U District

In Seattle, we live in the neighborhood called the U District, which is short for the University District. We are directly north of the University of Washington campus.  I walked about 8 blocks down University Avenue this morning, and I'm sure it has the highest concentration of diversity in all of Seattle, perhaps the one of the highest in the US, maybe the world. I'm not counting the UN and its surrounding 8 blocks. Yes, other cities may have more total diversity, but the ethnic groups tend to be concentrated in different neighborhoods. Along "The Ave," as it is called here, there are probably more than 200 small businesses, more than half are hole-in-the-wall eateries, representing probably more than 50 ethnicities.

I wonder if the UW students realize how lucky they are. I remember my Ohio State days and along our campus we had two different pizza shops, Buckeye doughnuts, the bagel & yogurt place, BW3's, half a dozen places to buy & drink beer by the bucket (seriously - the kind you'd get at Home Depot), and if you really wanted something you could tell your grandchildren about, there was the Ethiopian place where you could eat with your hands. Genna fits right in with the college student fashion. Today she was wearing her brown tights with a pink & yellow floral print skirt, muli-striped shirt and a pink leopard print jacket. The only thing she was missing was make up and some facial piercing.

I'm not sure I'd call this neighborhood "a great place to raise a family," but it is a perfect place to spend 9 months. The neighborhood is a mix of huge houses, cut up into college apartments and single family homes, often belonging to professors. It's a surprisingly quiet neighborhood, but not without the occasional college party within audiable distance. But, I don't really mind hearing the parties, it brings back fond memories of my college days.

Everything in the U District is within walking distance from supermarket to post office to year round farmers market to playground. There's even an upscale mall where you can buy your iPod accessories and Tiffany's necklace. We've been quite happy here with just one car, and ironically, the only time it would have been convenient to have two cars was when Noah was downtown with the car, applying for our parking permit.

My leisurely walk quickly ended when I met up with Noah and the kids in the double stroller. There's truly nothing more out of place along The Ave than a side-by-side double stroller.

Wheee! We love the double stroller!

"I'm still sick mommy."

On another note, Noah is planning on starting his own blog, a Seattle coffee blog (now that's original). Anyway, in case he doesn't get around to it, I'll post a few pics of his latte art.

Macchiato