Got a Dog?

This area including Seattle is loves dogs!  Someone told me once that there are more dogs living in Seattle than children.  Hmm.. I don‘t know about that but if that were the case, there would probably a number of reasons why.  For one, people who live here are crazy about their dogs.

And have you been to a dog park in spring?  Dog owners in Seattle love to mingle and socialize with other dog owners at various dog parks around the city. The off-leash parks are the most popular.

People here do everything with their dogs.  I was in line at a bank the other day and this gal had a little something (looked like a rat) in her purse.  All you could see it a wet nose.  And don’t mention walking and running with your dog.  If you like to go running with your dog, check out this online community of Seattle Dog Runners called Djog . The slogan is “Creating canine contentment one Djog at a time.

For a map of “dog parks” click here.  Woof!

This weekend in Green Lake: Neighbor Appreciation Day, Valentine’s Day Dash, Station 16 open house and more

This weekend in Green Lake: Neighbor Appreciation Day, Valentine’s Day Dash, Station 16 open house and more

Here is what’s happening this weekend in our part of the city:

Friday, Feb. 10, 2012

Free wine tasting and snack bar at Cafe Bonjour to celebrate debut of new pasta menu and beer and wine license. [info]

7:30 p.m. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead at the Seattle Public Theater. [info]

Saturday, Feb. 11, 2012

Neighbor Appreciation Day. [info]

8 a.m. 3,000 participants expected at the Love ‘em or Leave ‘em Valentine’s Day Dash at Green Lake Park. [info]

Got a Million?

In 2011 in King County, 735 houses sold for 1 million or more.  471 were on the Eastside.  The most expensive one sold for $14.75 million in Hunts point.  Snohomish County saw 18 homes sell for 1 million plus.

Is The Seattle Housing Market Improving?

OK everyone is asking “is the real estate market better yet?” I say what area, what street, heck what time is it.  The point is it’s changing folks.  Mostly improving.  There is still a room to grow but we are seeing more people jump into the market.

The National  Association of Home Builders has an “Improving Markets Index” in an effort to track cities with improving markets. The good news is that the index grew last  month, with 40 cities being added to the 41 already on the list.

To make the list, a city has to show recovery as measured by three criteria:  housing price appreciation, job growth, and single-family housing permits.

By those measures, large metro areas such as Dallas and Philadelphia are  recovering, as are smaller cities including Denver, Honolulu, Indianapolis, and  Nashville.

We are seeing some real improvements in the Seattle market as well.  In some areas, multiple offers are in play.  If you’d like more information about your neighborhood, call us today.

Top 10 Cities: Green Living, Health, Air Quality and Other Stuff!

Top 10 Overall:

• San Francisco
• Washington, D.C.
• Seattle
• Boston
• New York City
• Minneapolis
• Denver
• Portland, Ore
• Los Angeles
• Chicago

These cities earned the highest combined scores. In order to earn a spot on this list, cities had to rank highly on positive lists (such as “best public transit”) and rank low or not at all on negative lists (such as “worst allergies”).

Top 10 Most Frequent List Appearances

• New York
• San Francisco
• Washington, D.C.
• Seattle
• Boston
• Minneapolis
• Denve
• Los Angeles
• Chicago
• Miami

These cities showed up most frequently on the lists featured in Scientific American’s top 10 cities lists for the past four days (green living, health, air quality, technology). New York City, the overall winner, appeared on more than 60 percent of all the collected lists, whereas the cities that tied for second earned spots on almost half the lists; the third-place cities showed up in the rankings about 30 percent of the time.

Not all of the lists on which these overall scores are based were created using conventional statistical or scientific methods, therefore their validity should be suspect. We have presented this information mainly for discussion. Scientific American gathered the lists from several online sources. To earn a place on the “overall performance” list, cities had to appear on multiple lists, and earned points based on their rankings. Each city’s points were added up to arrive at the overall score. A high rank on a positive list such as “best public transit” earned a city points whereas a spot on a negative list such as “worst allergies” detracted points. Each city’s points added up to its overall score.

What do you think?  I can speak for a couple of these cities.  How about you?  I’d love your comments.

Single Moms – Where Is The Best Place To Live?

I recently saw report with a list of the metros across the country that are thought to be the best places for single moms to live.

They looked at different aspects of a city that might make it more attractive for a single mother to raise a family and came up with this list of five metrics, and the following top 10 list:

1. Women’s Income 2. Housing Affordability 3. Crime 4. Education Spending 5. Walk Score

What do you think?  How does Seattle rank on those metrics?  I’d love your thoughts!