On the Mayor's Mind: The heart of a City

Shoreline Mayor
Chris Roberts

By Shoreline Mayor Chris Roberts

Last week I nearly fell into Echo Lake cutting blackberries as part of the Echo Lake Neighborhood Association work party. Can I say I really, really do not like overgrown Himalayan blackberries?

Over forty Echo Lake residents, city staff, and School Board President David Wilson came out to the annual work party to trim blackberries, spread mulch, and weed in the garden beds. The work done by the community makes the park more enjoyable and accessible to everyone.

A City is not just a number of inhabitants or physical buildings. A city may be defined by natural or physical geography, but lines on a map do not create a city. The heart of a city are the people and the communities they belong to.

Communities form around t-ball teams, PTAs, parks, coffee shops, fitness classes, neighborhood associations, pea-patches, mosques, synagogues, and churches, and in the daily interactions of neighbors (and an indefinite number of other places). Collectively, these communities make Shoreline such a wonderful place to live.

Chris Roberts tackling blackberries
while Pat Wood takes a break
Photo courtesy Echo Lake Neighborhood Association

I am honored to work with all of Shoreline’s communities and neighborhoods to build a stronger and safer city. I am proud of the efforts we made over the past years and look forward to what we can accomplish together.

This coming Tuesday, lets come together and celebrate National Night Out. National Night Out is a community event to promote police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie.

Hot dogs, burgers (including veggie burgers), and cookies and brownies will be served on Tuesday in over fifty block parties from Richmond Beach to Briarcrest. I am looking forward to meeting as many of my neighbors as I can.

Together we make Shoreline a wonderful city.