Bloglander

There are many theories forwarded that attempt to explain Spokane's youth diaspora. Kids leave town, people say, because of better job prospects in cities like Seattle and Portland, or for greater perceived culture.

There is probably truth to these beliefs. There's more work in Seattle, for sure. Portland, too, assuming you want to work in a vintage boutique or as a server at a farm-sourced restaurant.

On the opportunities side, your chances of being spotted by a modeling agent while shopping at Express are better in Pacific Place or Lloyd Center than at NorthTown. And yeah, when your band plays to three people in a dive bar on a Tuesday night, there's a way better chance one of those people owns a record label if the bar is on Capitol Hill than on East Sprague. (If the bar is on Mississippi in Portland, everyone has a record label, but no one has released anything.)

Jobs, culture, opportunities. Heard it all before. 

But a tantalizing new survey from the dating site OKCupid, suggests another reason Eastern Washingtonians and North Idahoans are drawn west, as if by an uncontrollable biological urge: There's an actual uncontrollable biological urge.

The website went out in search of the most promiscuous cities in America. It found its top two in the Pacific Northwest. Portland was first; Seattle was second.

As you may know, the jet stream generally passes over Portland, Seattle or points between before bringing weather systems toward us. Now we must ask ourselves: Is the jetstream also carrying the oversexed pheromones of our transmountain neighbors? 

The website's methods of calculating promiscuity were super-scientific — and not at all self-serving — based solely on "the percentage of users who listed 'casual sex' among the relationships sought" on OKCupid, CEO Sam Yagan told Denver's Westword yesterday. (The Mile High City came in #8.)

The moral of this story, clearly, is that the first thing you need to do once you settle in to your $1,200 studio apartment in Belltown is steal somebody's Wi-Fi and get an OKCupid account. 

Shawn Allen photo