American Dream

San Francisco and Seattle have the fewest number of children per capita of all major U.S. cities, but Portland isn't far behind. This lengthy New York Times article (free subscription required) about Portland says the city expects to close three to four elementry schools per year for the next decade because families with children have fled to the suburbs where they can afford homes with yards.

"The very things that attract people who revitalize a city - dense vertical housing, fashionable restaurants and shops and mass transit that makes a car unnecessary - are driving out children by making the neighborhoods too expensive for young families," says the article. "The real estate is becoming outrageously expensive," says one resident, so many families have moved to Vancouver, Washington, which has less growth-management planning.