Metropolitan Improvement District: a non-profit organization that patrols Seattle and provides services to the general public as well as a homeless outreach service. They provide a bus service to the homeless persons throughout downtown Seattle and bus them to the mission nearby. The volunteers also provide information to tourist attractions and keep Seattle as safe and as welcoming as possible to the guests and residents. Their role is to keep Seattle an attractive place by cleaning sidewalks and alleyways. But then one thinks of the message behind the words. Are the people of Seattle really as uncomfortable with the unhoused people as this makes them seem? Their job is to make sure the unhoused individuals are constantly moving, never to be in the same place for very long, never there to disturb the peaceful picture that many tourists have of Seattle.

The waterfront is a popular place for both tourists and panhandlers. The homeless that wander along the boardwalk don’t stay in place for long as the MID will come by and ask them to move. Similar to the individuals in Sidewalk, some ask for any spare change while others stand silently to the side with or without signs. This man wandered up and down the boardwalk a few times while we walked through, only staying in one area for about fifteen minutes each.