When it comes to housing, Madison Park has it all

What the Census says about where we live

Madison Park has the reputation of being one of Seattle’s tonier neighborhoods, characterized by an eclectic mix of upscale houses owned and occupied by some pretty well-heeled people.  That stereotype is not entirely off base; but even to Madison Parkers it will probably come as a surprise to learn that single-family homes make up less than half of the neighborhood’s total housing units and fully 42% of Madison Park’s residences are actually rentals.

This news, shocking or otherwise, comes from the 2010 U.S. Census and the related American Community Survey for Madison Park (Broadmoor and Washington Park included).  While most residents here do live in houses that they own (or at least on which they pay the mortgage), there are plenty of people who live in multi-family structures (both condo and apartment buildings) and a significant number who rent either houses or multi-family units in the Park.

The Census Bureau reports that there are a total of 2,829 housing units within the .9 square miles of Madison Park, an increase of only seven units since the 2000 Census.  The number of renter-occupied units for some reason declined in the ten years between the two Census surveys, however, from 1,118 in 2000 to 1,052 in 2010.  Nevertheless, this still represents 41.6% of Madison Park’s total housing units.  Unfortunately, there is no breakout of what proportions of these rental units are comprised of houses, condos, or apartments.

Census numbers show that the other 1,474 neighborhood residences are owner occupied—and surprisingly (at least to us) 523 of these (35%) are owned “free and clear.”  Just to put that particular data point into perspective, we note that the comparable figure for Seattle as a whole is just 10%.   

Seattle, by the way, has a total of 308,516 total housing units, so Madison Park represents slightly less than 1% of the City’s total stock of housing. Our 4,962 residents comprised about .8% of Seattle’s population of 608,660 in 2010. In Madison Park, our housing density (the average number of residents per housing unit) is roughly 2, while Seattle’s is almost exactly the same. Even in terms of rental housing, Madison Park is not significantly different proportionally, 42% versus 46% for Seattle overall.

There are 2,526 households in Madison Park, according to Census numbers. Of these, 1,096 households (43%) are comprised of a single person and 1,224 households (48%) are comprised of families (the remainder apparently being households comprised of people who are not related to each other). The number of people occupying rental units was 1,595 (32% of Madison Parkers).

Some of the most interesting housing information for Madison Park is contained in the American Community Survey, which provides estimates for the five-year period, 2007-2011.  For example, a breakdown of the age of the housing units in the neighborhood shows that 42% of them were built prior to 1940, 39% were built between then and 1969, and 6% were built in this century. So while construction of new single-family units is picking up, this remains a community with a lot of relatively old housing. Part of the reason for this, no doubt, is that new multi-family units are unlikely here. A recent report in the Seattle Times showed this area of town (Madrona and Leschi included) as being the only one where its not expected that any new units will be constructed over the next several years.

In terms of housing types, the Survey estimates that almost half of the housing units in Madison Park are single-family residences.  Since houses are more likely to have families living in them than apartment or condo units, it is probable that the majority of Madison Parkers live in houses, owned or otherwise.  For some reason, the Census Bureau apparently does not ask that specific question.

As for multi-family housing, the Survey estimates that only 4% of these residences are in buildings with four or fewer units while 26% are in buildings of 20 or more  units (the rest of the multi-family residences fall somewhere in between).  

In Madison Park, of course, multi-family housing runs the gamut from tiny apartments with relatively modest rents to expansive waterfront condos costing multi-millions of dollars.  Information is readily available about condo pricing, which we cover some detail each quarter.  Rental information is much harder to obtain.  Fortunately, the City will soon be requiring that landlords register their properties. As a result we may discover something more that changes our view of housing in Madison Park. 

Madison Park: not young, not gay

What the census tells us 

We already knew (since we've reported on the subject) that Madison Park is a virtually lily-white community (90% non-minority, in fact). Now we discover, with the official statistics from the 2010 U.S. Census to back it up, that we're also old (at least relatively so). And not only that, we're straight---not that there's anything wrong with it. If there's some shocking revelation about Madison Park that's hiding in the most-recent Census numbers, we certainly haven't found it.

We've been digging through the population statistics for an inordinate amount of time--18 months, in fact. To be fair (to ourselves, that is) between the actual 2010 Census numbers and a separately prepared 2007-2011 American Community Survey there are a lot of data points to choose from. But while there's no news in what we've discovered, we suspect that many readers will nevertheless find the specifics interesting. 

For example, Madison Park is one of the oldest neighborhoods in the region, at least in terms its population. The median age of Madison Parkers is a relatively high 47 years old, which at least is not higher than it was at the time of the 2000 Census. But our almost-half-century median age certainly brands us as comparatively ancient. For King County's residents as a whole, the median age (the point at which half the population is older and half is younger) is only 36 years, while the median age on Capitol Hill is just 31.6 years.  Even Laurelhurst, which shares many characteristics with Madison Park, has a youngish population whose median age, 36, mirrors that of King County.

Despite our oldster image, however, Madison Park actually has a slightly higher percentage of kids than does Seattle as a whole. Those under 18 years old comprise 15.4% of the City's population versus 18.1% for Madison Park.  Where Madison Park deviates from the Seattle norm is in its lack of adults in their 20s and 30s and in the preponderance of "seniors."  While the neighborhood has roughly half the young adults of the City as a whole, it has almost double the number of those 60 years of age and older. The proportion of residents in their 40s and 50s is essentially the same at the neighborhood and City level.

Here, graphically, is how the numbers break out, comparing Seattle to Madison Park (known officially as King County Census Tract 63):

So yes, we're old (or at least about a third of us are)--not that there's anything wrong with that either.  Let's just say that Madison Park is composed of a relatively more experienced population than Seattle as a whole.

Meanwhile, with regard to our lack of gay population, the evidence from the Census is rather more indirect. There was no sexual orientation question asked on the 2010 Census, so there is only information available on the number of couples who indicated they had a "partner" of the same sex sharing a household.  Madison Park did not have many such couples relative what was true for Seattle, so we're assuming that the same lack of critical mass holds true for single gays and lesbians in Madison Park as is apparently true for couples.

The Seattle Times' analysis of the Census data showed that one in 18 couples in Seattle was same sex, 6% of all couples. The neighborhoods most favored by these couples were Capitol Hill and West Seattle.  Although Madison Park is demonstrably gay friendly, we apparently don't have a high proportion of gays and lesbians as residents, though the number of same-sex couples was up significantly between the 2000 and 2010 Census reports. While there were only 30 such couples reporting at the millennium, there were 43 in 2010, a fairly significant increase (43%).  Madison Park reported 1,209 total couples, married or otherwise, so the percentage of same-sex couples was still only 3.5%, a bit better than half the percentage for Seattle as a whole.

Seattle TImes map showing the concentration of gay couples in Seattle

It's perhaps worth noting that though gays may be under-represented in our neighborhood, relatively speaking, there are more gay couples living in Madison Park than in Laurelhurst (which has a 40% larger population than ours).  Montlake, meanwhile, actually saw a decline in the number of gay couples living there between 2000 and 2010. Though the number of Montlake residents is 73% higher than Madison Park's, according to census figures our neighbor has only 49 same-sex couples.

There are a few other interesting things that were revealed in the Census data which we will ultimately be sharing.  Next up:  an overview of Madison Park housing.

[Thanks to Seattle's Demographer, Diana Canzoneri, King County's Demographer, Chandler Felt, and Justin Mayo of the Seattle Times for their help in pointing to the data sources utilized in this posting.]

Madison Park: wealthy as charged

The proposal to take down the fence at so-called (by the City and no one else) Madison Park North Beach has drawn an unusual amount of media attention to our fair neighborhood in recent weeks. KING-TV, KOMO-TV and KIRO-TV have each run news stories on the subject, as have other news purveyors. Some of the coverage in the major media and blogosphere has focused on the apparent class conflict between those "upscale" Madison Parkers who wish to preserve the waterfront park as it is and certain out-of-the-neighborhood members of the public who say they want direct access to the water at 43rd Avenue E. and E. Lynn Street.

In its coverage of the issue, SeattlePI.com referred to Madison Park as "tidy and affluent," while the Seattle Times settled on "wealthy" as its descriptor for the neighborhood. We were intrigued by the fact that The Times was able to quantify the wealth aspect, noting that "Madison Park is one of the city's wealthiest neighborhoods, with an average income of $161,000, according to census data."

We decided to check into this.  For one thing, is the number for real? And if accurate, is it meaningful?  After all, average income is probably not the best way to look at a neighborhood's affluence. Here's a simplistic example that helps explain why: suppose ten minimum-wage workers live on a residential block, along with one multi-millionaire. This combination would presumably result in a pretty high average income for that block, since you would divide the sum of the annual incomes of everyone on the block by eleven to get the average--which would be high, even though most of the block's population actually lived in poverty.

This is not a third-world neighborhood, so income disparities for Madison Park would hardly be in line with our example. But it is well known that we have quite a few millionaires (and perhaps a billionaire) living in our midst, and these high-income individuals could certainly throw off the average income calculation for the community as a whole.  Having looked into the matter, we can report that while the neighborhood is definitely wealthy, the situation is more nuanced than was evident in the Seattle Times story.

First, to give the paper its due, its average income calculation for Madison Park is essentially correct (there appears to be a typo, however).  The U.S. Census reports that Census Tract 63 (Madison Park, including its Broadmoor and Washington Park enclaves) has average income of $151,000, based on surveys undertaken for the period 2005-2009.

The U.S. Census also reports, however, that the median income for the 2,871 households in Madison Park is only $76,042.  We'd argue that this is a more representative way of looking at the affluence of the community.  The median income number is the halfway point between the bottom 50% of households and the top 50%.  The City's demographer, Diana Canzoneri, agrees that median income is the typical approach used when looking at income levels across population units.

Here's a look at how income is distributed in Madison Park, according to the Census estimates:

Almost one third of Madison Park households earns less than $50,000 per year while another third earns $125,000 or more.  This is a much broader variation in income levels than might be suspected if one simply looks at the $151,000 average income number for the Park, which is obviously skewed by some very high income earners.  Even so, it presents a much different picture from than that of Seattle as a whole:

A Madison Park household is almost twice as likely to have annual income of $125,000 or more than a Seattle household is.  And when you get to the $200,000 income level and above (which is the highest category surveyed), the difference is even more striking:

That's right, more than one fifth of Madison Park households, according to the U.S. Census, have annual income at or above $200,000.

So yes, whatever way you look at it, Madison Park is definitely wealthy. But by no means is everyone who lives here in that category.

Madison Park: not quite homogeneous

Madison Park has many things going for it, but diversity certainly isn't one of them.  At least not diversity of the racial/ethnic kind.  Though we may show a degree of variety in other ways, it would be evident to anyone taking a quick jog around the neighborhood that our population is essentially monochromatic.  

But not exactly lily white, either.

The recently released 2010 census numbers provide evidence that there's at least a modicum of diversity in the old neighborhood. Slightly more than 10% of area residents classified themselves as either non-white, mixed race, or Hispanic/Latino. Asians comprised the largest minority group, representing 3.7% of the total population (186 total residents), with Hispanics at 2.7% (136 residents), blacks at 1.1% (60 residents), and American Indians at 0.2% (10 residents). A total of 141 Madison Parkers claimed two or more races, while two people reported they were native Hawaiians or Other Pacific Islanders and 17 said they were of another race.  

This certainly makes Madison Park one of the whitest neighborhoods in what is a very white city. As the Seattle Times reported last month, the 2010 census showed Seattle with the fifth highest percentage of non-Hispanic whites of any major U.S. city: 66%.  Washington State reported an even higher 72.5%.  Like the State as a whole, Madison Park showed a significant increase in the minority population since the 2000 census. The current figure of 10.3% is actually a big increase over the 6% reported at the time of the 2000 census.  This growing diversity is primarily attributable to increases in the Asian and Hispanic/Latino population groups.

Unlike Washington overall, however, Madison Park does not show any significant difference in diversity between the under-18-year-old and the 18-and-over population.  For the State, the under-18 population is much more diverse (only 61% white) than is the older demographic (over 75% white).  For Madison Park, 90.8% of the older residents classified themselves as non-Hispanic white, versus 89.7% for the population as a whole.

This first batch of statistics released by the U.S. Census Bureau is limited to ethnic/racial identification and housing occupancy. Madison Park actually lost population since the 2000 census, with 44 fewer people reported as residents since the last census (4,962 in 2010 versus 5,006 in 2000). There were 2,829 separate housing units in Madison Park in 2010, up slightly from the 2,822 reported in 2000. Almost 11% of these available residences were, however, vacant at the time of the 2010 census, which may explain our slight population decline.

The Census Bureau will be releasing additional demographic information from the 2010 census over the next several years, and we will keep you posted as these data dumps occur.


[Notes: Madison Park (including the Washington Park and Broadmoor enclaves) is almost--but not quite--wholly contained within Census Tract 63.  A very few Madison Park residences, primarily in the area of 39th Avenue E., just north of Denny Blaine, are excluded from this census tract.  However, their inclusion would not change the demographic mix reported above, though it would perhaps add another 100 or so people to the neighborhood's population total. Also, note that the census allows those who are ethnically Hispanic or Latino to separately classify themselves as white, black or mixed race.  If all Hispanic/Latino residents of Madison Park were simply classified by race rather than ethnicity, the neighborhood's white population would be 91.6%, based on the 2010 census figures.]

Short takes

One of the glories of summer in Madison Park

Blog reader Alice Lanczos tells me that I ought to rave about the lovely Crape Myrtles that line the north side of E. Madison Street in the area between Bing’s and McGilvra’s. I’m happy to do so. Though in past years I barely noticed these splendiferous beauties, they are certainly not to be missed this year. The blooms are expected to last at least until the end of the month; so if you haven’t done so already, get down there, look up, and enjoy the show (if driving, please pull over first).

Do New Multi-Lot Houses Have Consequences?

I’ve done some additional digging since my story earlier this week on the census numbers; and I’ve discovered that there is, in fact, an official government estimate of the current population of Madison Park. The Washington State Office of Financial Management (OFM) estimates that our neighborhood has actually lost population since the 2000 census.

The current population estimate for our census tract shows a decline in population from 5,006 in 2000 to 4,937, a loss of 69 Madison Parkers. If true, this would mean a decrease in population of 1.39% over the eight- year period, the kind of thing that happens in the rust belt.

The State’s population estimates are “derived from the current housing stock using decennial census-based occupancy rates and household size that have been adjusted based on other estimation information,” according to OFM. I guess we can hardly argue with that methodology, can we?

Private profit using public resources?

Some Madison Park residents (and probably a few merchants) are miffed that the City’s Parks and Recreation Department issued a permit to the concessionaire who sets up a tent near the Bath House on sunny days and sells ice cream and pop to beach goers. Part of the irritation stems from safety concerns about the electrical cord which snakes its way across the grass, over a dirt path and cement walkway and into the women’s room (where I am told it sometimes sits in water that ponds on the floor).

A bigger concern for many, however, is that allowing a vendor to operate on Park property—using taxpayer space and electricity—creates unfair competition for Madison Park merchants, such as Scoop du Jour, that make most of their revenue during the summer months. Topping it all off is the fact that the City acted—as usual—without apparent notification to anyone in Madison Park. This is something guaranteed to drive the Madison Park establishment (Community Council and Business Association) crazy. Apparently it has.

If you believe that the City acted unwisely in granting the concession, you may sign a petition to that effect which is available at Madison Park Hardware.

Who are we and what are we doing here?

In advance of the 2010 U.S. Census, now only a few months away, I thought it might be kind of fun to take a look at what the last census said about us. (If you don’t think it would be kind of fun, stop reading now and see the note below). I’m guessing that where we were at the time of the last census is pretty much where we are today, since Madison Park is not a particularly dynamic community. But I could be wrong; so it will be interesting to make a comparison of these statistics to the new numbers when they come out next year.

Madison Park (including Broadmoor and Washington Park) comprises King County’s Census Tract 63, which in 2000 was populated by 5,006 residents living in 2,822 separate housing units (houses, condos or apartments). We were and clearly still are a pretty homogenous group of people: 2% Asian, 1% Hispanic, 1% African-American, 1% multi-race, and the rest (94%) Caucasian.

And we’re a pretty old bunch, as well, given that the median age for the community is 45. The distribution around the median would make for a pretty nice bell curve if I hadn’t decided to present it as a horizontal bar chart:

Consistent with an older population is the fact that women significantly outnumber men in Madison Park:

This difference becomes more pronounced at the upper end of the age range (the ratio of 65-and-older women to men, for example, is 1.75 to 1.00).

A much higher percentage of us live in rental units than I would have supposed:

Meanwhile, very few Madison Park households include children 18 years of age or younger, unless things have changed dramatically since the last census:

This is consistent with the fact that most of us either live alone or have only one other person in our household:

Although the City has generated some updated census estimates for Seattle as a whole, I have been unable to discover any new estimates for our neighborhood in particular. So until some better information comes along, I think we have to conclude that Madison Park is still the same aging, white beach community that we’ve been for some time. The details may have changed somewhat around the edges, but basically, that’s who we are.

Oh, and with regard to the “What are we doing here?” in the headline above, that’s what this blog is about.

[Note below: For those of you who get bored with statistics, here’s a story from The Seattle Weekly about the nude beach in Madrona (actually Denny Blaine), which you might find more interesting: No Swimsuit Required.]