How bad has the rampant crime, spiraling homeless problem, and general dystopian appearance of Seattle, Washington gotten lately? Apparently, the conditions are bad enough that Nike has chosen to permanently shut down its flagship store in the city after 26 years in operation, which it did on Friday. At the same time, Regal Cinemas announced that it would not be renewing its lease on its Meridian 16 multiplex. Neither company has put out an official statement as to their reasons for leaving, but it’s pretty obvious to the residents of the city. Seattle has simply become unlivable over the past couple of years. Between the criminals, the illegal migrants, and the homeless (who are dying in record numbers), the city is almost unrecognizable. This led Ronny Reyes of The Daily Mail to ask, “Is Seattle Finished?”

Crime-ridden Seattle has lost its downtown Nike flagship store and multiplex movie theater as crime runs rampant and the number of homeless people dying soars.

The Rain City’s downtown area suffered its latest blow on Friday when the popular Nike store, located at the corner of Sixth Avenue and Pike Street, shut its doors for good.

Nike’s exit came right after Regal Cinemas announced it would reject the lease of the Meridian 16 multiplex located on Seventh Avenue and Pike Street.

As for the cinema, part of the problem was the fact that Regal’s parent company recently filed for bankruptcy and they needed to close a number of outlets. But the conditions in Seattle these days no doubt made that a fairly easy choice.

The homelessness epidemic doesn’t just make the streets more dangerous for residents. Many of the homeless are dying at an alarming rate.  But they aren’t just dying of exposure and drug overdoses, though both of those things are happening. A staggering 310 homeless people died last year, including 18 who were murdered and 160 who were believed to have overdosed on fentanyl.

That figure of 310 deaths is also certainly an undercount according to authorities. The number is generated by the Medical Examiner’s office, but they only investigate “sudden, unexpected deaths.” The true death toll could easily be more than 400.

The linked report also notes that the Regal Cinema that is closing is located in the area formerly known as the CHOP zone. That lawless community caused many other stores to board up their windows and shut down, though a few have reopened since the barriers were torn down. That didn’t put an end to the crime, however. Police officers and firefighters are regularly attacked while responding to emergencies.

Getting back to the question that Ronny Reyes asked, we’re not talking about a hypothetical situation at this point. Seattle may indeed be “finished,” at least in terms of being the thriving city that it once was. A city is defined by its people far more than its buildings or streets. And people are leaving, including business owners. When the number of productive, working people in Seattle decreases, so too does the city’s tax revenue. That means there is less money to address a growing number of problems. Seattle could literally be in a death spiral at this point and the residents have still failed to elect any tough-on-crime leaders who would be willing to try to turn things around. And it’s really a shame to see. I lived in a suburb of Seattle for a little more than a year when I was a young man. It was a beautiful place back then. It’s simply a shame to see what’s become of it today.