Why Seattle is growing faster than the suburbs

For the first time in 100 years, Seattle is growing at a faster rate than its suburbs, according to The Seattle Times.

KIRO Radio’s John Curley is certain the growth is temporary, and due in part to millennials like Tom & Curley Show producer Bryan.

“It’s temporary because I’d love to see the demographics on who’s here: Are they young? Are they married? They’re like Bryan. They’re not ready to ‘commit genetically.'”

What John is trying to say is that Bryan’s generation isn’t ready to settle down and start a family as early as previous generations.

He said it’s because the millennials are a generation of planners, and that means they might have a family later in life.

“Once you have kids, it puts you in a whole different ballgame. It’s when you get the postcard that says, ‘Please move to Sammamish.'”

But Tom Tangney doesn’t think this generation will flee the city once they have kids. He calls it a significant demographic shift, “mentally.”

According to Tom, millennials prefer walkable cities with various modes of transportation, rather than driving to get to wherever in the suburbs.

As it turns out, producer Bryan agrees more with Tom. “Neither of us want to live in the suburbs. It’s more a matter of waiting (to have a family) because it’s more expensive to live in the city,” says Bryan of he and his wife. “So we’re willing to wait and put it off, rather than to move out to lovely Lake Sammamish.”

Tom and John agree that if Seattle keeps growing faster than the suburbs, then waiting to have family in the city means the mentality of the suburban sprawl may be going by the wayside.