I’m pretty sure this is my favorite lede ever.
For the last six weeks, what appears to be a broken down van has been parked outside the offices of Bonneville Seattle, home of KIRO Radio, 710 ESPN Seattle, KTTH and My Northwest.com, despite official notice warning the owner to move it or face towing.
City law prohibits vehicles from remaining in the same spot for more than 72 hours.
It’s emblematic of a longstanding but growing problem around the city, as parking becomes harder to come by in denser neighborhoods.
Oh man, if I look out my window, I can really see there’s quite a problem. Sometimes I have to walk past it when I go to lunch. This particular story is one everyone can relate to, right? The story of a van in a not particularly well trafficked neighborhood?
I thought the there’s-traffic-congestion-on-my-way-to-work stories were my favorite example of unnecessarily overly personal “reporting” but I think this is way better. Talk about hyper local.
It’s probably someone’s apartment.
Statistically speaking, the average renter doesn’t earn enough to average the average 2-bedroom apartment anywhere in the United States, so 2-bedroom apartments must now be considered an upper-income luxury item.
“Here are the states where affording a two-bedroom apartment currently requires the highest wages, along with the wages earned by the average renter in those states:
Hawaii: $31.61 an hour (average renter earns $14.49 an hour)
Washington, D.C.: $28.04 (average renter earns $26.08)
California: $26.65 (average renter earns $18.96)
New York: $25.67 (average renter earns $22.21)
New Jersey: $25.17 (average renter earns $16.92)
Massachusetts: $24.64 (average renter earns $18.20)
Maryland: $24.64 (average renter earns $15.71)
Connecticut: $24.29 (average renter earns $16.16)
Alaska: $22.55 (average renter earns $17.47)
Washington: $21.69 (average renter earns $16.30)
Here are the states where a two-bedroom apartment requires the lowest income, along with the average renter’s wages:
Iowa: $13.46 an hour (average renter earns $10.98 an hour)
South Dakota: $13.41 (average renter earns $10.67)
West Virginia: $13.21 (average renter earns $10.46)
Kentucky: $13.14 (average renter earns $11.38)
Arkansas: $12.95 (average renter earns $11.68)”
http://www.dailyfinance.com/20.....ent-rents/
At this rate, we’re going to see a lot more people living in illegally parked vans. Of course, it helps a to be a rabbit, because all you need is some dirt to dig a hole in, and you carry your digging tools with you everywhere you go.
That Washington figure must be the average of the whole state. I’m sure Seattle is much higher. I make a couple bucks more an hour than that, and can barely afford a studio apartment in Seattle.