In this podcast, reporter Ray Dubicki and I dive into the Harrell administration's new homelessness data tracker. We assess how well it is fulfilling its purported role of increasing communication and transparency around this pressing and difficult issue with the public and discuss some of the context around it's creation and whether it is really is the beginning of Seattle's first real strategic plan for addressing homelessness. Homelessness has proven to be a tragic, and seemingly intractable, problem in Seattle in recent years. The issue was front and center during the most recent mayoral and city council elections, in which candidates, including now Mayor Bruce Harrell, pledged to take action to address the problem and bring more people into shelter. This week Seattle is now seeing the first tangible new contribution from the Harrell administration aimed at confronting homelessness: a data dashboard that Harrell promises is the beginning of Seattle's "first strategy" to reduce the number of people living unsheltered, in tents, or in vehicles, on the city's streets. At a press conference to unveil the homelessness data dashboard held on the steps of Dockside, a future site of housing for people exiting homelessness and lower-income workers in Greenlake, Harrell described the incredulity he felt after departing a 12 year tenure on the City Council to "watch from the sidelines for two years" as the City failed to take action to address homelessness. "I asked, what is the plan? What is the strategic approach? It was clear a database approach was needed," Harrell said.  "When I came into office in 2022, there was no strategic plan," Harrell reaffirmed in his remarks, which also referenced how his prior career in the private sector had influenced his determination that increased data-tracking, measurement, and also transparency, would be needed to make gains in the homelessness crisis. Harrell is not the first to call for increased measurement and accountability around how well efforts in addressing homelessness are performing. In tech-savvy Seattle, data is often presented as the key for unlocking the doors to progress. But we also all know that data has its limitations; it can be misrepresented or even manipulated. And when it comes to assessing an issue as complex as homelessness, data may paint an incomplete picture, failing to capture certain realities that lay at the core of the problem.  There is also the question of money. How much change can the Seattle public expect from a system that tracks and measures certain data points related to homelessness, but at least at this point, is not connected to bringing new funding or resources to the table?  Want to share your experiences with understanding Seattle's new homelessness data dashboard? Or share your thoughts, ideas, and experiences related to addressing homelessness in Seattle or elsewhere?  Reach out to us at podcast [at] theurbanist.org. As always, you can find The Urbanist podcast on iTunes, Spotify, and other major platforms. 

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