Vibrant night view of Downtown Honolulu courtesy of planetware.com
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Chapter 18 - Hawaii
Hawaii is a tiny island state but looks no different than Downtown Seattle. It is amazing how much growth occurred since the annexation of the state in 1959.
Vibrant night view of Downtown Honolulu courtesy of planetware.com
Vibrant night view of Downtown Honolulu courtesy of planetware.com
Chapter 16 – The North Pacific Coast
We’ve talked so much of Seattle, which is in the North Pacific Coast, that maybe we should summarize what we have learned of this magnificent area. First, the physical geography of the Pacific Northwest is defined by rugged terrain and a wet climate with moderate seasonal temperatures. And of course since the region is basically the last destination in the U.S., it was explored and settled by Europeans and Americans later than other areas of North America.
The region doesn’t have many large cities, the largest are Vancouver, Portland and yup, you guessed it, Seattle. Seattle’s economy is dominated by healthcare and the biotechnology sectors. But who can forget COFFEE! Two large commercial firms dominate the region as well: Boeing and Microsoft.[1]
Spectacular view of Downtown Seattle courtesy of blogs.msdn.com
[1] Stephen S. Birdsall, Eugene J. Palka, Jon C. Malinowski, and Margo L. Price, Regional Landscapes of the United States and Canada 7th Edition (Wiley, 2008), 322.
Chapter 15 – California
Both California and Washington share common misconceptions with the rest of the nation. Especially the state’s largest cities, Los Angeles and Seattle have their image misconstrued. Poor Seattle gets blamed for being to rainy, while Los Angeles gets all the glory of having the perfect weather and warm sandy beaches, well the sandy part is right, but the warm part? Not so much. As I have mentioned before, Seattle doesn’t get as much rain as other cities in the South and East Coasts.
Alas! I have found the culprit for these misconceptions, Hollywood! Who can forget Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in Sleepless in Seattle?
Chapter 14 – The Southwest Border Area: Tricultural Development
In the 1990s, the population of the Southwest Border state of Arizona grew by almost 40 percent. Arizona added almost 1,500,000 residents between 1990 and 2000; only four larger states—California, Texas, Florida, and Georgia—added more. All of the region’s states during this period grew at a rate well above the national average.[1]
This doesn’t mean that Washington, and more specifically Seattle didn’t grow. Since1990, Seattle grew by about 47,000 people, or 9 percent.[2] Well, it’s not a lot but at least it grew.
Photo of an Arizona mesa courtesy of roselawgroup.com
[1] Stephen S. Birdsall, Eugene J. Palka, Jon C. Malinowski, and Margo L. Price, Regional Landscapes of the United States and Canada 7th Edition (Wiley, 2008), 287.
[2] “Seattle’s Population & Demographics,” last modified 2000, http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/Research/Population_Demographics/Prior_Censuses/1900-2000_Population_Housing_Trends/DPDS_007028.asp
Chapter 13 – The Empty Interior
From extreme weather we move on to non-exciting weather, but the non-exciting weather gives way to many breathtaking views and beautiful national parks. The Empty Interior boasts many national parks; some of the more famous includes Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Glacier National Parks. There are three national parks in Washington state, Olympic, Rainier, and Cascades National Parks. Amazingly, they’re within a 150-mile radius from the Seattle metropolitan area, making that parks popular weekend getaways and relaxing summer vacations.[1]
Photo of Olympic National Park, WA courtesy of travel-visit-places.com
[1] Stephen S. Birdsall, Eugene J. Palka, Jon C. Malinowski, and Margo L. Price, Regional Landscapes of the United States and Canada 7th Edition (Wiley, 2008), 259.
Chapter 12 – The Great Plains and Prairies
The Seattle area and the Great Plains region are very different in many aspects of their agriculture patterns, geography, and climate. In 2002, the average farm size in Eastern Montana was 2,000 acres or more, compared to Seattle area farms, which averaged less than 50 acres.[1]
When it comes to hail, the Great Plains beats the entire nation in average days with hail. Eastern Wyoming experiences six days of hail in an average year, as opposed to Seattle that only sees one day of hail in the year, if that.[2] As if that weren’t enough, central Oklahoma experiences an average of nine tornadoes in a year, Seattle, less than one, which basically means zero.[3]
Photo courtesy of tornado-facts.com
Friday, May 6, 2011
Chapter 11 – The Agricultural Core
The agricultural core of the United States includes the states of Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, Indiana, Illinois, Nebraska, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ohio. The area receives adequate rainfall with little annual variability, coupled with ample growing seasons, makes the region ideal for growing corn and other mid- latitude agricultural crops.[1]
Does this vast area even have anything in common with Seattle?
Yes! (Kinda) Seattle doesn’t have vast and sprawling corn fields, but it does have similarities in climate. Interestingly, both Seattle and St. Louis receive the exact same average of 37 inches in annual rainfall.[2]
Agriculture: Demands for greater efficiency and the economic benefits of large-scale agricultural operations have led to a decline in the number of small family farms in the agricultural core.[3] A very interesting entity has taken over Seattle called urban agriculture. Urban agriculture is used by people that have very small spaces and would like to plant many different varieties of vegetables and sometimes even raise chickens.[4]
[1] Stephen S. Birdsall, Eugene J. Palka, Jon C. Malinowski, and Margo L. Price, Regional Landscapes of the United States and Canada 7th Edition (Wiley, 2008), 208.
[2] “St. Louis Weather,” accessed May 1, 2011. http://countrystudies.us/united-states/weather/missouri/st-louis.htm.
[3] Birdsall, Palka, Malinowski, and Price, Landscapes of the U.S. and Canada, 208.
[4] “Seattle’s New Urban-Ag Models,” last modified August 17, 2010. http://www.grist.org/article/food-seattles-new-urban-ag-models-are-sprouting-in-friendly-soil.
Chapter 10 – The Southern Coastlands: On the Subtropical Margin
The Southern Coastlands is an area that is not seen commonly in the United States. This area is humid and subtropical. The Gulf of Mexico has warm waters that give the region’s climate a balmy, maritime feel.[1]
So how does a pretty close to tropical area compare to the constantly overcast weather of Seattle?
Surprisingly, there are a few things that these two areas have in common such as the amount of annual precipitation, the importance of their seaports, and their large percentage of immigrant population.
Let’s begin with precipitation. Contrary to popular belief, Seattle gets less rain than the Southern Coastlands. The Coastlands receive about 50 inches of rainfall per year as opposed to Seattle that receives an average of 37 inches per year.[2] Even though the southern coastlands get more rain than the Seattle area, they both still get a considerable amount of precipitation.
Both areas have very large and important seaports that are an integral part of the U.S. economy.
Above image is of the Port of New Orleans, courtesy of shipdetective.com
The Port of Seattle supported nearly 200,000 jobs in the Puget Sound region in 2003. Similarly, the Port of New Orleans is responsible for approximately 160,498 jobs.[3]
Seattle’s port generated more than $12 billion in business revenue and $626 million in state and local taxes. According to a 2004 study, the Port of New Orleans generated $8 billion in earnings and $800 million in taxes statewide.[4]
Seattle’s port is the nation’s 6th busiest seaport, ranking among the top 50 ports globally. China is the port’s largest trading partner, followed by Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand.[5] New Orleans’ port is known to be the world’s busiest waterway. More than 6,000 ocean vessels annually move through New Orleans on the Mississippi River.[6]
Above image is of the Port of Seattle, courtesy of prowsedge.com
Finally, we come to the racial diversity of both areas. For the Southern Coastlands we will look at Miami, Florida and compare to of course Seattle, Washington.
Within the Miami city limits, the population was approximately 362,470 in 2000. Sixty-five percent of those people were Latino and among those Latinos, about 35% were of Cuban descent.[7] Asians comprised less than 1% of the population, compared to Seattle, where 13% are of Asian descent and 70% are White. Latinos only comprise about 5% of Seattle’s population.[8]
Cuban-Americans in Miami, courtesy of nytimes.com
[1] Stephen S. Birdsall, Eugene J. Palka, Jon C. Malinowski, and Margo L. Price, Regional Landscapes of the United States and Canada 7th Edition (Wiley, 2008), 190.
[2] “See Seattle Northwest Weather,” accessed May 1, 2011. http://www.see-seattle.com/weather.htm.
[3] “Port of Seattle Quick Facts,” accessed May 1, 2011. www.portseattle.org/downloads/about/Quick_Facts2008_1.pdf.
[4] “Port of New Orleans Facts,” accessed May 1, 2011. http://www.portno.com/pno_pages/about_overview.htm.
[5] “Port of Seattle Quick Facts.”
[6] “Port of New Orleans Facts.”
[7] “Ethnicity Statistics,” last modified 2000, http://www.ersys.com/usa/12/1245000/ethnic.htm.
[8] “Seattle Population and Demographics,” last modified 2000, http://seattle.areaconnect.com/statistics.htm.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Come On In!
The Changing South
There are a few things that the South and the Seattle area have in common such as the constant precipitation and its industry in paper products, but the one thing that grabbed my attention was the differences in the architectural styles of housing.
In Seattle, there are a few styles that predominate, those are the Victorian, the Craftsman, and more uniquely, the Water home.
FUN FACT: Seattle has the highest percentage of water homes in the United States, second highest outside of Asia.
In New Orleans, the styles that predominate are the Creole Cottage, the Shotgun house, and the Double-Gallery house.
All of these styles accommodate the climate of each city, the type of terrain, and they also show the ethnicities that settled into each area.
Home on the Ranges
There aren’t a lot of similarities between the Appalachian Mountains area and the Seattle area but Washington does have a mountain range the goes through the state, the range is called the Cascades. The Cascade Range stretches over 700 miles across Northern California, Oregon, Washington, and Southern British Columbia, running parallel to the Pacific, about 100-150 miles inland. The range is best known for its massive snow-capped volcanoes, which rise in isolation and are separated by great intervening plateaus.[1]
On the other hand, the Appalachians are twice as long in length compared to the Cascade Range. At about 1,500 miles in length, they extend from central Alabama up through the New England states and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Quebec.
The Appalachians might be lengthier, but they are not higher than the Cascades. The highest point in the Appalachians is Mt. Mitchell in North Carolina at 6,684 feet.[2] As opposed to the highest point in the Cascades which is Mt. Rainier at 14,410 feet.
Seattle's Forgotten Siblings to the East
The Bypassed East
How does a state that is in the Pacific Northwest compare with other states that are in the Atlantic Northeast?
Well, it turns out there are many similarities and many differences at the same time.
One similarity is that both areas consist of large forestlands.
This is a picture of a forest in Maine and the bottom one is from Washington, they're similar but the Washington forest has moss covering the trees.
Washington State has approximately 21 million acres of forested land.[1] New Hampshire is the second most forested state (in terms of percentage) in the United States, the land is 84% forestland with 4.8 million acres.[2] Maine is the most forested state in the nation with 17.7 million acres of forest land that is over 90% of the state.[3]
One difference is the population and urban areas of each area…
The largest city in Maine is Portland with a population of about 64,000.[4] Vermont’s largest city is Burlington with a population of about 39,000.[5] Manchester is the largest city in New Hampshire with 110,000 people.[6] If we were to add these three cities together they still would not even be half of Seattle’s population.
Mt. Rainier is at top and Mt. Washington is at bottom:
Even though both areas have different elevations and many different mountains Washington’s famous Mt. Rainier is more than double the size of Mt. Washington in New Hampshire. Mount Rainier is 14,410 feet high compared to Mount Washington at 6,288 feet high.[7]
[1] “Forestlands in Washington Counties,” accessed March 20, 2011, http://www.mrsc.org/subjects/environment/forest/timber.aspx.
[2] “Forest Statistics,” accessed March 20, 2011, http://www.nhdfl.org/forest-industries-and-business/forest-statistics.aspx.
[3] “Who Owns Maine’s Forest?,” accessed March 20, 2011, http://www.mainetreefoundation.org/forestfacts/Who%20Owns%20Maine%27s%20Forest.htm.
[4] “City of Portland, Maine,” accessed March 20, 2011, http://www.portlandmaine.gov/
[5] “Vermont Indicators Online,” accessed March 20, 2011, http://maps.vcgi.org/indicators/cfhome/town_profile.cfm?Call_Program=INDICATORS&ProfileTown=Burlington.
[6] “Biggest Cities New Hampshire,” accessed March 20, 2011, http://www.geonames.org/US/NH/largest-cities-in-new-hampshire.html.
[7] “Highest Points in the United States,” accessed March 20, 2011, http://geology.com/state-high-points.shtml.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Manufacturing in Seattle? Well, Not Exactly
The North American Manufacturing Core
The Seattle area is home to many industries including aerospace, information and communication technology, clean energy, biotechnology and marine technology.[1]Seattle is also famously known for its coffee, Starbuck’s and Seattle’s Best Coffee are the best known but there are also smaller roasters such as Tully’s, Caravali Coffees, and Lighthouse Roasters to name a few.
FUN FACT: The Washington, more specifically Seattle area, has the highest per capita share of technology-dependent jobs among all the states in the country and it’s not just all Microsoft either, you can’t turn a corner without bumping into a technology based business.[2]
So where do these techies all hyped up on coffee go shopping for their black framed glasses and plaid shirts?...The Westfield Southcenter Shopping Mall of course!
The Southcenter mall is the biggest shopping center in the Pacific Northwest. It is over 5 million square feet![3]
[1] “The Greater Seattle Datasheet,” accessed March 18, 2011, http://www.cityofseattle.net/oir/datasheet/economy.htm.
[2] Whiting, J. (2011). Seattle Trivia & Fun Facts. http://www.jetcityorange.com/Seattle/Seattle-trivia.html (16 Mar. 2011).
[3] “Shops – Seattle Southside,” accessed March 18, 2011, http://www.seattlesouthside.com/shops.
Not Really a Megalopolis, but Close
So, what is a megalopolis and is Seattle part of one?
A megalopolis is an urbanized region that is dominated by a chain of large, densely populated metropolitan areas that have coalesced over time to produce even larger conurbations.[1]
The term megalopolis is used to refer to the areas of New York City and its surrounding cities such as, Boston, Washington D.C., Baltimore and Philadelphia, to name a few. So, in essence, Seattle cannot be part of megalopolis, but it is part of a large urban metropolitan area.
Location, location, location…hey, it’s important!
FUN FACT: Seattle's Harbor Island is the largest man made island in the nation.[2]
There are several reasons why a city grows in size and in population, the main reason is the site characteristics. The site characteristics refer to the physical features that make up the immediate environment of that place’s location.[3]
As illustrated by the chart, there have been ups and downs in Seattle’s population, it happens to a lot of cities.
This is the view from the Bank of America building in Downtown Seattle.
This is the view from the Bank of America building in Downtown Seattle.
FUN FACT: The Washington State Ferry System is the largest in the country and the third largest in the world, carrying over 25 million passengers annually. Seattle's Pier 52 is the busiest ferry terminal in the U.S.[4]
Because of Seattle’s proximity to Asia, the Port of Seattle trades with many Asian countries, the top five include: China, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, and Vietnam.
[1] Stephen S. Birdsall, Eugene J. Palka, Jon C. Malinowski, and Margo L. Price, Regional Landscapes of the United States and Canada 7th Edition (Wiley, 2008), 64.
[2] Whiting, J. (2011). Seattle Trivia & Fun Facts. http://www.jetcityorange.com/Seattle/Seattle-trivia.html (18 Mar. 2011).
[3] Birdsall, Palka, Malinowski, and Price, Landscapes of the U.S. and Canada, 66.
[4] “Seattle Trivia & Fun Facts,” accessed March 18, 2011.
It’s All About the Humans!
Seattle's Foundations of Human Activity
Some scientists speculate that humans began to inhabit the North American continent about 12,000 years ago.[1]
Before European settlement, peoples of several tribes and bands inhabited the Seattle/Puget Sound area. The Suquamish and Duwamish tribes were the most populous.
Chief Seattle (or Sealth) was a hereditary leader of the Suquamish Tribe. He was born around 1786 and died on June 7, 1866. Seattle is remembered for accommodating the early Anglo-European settlers of Alki Point (later West Seattle), and as a negotiator/peacemaker. This is why the city was named after this great Native leader.[2]
Nowadays Seattle is more diverse ethnically but not as much as other major U.S. cities…
Nearly three quarters of Seattleites are white.
People of Asian descent comprise Seattle's second largest racial group.
Thirteen percent of Seattleites selected Asian to identify themselves in the 2000 census.
People of Asian descent comprise Seattle's second largest racial group.
Thirteen percent of Seattleites selected Asian to identify themselves in the 2000 census.
Comparatively, in the United States, 3.6 percent of the population is of Asian descent and another 0.6 percent of the population identified themselves as at least two races including Asian.[3]
Seattle is located on an area if primary growth. Despite this, the metropolitan area population growth fell to 13 percent in the 2000s compared to 19 percent growth in the 1990s. Nonetheless, the historical core municipality of Seattle grew 8 percent between 2000 and 2010 (from 563,000 to 608,000), while the suburbs grew 14 percent. The suburbs attracted 89 percent of the metropolitan population growth.[4]
Seattle is ranked the 15th largest city in the United States in 2000.[5]
The predominant religion in the Seattle metropolitan area is Christianity, but because of Seattle’s diverse communities other practiced religions are Hinduism, Confucianism, Buddhism and Islam. This is because of the area’s abundant Asian population.[6]
[1] Stephen S. Birdsall, Eugene J. Palka, Jon C. Malinowski, and Margo L. Price, Regional Landscapes of the United States and Canada 7th Edition (Wiley, 2008), 44.
[2] “Suquamish Indian Tribe,” accessed March 17, 2011, http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1576.html
[3] “Seattle’s Population & Demographics,” last modified January 15, 2005, http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/Research/Population_Demographics/Prior_Censuses/1900-2000_Population_Housing_Trends/DPDS_007030.asp.
[4] Wendell Cox, “Slowing Growth Rates & Convergence,” New Geography, February 24, 2011, accessed March 17, 2011, http://www.newgeography.com/content/002073-seattle-denver-portland-slowing-growth-rates-convergence.
[5] Birdsall, Palka, Malinowski, and Price, Landscapes of the U.S. and Canada, 56.
[6] “Religion in Seattle,” last modified 2008, http://www.mapsofworld.com/cities/usa/seattle/religion.html.
Let's Get Physical!
Let’s get into the geography and topography of it all:
Seattle belongs to the Pacific mountains and valleys physiographic region.
Seattle residents enjoy the amenities of their mountain scenery, but many Cascade peaks, such as Washington’s Mt. Rainier, are active volcanoes that threaten nearby metropolitan areas.
Seattle is surrounded by water because it sits on an isthmus between Puget Sound and Lake Washington.
The Seattle area was formed hundreds of thousands of years ago during different ice ages - most dramatically during the Pleistocene age.
Large glaciers moved down from the north, blanketing the area under more than a thousand feet of ice. This sheet of ice was so deep it would have buried all of the current skyscrapers with plenty of room to spare. The glacial lobe reached as far south as what is now the city of Olympia.
The weight of these slow moving ice fields actually depressed and scraped out the earth below. The result was the creation of valleys, troughs, basins and ridgelines of hills all oriented in a generally north/south direction.
As the climate warmed and the glaciers retreated for the last ice age, the ocean that got clogged thundered into the empty space in a series of gigantic floods. The deepest depressions became Puget Sound, which is 200-300 feet deep in some areas. Other areas were slowly filled with fresh water. These places became Lake Washington and Lake Sammamish, which can be 100-200 feet deep in some areas.
Today, the soils in the city are called "glacial till" because they are soft, sandy and rocky; the remnants of all that earth moving. Large amounts of rain filter through the rocky soil, sometimes returning to the surface as seasonal springs.[1]
The glaciers are still here too. FUN FACT: Washington State is home to more glaciers than any other state except Alaska.[2]
Mt. Rainier alone accounts for a huge percentage of the nation's glacial ice. Glaciers are also present on Mt. Adams, Glacier Peak, and Mt. Baker, all of which happen to be volcanoes. Thus, Washington is often referred to as the land of "fire and ice."[3]
Sadly, these glaciers are all shrinking and receding due to the current global warming trend.
So does the Pacific Northwest have earthquakes? Yup, it does…
Seattle is located at a convergent continental boundary, where two tectonic plates are colliding. This boundary is called the Cascadia Subduction Zone. It lies offshore and runs from British Columbia to northern California. The two plates are converging at a rate of about M 3-4 cm/year (1-2 inches/year), and the northeast-moving Juan de Fuca Plate is pushing into North America, causing stress to accumulate. Earthquakes are caused by the abrupt release of this slowly accumulated stress.[4]
One of the largest earthquakes in Washington is thought to be the 1872 earthquake that had a magnitude of 7.0; it hit near Lake Chelan, Washington. This earthquake was felt from British Columbia, Canada, to Oregon and from the Pacific Ocean to Montana.
More recently, three other significant earthquakes have occurred in Washington. A magnitude 5.3 earthquake hit Seattle on May 2, 1996. Another earthquake struck Western Washington on July 2, 1999 and the most recent major earthquake, the Nisqually quake, was a magnitude 6.8 and struck near Olympia, WA on February 28, 2001.[5]
Mostly cloudy with a chance of rain… climatic factors in and around the Seattle area…
The keys to understanding climatic patterns in the East are temperature and latitude, whereas in the West, the keys are precipitation and topography.[6]
Seattle is located at the most northern latitude of any major city in the continental U.S.; it is 47.6 degrees of latitude. As a result, summer days are long with 16 hours of daylight on June 21. On the other hand, winter days are dark, gloomy, and short with only 8.5 hours of daylight on December 21.[7]
Since Seattle is close to a body of water, its temperature doesn’t experience great seasonal extremes.
Seattle is part of the humid mesothermal climatic region; it is classified Cfb, which means that it is a humid, subtropical area with the warmest month mean temperature under 71.6°F (22°C) and where at least 4 months have means over 50°F (10°C).[8]
Seattle also belongs to the subtropical evergreen forest vegetation region.[9]
The Seattle area has highland soils which means that throughout the high and rugged terrain there is little development, and it is agriculturally worthless.[10] Maybe that’s why fishing is a better deal for the Seattleites.
Similar to New York, Seattle has very high quality tap water. The water can be traced all the way to the rain and snowpack of the Cascades, where water feeds into two protected watersheds located in the foothills near the city. Watersheds, or drainage basins, are areas of land where all the water from it drains to the same place. The Cedar River watershed (the water source that feeds Lake Washington and, by extension, Puget Sound) provides 70 percent of Seattle’s drinking water.[11]
[1] John, March 26, 2006 (17 March 2011) The Seattle Lifestyle, http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/70055/da6ce/
[2] Whiting, J. (2011). Seattle Trivia & Fun Facts. http://www.jetcityorange.com/
Seattle/Seattle-trivia.html (17 Mar. 2011).
[3] John, The Seattle Lifestyle
[4] “The Pacific Northwest Seismic Network,” last modified June 14, 2002, http://www.pnsn.org/INFO_GENERAL/faq.html#2
[5] “Earthquakes in Washington State,” Crew: Ahead of the Wave, accessed March 17, 2011, http://www.crew.org/washington.php.
[6] Stephen S. Birdsall, Eugene J. Palka, Jon C. Malinowski, and Margo L. Price, Regional Landscapes of the United States and Canada 7th Edition (Wiley, 2008), 27.
[7] “The Emerald City,” Beautiful Seattle, accessed March 17, 2011, http://www.beautifulseattle.com/
[8] Birdsall, Palka, Malinowski, and Price, Landscapes of the U.S. and Canada, 29.
[9] Ibid., 30.
[10] Ibid., 33.
[11] Morgan Greenseth, “Follow the Flow: Seattle’s Drinking Water,” World Changing Seattle, July 8, 2008, accessed March 17, 2011, http://www.worldchanging.com/ local/seattle/archives/008193.html
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Don't Be So Thematic
Regions and Themes for the Seattle Area
In order to incorporate the region and themes of a city we must begin with its population.
In order to incorporate the region and themes of a city we must begin with its population.
According to the 2000 U.S. Census, the estimated population for Seattle in 2000 was 563,374 people, that is a 9.2% increase from 1990. This makes the population density 6,717 people per square mile.
Seattle belongs to the North Pacific Coast region. There are two types of regions; formal uniform regions and nodal (functional) regions. Places in a nodal region are associated with each other because they share a common focus.[1] For example, a newspaper circulation and more specifically The Seattle Times. Seattle’s dominant theme is its urban setting, the theme for Pike Place is its maritime surroundings. FUN FACT: The Farmer's Market at Pike Place Market is the longest continuously operating farmer's market in the U.S., it has been running since 1907.[2]
As a city grows, it brings in high mobility into and away from the city. Voluntary migrations include push factors and pull factors. Push factors are a mix of a place’s negative characteristics that help in the decision for someone to move away from that place. A push factor that can be considered for Seattle might be its constant rainy and overcast weather. A pull factor, on the other hand, is the positive characteristics of a place that might attract people to move into the place.[3] A pull factor for Seattle can be its availability of high tech jobs.
What is Seattle main function as a city?
By taking a look at the top five employers in the Seattle area we can see which industries are the largest. The Boeing Company employs over 70,000 employees making the aerospace industry the top one in the Seattle area. Boeing Company is headquartered here in Seattle and it is the largest aerospace firm in the world.[4] The second top employer is the Microsoft Corporation, employing over 40,000 people. This makes the information and technology industry a large component in the Seattle area. The third top employer is the University of Washington employing about 25,000 people.[5] FUN FACT:Central Conn. State Univ. Everybody reads here. The Seattle Public Library system has the highest percentage of library card-holders per capita in the country and the city has the highest percentage of residents with a college degree or higher.[6] The fourth largest employer is Amazon, the online shopping titan that employs about 15,000 people. Lastly, the fifth largest employer in the Seattle area is Weyerhaueser, the manufacturer of wood and paper products employs about 10,000 people. Seattle is ranked the most literate city by
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Intro
Hello Everyone! My name is Miriam Cruz and I was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA. I love L.A. weather but interestingly enough I feel as if it doesn't rain here as much as I would like it to. That is why I chose Seattle, WA as my place to do my webpage. I love the weather, the scenery and the overall lifestyle of this city. I have never been to Seattle but I am planning a trip to go up there this summer after finals! I'm really excited to do research about the Emerald City (as it is commonly known) and I will be very prepared and sound like a total nerd when I go up there talking about all of the different geographic features.
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