The Park Slope My Children Grew Up In

I would not trade the Park Slope my children grew up in- which was not always 'safe," which was diverse in race and class, where new residents, many of them political activists, worked inside local churches with longtime residents as well as building their own institutions; where Catholic school and public school kids came together in local sports programs; where there were almost no upscale restaurants and a big treat was having a family night out in places like "Snooky's" or "Circles," and where housing was affordable enough so that you could buy a brownstone on two teachers salaries- for any neighborhood in the country. I could not think of a better place to bring up two children as athletes, as caring people, and citizens of a multiracial society who had in depth exposure to people of different backgrounds in school, on the streets and in the sports programs they participated in