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Old 01-29-2012, 02:22 PM
 
413 posts, read 790,045 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by brandonfromseattle View Post
I'm living in Hartford CT right now and it has about one tenth the land area of Seattle but has about 1 fifth the population. That's about double to population density. Seattle is very sprawled out compared to many other cities.

One of the things I don't miss about Seattle is having to drive to people's houses across town.

Actually, Seattle's population density is slightly higher than Hartford's
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Old 02-02-2012, 01:06 AM
 
Location: Bellevue, WA
404 posts, read 1,031,469 times
Reputation: 146
Quote:
Originally Posted by mrman78 View Post
Sorry, but until you've lived in Houston, you don't know sprawled out. It's like the king of sprawl in the US. Seattle is not sprawled out at all compared to most cities its size or larger - a lot of that has to do with its geography.
Seriously. If anyone thinks Seattle is sprawled out (and honestly, how could it...look at a map), go to Houston. It's a huge mess.

Oh, and don't even get me started on the public transportation, which is only made worse by the urban sprawl.
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Old 02-02-2012, 09:02 AM
 
1,717 posts, read 4,652,089 times
Reputation: 979
Quote:
Originally Posted by scottyr View Post
i just never understood how a city full of latte-sipping, indie-rock-loving liberal hipsters and their asian friends could NOT have a super-efficient all-encompassing mass transit network. Based on demographics, Seattle should have become a identical twin of either Vancouver or Portland 15 years ago, but it remains the Houston of the Pacific Northwest
While I agree that Seattle's inability to pass mass transit legislation is troubling, you're delusional if you compare Seattle to Houston. The two cities couldn't be less alike.
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Old 02-02-2012, 09:05 AM
 
1,717 posts, read 4,652,089 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mrman78 View Post
Sorry, but until you've lived in Houston, you don't know sprawled out. It's like the king of sprawl in the US. Seattle is not sprawled out at all compared to most cities its size or larger - a lot of that has to do with its geography.
My sympathies. Houston & Dallas define sprawl. And the heat...OMG
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Old 02-02-2012, 09:49 AM
 
Location: Seattle, WA! Finally! :D
710 posts, read 1,398,251 times
Reputation: 625
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill Loney View Post
My sympathies. Houston & Dallas define sprawl. And the heat...OMG
Ha, no worries, less than three months and I'll be a proud Seattleite!
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Old 02-02-2012, 10:58 AM
 
Location: anywhere but Seattle
1,082 posts, read 2,563,891 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill Loney View Post
My sympathies. Houston & Dallas define sprawl. And the heat...OMG
If you think Houston and Dallas define sprawl, you can't escape the fact that Seattle is right there with them.
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Old 02-02-2012, 11:18 AM
 
1,717 posts, read 4,652,089 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by evergraystate View Post
If you think Houston and Dallas define sprawl, you can't escape the fact that Seattle is right there with them.
Ummm no... The difference is that sprawl destroyed the city core of both Dallas and Houston. Their downtowns suffer from major suckage. Go there at 6pm. DEAD as a door nail compared to Seattle.

Once again, those numbers are using Seattle's metropolitan area. Which includes several other cities including Tacoma, Everett and Bellevue. Completely misleading. Check the density numbers for the city limits.(below)

If you actually visit Houston, Dallas and Seattle you will see instantly.

I mean SF is ranked 2nd and NYC 4th? Are you actually going to tell me you think of sprawl when you think of SF or NYC? Hilarious.

When you compare city to city, Seattle's density is twice that of either Dallas or Houston.

Seattle (City) Density 7,361/sq mi (2,842.1/km2)
Dallas (City) 3,517.7/sq mi (1,358.2/km2)
Houston (City) Density 3,623/sq mi (1,505/km2)

Last edited by Bill Loney; 02-02-2012 at 11:53 AM..
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Old 02-02-2012, 11:21 AM
 
Location: Seattle, WA! Finally! :D
710 posts, read 1,398,251 times
Reputation: 625
Here we go again...

This further shows how this data is misleading. Anyone who has been to both Seattle and Dallas or Houston can tell instantly that Seattle is far, far more compact than either Dallas or Houston. Whether the population within that land area is dense or not is irrelevant in terms of the OP implying that Seattle itself is not a compact city. However, in this case, if land area was factored in to Seattle proper, Seattle is probably twice as dense as Dallas or Houston! Also, I'm not sure how old that data is, but Houston's population is around 2M with a metro of about 5M...
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Old 02-02-2012, 11:38 AM
 
Location: Seattle, WA
456 posts, read 775,040 times
Reputation: 331
Quote:
Originally Posted by mrman78 View Post
Here we go again...

This further shows how this data is misleading. Anyone who has been to both Seattle and Dallas or Houston can tell instantly that Seattle is far, far more compact than either Dallas or Houston. Whether the population within that land area is dense or not is irrelevant in terms of the OP implying that Seattle itself is not a compact city. However, in this case, if land area was factored in to Seattle proper, Seattle is probably twice as dense as Dallas or Houston! Also, I'm not sure how old that data is, but Houston's population is around 2M with a metro of about 5M...
The chart is from 2000 Census data so there have been changes in the last 11 years. However, both data points are true.Seattle is a fairly dense core city surrounded by much less dense suburbs. The city is confined to an isthmus and totally built out. Its been growing fairly strongly the last 10 years which has mean redevelopment and increased density especially around the innermost neighbors. There has been some growth in urban clusters around the county as well.

So if you stay within city limits, things feel compact but if you go out to say Sammamish or Issaquah you'll see fairly typical suburban urban forms.

Ben
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Old 02-02-2012, 11:49 AM
 
1,717 posts, read 4,652,089 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by benleis View Post
So if you stay within city limits, things feel compact but if you go out to say Sammamish or Issaquah you'll see fairly typical suburban urban forms.

Ben
And the salient point remains the same. The city itself is very dense giving it a much higher enjoy-ability and vibrancy rating than either Dallas or Houston.

Honestly, the sprawl to which you refer impacts virtually all the great cities. Most of which have small city limits.
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