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Old 02-02-2012, 11:59 AM
 
5,762 posts, read 11,603,525 times
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Quote:
those numbers are using Seattle's metropolitan area.
I always assume that when people say "Seattle," they mean the whole metro area.

Seattle is "sprawled-out" because you can drive 100 miles from Olympia to Arlington, and most of it will be through low-density sprawl. To get anywhere around the metro area, you'll probably pass through sprawl unless your trip begins and ends within a fairly small area around the core city.
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Old 02-02-2012, 12:15 PM
 
Location: anywhere but Seattle
1,082 posts, read 2,547,950 times
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I don't know why some people want to exclude the sprawl around Seattle, as if the city is somehow special. People commune in from the suburbs and exurbs just like any other sprawled out large American city. Look at the clogged up freeways every morning and afternoon if you need more proof.
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Old 02-02-2012, 02:55 PM
 
Location: Seattle, WA! Finally! :D
710 posts, read 1,394,552 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by evergraystate View Post
I don't know why some people want to exclude the sprawl around Seattle, as if the city is somehow special. People commune in from the suburbs and exurbs just like any other sprawled out large American city. Look at the clogged up freeways every morning and afternoon if you need more proof.
I don't believe people are ignoring the area beyond Seattle proper. The point is, you have to do a fair comparison. Comparing Seattle's city limits to Houston's city limits would mean Seattle is more dense. You can't compare say the Seattle Metro Area to Houston city limits. You would have to compare to Houston Metro area, which is massively sprawled out. Hell, even Houston city limits are sprawled out.

In response to the previous poster, I don't know why you would assume the metro area when someone mentions a city. The city defines the metro area, it's an individual entity just like Bellevue or Olympia. So you're telling me if someone mentions Olympia you think Seattle? They are two completely different cities!
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Old 02-02-2012, 03:43 PM
 
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Quote:
In response to the previous poster, I don't know why you would assume the metro area when someone mentions a city.
It depends on the context. When someone complains about sprawl/driving/congestion in "Seattle," I would usually assume it's a comment about the metro area as a whole, since that interpretation would make the most sense.
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Old 02-02-2012, 03:47 PM
 
Location: anywhere but Seattle
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mrman78 View Post
You can't compare say the Seattle Metro Area to Houston city limits. You would have to compare to Houston Metro area, which is massively sprawled out. Hell, even Houston city limits are sprawled out.
The data compares the metro areas in both cases. There is nothing confusing or misleading about it. The Seattle metro area is massively sprawled out just like the Huston area with near identical population density.
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Old 02-02-2012, 04:16 PM
 
Location: Seattle, WA! Finally! :D
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Quote:
Originally Posted by evergraystate View Post
The data compares the metro areas in both cases. There is nothing confusing or misleading about it. The Seattle metro area is massively sprawled out just like the Huston area with near identical population density.
Seriously?!

It's worth noting that Houston is the 4th biggest city in the US, while Seattle is the 24th. I have lived in this hell-hole for 12 years and there is NO WHERE in Houston that has the dense core Seattle does - not even downtown. The suburbs are a mute point as ALL cities have suburbs with sprawl.

Houston is almost 40 miles from the east to the west side of its city limits and the majority of it is strip-malls and low density housing/commercial. That's SPRAWL!

The following is a much more accurate representation of the densities of the two cities. It's based on 2010 census data, not 2000, and clearly shows that Seattle has more than DOUBLE the population density of Houston. Houston's land area is 599.6 sq mi, while Seattle is a tiny 83.9 sq mi. To put it another way, you can fit over SEVEN Seattle's in Houston's city limits. It's also more accurate as it's comparing city limit to city limit.

List of United States cities by population - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

HOUSTON
Population: 2,099,451
Land Area: 599.6 Sq mi
Population Density: 3,501.4 per Sq mi

SEATTLE
Population: 608,660
Land Area: 83.9 Sq mi
Population Density: 7,254.6 per Sq mi

Last edited by mrman78; 02-02-2012 at 04:28 PM..
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Old 02-02-2012, 04:58 PM
 
Location: anywhere but Seattle
1,082 posts, read 2,547,950 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mrman78 View Post
The following is a much more accurate representation of the densities of the two cities. It's based on 2010 census data, not 2000, and clearly shows that Seattle has more than DOUBLE the population density of Houston. Houston's land area is 599.6 sq mi, while Seattle is a tiny 83.9 sq mi. To put it another way, you can fit over SEVEN Seattle's in Houston's city limits. It's also more accurate as it's comparing city limit to city limit.
Which is totally irrelevant for anyone that knows Seattle. Thousands of commuters streams into Seattle every day from the sprawling suburbs. If you want to limit the comparison to city limits you're fooling yourself.

Nobody cares where the city limits begin or end.
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Old 02-02-2012, 05:26 PM
 
Location: Seattle, WA! Finally! :D
710 posts, read 1,394,552 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by evergraystate View Post
Which is totally irrelevant for anyone that knows Seattle. Thousands of commuters streams into Seattle every day from the sprawling suburbs. If you want to limit the comparison to city limits you're fooling yourself.

Nobody cares where the city limits begin or end.
Have you ever even been to Houston? I'm wondering if I'm debating with someone who hasn't even been here. If you haven't, then you have nothing to debate on. I've been to both cities, majored in Geography and work as a Geographic Information Systems Analyst, so I feel I'm qualified enough to know what I'm talking about.

I mean this whole debate is over sprawl and whether Seattle is dense. I don't think you need to go beyond the city limits to prove this. Even if you DID include the metropolitan area with similar data to what I provided (NOT this old, inaccurate data you have provided), it would STILL be more densely populated! Density is population by land area, so population per square mile:

Houston's city limits alone (599.6 sq mi) is definitely more than the ENTIRE Seattle metropolitan area and Houston's population in JUST the city limits (2,099,451) is close to the population of the ENTIRE Seattle metropolitan area. So, Seattle's "sprawling suburbs" don't even fall into Houston's city limits - which obviously doesn't even include Houston's suburbs. The Seattle area is more densely populated due to the limited land area it has versus the population living in that area - the very definition of what population density is.

Maybe YOU feel Seattle is not dense and is sprawled out, but the simple fact is it is NOT in comparison to other major cities, especially Houston. Sorry.


Last edited by mrman78; 02-02-2012 at 06:34 PM..
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Old 02-02-2012, 06:27 PM
 
7,743 posts, read 15,819,190 times
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MrMan78, there are just some people that don't like Seattle, so therefor Seattle is just never right (or never does right) for variety of reasons. You know how it is down there, unlike some, at least you're being pro-active. Don't worry about these people who should be leaving anyways.
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Old 02-02-2012, 11:52 PM
 
1,717 posts, read 4,634,883 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by evergraystate View Post
as if the city is somehow special. .
It is special. Very special.

We get that you don't think so. We get that you continually whine that you can't wait to get out of Seattle.
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