Video: 'Nickelsville' homeless camp springs up in South Seattle

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SEATTLE - The homeless call it "Nickelsville" - a not-so-subtle jab at Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels.

A new homeless camp sprang up early Monday morning in South Seattle and already the mayor is stepping in to shut it down.

Pink may not be the usual color people associate with homelessness, but the new camp is made up of 155 pink tents. They were erected around 4 a.m. Monday, and the people who hope to make this a long term homeless encampment say they don't care about the color as long as the tents keep them warm and safe.

Thirty-eight-year old Tex says he's been homeless for about two years, ever since his apartment burned down with all his worldly belongings inside.

"I had nothing to start with. I had no family," he said.

Tex says no matter how hard he's tried, he hasn't been able to scrape together the money he needs to move into a new place, and says with spots at homeless shelters and tent city so limited, he's never managed to get off a waitlist.

"It's been hard," he said. "I've filled out applications from Lehigh to Seattle Housing. They take a long time."

But early Monday morning, he put his coat and blanket, the only two things he owns, inside a pink tent.

"It's a good tent. Don't let the color fool you," he said.

"It's obviously a political demonstration," said Mayor Greg Nickels.

"It's not political. What's political is all the condos going up downtown. This is about survival," said homeless advocate Tim Harris.

Housing advocates say there are more than 2,000 homeless people in Seattle and no room at shelters.

The city recently set aside 55 beds for people kicked out of homeless camps, but its musical beds. When someone takes a mattress, a regular tenant, usually a homeless woman, is forced out.

"The woman that would have been at this shelter have no beds available to them. Where do they go?" said Kim Sather of the compass Center.

The problem is growing as more families are now living in their cars.

The mayor is very clear - the city will not tolerate people living in outdoor camps.

Eviction notices go up, they must be out in 72 hours.

"We'll treat it like we will any other encampment and that is we'll post it and we'll let people know that this is inappropriate to be sleeping in an encampment that's not authorized," said Nickels.

The city is sending social workers here to offer people services. But, the homeless say they are not going to budge. In fact, they say they are going to bring in some materials and build permanent structures and turn this into a shanty town.

A spokesperson for Mayor Nickels says more shelter space may be opened up to make room for the people living in the camp.