Our neighborhood was named the Best Neighborhood in Minnesota for 2007 by Minnesota Parent magazine, a fact I like to share with visitors who don't get to the city much. You can see it in their eyes, the uncertainty about where we live. Older homes, racially mixed, lots of Obama signs, litter, proximity to the busy University-Snelling intersection: not exactly a pristine-looking (read: safe-looking) part of town. But spend any time here and you'll soon discover what we have in the more than four years we've called the Midway area home. Our neighbors are politically active, they care about their homes and their children, they vote to fund education and they come together to creatively solve problems like speeders on our side streets and to fundraise for our park's repairs.
There's lots to love in our nearly-century-old houses, too. Our old house has beautiful woodwork inside, as do many of our neighbors' homes. Our ceilings are tall, our wood floors glow with the patina of age, and our minimal square footage means we spend less time doing housework than our neighbors in the Summit Avenue 'hood. I've worked on our garden every year we've lived here, and just this year I planted our first vegetables and herbs, inspired by the homeowners two doors down. This is the kind of neighborhood where neighbors do more than lean over the fence to chat: we actually walk down the street to have a real conversation with one another about the tomatoes you're growing and how my phlox is doing this year.
In addition to chatting with neighbors I see all of the time, I met two people at yesterday's event that I've lived next to for years but had never met. Did we have a bouncer for the kids, police on horseback, and carnival-quality games to play? No. But we had a few soccer balls, a game of mini-golf, great homegrown and homemade food, and lots of laughs. I'd say our shin-dig was a great success. Can't wait 'till that bonfire later this Fall!
