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Old 03-21-2019, 10:28 AM
 
45,676 posts, read 23,824,322 times
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A rather crude review of the story the OP linked.


https://www.thestranger.com/slog/201...-is-killing-me
In one moment of "Seattle Is Dying," a camera mounted on a drone rises from the human filth on a hill and slowly turns to the towers of tech, municipal, and financial power. In this inverted/perverted KOMO world, the shock is not that the business district is right next to a homeless camp, but that a homeless camp is right next to the business district. There is an important difference between the two perspectives. In the second, the camp of misery is not about the city killing many of its people, but extremely poor people killing an affluent city. Now that is rich.
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Old 03-21-2019, 11:04 AM
 
72,813 posts, read 62,127,610 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by James Bond 007 View Post
I could be wrong, but in Alaska I suspect a large amount of the crime there is tribal. Native Americans have serious alcohol and drug problems, and when people get drunk or on drugs at such high rates, a lot of violent crime is going to occur.

Yakima County has a high Hispanic population as well as a large Native American population. Ditto New Mexico.
Thing about it is this. One might expect somewhere like Tacoma or some other Pierce County city to rank quite high. Reputation for gangs. It also has among the higher Black populations in WA state.

As for Alaska, that state has long struggled with drug and alcohol issues. Many villages banned alcohol, but many people will try and get alcohol anyway. And Alaska has long been a state with a high murder rate and a high rate of rape. This goes back to the 1960s.

New Mexico has been kind of rough and tumble for many decades.

Texas, however, is bizarre. Demographically, its Black population about on average with the U.S. population, with a larger Hispanic population. Texas used to be one of the most murderous states in the USA. It recorded double digit murder rates from 1968 to 1994. Nowadays, Texas has calmed down alot. It's middle of the pack in terms of murder rates. Many Blacks and Hispanics have moved to Texas. Murder rate has been dropping consistently since the mid 1990s. Texas and West Virginia have similar murder rates despite contrasting demographics.

And let's compare two states. Louisiana and Georgia. Both states have Black populations around 30%. That is where the differences end. Louisiana has ranked #1 in the USA for murder every year since 1989. It has long been a violent state. Georgia, on the other hand, has a lower murder rate and has managed to have their murder rate drop. Louisiana's murder rate is twice as high as Georgia's despite Georgia have a population more than twice as large as Louisiana. Missouri, which has a much smaller Black population than Georgia, has a much higher murder rate than Georgia.

My point is this. Demographics can play a factor, but I also say look at every place individually.
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Old 03-21-2019, 11:31 AM
 
Location: Kansas City, MISSOURI
20,726 posts, read 9,330,679 times
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Back in the 90's, Tacoma DID have a high murder rate. The Hilltop neighborhood had a really bad reputation, much worse than anything in Seattle.

I mean, yeah, there are absolutely other factors. But demographics are definitely a big influence.
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Old 03-21-2019, 11:32 AM
 
10,920 posts, read 6,861,322 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevroqs View Post
The problem with Seattle is that housing/rents are skyrocketing, to the point where a small 3 bed home runs up to 3/4 of a million, or the average rent is almost 1800 per month.

Sure you could live 1/2 to hour away for affordable housing, but then you'd have to put up with horrible traffic on I-5.
1800 a month is a very good price for 3 bedrooms these days.
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Old 03-21-2019, 11:32 AM
 
72,813 posts, read 62,127,610 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by James Bond 007 View Post
Back in the 90's, Tacoma DID have a high murder rate. The Hilltop neighborhood had a really bad reputation, much worse than anything in Seattle.

I mean, yeah, there are absolutely other factors. But demographics are definitely a big influence.
But now it's Yakima's turn. And I mentioned alot of other places. I would really look at what I wrote. Not just the bit about Tacoma.
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Old 03-21-2019, 11:38 AM
 
Location: Home is Where You Park It
23,856 posts, read 13,619,352 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by green_mariner View Post
Well, it looks like places I want to move to are becoming more and more prohibitive in terms of cost of living. It's disheartening. I don't think I will be able to live in the Seattle area again unless I make 6 figures.
The key is that the places you want to move to are the places everyone wants to move to.
If you could develop a taste for high heat / humidity, for example, or frequent tornadoes, or an 8-month winter, or a highly polluted environment, your chances of finding a house for 50K or less would increase. A taste for isolation would also help.
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Old 03-21-2019, 11:48 AM
 
72,813 posts, read 62,127,610 times
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Originally Posted by jacqueg View Post
The key is that the places you want to move to are the places everyone wants to move to.
If you could develop a taste for high heat / humidity, for example, or frequent tornadoes, or an 8-month winter, or a highly polluted environment, your chances of finding a house for 50K or less would increase. A taste for isolation would also help.
I live in Georgia. I'm not a fan of high heat combined with humidity. Tornadoes I could deal with. 8 month winter, well, not a fan of 8 month winter, but a cold winter doesn't bother me. Highly polluted areas, not for me.

Isolation, well, it depends on how isolated.

Kid of bizarre. Where I live, alot of people speak of Seattle as a depressing place (the weather is constantly brought up). However, alot of people from other places want to move to the Seattle area.
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Old 03-21-2019, 12:04 PM
 
Location: Home is Where You Park It
23,856 posts, read 13,619,352 times
Reputation: 15475
Quote:
Originally Posted by green_mariner View Post
I live in Georgia. I'm not a fan of high heat combined with humidity. Tornadoes I could deal with. 8 month winter, well, not a fan of 8 month winter, but a cold winter doesn't bother me. Highly polluted areas, not for me.

Isolation, well, it depends on how isolated.

Kid of bizarre. Where I live, alot of people speak of Seattle as a depressing place (the weather is constantly brought up). However, alot of people from other places want to move to the Seattle area.
I was born and raised in southern california. Moved north as soon as I could, and since then have moved north every time I moved. Now living in Tacoma, and wondering about Blaine...

I love rain and find too much sun downright oppressive. I start looking for a cool dark place when the thermometer hits 80.

I am always bemused by these discussions. Seattle's problems are absolutely typical problems of a rapidly growing city that has limited physical room to grow. The solutions people have suggested here have one thing in common - increased governmental action, whether that increase is in policing or housing or mental health services. Those solutions, whether they are conservative or liberal, require more revenue and spending. You can get that by increasing efficiency (always a good thing), or by shifting resources from, say, street maintenance, or by raising taxes. Which makes conservative complaints about liberals really dickish.

It's long been noted that cities are more liberal than their surrounding countryside. That's because solutions to city problems require more government, and more spending, because, duh, cities are places where people have to rely on group action in order to get anything done.
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Old 03-21-2019, 01:58 PM
 
72,813 posts, read 62,127,610 times
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Originally Posted by jacqueg View Post
I was born and raised in southern california. Moved north as soon as I could, and since then have moved north every time I moved. Now living in Tacoma, and wondering about Blaine...

I love rain and find too much sun downright oppressive. I start looking for a cool dark place when the thermometer hits 80.

I am always bemused by these discussions. Seattle's problems are absolutely typical problems of a rapidly growing city that has limited physical room to grow. The solutions people have suggested here have one thing in common - increased governmental action, whether that increase is in policing or housing or mental health services. Those solutions, whether they are conservative or liberal, require more revenue and spending. You can get that by increasing efficiency (always a good thing), or by shifting resources from, say, street maintenance, or by raising taxes. Which makes conservative complaints about liberals really dickish.

It's long been noted that cities are more liberal than their surrounding countryside. That's because solutions to city problems require more government, and more spending, because, duh, cities are places where people have to rely on group action in order to get anything done.
I've considered living in California when I was a teenager. At that time I wanted out of Georgia really badly. Hot humid summers made it easy to want to live elsewhere. However, I had other issues I was dealing with.

Seattle rain and Atlanta rain are two different things all together. Seattle gets a light drizzle. Atlanta (and pretty much the entire Southeast) gets really hard rain. Atlanta gets more rain than Seattle does. Atlanta has had a wetter than average winter this year. We've also had some foggy days in Atlanta this winter, which made for alot of enjoyment for me. I put up with the broiling, nasty summers in the Atlanta metro area. However, southern California summers would probably feel better to me. Dry desert heat and ocean breezes.

Seattle's problems with cost of living are understandable, when seen from geographic terms. A city ringed by water and mountains. Not much room to grow. And alot of people want to move there. Seattle has 730,400 as of 2018, up from 608,660 in 2010. Atlanta grew from 420,003 in 2010 to 486,290 in 2018. More people are seeking out Seattle than Atlanta. Cost of living has been rising in Atlanta. Rising even faster in Seattle.

I expect cities to be more liberal than the suburbs. In Atlanta's case, it's a different matter. Alot of the liberal suburbs are either predominantly Black/or predominantly Hispanic, or populated by alot of people from states like New York, Illinois, and California. I live in a red area. It has a large redneck contingency. Seattle area, I bucks a trend to an extent. Alot more liberals in the region over all compared to other places.
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Old 03-21-2019, 02:22 PM
 
Location: California
2,083 posts, read 1,075,003 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by green_mariner View Post
I would look at what would cause someone to be violent. What is it about Alaska, red state, not that many Blacks, where alot of violent crime takes place? BTW, Alaska ranks #1 in the USA for violent crime. Alaska tops the list for rape and assault, and ranks 11th out of 50 in murder. New Mexico is 2nd in the nation for violent crime. Ranks high for rape and murder.

I like to look at each place piece by piece. Consider WA state. The most murderous county in WA is Yakima County. It's in farm country far from the larger Seattle area.
Interesting to know.
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