This has started out to be a summer of backyard fires, quality brews and, for some, bad-for-you tobacco products. Ah, evenings talks with neighbors.

What do we talk about? The neighborhood, of course.

At a recent backyard fire at the home of Ms. and Mr. Amanda Lester, she and her dear husband, Riley, and I were talking about what we loved about our neighborhood with neighborhood friend Angie Barker. We concluded we live in the best neighborhood in Albert Lea.

That’s right. The best. It’s the area west of downtown, north of Main Street, east of Highway 13 and south of Fountain Lake. It makes up most of Ward 2. We listed off the reasons why it is the best part of Albert Lea:

Many people have moved to the neighborhoods north of Fountain Lake, such as Shoreland Heights or the Green Lea Golf Course area, simply because of perceptions. Moving north of Fountain Lake has been drilled in Albert Lea’s culture for the past 50 years. That’s the “good” side. But the north side has traffic problems and lacks many of the amenities the south side of the lack has. The neighborhood just south of Fountain Lake has stood the test of time.

The shore of Fountain Lake in our neighborhood is almost completely city property. This means residents can enjoy the lake, even if they don’t own shoreline. It’s an egalitarian approach to the shore, and this improves the values of everyone’s homes, rather than an exclusive few.

♦ Our neighborhood has sidewalks, a sign of a heart-healthy place. That allows us to walk around the neighborhood and to connect to nearby areas. You can walk to the American Legion Hall just as easily as you can walk to Nelson’s Market Place. You can stroll along the south side of Fountain Lake because of the wonderful, oft-used sidewalk. Outside of the downtown, it has to be the busiest sidewalk in Albert Lea. And sidewalks mean our children don’t have to walk and bike in the streets, dodging autos.

There are several favorite places I like to walk or bike to in our neighborhood. Lakeview Elementary School, which has a great sledding hill and a neat piece of playground equipment. Hayek Park has an outdoor hockey rink and a half-court for basketball, plus more playground equipment, including baby swings. Hayek Field, because baseball has been very, very good to our neighborhood. Shoff Park is great for playing catch with a doggy, and it actually has a little merry-go-round. How rare are those these days? (I hope Shoff Park is turned into native prairie with walking paths. It seems silly to mow all that unused open space.) Anywhere along the lake, of course, but especially Monkey Island, an overlooked gem. The Park Avenue peninsula, featuring The Cottage, a domicile cuter-than-cute. Downtown. Graceland Cemetery. Dane Bay. Albert Lea Seed House. John Farry Place. Oak Street. Grace Street. Wintergreen Natural Foods. Fountain Lake Park. Albert Lea Farmers Market.

What a boost it is to have the Albert Lea Medical Center in our neighborhood. It is the county’s largest employer, and it is a hospital with lakefront views. When Lisa had our son, Forrest, the room had a view of the lake, albeit in winter. Forrest was born in a blizzard of snow and ice, but because it was easy to walk home, it wasn’t hard to get things we needed. Plus, it brings to the neighborhood some of the medical professionals and therefore their tastes and yearnings for a high quality of life.

It’s the education neighborhood. The young children in Ward 2 go to two schools: Lakeview Elementary School and Sibley Elementary School. Those two schools generally are considered the two best-performing grade schools, not only a sign of good educators but also a sign of good parenting. Lakeview is on the site of the former Albert Lea College. Many of the homes were built for administrators and professors, and The Abbot still says Science Hall on the front. Lakeview is smack-dab in the middle of our neighborhood, and it, as the name implies, has a view of the lake. How many places give schools and hospitals views of the lake? And shucks, the old high school was in Ward 2, too. If Albert Lea is a good place to raise kids, then our neighborhood is the best place in the city for raising those kids.

The mayor lives in our neighborhood. That adds prestige but moreover that gives Ward 2 two people on the Albert Lea City Council. Ward 2 in terms of land is the smallest ward, which, because wards are set based on population, is a sign of the best urban planning in Albert Lea.

And finally perhaps one of the best aspects of our neighborhood is the lack of pretense or arrogance. Some neighborhoods have that snob factor. Ours is down-to-earth and friendly. I’ve known neighbors to stop during an afternoon walk and end up being my dinner guests without hardly an invite. It’s just neighborliness. I’ve done the same thing to others. In fact, that’s how the evening campfire with the neighborhood discussion at Amanda and Riley’s came to be. I just walked by, and before you know it, we were burning scrap wood.

Now Riley and I are touting our neighborhood to friends. To the ones who live there already, it’s now The Neighborhood. For the ones who don’t, we’re trying to get them to move there.

One couple we know — Ms. and Mr. Jennifer Vogt-Erickson — last fall bought a nice home on St. Thomas Avenue on the north side, so we’ve, well, I’ve been chiding them to move. Jennifer’s darling husband, Jeshua, tongue-lashed me Sunday on the Pelican Breeze II, so I’d better cool it.

Now another couple we like — Ms. and Mr. Taryn Israel Nechanicky — are searching for a home, so we’ve, well, I’ve been telling them to move into The Neighborhood. We just want our buddies within a short walk. Taryn’s beloved husband, Mark, has been patient with me.

Maybe people just don’t get why The Neighborhood is special until they live there. We’ll see what happens.

Tribune Managing Editor Tim Engstrom’s column appears every Tuesday.