THE SECRET LIVES OF SEATTLE’S NEIGHBORHOOD SHOPPERS
CROSSCUT

Seattle’s Dept. of Transportation, the Office of Economic Development, and various neighborhood business associations teamed up to try to get data on questions that are usually matters of speculation, but which are of vital interest to shopkeepers, business boosters, and transportation planners alike. The results, released in February, may assist all of them in their efforts. They also give the rest of us some interesting comparisons between how people live, play, and get around in urban districts as farflung and different as Ballard and Othello Junction.

IT’S A SELLERS MARKET
MARKETPLACE

You’d think it would be a buyers’ market these days for homes. After all, prices are down more than 30 percent on average and they continue to slide. But in many places around the country, home sellers are now in the drivers’ seat and the market seems to be roaring back.

WHERE ARE THE GREEN JOBS?
THE ATLANTIC

Green jobs are often said to be a key growth area of the future: however, according to a new report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, just 3.1 million people (2.4 percent of all American workers) were employed in “green goods and services” jobs in 2010. The report defines green jobs across five categories: production of energy from renewable sources; energy efficiency; pollution reduction and removal, natural resources conservation; and environmental compliance, education, training, and public awareness.