Neighborhood of the week: North Everett

Everett once was a booming mill town, with three shifts running seven days a week, 24 hours a day.

The 1906 San Francisco earthquake and another massive quake in Japan in 1923 created a huge demand for the lumber to rebuild the devastated cities.

"You can date the different eras of the buildings being built in Everett by the booms caused by disasters in other parts of the world," local historian and lifelong resident Dave Ramstad said. "Everybody made lots of money during these booms; mill laborers could afford to buy fine homes just down the block from the grand mansions built by mill owners."

The vestiges of that history survive along Everett's waterfront in the well-kept, tree-lined historic neighborhood of North Everett, also known as the "Northwest neighborhood."

The area offers a wide selection of homes from two-bedroom, one-bath bungalows to five-bedroom, 2.5 bath colonials. Other common styles found in the area are Cape Cod, Craftsman, and the American foursquare (classic box).

There were 30 single-family houses sold in North Everett during 2009, ranging in price from a relatively affordable $280,581 to $470,000, according to figures compiled by Windermere Real Estate.

And larger homes with a view of the water can go for more than $1 million.

"North Everett is a very historic part of our city," said Dan Gunderson, an agent with Windemere Real Estate and who grew up near the neighborhood and has been selling homes there for more than 12 years.

"Houses in that area appeal to a certain kind of buyer who appreciates architecture and Old World charm."

The quality of the homes is just one draw of this neighborhood."You have a real sense of neighbors that care," said longtime resident Mary Ann Erickson. "The people have a lot of pride in their homes and businesses and community."

And they look out for one another.

"The other day on my block a house alarm went off and within 30 seconds there were four neighbors over there," Erickson said. "If it was actually some sort of break-in, they would never have stood a chance."

There is also a diversity of age groups in the area. Erickson said. "We have a lot of retired people along with single people and people who are just starting relationships and partnerships and families and things like that."

Loosely defined, the neighborhood runs from 19th Street North to the Snohomish River and west of Broadway to the bluff overlooking Port Gardner Bay.

The neighborhood is flanked by two waterfront parks, Grand Avenue Park, which begins on the south end at 19th and Grand, and American Legion Memorial Park on the north end overlooking the bay and the mouth of the Snohomish River.

West of Broadway, the heart of the neighborhood is predominantly residential with just a few businesses, including a beauty salon and a coffee shop.

A large public marina lies at the south end of the neighborhood, which includes several restaurants and ample parking.

The reviving business district of downtown Everett is about a mile away.

The neighborhood's proximity to the waterfront and downtown are another plus, according to Gunderson.

"You still get the city feel, but without the hassle," he said. "You have a true downtown, the Everett Events Center with concerts and sporting events and a thriving arts community."

The old mill town of Everett is getting a cosmopolitan feel. It's home to a musical-theater company, a children's museum, as well as professional hockey, baseball and lacrosse teams, and lots of parks.

The city also has a community-supported, volunteer-run public radio station KSER-FM (along with KRKO-AM, a commercial sports station and a Korean-language radio station, KWYZ-AM), and an organization dedicated to preserving the town's architecture, Historic Everett.

Over the past decade, Gunderson and his colleagues have noticed that property values in North Everett tend to be more stable and less affected by bumps in the economy than those in other neighborhoods.

"A lot of real-estate agents, myself included, find that what supports the stability of the neighborhood is that so many residents, when they upsize or downsize to a different home, will move just blocks away from their original location," Gunderson said.

"People don't generally leave North Everett if they don't have to."