Hey,

I just got my Mt. Baker View, which is the neighborhood newsletter of the Mt. Baker neighborhood of Seattle, which I consider myself to be two blocks away from. However, the map on the website clearly shows that I live within the borders of Mt. Baker. Funny. Mt. Baker is a nice old neighborhood in Seattle, moderately diverse, with grand old homes which run the risk of having a view of Lake Washington. It also has a few Olmstead boulevards. The P-I describes Mt. Baker as the "center of civic activism;" i.e., mostly-white (52%) middle-class liberals.

Ever since moving here, I've always considered my neighborhood to be Columbia City. Well that's what I tell white people when they ask, since there's an off chance that someone from north Seattle or the suburbs would know where Columbia City is. Columbia City is more commerical; it has a downtown, and it's much more diverse: 30% Black, 28% Asian, 28% White. It's been enjoying a hip little renaissance lately with the farmers' market, the starbucks, and the moderately hip restuarants and that have moved in next to the surviving African American businesses.

I suppose I could say I live in Genessee or even Courtland, but only black people recognize what Genesee is. Courtland, my friends, is the little flat five-block area in between Beacon Hill and Mt. Baker. And the reason why it's flat is that 100 years ago, it was the city dump. Yes, I bought a house built on landfill.

I don't care. It's awesome. It's Mt. Baker, Genesee, and Columbia City all at the same time. I just wonder what will happen in an earthquake . . .