Democrat leaders of Washington state and Seattle are being criticized by locals after the governor praised the city’s downtown, which was temporarily cleaned up for the World Cup.

For years, Seattle has struggled with open drug use on its streets and an enormous homeless population setting up encampments that blight the city. 

Seattle has the third-largest homeless population among US cities, behind only New York City and Los Angeles, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. 

But the city has a total population of just 823,400, so although its homeless population of about 17,000 is significantly lower than LA’s 67,800 or NYC’s 125,700, the percent share of homeless in Seattle is higher than both of the other, larger cities.

The problem is therefore highly visible for residents, especially because 64 percent of homeless people in Seattle are unsheltered, according to the King County Regional Homelessness Authority. That means they live in tents, vehicles or on the street.

Encampments crop up everywhere, even close to iconic landmarks such as the Space Needle. The Daily Mail visited Seattle in January and captured harrowing images of encampments and open-air drug use in the city’s downtown and several other neighborhoods. 

But as one of 11 US cities hosting World Cup games, Seattle recently spent nearly $32 million cleaning up its streets and encampments in touristy areas and relocating homeless people to less visible neighborhoods. 

That led to at least one visitor praising Seattle as ‘clean,’ ‘walkable’ and ‘incredible,’ which Washington Governor Bob Ferguson referenced in a tweet on Monday. 

Seattle locals are slamming Democratic leaders of the city and state after the governor praised the city’s downtown. A picture of a homeless encampment by the Space Needle is pictured

Seattle has the third-highest homeless population among US cities, behind just NYC and LA, but the percentage share of homeless in the city is higher than in those larger cities. A homeless encampment in Seattle is pictured 

Seattle spent nearly $32 million cleaning up its downtown ahead of the World Cup, but residents worry that open-air drug use and encampments will return once the cameras leave. Drug users are pictured getting high on a Seattle street 

Drug paraphernalia is seen on the sidewalk of an encampment in Seattle. Scenes such as this are typically common in the city 

Washington Governor Bob Ferguson posted this tweet quoting a tourist who praised Seattle’s downtown after it was cleaned up for the World Cup. The post drew criticism from residents

The governor quoted ‘a Dallas resident visiting for USA vs. Belgium’ who spoke to the Seattle Times.

‘The buses are everywhere. The city is so walkable. You have one of the cleanest downtowns in America. This downtown is as incredible as any place in the world,’ Ferguson quoted the visitor saying. 

‘World class city and state,’ the governor concluded from the tourist’s quote.

His tweet drew ire from Seattle residents who know what the city is usually like and believe that the current conditions are only temporary.

Prior experience gives them reason to think that. During MLB All-Star Week in 2023, Seattle similarly cleaned itself up before allowing the streets to slide back into chaos as soon as the event was over and national attention shifted away from the city.

The replies to Ferguson’s tweet were thus flooded with criticism. ‘You cleaned up and put on window dressing for the Cup visitors- now it’s over and we are going back to your chaos, filth and crime,’ one user said. 

‘Uh, we spent a s*** ton of money cleaning up and hiding away what our streets normally look like prior to the WC. It sure as hell better look great but can we keep it that way Bob???’ another wrote. 

‘What a heartbreaking comment from the Dallas resident, who doesn’t realize the homeless zombie population was temporarily relocated to Chinatown. As soon as the soccer crowd leaves, they’ll be back and downtown will relapse into its former ghost-town self. Watch where you step,’ a third user said. 

Views of Seattle’s skyline are blighted by ugly tent encampments filled with the city’s homeless 

An outreach worker is pictured in a Seattle homeless encampment. The city has been under a Civil Emergency for homelessness since 2015 

This user on X and those below slammed the governor for praising the city’s downtown, as they believe encampments and open air drug use will return once the World Cup ends

‘Are you willing to recognize that this is possible all the time and not just during the World Cup?’ a fourth user began.

‘Democrat policies are what have destroyed Seattle. Now that the World Cup is over, it will go right back to being the cesspool it is under you and Commie Katie’s command,’ the user continued, referencing Seattle’s recently elected Democratic socialist mayor, Katie Wilson. 

When the Daily Mail visited Seattle earlier this year, a 36-year-old homeless man, who gave his name as Brandon, told us that Mayor Katie Wilson is ‘cool’ after her office and Seattle’s progressive city attorney Erika Evans reportedly plotted to avoid prosecuting most public drug use cases. 

Wilson, 43, was inaugurated as a Democrat mayor in January and was promptly accused of telling Seattle Police not to arrest people for taking illegal drugs in public.

She denied doing so, but she works directly with Seattle City Attorney Erika Evans, who has made it much harder for police to charge illegal drug users.

A memo filed by Evans on January 1 said anyone arrested for doing drugs in public must be referred to the city’s ‘LEAD’ diversion program, which tries to offer addicts treatment.

Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson (left) has been accused of working with Seattle City Attorney Erika Evans (right) to make it harder to charge locals with doing illegal drugs in public 

While famed for its natural beauty, many photos showing Seattle at its best do not convey the reality of the city in 2026 

The pair’s policymaking harks back to the dark days of the early 2020s, when cities including San Francisco and Portland tried the same experiment, which they branded ‘harm reduction.’

It backfired badly and prompted an explosion in crime, homelessness and filth on city streets, with both San Francisco and Portland later rescinding those policies.

The nearly $32 million cleanup effort to prepare Seattle for the World Cup appears to critics to have been a band-aid for a more than decade-long problem that has plagued the city, which declared a Civil Emergency for homelessness in 2015.