By DEBERA CARLTON HARRELL
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

For all the high-tech developments in Kent industries, most residents focus on the city's down-to-earth qualities.

Residents eat and chat at Mom's Country Kitchen on Meeker Street, lunching on soup and barbecue beef sandwiches in a casual setting where hundreds of truckers' hats adorn one wall.

Kelsi Ammon, manager for a thrift store on Meeker sponsored by Children's Hospital, said coming to Kent was "like stepping back in time."

"Everyone knows everyone and watches out for each other, at least here in downtown," Ammon said. "There's a sense of safety and security. There's a human factor here you don't find in other places. I think people honestly and genuinely care about this community."

Hospital volunteer and Kent resident Anne Venables agree.

"Kent is changing a lot," said Venables, who recalls the days when folks left their front doors open so the milkman could leave milk bottles in their refrigerators.

"When we moved here (20 years ago) there were vacant lots all around and strawberry fields; it was a small town," she said.

"The biggest concern about the growth is the impact of outsiders and more people who don't share those small-town values."

As Becvar put it, "Kent is a very friendly town. It's just a nice town. There's no getting around it. .Ê.Ê. We can't help the growth, but we are keeping our cool and doing what we can to step up to it."Ê

Continued:

• City now grows on once-fertile farmland
• Thriving Kent works to keep community of neighborhoods
• Longtime residents keep rich history alive
• Booming farm community took root in valley