Recently I read a piece that described there being 45% more dogs than children in Seattle.
Some say it’s more educated population is putting off having children, but I think that’s only part of the equation. Let’s look deeper at some other commonly cited numbers shall we?
According to the Puget Sound Business Journal 75% of single apartment renters in Seattle own dogs.
Recent census data shows that just one in five Seattle households includes children under the age of 18, only San Francisco came out lower.
Also According to the 2000 census projection on 2004 Seattle has the fifth highest proportion of single-person households nationwide among cities of 100,000 or more residents, at 40.8 percent.
Yes, yes, all plenty of figures saying that Satellites don’t like kids and like dogs.
However, is it just kids? Let’s move onto the things that I don’t have facts and figures for.
Since I moved here 4 years ago I’ve found the great majority of Seattle residents to be very neighborly, helpful and kind. They will stop for a jaywalker and wave him across with a smile for example.
However what they won’t do is get to know people. In my opinion Seattle has an issue with “people connections”, be it the weather, be it status of hipster circles, be it the phases of the moon Seattle is not a “friends” town.
One interesting thing I noticed was that SeaTac Airport near Seattle does NOT get horribly crowded around the holidays (I’ve seen this firsthand) It gets busy during the summer months instead, meaning the family connections that people travel for during the holidays are not present here in such abundance.
Right now you’re probably asking yourself “So what? What’s this have to do with me?”, well, if you’re young and liberal (Which is likely 90% of the people reading this), everything.
Let’s think about it. Seattle is one of the most liberal places in the USA, boarding on Socialistic. They like to increase taxes, they like public programs, they like taking care of the environment, but the numbers on households and their general attitudes towards others seem to show that they don’t like connecting with other people. How can those things interact together in a healthy way?
“Yes, let’s make sure everyone is taken care of.. but I really don’t want to know any of those people, I just want to take care of them.” Please, tell me how that doesn’t seem empty and heartless.
What worries me is that this attitude is a spreading thing. Will the next generation have fleeting internet connections into their old age instead of just their myspace and facebook “friends” of today? I guess time will tell.
March 17th, 2011 at 8:27 pm
How does Seattle compare with jobs like General Practitioner, Psychologist, substance abuse counselor, heck, dog trainer? I would think that if there is money out there to take care of people, then Seattle might attract more people who care about people? Singles in Boston often can’t afford to live alone, keeping our singles households down.. I really want to know the dog vs. children percentage 🙂
But then again, Tesla and I just got back from Obedience class, so what do I know?
May 22nd, 2011 at 2:50 pm
Not a doubt in my mind the next generation(s) will be less and less connected face to face. Kids eating lunch at the same table don’t talk- they text to one another even when the person they are texting is three feet away. They have few social, and no conversational skills– the basic skills humans need to develop in order to speak to strangers on the street, in an elevator, or in the family living room.
Saw a farside cartoon I believe sums it up. Picture vast desert, sand everywhere, forefront is dessicated skeleton with foot prints trailing back toward the horizon. Skeletal hands are locked around electronic device.