District Spotlight: The Delta Neighborhood
delta
noun [ C ]. us /ΛdelΒ·tΙ/. . βΊ an area of low, flat land, sometimes shaped approximately like a triangle, where a river divides into several smaller rivers before flowing into the sea.
What can I tell you about where I live, my home, the Delta neighborhood of Everett?
Iβm afraid to say too much, to let the secret out. Hereβs a secluded place minutes from downtown with million-dollar mountain views.
The neighborhoodβs on the northeast slope of the peninsula, looking out over its namesake.
Once upon a time the Snohomish River delta was a network of sloughs and marshes. Over time some of it has been filled in or dredged. But itβs still a home to birds, swamps, half-sunken boats.
White settlers in this area used mud from the Snohomish River to make bricks. Many of the old buildings downtown have masonry from the Delta brickyards.
Early residents ice skated on frozen delta sloughs in the winter. The night sky was illuminated by the cityβs smelters.
Senator Henry M. Jackson Park in the Delta neighborhood.
The borders of the neighborhood are arterials: Broadway, 19th Street, and Marine View Drive. Most commuters using these roads donβt go into the neighborhood. If they did they would find public p-patches, skate ramps, and a place that serves large chocolate ice cream cones. They would find a park with views of snowcapped mountains and a playground where the children speak Farsi, Spanish, Tongan, and Ukranian.
I like how quiet it is in this corner of the city. Though I am three minutes from I-5 there is nothing to hear in my back yard at night except occasional trains moaning and clanking in the railroad yards. I can ride my bicycle to downtown Everett in eight minutes flat.
This is a good neighborhood.
But maybe Iβve said too much already.
Header photo credit: Josh Jones.
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Richard Porter is a writer for Live in Everett.
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