Archive for demographic stats

America’s Most Wired (and does it matter?)

September 1, 2006 / Wendy Waters / No comments

Today Forbes magazine released a list of America’s most wired cities. That is, the cities that have a combination of the highest rates of broadband connectivity among residents, the largest amount of WI-FI hotspot zones, and the range of internet service providers within a city.

Atlanta came first on the strength of internet access options. It was followed by Orlando and then Seattle.

One one level, it’s fascinating trivia for people who love to ponder cities. But does it matter? Especially, what more does it tell us about cities in a country like the United States where broadband access is available in almost any city at a reasonable price? At a global level, internet connectivity can be a measure of economic development as well as prospects for the future. Communications infrastructure has long be used to examine these issues.

I’ll ponder this further, however here are a few ideas:

1. Do internet connectivity levels correlate to more lower income people having internet access? If it does, then this list could be important as it shows that everyone has more equal access to information. But it might not? Just because there are a dozen providers to chose from, a WIFI cafe on every corner, and every middle and upper class person has internet access — doesn’t mean that the poor do. Again, however, is internet access for lower income people really important to their lives and prospects to raise their incomes. I’d like to see hard evidence.

2. Are cities with wireless connectivity more productive? That is, is the GDP per capita higher, is it rising because of this? Or, is this just a funky gimic for Millennial generation workers?

3. What percentage of the population has and uses regularly a mobile internet device? Whether cell phone, lap top, or PDA (many of us have wireless internet browser capable cell phones, but have never used that feature).

4. Is law enforcement the true beneficiary of this — allowing police instant access to records, photos, etc. If it helps the police do their job better, and isn’t too expensive, I’m all for it.

5. What’s the marginal cost of being #1 like Atlanta, or near the middle or the bottom? That is, does it cost tax payers anything? do consumers pay more or less for services in these cities?

I guess my point is that the Forbes article introduces more questions than it answers.

Category: demographic stats, urban technologies /

1/3 married women earn more than husbands – city connection?

August 26, 2006 / Wendy Waters / 4 comments

A recent study by Statistics Canada of dual income households found that 1/3 of women married or living common law earned more than their husbands in 2003. This was up from 11 % in 1967.

Women who earned more than their husbands however did not make as much as men who were the primary earners ($41,200 compared with $57,800). 30% of primary earner women had a university degree compared with 25% of primary earner men and 21% of secondary earner women.

That 1/3 of women in dual income families are the larger income earner is a phenomenon of urbanization — city life. And urbanization is part of the transformation of the economy from one based more on resource extraction or manufacturing to one based on services, broadly defined (which includes much of the knowledge economy). The service economy takes place in cities.

City culture levels the playing field between men and women in their careers, arguably. First, knowledge based jobs require creative thought, multi-tasking, organizational skills, communications proficiency and even team building — things women tend to be good at (not necessarily superior to men — that’s another argument — but at least on an equal playing field). Second, cities allow for more economic specialization — food preparation, house cleaning, and some child care can be done by someone other than a family member. Third, if so chosen, families can live in townhouses or condominiums that require less maintenance than a house.

All of this suggests that the trend toward women’s earnings approaching those of their husbands will continue.

Category: demographic stats, urban families /

City-dwelling linked to lower rates of obesity

August 26, 2006 / Wendy Waters / 5 comments

Can living in a city make you slimmer? According to Statistics Canada, yes. As reported on the CBC, 20% residents of large cities were obese while 29% of small centre dwellers carried too many extra pounds.

And size of city does matter — in general, the bigger the city the lower the liklihood of obesity. St. John’s NF has an obesity rate of 36% while Toronto’s is 16%. Although smaller than Toronto, Vancouver’s rate came in at 12% (the outdoorsy coastal lifestyle likely playing a role here).

Although the Statistics Canada study was not designed to identify causes of sveltness, researchers surmised that city dwellers tend to walk more and drive less than rural folk. Taking transit requires some walking; living in a community with nearby shopping and other amenities encourages foot rather than vehicular traffic. Bicycle use also tends to be higher in cities.

The study did attempt to account for immigrants — who are typically slimmer and live in cities; although may not have examined education levels, which are often linked to weight. The study did examine the relationship between income and obesity, and interestingly enough wealthy men (26% carry extra flab) as well as poorer people were more likely to be overweight.

The definition of obese was based on a Body Mass Index (BMI) — a ratio of height to weight — of over 30. Someone 6′ tall and 225 lbs has a BMI of 30, and is therefore considered obese, or on a female sized scale: 5′ 5″ and 180 lbs has a 30 BMI and is obese.

As the western world struggles with the costs of health care, city dwelling and increasing urban density, transit use, etc. may in fact help save our lives. Being overweight is linked to myriad other health problems.

Category: demographic stats, urban lifestyles /

Happiness is a short commute

August 23, 2006 / Wendy Waters / No comments

Today only one red light caught me on my commute. It took less than 10 minutes of driving, and only 15 door to door from the house to the office including a one block walk in the sunshine. I arrived peaceful and happy.

According to Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman — as reported in the WSJ and Creativity Exchange — having a short commute is a key to happiness. Yet another advantage to living in the inner city.

Another key to happiness according to Kahneman is maximizing your leisure time (or disposible time as I’ve called it), including doing active things (dining with friends, going for a walk) rather than passive ones (like watching TV). It’s a lot easier to find active things to do in a bussling city than a quiet suburb.

Category: demographic stats, transportation, urban lifestyles /

Angry cities?

August 23, 2006 / Wendy Waters / No comments

Can some cities be angrier than others? That is, do some cities have a higher proportion of angry people? which I’m sure rubs off on everyone else.

Today in the Creativity Exchange Blog, they referenced a study published in on MSN (originally in Men’s Health). In it the authors attempted to rank anger in a city, looking at the percent of people with high blood pressure combined with statistics on assaults.

The results: Florida cities appear particularly angry, having 4 of the top 10 angry cities. Apparently the Sunshine state isn’t.

The least angry cities included: Portland OR, Bangor ME, Fargo ND, and the least angry city: Manchester NH.

Does the city itself play a role? or does it happen for other reasons that people with lower blood pressure and less propensity to commit assaults tend to live in Portland instead of Miami. I suspect that it’s a combination of the two, of nature and nurture if you will. More on this some other time…

Category: demographic stats, urban lifestyles /

Such a thing as too much density?

August 15, 2006 / Wendy Waters / No comments

For US and Canadian cities in particular, I’m a proponent of higher density for a variety of reasons. Larger numbers of people living closely together allows for amenities within walking distance; density allows for cities and neighbourhoods on a human scale rather than that of the automobile (or SUV). Density can also generate the potential for more environmentally sustainable living — quick convenient transit only works in higher density areas; car traffic is reduced when people can do their daily errands on foot, etc.

But, there is such a thing as too much density. Demographia has produced a report on world urban areas, and it includes a chart plotting density versus prosperity. The world’s most densely populated cities generally score poorly on the prosperity scale. (See page 9)

However, the inverse is not true. Less densely populated cities appear to have no greater chance of being prosperous. So , it may be that prosperity (measured as GDP per capita) and density actually have no correlation — cities have low GDP per capita for reasons unrelated to density. Of course, GDP in US dollars does not measure quality of life, nor purchasing power.

More thought on this subject required….

Category: demographic stats, economic development, urban lifestyles /
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