Who Are The People in Your Neighborhood?

Jack and I had a few errands to run around College Hill today, and it was nice enough to walk.  The sun was shining and people were smiling on the streets.  I was hoping to get in a bit of exercise, but our pace never picked up long enough since we were stopping to talk to neighbors, people at the bus stop, and friendly passers-by.

I couldn't help singing the familiar Sesame Street song, The People in Your Neighborhood.  You know the one - "Oh, who are the people in your neighborhood? In your neighborhood?  In your neighborhood? Say, who are the people in your neighborhood?  The people that you meet each day."

It was a perfect song for today's walk since we saw so many different people.  It all started with a friendly conversation with the garbage lady.  She stopped to comment on how big Jack was and wished me a Happy First Mother's Day.  How sweet!

As we continued our walk we encountered many people.  These are the people living and working in our neighborhood:

• garbage collectors
• firemen
• bankers
• postal workers
• crossing guards
• police man
• restaurant workers (yes, I stopped at Goodies for a regular pig sandwich)
• a suspect wearing a blue hoodie last seen heading south on Hamilton Avenue

Hey - it happens.  We live in the Hill!  I do have to say that the police were great and we never seemed to be in harms way.  This is just a small part of what day to day life is like in College Hill.  We live with the bad to take the good -- the crossing guards that stop to meet Jack, since they remembered me when I was pregnant. Or the old lady walking down the street who stopped to talk to us and shared stories about when her kids were Jack's size.  Or the friendly mailman that remembers Jacob from when he lived two streets down as a child.  Or the big group of teenagers hanging out on the street who politely said good afternoon and moved out of our way to make space on the sidewalk.

It's not picture-perfect here in College Hill, but it is home.  The people working at the bank know my name when I walk in the door - and so do the people at the coffee shop, the wine shop, and the jeweler.  I can walk to all of those places, and soon Jack and I will be walking to the library, too.  We know most of the people who live on our street and many of the people who live in the community.  College Hill is a great place for us and we are invested, involved, and encouraged about the changes the community is making to create a safe place for families.