1. I can get to work usually trouble-free in 10 minutes.

2. My workplace is small enough that we get along and tease each other, but get a lot of work done.

3. My place of worship, Marysville United Methodist Church with Pastor Jenny Smith, is minutes from my home. And the worship team there is like family.

4. The YMCA is near me, so I have no excuse not to workout.

5. Las Vegas-style entertainment is available nearby at the Tulalip Casino Resort. Two smaller casinos, The Q and Angel of the Winds, provide local entertainment.

6. The community service organization I belong to, Kiwanis, is a wonderful group of people. Soroptomists and Rotary folks in town seem to be pretty nice, too.

7. As a member of the Marysville-Tulalip Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors I get to work with movers and shakers of the community to try to make it an even better place to live.

8. The parks department puts on so many great events. I attend many either for my job, my grandkids, with Kiwanis or just for fun.

9. The city has so many great parks to take my grandchildren, with the Spray Park being a favorite, along with Jennings and Dinosaur parks.

10. The town is friendly enough that I started a drop-in tennis club at Totem Middle School on Saturday mornings and people actually show up.

11. Our city and school leaders all are wonderful people, even when they don’t like some of the things I write.

12. Our readers appreciate reading an Independent view of the community, rather than one that slants toward the extreme agenda of either political party.

13. For the most part, the young people in town seem to have good heads on their shoulders.

14. Organizations in town are getting much better at working together for the good of the community.

15. Disagreements, for the most part, are settled with good-old-fashioned public debate, rather than in secret.

16. Taxing entities seem to work hard to keep costs down.

17. The lines at stores usually aren’t that long, and the customer service usually is exemplary.

18. The shop where I get my car fixed, Tall Guy Small Guy, is right near work.

19. The shop where I take my dog Cougar, Linda’s, also is right near work.

20. I bought a house for much less than the county median price and have a million-dollar view of the estuary and Olympic mountains.

P.S. – Please email me information about what you love about where you live – Marysville or Arlington – to spowell@marysvilleglobe.com, and we will publish many of them.