Lunching at Seattle’s Space Needle, the casual observer might imagine that one of the nation’s most dense urban areas is spread out below. To the immediate south of the Space Needle is one of the nation’s premier downtown areas. In 2000 downtown Seattle had the seventh largest employment base in the country and was one of the most dense. Its impressive, closely packed buildings witness a storied past. For more than 60 years, between 1914 and 1990, downtown Seattle has had the tallest building on the West Coast, Smith Tower, and was the fourth tallest building in the world when built. It held the title for an impressive 55 years, from 1914 to 1969, when another Seattle building briefly took the title (1001 4th Avenue). Later (1985), Seattle’s Columbia Center became the first building on the West Coast to exceed 75 floors, but by 1990 had been passed by the U.S. Bank Tower in Los Angeles (see Elliot Bay photograph and Note 1).
However, looks can be deceiving. In 2000, Seattle ranked last in urban population density out of the 11 urban areas in the 13 western states with more than 1 million population (just behind Portland, which ranked next-to-last). The Seattle urban area’s density was approximately 60 percent below that of Los Angeles, the US’s densest urban area. Even the Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth urban areas, famous for their great expanse, were denser than Seattle. Updated urban area density data from the 2010 census will not be available for at least a year.
Nor is the historical core municipality of Seattle particularly closely packed. With a population density of 7,200 per square mile, the city of Seattle is considerably less dense than a number of Los Angeles suburbs such as Santa Ana (12,000) and Garden Grove (9,500). Even so, the city of Seattle is nearly two-thirds more dense than the city of Portland (4,400), despite the latter’s densification claims.
The 2010 Census: The 2010 census indicates a continuing dispersion of population in the Seattle metropolitan region (Figure 1). The Seattle metropolitan region, formally the Seattle combined statistical area (Note 2) is composed of the core Seattle metropolitan area (King, Pierce and Snohomish counties) and five exurban statistical areas, Bremerton (Kitsap County), Olympia (Thurston County), Mount Vernon (Skagit County), Oak Harbor (Island County) and Shelton (Mason County).
| Seattle Combined Statistical Area: Population 2000-2010 | ||||||
| Area | 2000 | 2010 | Change | % | Share of Growth | Share of Population |
| City of Seattle | 563,374 | 608,660 | 45,286 | 8.0% | 9.2% | 14.5% |
| Balance: King County | 1,173,660 | 1,322,589 | 148,929 | 12.7% | 30.3% | 31.5% |
| Pierce & Snohomish Counties | 1,306,844 | 1,508,560 | 201,716 | 15.4% | 41.0% | 35.9% |
| Metropolitan Area Outside Seattle | 2,480,504 | 2,831,149 | 350,645 | 14.1% | 71.2% | 67.4% |
| Metropolitan Area | 3,043,878 | 3,439,809 | 395,931 | 13.0% | 80.4% | 81.9% |
| Exurban Metropolitan Areas | 663,260 | 759,503 | 96,243 | 14.5% | 19.6% | 18.1% |
| Combined Statistical Area | 3,707,138 | 4,199,312 | 492,174 | 13.3% | 100.0% | 100.0% |
| Calculated from US Census data | ||||||
City of Seattle (Historical Core Municipality): Overall, the historical core city of Seattle grew 8.0 percent, from 564,000 to 609,000 between 2000 and 2010, which was one of the healthiest increases among major cities. In adding 45,000, the city still only accounted for 9.2 percent of the Seattle metropolitan region population growth. The city of Seattle now constitutes less than 15 percent of the metropolitan region population, down from 36 percent 1950 (same geographic area). In 1950, the city of Seattle had nearly two thirds of the population of King County. By 2010, the city of Seattle was less than one third of King County’s population, despite annexations. As the city has continued to decline in its share of the metropolitan region’s population, the impressive downtown area has also lost its dominance and by 2009 had fallen to 8 percent of the metropolitan region’s employment.
Inner Suburbs: Areas outside the city of Seattle accounted for more than 90 percent of growth in the metropolitan region. The inner suburbs, which include the residential development to the south, north and east of Seattle in King County grew more than 50 percent faster than the city of Seattle, at 12.7 percent between 2000 and 2010. The inner suburbs grew from 1,170,000 to 1,320,000, adding nearly 150,000 new residents, more than three times the city of Seattle increase. King County outside Seattle also captured 30 percent of the metropolitan region’s growth and now has 32 percent of the metropolitan region’s population. The eastern suburbs of King County are home to one of the nation’s largest, most diverse and successful edge cities, Bellevue, as well as the Microsoft campus in neighboring Redmond.
Outer Suburbs: The outer suburbs, which include Pierce County (Tacoma is the county seat) and Snohomish County grew 15.4 percent, nearly double the growth rate of the city of Seattle. The outer suburbs grew from 1.3 million to 1.5 million, adding 200,000 new residents, more than four times the city of Seattle’s increase. Pierce and Snohomish counties captured 41 percent of the metropolitan region’s growth and now account for 36 percent of the metropolitan region’s population.
Exurban Areas: The exurban statistical areas grew nearly as quickly as the outer suburbs. Between 2000 and 2010, the exurban areas increased their population by 14.5 percent. The exurban statistical areas accounted for 20 percent of the metropolitan region’s population growth. These more distant areas grew from 660,000 to 760,000 people, adding nearly 100,000 new residents. This is more than double the increase in the city of Seattle population. Approximately 18 percent of the population in the metropolitan region lives in the exurban statistical areas, a larger number than residing in the city of Seattle.
The Dispersion Continues: The dispersion of Seattle, like that of metropolitan regions around the nation and the world, has been going on for decades. The city of Seattle has accounted for only 5 percent of the metropolitan region’s population since 1950 (Figure 2) with suburbs and exurbs accounting for the vast majority of the nearly 3,000,000 increase.
Despite the pre-2010 census media and academic drumbeat to the effect that metropolitan areas were no longer dispersing, the census revealed a totally different and even inconvenient truth. This does not mean that both residents of the entire metropolitan region, suburbs and core city, should not be proud of an attractive urban area in an incomparable natural setting. Yet, the vast majority of the region’s population and employment growth is taking place outside the core. Seattle is following the national and international pattern to ever greater dispersion.
_________
Note 1: Downtown Seattle is on a hill and the newer buildings are generally on higher ground than Smith Tower, which makes the difference in height look greater.
Note 2: "Combined statistical areas" were formerly "consolidated metropolitan statistical areas."
Top Photograph: Downtown Seattle from the Space Needle (by author)
Wendell Cox is a Visiting Professor, Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers, Paris and the author of “War on the Dream: How Anti-Sprawl Policy Threatens the Quality of Life”
Comments
41 responses to “The Evolving Urban Area: Seattle”
Can you attribute any of the changes to prohibitive parking fees and rules cities impose?
Understand that a person can not just look at the moment the issue, but to a lot of observation to see him doing things from many, many angles. Someone I work with visits your blog regularly and recommended it to me to read also. The writing style is great and the content is top-notch. Thanks for the insight you provide the readers! – cara memperbesar alat vital
Cox’s analysis is misleading in several key ways. In particular, by including a number of highly urbanized areas in his definitions of “suburban” and “exurban” he makes dispersal seem far more prevalent than it really is. I have a more detailed critique at Sightline Institute’s blog, here: http://daily.sightline.org/2011/07/07/wendells-whacky-urban-analysi/.
Eric de Place
Sightline Institute
Excellent blog you have here but I was wondering if you knew of any community forums that cover the same topics talked about in this article? I’d really like to be a part of group where I can get opinions from other experienced individuals that share the same interest. If you have any suggestions, please let me know. Thanks a lot!
Thank you for the great article I did enjoyed reading it, I will be sure to bookmark your blog and definitely will come back from again. My spouse and I stumbled over here coming from a different website and thought I should check things out. I want to encourage that you continue your great job, have a good day – sprei
baju korea murah not going to lie, This website has very good content. so I am sure this website will form the well-known in the future. Excellent blog you have here but I was wondering if you knew of any community forums that cover the same topics talked about in this article? I’d really like to be a part of group where I can get opinions from other experienced individuals that share the same interest.
Representatives from AIA-Seattle and Structural Engineers Association of Washington (SEAW) will share details on recent response efforts, including Hurricane Katrina, tsunami in Japan, earthquake in Haiti, and flooding in Southwest Washington. Organizations will all share progress on current efforts toward collaboration, as well as plans for mitigation, response, and recovery. http://bennettrestoration.com/water-damage-snohomish-wa.html
That is just a pot stiring article. And if the Thunder were not in the playoffs, Seatle would not care. And if the Thunder were still the Sonics and in Seatle, they would not be near the playoffs. Floor Cleaning Woodlyn PA
I really like your manner of blogging. I bookmarked it to my bookmark web site record and can be checking again soon. Pls check out my website as well and let me know what you think. Chat Random
West Coast to exceed 75 floors, but by 1990 had been passed by the U.S. Bank Tower in Los Angeles (see Elliot Bay photograph and Note 1). mattress memory foam
This really is my very first time i go to right here. I found a lot of entertaining stuff in the blog, most especially its discussion. From the tons of comments on your own articles. boulder water damage
This is my first time i visit here. I found so many entertaining stuff in your blog, especially its discussion. From the tons of comments on your articles, I guess I am not the only one having all the leisure here! Keep up the good work. I have been meaning to write something like this on my website and you have given me an idea. Thanks for posting this informative article. – Cara Alami Menurunkan Kolesterol
_đã bảo như cho mà
Visit: tu van dau tu nuoc ngoai, cong bo thuc pham, thiet ke website ban hang, thanh lap cong ty, dang ky nhan hieu, cong bo luu hanh my pham…
Nor is the historical core municipality of Seattle particularly closely packed. With a population density of 7,200 per square mile, the city of Seattle is considerably nj electrical
Wow, cool post. Took me time to read all the comments, but I really enjoyed the article. This is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks for sharing this great article! That is very interesting Smile I love reading and I am always searching for informative information like this! – Jus Manggis
Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth urban areas, famous for their great expanse, were denser than Seattle. Updated urban area density data from the 2010 census will not be available for at least a year. how to write a sympathy message
Space Needle, the casual observer might imagine that one of the nation’s most dense urban areas is spread out below. nj sora
This website has very good content. So I am sure this website will form the well-known in the future. – Melia Propolis
All-Belly Pregnancy Program: How To Eat And Exercise When Expecting To Stay Fit, Have A Strong, Healthy Baby, And Be One “Hot Mama”! This site is a leading resource for information about the Ryan Watson and Flavia Del Monte All Belly Pregnancy PDF book, diet manual, and exercises for pregnant women that help you carry your pregnancy weight with ease, prepare you for giving birth and beyond, and help you keep your baby healthy and happy inside the womb.Rugby shirts
A very awesome blog post. We are really grateful for your blog post. You will find a lot of approaches after visiting your post. I was exactly searching for. Thanks for such post and please keep it up. Great work.
cell phone spying
Text Messages Spy
Downtown Seattle is on a hill and the newer buildings are generally on higher ground than Smith Tower, which makes the difference in height look greater. photo booth rentals nj
Even the Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth urban areas, famous for their great expanse, were denser than Seattle. Updated urban area density data from the 2010 census will not be available for at least a year. buy facebook likes
I’ve realized something today that we might be passionate about every child having access to a good education; that nobody should live in poverty in the 21st century; that everyone should be able to experience music or art. Whatever we believe in or are passionate about, we will be able to further the cause through donations to charity. Logo Design Brisbane
Lunching at Seattle’s Space Needle, the casual observer might imagine that one of the nation’s most dense urban areas is spread out below. aflnc.com
Its impressive, closely packed buildings witness a storied past. For more than 60 years, between 1914 and 1990, downtown Seattle has had the tallest
Well i was never aspect these results but i was wounding more then this.
landscape design brisbane
After examine a few of the blog posts on your web site now, and I really like your manner of blogging. I bookmarked it to my bookmark web site record and can be checking again soon. Pls check out my website as well and let me know what you think. – cream walet
After examine a few of the blog posts on your web site now, and I really like your manner of blogging. I bookmarked it to my bookmark web site record and can be checking again soon. Pls check out my website as well and let me know what you think.
i can’t understand.
http://www.shrewdpropertyinvestment.co.uk
I can see that you are an expert at your field! I am launching a website soon, and your information will be very useful for me.. Thanks for all your help and wishing you all the success in your business.
http://zh-hans.footballonline.co
This is such a great resource that you are providing and you give it away for free. I love seeing websites that understand the value of providing a quality resource for free. It is the old what goes around comes around routine.
website
Very interesting blog. Alot of blogs I see these days don’t really provide anything that I’m interested in, but I’m most definately interested in this one. Just thought that I would post and let you know.
Welcome to Free Beting
Great job for publishing such a beneficial web site. Your web log isn’t only useful but it is additionally really creative too. There tend to be not many people who can certainly write not so simple posts that artistically. Continue the nice writing
PGAM.org
the world when built. It held the title for an impressive 55 years, from 1914 to 1969, when another Seattle building briefly took the title Jacamo Voucher Code
Before launching into the evolution of Seattle’s urban ethic of place, Klingle briefly explores the indigenous perspective of this concept, characterizing the precontact Puget Sound region as a mixed world where social subsistence and spiritual survival intertwined. ecift
Updated urban area density data from the 2010 census will not be available for at least a year. find out
Nice post! This is a very nice blog that I will definitively come back to more times this year! Thanks for informative post.
the harmony band lebanon
Cool article it’s really. Friend on mine has long been awaiting just for this content.
facebook hack password
You made some decent points there. I looked on the internet for the issue and found most individuals will go along with with your website. Manual Directory Submission
Buy backlinks
high pagerank backlinks
This is great! It really shows me where to expand my blog. I think that sometime in the future I might try to write a book to go along with my blog, but we will see.Good post with useful tips and ideas.
buy quality backlink
pr5 backlink
high Pagerank Backlinks
dents of the entire metropolitan region, suburbs and core city, should not be proud of an attractive urban area in an incomparable natural setting. Yet, the vast majority of the region’s population and employment growth is taking place outside the core. Seattle is following the national and international chapter 7 bankruptcy lawyer choosing
I agree with you. Great post.Thank you for taking the time to posting this information very helpfull!. I discovered so many interesting things inside your blog especially. – baju hamil modis