My first weekend living in Fremont was this past year’s Solstice Parade. Having moved here from Los Angeles, you’d think I was used to seeing scantily-clad people rollerblading in the streets and yet…not so much. So as I stood there outside Fremont Coffee, admiring everyone’s gusto, confidence and free spirit…amongst other things, it occurred to me that Fremont was the neighborhood I didn’t even realize I was looking for. That I specifically moved here with my wife was chance wrapped in happenstance nestled inside a coincidence.
The first time we visited Seattle together, we didn’t even come to Fremont. We spent the weekend around Pike’s Market, up the Space Needle and traipsing around downtown. The tourist experience. And yet, there was something about this special city that piqued our interests.
And so we returned a few months later. This time we spent a week in Seattle, living like locals in an apartment instead of a hotel room. I had read something about The Fremont Troll, so we hopped on a bus, got off on 41st Street and walked up Troll Ave. Sure enough there he was. It was Sunday and we wandered over to the Farmer’s Market. It was there we discovered Veraci’s Pizza, not to mention the rest of the booths and sellers. We spent half the day in Fremont and left with a pretty clear idea that we wanted to live here.
Two months later, we did. Loaded up the truck in LA, drove it up through California, Oregon and Washington and touched down in our new home a few days later. That was June and since then this weird, little community has taken us in and made us feel at home. Ballard, Wallingford, Queen Anne…they all seem like nice communities. But Fremont is our kinda place. A little weird, a little crazy, a little artsy and a lot of fun. But then again you already knew that…
Anyway this has all been a long-winded way of introducing myself as the new editor of Fremont Universe. Hi, I’m Sean. I’ll be doing the heavy lifting here keeping you informed on the news of the day, helpful updates, strange occurrences and whatever else happens on a daily basis in Fremont, which as you know can vary often.
Glad to be a part of the Universe.