Solo households now outnumber couples with children – a demographic fact with major implications for REALTORS® and homebuilders.

According to “Examining American Household Composition 1990 and 2000,” a Census 2000 special report, solo households grew 21 percent over the past decade, while the next most prevalent category, married couples without children, grew by only 11 percent.

“It’s breathtaking how many people still think that the ‘mom, pop and two kids’ is the majority of households,” said Peter Francese, the founder of American Demographics magazine who has studied U.S. demographic trends for 35 years. He expects single-adult households will continue to grow, noting the category may total 34 million by the 2010 census.

“The Way We Never Were”, a book by Evergreen State College professor Stephanie Coontz, offers an extremely readable and meticulously documented journey through American family history, debunking myths of American family life and replacing those stereotypes with intriguing doses of reality.

Here’s a blog from Seattleite Ben Tansey, a fellow who decided to walk all around the municipal borders of the Seattle city limits.

Here’s a quote from his blog:

“You could say this is a search for truth. After all, I’ll frequently be talking about the “truest path” or the “purity of the route.” Any obstacle that prevents me from actually following the municipal line necessitates finding an alternate path. All such deviations from the line represent an impurity, but salvation comes in finding the “truest path” back to the city line, that is, the route that provides for the least deviation given the obstacle, be it private property, steep bluffs, vast gated communities, airports, Catholic schools, Port security or even tides. Yes, tides!”

The Tremendous Seattle Circumnavigation

Tyson Foods has launched a faith-based marketing initiative that is offering consumers free downloadable prayer booklets at the same time the company has placed 128 part-time chaplains in 78 food-processing plants across the country.