our neighborhood

The first time I saw Pyrmont, I immediately thought I had walked into uber-yuppie-land. Oddly, my guidebook talks about Pyrmont being this very working class place--full of warehouses. But, I think that must have been before a major overhaul of the neighborhood. It is, after all, in a rather ideal location close to the CBD. Plus, it is surrounded by water on three sides, providing the potential for some great water views.

Regardless of its history, it is now a perfect place for yuppies.

***

I now have to tell my "yuppie" story.

Several years ago, my mom came up to Seattle to help me look at houses. We were waiting for my real estate agent at Kerry Park in Seattle. For those of you who don't know, it's a small pocket park with an incredible view of the Space Needle, city of Seattle, and Puget Sound. Needless to say, the apartments and houses near the park have spectacular views.

As we were waiting in the park, my mom asked me: "Who lives in these apartments?"

To which I replied: "You know. Yuppies."

Mom: "What?!! That's terrible!"

Me: "Hunh? What's wrong with that?"

Mom: "But Yuppies are bad people."

Me: "Uh, Mom? I'm a yuppie. You know...Young Urban Professional."

***

Although we originally were not trying to find a perfect yuppie place for us--it is incredibly convenient for Fede to walk to work. And I was especially in love with the IGA grocery store across the street from our apartment. (This is not like the IGAs in the States, which are pretty terrible. This is more like Whole Foods--although not so organic--but definitely yuppie.)

My original hope was to live in a high-rise, modern building in the middle of the CBD. But, I got here and realized that rental prices are advertised per week--and not per month--clearly making the CBD completely out of our budget. So, Pyrmont is a good compromise--and still satisfies my yuppie tendencies.

Plus, there's this small plaza that is on the way to the CBD that makes me think of Paris.

I think it's the beige stone of the buildings, that look like they were built in the late 1800s--with the street coming in at a non-perpendicular angle--that reminds me of Paris. Of course, it's much sunnier here, and there are fewer toy dogs.