I was recently looking for an online version of a newspaper story I had read about Seattle radio rankings, and stumbled across this site that has quite a bit of interesting demographic information about the city in which I have made my home for the past dozen or so years. It's all slanted towards radio ratings, since that's the kind of information I was originally looking for.
While some of the information is patently wrong, like the amount of snow Seattle gets in the wintertime (if we get a trace of snow, schools start shutting down, so we certainly do not see 15+ inches per year as the site suggests), there were a number of interesting stats that really stuck out:
- The greater Seattle metro area is home to 2.4 million people
- Seattle is the most educated city in America, with over 50% of the adult population having attended college, and 48.8% of college graduates holding Bachelor's or higher degrees. That astounds me.
- Washington conducts more international trade than any other state in the union. Seattle is the manufacturing home to the nation's single largest exporter, Boeing.
- Seattle tops the nation is the number of art-related businesses and institutions.
- Software has surpassed aerospace as the largest source of personal income in the region. In 1998, 23,500 software workers received $6.77 billion in compensation while 110,000 aerospace workers were paid $5.98 billion. Average pay $287,700 in software, $54,364 in aerospace and $34,300 in other jobs, biggest difference is stock options. (Puget Sound Business Journal, 9/99)
I thought those stats were interesting, and a little surprising.
But as I went through the entire list of stats, I couldn't help thinking, as I often do, “What am I doing here?”
I mean, on paper, I fit into Seattle as well as OJ's hands fit into those gloves:
- I grew up in the backwoods of Idaho, where the closest real town was 20 miles away, and even it had a population of only 4000 people. The nearest bona fide city was another hour away beyond that, Ceour d'Alene.
- I hate salmon and coffee, two staples of the Seattle lifestyle.
- The top radio station plays country music, which makes me want to take flaming stake and ram it into my ears when I have to listen to it. Unless your name is Shania Twain, and I'm also watching one of your videos, which instead puts me in a trance that results in the flaming stake burning down to my hand like a huge match and resulting in a lengthy hospital stay and yet another skin graft. Don't look at me like that, you know what I'm talking about.
- My favorite radio station, in stark contrast, is currently languishing in 19th place. The FCC needs to step in and do something about that, for chrissake.
- I'm not a fan of watersports, even though I drive past or across 2 lakes on the way to work every day, and can't get to Seattle without crossing at least one bridge.
- Seattle is a Democrat stronghold, and people here are liberal to an obscene degree. And just about all my friends are Democrats. I on the other hand, am staunchly Republican. And there's little doubt they find that aspect of me similarly obscene.
So, given all these seemingly valid reasons for avoiding Seattle like the plague, why do I love living here so much?
- It's green
- Umm, that's all I got.
I think it's far easier to identify things you dislike, as opposed to things you like. Identifying what makes me happy is a skill that I haven't quite mastered, but hope to eventually.
Perhaps in another dozen years I'll be able to put my finger on why Seattle enchants me so, despite its faults. And I hope Seattle continues to put up with my non-conforming ass for those years (and a few dozen more after that), despite my own.