As a resident of Tsawwassen, outside of Vancouver, BC, I have long had good friends living in Kirkland.

It has been perhaps 20 years since I have been to Kirkland and I remember then, in the early ‘90s, how similar Kirkland seemed to my hometown.

Affluent and pleasant but somewhat dull and dowdy, and I dare say, boring.

The death of my friend’s mother in April just passed. It provided a sad reason to return to Kirkland for the funeral service.

Visiting your town after 20 years provided an interesting “then and now” contrast for me.

To my very pleasant surprise, Kirkland has completely transformed itself into a rather different community.

To me it seemed less a suburb of Seattle and rather more of a true town with an identifiable downtown.

The mix of restaurants, shopping and pedestrian street life was a pleasant experience.

It is in sharp contrast to my own hometown that has failed to embrace change and remains rather dull, rather dowdy and still rather boring.

I’m sure the transformation in Kirkland was not without political fights (as a real estate developer, I know them all too well on my side of the border).

But I want to congratulate Kirkland citizens and especially civic leaders for getting on with the job of community-building that has clearly taken shape in Kirkland.

Sean Hodgins, Delta, BC