle voters have agreed to tax themselves four separate times since 1986 to pay for affordable housing. The mayor recently proposed raising another $290 million with another housing levy on the November ballot. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

: A makeshift shelter sits next to the Interstate 5 freeway in downtown Seattle on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016. Seattle has the third-highest number of homeless people in the U.S. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

: A woman walks a child past people asleep under Interstate 5 near downtown Seattle on Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2016. Even as homelessness declined slightly nationwide in 2015, it increased in urban areas, including Seattle, New York and Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

: Billy Meyer, who said he has been homeless in both Portland, Ore., and Seattle in the past year, holds a cardboard sign asking for help near a pedestrian bridge leading to the ferry dock in downtown Seattle on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

: A man walks past a city-sanctioned homeless encampment of micro-homes and tents in front of apartments and condos in Seattle on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016. The Seattle area now ranks third in the nation in the number of housing units for the homeless. But it also has the third-highest number of homeless people. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

: Elizabeth Nelson, left, sits with Paul Bultman as the two talk about living in tents under raised blue tarps in a city-sanctioned homeless encampment in Seattle on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016. Mayor Ed Murray has committed millions more dollars to expand shelter beds and social services. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

: Aaron Benedict Morman wakes up in a nest of sleeping bags and a foam pad beneath a viaduct as traffic passes near him in Seattle. Morman said that he’s been homeless for over 30 years, the last two in Seattle on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

: Desiree Hoffman, left, takes in a donation at a city-sanctioned homeless encampment, from a woman who lives in a nearby neighborhood in Seattle on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016. Seattle voters have agreed to tax themselves four separate times since 1986 to pay for affordable housing. The mayor recently proposed raising another $290 million with another housing levy on the November ballot. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

: Danny Fletcher, left, and Joshua Madrid stand in the doorway of a bus they share with three dogs in a temporary city-approved parking area for people living in their vehicles in Seattle. Fletcher, 32, who sleeps in his car at night, prefers the quiet of the parking zone to the harassment he faced in other parts of the city. “We just want a safe place. Give us a safe place to park where neighbors won’t harass us,” he said. “We’re homeless. We’re not diseased.” (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

: A man lies in a tent with others camped nearby, under and near an overpass in Seattle on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016. Seattle has the third-highest number of homeless people in the U.S. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

: Clothing hangs from the handrail of stairs near the baseball stadium at a small homeless encampment in Seattle on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016. Mayor Ed Murray has committed millions of dollars to expand shelter beds and social services. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

: Joshua Madrid hugs his dog, Cheese, as Loki lies next to them in Madrid’s bus, parked in a temporary city-approved area for people living in their vehicles in Seattle on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016. Seattle has the third-highest number of homeless people in the U.S. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

: Pedestrians walk above signs of a homeless encampment near a bridge over the Interstate 5 freeway in downtown Seattle on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016. Even as homelessness declined slightly nationwide in 2015, it increased in urban areas, including Seattle, New York and Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

: Harold McDuffie II, who says he has been homeless for three years, watches pedestrians pass by as he lies in a sleeping bag on a bridge leading to the ferry dock in downtown Seattle on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016. Seattle has the third-highest number of homeless people in the U.S. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

: Danny Fletcher, left, calls to his dogs as Joshua Madrid looks on in an old bus they share with three dogs in a temporary city-approved parking area for people living in their vehicles in Seattle. Fletcher, 32, who sleeps in his car at night, prefers the quiet of the parking zone to the harassment he faced in other parts of the city. “We just want a safe place. Give us a safe place to park where neighbors won’t harass us,” he said. “We’re homeless. We’re not diseased.” (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

The lives of Seattle’s homeless

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