Worst areas in Seattle (coming from a first responder)

I’m a first responder in Seattle, grew up here and have spent some time thinking about this. The intent of this post is to spread awareness and reinforce what’s already known, possibly with a different point of view. Here’s my take on the worst areas in Seattle, organized by time of day:

Bad all the time:

12th/Jackson – this is basically the area between 10th-14th Ave S and S Main St and S Weller St. Usually 50-150 (sometimes more) homeless drug users there 24/7. They will move West closer to 14th Ave S when SPD hangs out. This is probably the worst area in Seattle as of now when it comes to open air drug use. There’s not too much going on in terms of assaults/violent crime as one might think. Still totally sucks tho.

Lewis Park and Dr. Jose Rizal Park – just south of 12th/Jackson, these parks are adjacent to each other. Both parks are a hive for the homeless and have become completely unsafe for the general public. Only perk to this area is most of the folks here are hidden from the public, as long as the public doesn’t go into the PUBLIC park. smh.

Bad at night:

3rd Ave between Pike St and Yesler Way – everyone knows about 3rd/Pike yeah yeah blah blah, the problem that started there has spread all up and down 3rd Ave. Overdose galore, drug deals, shoplifting, lime bike/scooter accidents, assaults/violent crime the list goes on. During the day 3rd is the main bus lane for Downtown Seattle, so it’s usually safe for civilians before the sun goes down.

2nd Ave/S Main St – this all stems from two night clubs: Xtadium and Trinity. The number of shootings that happen here on Friday/Saturday nights is insane. I’ve seen more violent crime in this area of the city than anywhere else. If you wanna see someone get shot or stabbed, kick it around here, you probably won’t be disappointed!

Aurora Ave N and N 105th St to N 130th St – I believe this has been the forefront of the news lately when it comes to bad areas of Seattle. This is Seattles hub for prostitution, gang violence and crime. A lot of what goes on here feels like a GTA server. I will say, a lotta the people that get shot here don’t die. Not a lotta good shots in these parts. Maybe they just don’t call 911 and die somewhere else. I dunno. Kinda weird.

Alki in the summer – after the sun goes down, Alki sees lots of violence and street meetups in the summer months. This is probably the most common place that law abiding citizens are unaware of what might be going on and end up getting caught up in/observing some pretty bad stuff. The cars that pull up are kinda sick tho ngl, they just gotta tone down the bad stuff ya know?

Hing Hay Park – to me, this is the most sad place on the list. This park, which was built for the international district community to celebrate its culture and have a safe place to hang out, has become a place filled with drunk folks that like to beat each other up, shoot and stab each other, and make and an absolute ruckus. Good news: have ping pong tables here, good coffee and pastries across the street and it’s a sweet spot to check out in the daytime.

9200 block of Rainier Ave S – bad specifically due to shootings. I wanted to say Rainier Beach in general but there’s a lot of crime spread out through the area, and I’ve found the 9200 block to be at the center of a lot of it. Tons of great people in this part of town though!

33rd Ave NE between NE 125th St and NE 130th St – another underrated location, this is Lake Cities worst street and one of the most unsafe areas in North Seattle. Double shooting last year and lots of open air drug use and homeless people. Also RIP the Fred Meyer on Lake City Way/NE 130th St that place rocked 🙁

3rd Ave/Clay St – this is much more recent, but the 3 fatal shootings that occurred here put it on my list. This area hasn’t been “safe”, but I haven’t seen much violence in this area until recently. Belltown has street meetups and homeless problems for sure, but people aren’t getting killed here as often. Pretty sad.

Bad during the day:

3rd/Virginia St – lots of food banks around this area that tend to attract homeless crowds. Not nearly as bad as these other places, but still noticeable and underrated in terms of Seattles most notorious places. Aside from here, there’s not too many places that get bad during the daytime specifically. Lmk if I’m wrong!

I don’t have much to say about Northwest Seattle, specifically Ballard. I know Ballard has quite the homeless population, but in terms of crime, violence and drug use, I haven’t experienced anything that stands out. Anyone have things to add? This is just my take!