The Mann Neighborhood of the Central District

Today was bright and sunny as my husband, the Seattle Sketcher (Seattle Times, Facebook) and I walked in the Mann neighborhood of the Central District. We walked streets that I had not already walked between 23rd and 29th Avenues from E Cherry to Union Street. We walked 3.5 miles with the Sketcher; then he went to sketch some of the things we had seen while my husband and I walked another 1.3 miles to complete some streets we had missed.

This is a neighborhood of older but architecturally pleasing homes. The area has sidewalks and curbs and some lovely trees. Most of the properties are well kept, a few are not. The area is not hilly but we did climb one staircase at 29th and Union.

Union, Cherry, 23rd and Martin Luther King Jr Way are wider streets with commercial areas. We passed a Post Office, about four Ethiopian restaurants, a Casey Family Programs building, a Grocery Outlet, the King Deli, Fatima Grocery (advertising Halal meat) and Catfish Corner (with an MLK Jr quote and mural on its side wall). We did see quite a few bars on business windows. We also saw the Green Plate Special Rain Garden

This neighborhood is home to the tiny Gerber Park, a YWCA, some transmission towers, a few rain barrels,

what looked like an old abandoned corner store,

a few murals, including Squid vs. Whale by Karl Addison and Pixel.Tron, the Spring Street P-Patch,

the Greater Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church, the Spiritual Israel Church and its Army, the Emerald City Community Seventh Day Adventist Church,

the Islamic School of Seattle,

the Seattle Young People's Project (and its mural),

garden art,

the Umojafest Peace Center and Peace Garden,

the old Horace Mann School (report of recent protest at this site). The area did appear to be gentrifying but if there is any tension, it was not apparent on this quiet, pleasant morning.

The area abuts Nora's Woods (pictured in an earlier posting), Garfield Community Center and Medgar Evers Pool (just north of Garfield High School).

It was pleasant walking with the Seattle Sketcher, Gabriel Campanario, and hearing something of his work. I had purchased his book, The Art of Urban Sketching, and have really been enjoying it. The Sketcher will be signing copies at the University Book Store (U District) on March 12th at 7 PM.