Central District Mann Neighborhood

It felt more like March than June because of the rain during today's 5.6 mile walk in the Mann Neighborhood of the Central District. I walked streets from 23rd to 29th Avenue E between E John and S Union Streets. I knew it was summer because I saw crab apples and cherries on some of the trees but many of my pictures are blurry because I couldn't keep the lens dry.

23rd, Union and Martin Luther King Jr. Way are busy streets but the rest of the streets were quite on this rainy morning. 23rd and Union are commercial houses a power substation

but the rest of the streets are residential. There are some large, older homes

but, more and more, multiplexes appear to be replacing them.

Most of the homes are well kept, a few could use some paint. Many gardens are lovely, a few could use some love. This is a hilly area sloping down to 29th.

This neighborhood is home to the Meredith Mathews East Madison Y (which was advertising swim lessons),

the Ebenezer A.M.E. Zion Church (which serves free lunch every Saturday afternoon),

Mount Calvary Christian Church,

Homer Harris Park (with its imaginative animal sculptures)

and Plum Tree Park.

Along the way, I saw a colorful mural,

staircases, palm trees, tiled streets names in sidewalks (and, unlike on some Ballard streets, the names correspond to the actual street names),

a slide that looked to be coming out of a space ship,

yard art,

garage art

and fence art which reminded me of the Gaudi-designed Park Guell.

The walk was much better than the weather!