I just moved to Ballard, and we have a few homeless encampments (the closest one to me is at Ballard park). I'm really surprised in how bad it isn't here: the residents are mostly well behaved and don't leave needles or anything like that hanging around (and they don't poop on the streets since the city installed a bunch of portable toilets). It is still kind of a bummer, but it is far from a deal breaking nuisance.