I'm a child of the 60's, an age of few tv channels and rotary phones. I grew up watching PBS shows for kids...you know which ones I mean...Mister Roger's, Electric Company, and Sesame Street. Because of the influence of those programs, I am an idealist. It affects the way I approach my real estate career.

I live in a community (there are similar ones nationwide) that has an ethnic mix of caucasion and hispanic families. Central Washington, and in particular the Yakima area, is almost half hispanic. I am not hispanic. I encounter folks almost everyday that base their home searches on the racial mix of a neighborhood. This is a tough situation to be in when you sell real estate and are bound by the code of ethics.

I was thinking about this recently and Sesame Street came to mind. As a kid, I enjoyed learning about different cultures, learning a few Spanish words as I watched this show where everyone got along just fine. I still know only a few Spanish words, but  have met and worked with many wonderful hispanic families over the years. My dream for my community is based on the role models I met and watched as a kid, the folks living on Sesame Street. I really don't want to hear from a buyer that they don't want to live in a particular neighborhood because too many of one or the other race live there.

I know I can't change the world, but in Yakima, Washington, I am attempting to change things a little bit at a time.  My part of the country is pretty rural and slower to accept change. I just wish more people would be open to the ways that cultural diversity could color their own lives.

As a real estate agent, I continue to encourage buyers to look in neighborhoods they might not have initially considered. I want to mix us all up all over town. Too lofty a goal? Maybe. But I do it anyway.