It's Not A Place For Mr. Rogers...
Neighborhoods...we all have to live in them (excepting those farmers), and with few exceptions, they are pretty much the same.
The SIZE of the properties might differ, landscaping may be varied, and streets might curve instead of being straight (no gay pun intended), so we're all in the same circumstances.
Philadelphia is one of those older cities replete with something we call ROWHOMES. That's where some builder got the notion to place 40 houses right alongside one another (no space between them) on both sides of a city block, and then allow people to move into them.
Talk about a study in patience, diversity, and in some cases, conformity. There was little room for "adding on" (make that NONE), so any improvements were strictly out front or inside the house. We're talking a 16' wide by 90' long property...all yours for the meager price of $55K (according to today's prices)! And only a ONE CAR garage, so the second car goes out front (or in the driveway which empties into the communal alley between streets).

And people get along...they pretty much HAVE to. With the nearest neighbor a mere 6 INCHES away (the thickness of the walls between houses), you learn to argue quietly, or not argue at all.
It worked (as did all the residents).

Even in the newer housing additions and developments, although the properties are farther apart and the houses larger and more spacious, the same rules apply...unless you LIKE having police stop by, and becoming a pariah of your block in the process. Kids play together, neighbors get together, and everyone has a pretty good go of it, year after year.

Then there are neighborhoods such as mine.

We have a total of NINE houses on the entire block, and while you might think that's a pretty damn nice arrangement, hold your excitement until I finish. We have 3 VACANT houses, and 2 houses with people of questionable repute living there, and one house with the local "village idiot" (4 time DUI felon that's out yet AGAIN) lurking within. That leaves THREE (count 'em...3) houses, including OURS, that still ascribe to the nuances I mentioned above (that would be a nice neighbor/rules/whole respect thing).

Not a good average, is it?

And I'm sure this scenario is repeated all over the city, but is mostly found in the SOUTH end of the city. I liken it to a NORTH-bound horse in that respect...lol! So what exactly makes MY neighborhood SO damn lousy?

Here's the "short list":

1) Too many rentals (not enough sales)
2) Houses in major disrepair (that become rentals)
3) Lack of personal responsibility (on the part of the renters or homeowners)
4) Drug/alcohol abuse
5) Unsupervised children out to all hours
6) Erratic driving habits (speeding, illegal u-turns, etc)
7) Roaming dogs and cats
8) Crime (burglaries, robberies, fights, etc)
9) Lack of concern by city leaders
10) Lack of concern by the citizenry

Yeah...that about sums it up nicely.
Actually, that sums up ANY bad neighborhood...nicely.

There are days when I see some "lookie-loos" scoping the houses that are awaiting occupancy, and invariably, I just KNOW what type of people they are. I haven't been wrong yet with my assessments of previous occupants (I won't call them homeowners, because they rarely have the means to handle ANYTHING as long-term as a mortgage...they usually move out).
When you see a single mom move into a house with her (pick a number from 1 to 5) children (produced with the aid of several men, who can only be called "father" in the most basic biological sense), you WANT to give her the benefit of the doubt and trust she is doing what's right for her and her kids....
That's what you'd LIKE to do.

Single motherhood must mean something entirely different from what I recall, however. All "mom" wants to do is have fun with all these guys stopping by (along with THEIR friends, girlfriends and children). So what you wind up with is a party-house, which does nothing to increase the value of any other house within the neighborhood. It's amazing how MANY people can come over to ONE house. Nobody seems to "rotate" houses, as in my house this weekend, your house next weekend. Actually, they don't wait FOR the weekend at all. They do this all damn week (so much for that job we "thought" they had to pay the house off, eh?), and sometimes until after midnight.



Many of the houses should be completely renovated or even torn the hell down. When houses in my area sell for $2500 (to a realtor) or $7500 (to a deadbeat landlord) while OUR house is assessed at over $75,000, you have GOT to wonder WTF is up with that, right? (Good thing being a white, working taxpayer doesn't figure into that, right?)
And it's rare that ANY of these other houses become available for "sale"...they just become another damn rental and will be soon filled with another group of problems for the neighborhood.

One former neighbor (who moved up by the DeKalb county line) tried selling their old house "on contract" for ONLY $300 a month (that was a damn good bargain for a damn nice house)!
And what they got moved into there was a single mom who HAD a job (she falsified medical records and was chronically late, did drugs and had major mood swings), then lost it, and also moved in her girlfriend (another badass with no job, ergo no money) and her boyfriend, all in violation of the contract.
The owners are now going through a realtor in an attempt to get some GOOD people in there. I'm not going to be holding my breath any time soon, however.
I've seen it all before...too many times.

In many respects, I feel like some "auxiliary" worker for the city, as I wind up calling NCE for neglected lawns and weed violations. I call the FWPD to shut these assholes up (noise violations). I call Animal Control to find homes for roaming cats or dogs (neglected pets), Waste Management for trash issues, Parking Control for abandoned or inoperable vehicles, and so on.

The part that pisses me off the most...I do ALL these things, and NEVER receive one thin DIME for any of it. Cripes, it's like having a one-man neighborhood watch with me around, and yet everything I do to TRY and make this neighborhood BETTER goes without ANY compensation.

All I get is that good feeling knowing I'm doing what any other NORMAL person would. Good feelings won't put one drop of gas in my tank, or place one burger at my table, though.
And I'm sure as hell not in this for the "glory" or media exposure, even though two articles were written about me and this area. I want to remain as "covert" as possible, as long as possible. I've got plenty of (the wrong) people ticked off at me as it is, but at least that means I'm doing some good somewhere.

Now, if ONLY the city would allow me to build that moat around my house...