Interesting Facts about Seattle Washington
If you like damp, cool weather, an overcast sky, and a mild climate,
Seattle
is the place for you. If you like hot and sunny weather, you will not
want
to live in Seattle.
No, it does not rain all the time in Seattle. Many large cities
on the USA east coast (i.e., Atlanta, New York, Washington D.C.) receive
more annual precipitation than Seattle. However, when it stops raining
in these
east coast cities, the sky clears. In Seattle, when it stops raining,
the
sky stays overcast. The rain in Seattle is usually a light or fine
misty rain. The normal average annual precipitation total for Seattle
is 37.19 inches.
Summers in Seattle are usually warm, dry, and sunny, with long
days and cool nights. The driest time of year in Seattle is the last
half of July and the first half of August. During this time period,
Seattle will often go ten, twenty, or thirty days without any measurable
precipitation. The warm, mild weather often continues into fall, with
cooler temperatures at night --- the rainy season in Seattle doesn't
officially begin until October 1. Winter is the wettest season in
Seattle. Spring in Seattle is mild and green, but it can be very wet at
times.
Population Trends: Home Ownership
Seattleites are more likely to live in their own homes than rent. In
Seattle, 54 percent of those who live in housing units (that is, not in
group quarters) live in homes that either they own or someone in their
household owns. The other 46 percent of this population live in a home
that is rented. Homeowners and renters occupy nearly equal proportions
of housing units. Fifty-two percent of occupied housing units are
renter-occupied and homeowners live in the remaining 48 percent. Because
the average household size for owner-occupied housing units is 2.32
persons and for renter-occupied units, 1.84, owner-occupied housing
units are home to a larger number of people, on average. Homeownership
declined slightly from 49 percent of households in 1990 to 48 in 2000.
The average size household in 1990 had 2.09 persons; in 2000, 2.08
persons. While the average size of rental households remained stable
since 1990 at 1.84, owner-occupied units declined in size from an
average of 2.35 persons in 1990 to 2.32 persons per unit in 2000.
Seattle's homeownership rate is low for Washington but less unusual
among other U.S. cities. While their owners occupy close to half of
occupied housing units in Seattle, 60 percent of occupied housing units
are owner-occupied in King County; 66 percent when Seattle is excluded
(see Table 1 below). In Washington State overall, 65 percent of occupied
housing units are owner-occupied. Homeownership rates in the other four
Washington cities shown here-Bellevue, Spokane, Tacoma, and
Vancouver-are higher than that for Seattle ranging from 53 percent to 62
percent.
Seattle's home-ownership rate is higher than those for three of the
other U.S. cities shown here--Austin, Boston, and San Francisco.
Seattle's rate is just three percentage points higher than Austin's but
16 percentage points higher than Boston's rate and 13 percentage points
higher than San Francisco's. The homeownership rates for the other
cities range from one to 10 percentage points higher than Seattle's
rate. Nationwide, 66 percent of occupied housing units are
owner-occupied.
Seattle content reprinted with permission from
City of Seattle gov
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