Amazon isn’t to blame for Seattle’s woes, unless you count jaywalking

It’s tough to find an affordable place to live in Seattle. Heck, it’s tough to find parking.

So let’s blame Amazon. At least, that seemed to be the tone of a recent Seattle Times story.

The Seattle-based company is being targeted for making the city less diverse and worsening income inequality. And Amazonians had mixed feelings over the accusations made about the company. Some couldn’t understand why people are irked at the employees, others are “sympathetic,” and some are battling the same problems people outside the Amazon family are facing, the Times reports.

But we shouldn’t blame Amazon, at least completely.

“It is the price of success,” said Luke Burbank, guest host on KIRO Radio’s Tom and Curley Show. He believes Amazon gets more scrutiny from the Times simply because of its close proximity to the company.

However, Burbank believes questions should be asked about Amazon’s philanthropy and civic involvement.

“But blaming employees for coming and wrecking Seattle is absolutely asinine to me,” he added.

One thing Burbank is willing to blame Amazon &#8212 at least its employees &#8212 for is the chaos of South Lake Union. Many act like its a pedestrian mall and they don’t have to obey crosswalks, he explained. They walk around with their ear buds in and don’t pay attention to their surroundings.

KIRO Radio’s John Curley would agree, Tom Tangney said. Curley is constantly complaining about how oblivious the employees are, walking five abreast on a sidewalk.

If Amazon is responsible for Seattle’s quickly changing landscape, it’s not likely it will stop any time soon. The Times reports the company employs more than 24,000 people in the state and is making plans to build space to fit even more than that in the city.