By KIMBERLY A.C. WILSON
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Around the neighborhood, people have started to worry that too much growth will spoil the qualities that many sought in Maple Leaf.

At recent community council meetings, residents expressed concerns about the planned expansion of Northgate Mall, especially its impact on neighborhood roads and real estate. And a possible Regional Transit Authority light rail terminus may force homes to be demolished and an increase in automobile traffic.

Seattle's oldest shopping mall plans a massive overhaul that will include a new department store and at least half a million more square feet of retail, cinema, office and residential space. In addition, a parcel south of the mall will be developed with a 100,000-square-foot theater, a 216-room hotel and 150 residential units.

If the Cinderella transformation of the region's plainest mall follows the precedent of the once-sleepy University Village, scads of well-heeled shoppers soon will rediscover Northgate. After its makeover, U Village became one of the region's most heavily trafficked shopping centers -- a fact that doesn't escape Maple Leaf residents.

Nor does the possibility that the Regional Transit Authority would locate the terminus of its light rail project nearby, causing homes to be demolished and automobile traffic into the area to be further increased.

Renee Young doesn't lose sleep over the possible impact of a bigger mall or more commuters. Without hesitation, she'll admit there is only one aspect of Maple Leaf that she clings to. The quality she cherishes is evident every time a neighbor mows another's lawn or buys a box of candy to raise money for a school project.

Young's 9-year-old son, Christopher, suffers from cancerous brain and spinal tumors. Aggressive chemotherapy and radiation treatments have helped extend his life. Since he was diagnosed four years ago, hardly a day passes when some anonymous good Samaritan fails to drag in the Young family's garbage can, pull stray weeds from their yard or drop off a homecooked meal for the boy, his two sisters and his parents.

The thoughtfulness isn't flashy enough to be noticed much beyond the community's borders, nor does word travel far of the thousands of dollars raised at Christopher's annual spaghetti dinner fund raiser.

But to longtime residents, every penny raised and every neighborly act are the glue that binds household to household. The glue that makes Renee Young dig deeper into Maple Leaf