Of America’s 100 largest cities, only San Francisco has fewer children under 18 years old per capita than Seattle.
Cities that don’t proactively attract families with children find themselves in trouble. And this trouble has a cascading effect that touches us all. Schools suffer as fewer and fewer people are invested in ensuring quality and accountability. Diversity of community  one of Seattle’s soul-building strengths  suffers as families with children are forced out to the suburbs. ~Joel Kotkin – Business trend analyst and author
Later in his article he talks about the dangers of cities catering primarily to singles and couples without children. This is exactly why my family and I choose not to live in the city. While the city does tend to have many educational experiences for children (museums, zoos, etc.), much of what you will find in the city is catered towards adults. For example, when my children were younger, we would always use the designated play area in the mall. I noticed that the closer we would get to the city, these play areas would become more scarce. The same goes for mall-based toy stores (even though we rarely bought anything from these stores, they provided a good break for our energetic kids). As for city parks, they tend to be soaked in piss with plenty of garbage and drifters. This is exactly why I always consider it bunk when I here some Black folks blame the condition of many inner-city areas on “middle class Black folks” who leave. What the Eric Dysons of the world will not acknowledge is that in most inner city communities it is Black folks who tend to be in charge–from the mayor on down.
If I did not have children, I would have my black butt right in the middle of the city. Why not? The city is where I was born and bred. And despite of its negative issues, the city will always hold a special place in my heart. But for the most part, the city these days is not an idea place to raise a family. Real “affordable housing” these days is not found in the inner cities of America, but in its suburbs—affordable and safe.
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