The Neighborhood

I don’t usually post about my neighborhood even though I took the name for my blog, but the Palisades I grew up in is changing.  We have restaurants now – though I do miss the old Northwind.  That was a diner of the railroad car type – long and narrow.  It was open for breakfast and lunch and had its fair share of regulars.  Now we have Et Voila, Blacksalt and the Boathouse, among others, all very fine.  We have a Marvelous Market; and we have a Farmer’s Market every Sunday morning.  I do miss the MacArthur Theatre, now a CVS.  It had a balcony!  On my block there are approximately 28 residences.  There are only three residents who were here before I moved in which was in 1979.  Overall, the Palisades is really friendly.  People greet each other at the Starbucks or the Mac Market, and at the Safeway.  Sadly, we are pretty much all white which makes us dull as dishwater.  We are blessed in so many ways:  low crime statistics, great tree canopy, and even a really cool, random art installation in the woods by the playground. We lack much in public transportation, but what a great place to bike.

Lately, and over time, there has been an increase in upwardly mobile, wealthy (I guess you’d have to be, given the cost of real estate around here) and – worse – entitled young families.  Examples?  “Oh, I borrowed your shovel, I hope you don’t mind.  Here it is.”  Or, how about the “Mean Moms” who walk three abreast on the sidewalk forcing me to step into the tree box?  I call them the “Mean Moms” because during the F.S. Key Elementary School pickup, they double park, block crosswalks and fire hydrants; and hardly ever come to a full stop at the stop signs.  When a little student waved a stick at my dog which frightened her, I asked the boy to “please stop, you’re scaring my dog.” The Mean Mom yelled at me. 

These changes are few and perhaps my radar is more sensitive.  But I’ve noticed.