This post originally appeared on Orphan Road.
I think Goldy’s basically right about the fear of regionalism in greater Seattle. We are, in fact, one big family, one big economy, and it’s silly to pretend otherwise. That said, I think the obvious rejoinder is that Goldy’s native Philly, where I lived myself for a few years, is a 19th-century hub-and-spoke city, whereas Seattle is not. So it makes sense that we’ve got a slew of Edge Cities, to use Joel Garreau’s phrase, that don’t consider themselves tied to the urban core (and are certainly not old-style bedroom communities the way Bala Cynwyd is).
But what really gets my goat is this Seattle Times op-ed, the genesis of Goldy’s post, that gives us the tired lament that Seattle is (a) too expensive and (b) too childless:
For the working middle class, people who traditionally lived comfortably in Seattle, the firefighters, police officers, teachers, even professors, it has become harder to buy a home and raise a family.
As economist Dick Conway put it, the region has affordable housing, it just may not be in Seattle. If it is OK for everyone to move to Kent or Duvall or Idaho, for that matter, then no problem. But that is impractical.
So if you’re a teacher, it’s impractical to live in Kent and work in Seattle? Why? Sound Transit proposed expanding light rail to Tacoma so that that nice teacher from Kent could enjoy a comfortable, reliable commute to Tacoma, Seattle, Northgate, the UW, Bellevue, or Redmond, and maybe even grade some papers on the way home at night.
But the Seattle Times didn’t want that, so it recommended a “no” vote on Prop 1.
As to the childless part, again, if we’re one region, why does it matter? If we’re all connected by a reliable transit network, why can’t families choose to live in the suburbs? But even that’s besides the point, since, many families can afford to live in Seattle, they just have other priorities. They could choose to live in a smaller house, with little or no yard (but close access to a fantastic public park system), and rest easy that their teenagers aren’t speeding up and down Route 202 late at night to get to their friends’ house. It’s a choice.
