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About SPU
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Garbage System
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History & Overview
Demographics
From the garbage collector’s point of view, all of us who live, work, or visit Seattle are waste producers.
In the midst of the rapidly growing Puget Sound region, Seattle is already densely settled and is growing slowly. In 1995 we were 533,660 residents — an increase of 25,760 (5%) since 1988. Current projections estimate by 2014 we’ll increase another 4% to 554,360 residents. All population figures are derived from Seattle City Light's Economic and Demographic Model, 1996. They are based on predicted moderate population growth.
In 1988, Seattleites lived in 230,540 households, averaging 2.11 persons per household. In 1995, we lived in 247,770 households averaging 2.07 persons each. With population growing and household size shrinking, by 2014 the number of households is projected to be 270,290, with an average household size of 1.98 persons.
More of us are living in multi-family housing (26% in 1988 and 30% in 1995) and this trend is expected to continue. By 2014 population density is expected to increase, with 35% of us living in multi-family housing.
The solid waste Seattle has to manage is directly influenced by the numbers of employees and types of businesses in the City. Each day, about as many non-residents commute to work in Seattle as live in the city!
The number of people working in Seattle is increasing rapidly. Between 1988 and 1995, employment increased by 16% and is expected to increase another 25% by 2014. As we move into the future, the proportion of jobs in different employment sectors will remain relatively stable, with some shift away from manufacturing and trade and a more rapid increase in health-related jobs. Although the greatest growth is in the health field, the greatest number of jobs will still be in the office and government category.
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