A Rose By Any Other Name
Kendra June 30th, 2008
There is a lot of power in names. Think about kids who pick on another kid by calling the other one a mean name. Think about actors who change their name to suit the image they want to project. Offices even give their meeting rooms names such as the “Evergreen” room, as if somehow that will ward off the boredom of the discussions that take place inside.
One of the things I have loved about Seattle is the distinctive personalities of various neighborhoods. We all have a fixed image of certain neighborhoods such as Wallingford, Fremont, Georgetown and of course Ballard. Although the address on the letter lists the technical address as Seattle, no one from those areas would describe themselves as living in Seattle when speaking to another local. They would identify themselves by the name of their neighborhood.
I have been thinking about the power of names when it comes to Ballard. Tell someone you are from Ballard and that used to conjure up images of fishing, old folks and Scandinavians. Now those images may be mixed with or replaced by the image of the new library, the skate park, condos and major growth.
However, Ballard is the collective identity. When one Ballardite is speaking to another, they define themselves by their specific corner of Ballard such as Old Town Ballard, Loyal Heights, Crown Hill, Sunset Hill, Olympic Manor, etc. Each of these names carries clues to the type of people who live there, the size of your dwelling, the local businesses nearby and whether you are single or part of a family with kids. Each pocket of Ballard even has different ‘walkability’ scores as calculated by this new site: walkscore.com
Where you live within Ballard is especially important when it comes to the matter of real estate. The ability to put Loyal Heights vs. Crown Hill on a real estate flyer can create a large difference in asking price so I have seen flyers erroneously state that the house is in a certain neighborhood to influence buyers. As for myself I appreciate the character and diversity of each Ballard neighborhood. To me it reminds me of western Europe, lots of little countries all bordering each other each with their own culture and architecture.
