Towns where you're eager to know your neighbors

By JOHN IWASAKI
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Everyday citizens of Clyde Hill and "the Points" communities -- including Medina, which has several points of land jutting into Lake Washington -- see themselves living in slow-paced towns that belie the image of enclaves of the rich and famous.

"It feels real comfortable and 'homey,' " says Jessie Brashen, 17, describing her Yarrow Point community of 1,019 residents. "I think it's kinda quaint."

That feeling extends to Medina and Clyde Hill, each with about 3,000 residents, and Hunts Point, population 530.

The communities are places where regular customers still can buy food on credit at Medina Grocery; where the Medina police routinely return stray dogs to owners; where residents of Hunts Point and Yarrow Point gather for softball and strawberry shortcake on the Fourth of July; where neighbors are more than just people who live on the same narrow, neatly landscaped street.

"I saw it was a community. Everybody knew each other," says Seattle transplant Cathy Ugelstad, who was attracted to Clyde Hill during visits to her sister, Peggy Whiting.

After making the move to Clyde Hill in mid-August, "I met more neighbors (in one) week than the whole time I was in Ballard," marvels Ugelstad.

Residents are generally known for community spirit -- the recent Medina Days concert, dance and softball tournament, for example, was financed by more than 150 families each chipping in $100 -- and for being on the go.

"Some of the people who can afford these big properties are very, very busy people," says Michael O'Byrne, a 25-year resident of Hunts Point and a former town councilman. "They really don't have time to devote to the town. I'm not being critical. They're very delightful people. But you do not get to see them very much."

Until complaints curbed the practice, boat tours annoyed the locals by loudly pointing out the massive waterfront digs of certain residents.

The communities -- at the east end of the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge -- are at the edge of downtown Bellevue. Residents enjoy easy access to state Route 520 and are a short drive to three interstate highways.

"We're exactly eight minutes to The 5th Avenue Theatre" in downtown Seattle, O'Byrne says. "We have all the benefits of Seattle and we're living in a town with great schools and where police know your name."

Major crimes are rare and most police activity is related to traffic and neighborhood patrols. Traffic problems are rising as out-of-town drivers cut through neighborhoods.

But aside from increased traffic and the disturbance of demolition and construction crews, residents voice few major complaints.

After all, many people in the community have the means to live anywhere and have "chosen to live here," says Yarrow Point resident Amy Curtis as she sips a latte with her daughters at Tully's coffeehouse in Clyde Hill.

Like parts of the neighborhood, the coffeehouse has been transformed, having been a grocery store in a past life. One of only five retail businesses in Clyde Hill and Medina, and the only one serving as a local gathering spot, Tully's is a slice of community life.

"We have fabulous neighbors and a really nice walking neighborhood," says Curtis, who moved to Yarrow Point in 1996 from Seattle's Phinney Ridge neighborhood and felt at home. Some of her new neighbors not only presented her with a bottle of champagne, but they also included glasses, knowing Curtis' stemware still would be packed.