The Decline And Fall - Part I...
Now before you even THINK it, NO, it's not a thesis on Gibbons' tomes regarding the Roman Empire, although I will admit that if one were to read his epic historical account, one WOULD find all too many similarities between HIS commentary and mine.
Mine is my neighborhood, or rather what is left in the wake of a decade of apathy, mismanagement, and in some cases, cowardice.
I like to think of my particular part of Fort Wayne as an area in FLUX. We have the societal pools, eddys and currents that allow any neighborhood to flow. But that flow can lead to only TWO possible results; one being growth, and the other being stagnation.
Let me also go on to say that any growth in a neighborhood can be further defined by it's citizenry.
Given the right type of people, neighborhood growth can be quite positive...and long-lasting. Property values will rise, people will congregate together more frequently, kids will have a safe environment to grow up and become productive citizens themselves, businesses will thrive or be created in the process, and so on.
Our "growth", if one can call it that, is not of the GOOD persuasion by ANY means.
MY neighborhood (as are many on the south side of the city) is suffering a "growth" much like having a tumor that has become anything but benign. In other words...we have a cancerous growth. Not the good kind.
When my wife and I moved here over ten years ago, we had one or two houses that were problems, but nothing that could not be kept in check. And having frequent visits by the police TO those houses when they became boisterous ensured a level of livability for everyone else.
I wish to hell we could still say that.
After those ten years, what I have come to believe is that the city cares little for those of us that have NOT moved out of here. Granted that those who HAVE moved away did so of their own conscience, and a few out of fear and frustration. Rather than stay the course, they chose to flee.
A few people didn't have a choice.
Some just passed away, leaving the (housing) carcasses for the rental vultures to prey upon, which they did to no small end. Once nice houses, owned by decent working or retired people were given up to the sacrificial "god" of diversity.
And those of us remaining were left with the "ashes", as it were...to clean up.
These houses became affordable to many of the wrong type of people, and I do NOT mean that in any racial manner.
There are GOOD people of EVERY color around...they're just not living near US.
The "wrong" people to place into a rental HOUSE are those with no sense of responsibility (there's the damn word again).
-When you see a person that cannot figure out how to make a damn cup of coffee, but would rather spend more money to walk down to the local Speedway to grab a cup every day, that says something.
-When schoolkids have to be given a FREE BREAKFAST (at the taxpayers' expense), not because they're "poor", but because mom hasn't the intellect to ascertain the whole "milk - cereal - spoon - bowl" thing, that says something.
-When you see those same kids sleeping on a mattress on the floor in a room (no formal bed), while baby-mama and her boyfriend (of the month) have a 60 inch big screen TV in the parlor, that says something.
-When there is no place for the children to study, because baby-mama and her girlfriends have taken up the kitchen table to braid one another's hair, that says something.
-When you see people eating takeout EVERY day, simply because baby-mama and her boyfriend haven't a clue what that thing in the kitchen is that has four burners on it and an oven, even if they DO use it for supplemental winter heating, that says something.
What we have is a generation with NO FRIGGING IDEA as to what it truly means to live in a HOUSE (let alone OWN one). Many times, these people grew up in some nomadic environment, so the permanence factor got tossed out with the bath water. Maybe THEIR parents didn't give a crap either, who knows? Whatever the case, the people we see today in MANY rentals in my part of town are in desperate need of some serious schooling in basic living.
What they need to know is how to manage a home, and that means doing what is NECESSARY to make the house a place where people can LIVE, and not merely "hang out" or crash at.

Many of the simple aspects of living are missing from these peoples' lives, such as COOKING, SEWING, CLEANING, along with basic hygiene for them selves as well as their children. I know...I've been in places like this back in Philly, and let me tell you, when you see cockroaches crawling across a floor, and an infant on that same floor, which is laced with animal droppings, that paints a picture you don't long forget. The sad part is these people DO have a choice. They CAN choose NOT to live in this manner.
Yet they still do.
And they would claim POVERTY as the reason.
Sorry, that's NO reason, and a pretty damn lame EXCUSE to boot.
You can afford some soap, a broom, and the government sees that you have food and housing assistance as well as that welfare check every month for the staples of life, so don't hand me a that pile of crap and then convince me that it's a steak and baked potato. I've seen what poverty is, and have grown up knowing what it means to NOT WASTE anything, and to tighten one's belt once in a while.
But in this age, we've come to embrace such people as the down-trodden. We have developed tolerance towards such stations in life. We help those that really need no other help than a good swift kick in their complacency.
We give them everything (via entitlements), patting ourselves on the back in our smugness for knowing we're "doing the right thing".
And that is actually helping very few if any along the way.
What is warranted is some good old education, and not necessarily the type found in the classroom (when you can wake them up to get their asses behind the desks, that is). We need some type of behavioral education.
We need the type of learning that says that it's OK to explore the kitchen and actually COOK something without burning down the house in the process. That's right, you can't just put something on the stove burner and then take a damn nap, moron. We need to make these people understand that OTHER PEOPLE (we) don't necessarily need to hear EVERY WORD out of their mouths, when someone comes to call, or an argument ensues. We don't NEED to know that every damn person coming to your house has a FUNCTIONAL CAR HORN. We also don't need to hear your brand of musical enlightenment from several blocks away, nor do we need YOUR children finding OUR property more inviting that your own.
It's called RESPECT and CONSIDERATION for OTHERS, you idiots.
Either learn to practice it, or find a truck to jump in front of, because you're useless to whatever race you belong to, useless to ME, this neighborhood, this city, this state, and our nation, so do us ALL a favor; take two "9 mils", and call me in the morning, OK?
It's things like those mentioned above that cause the good people to LEAVE a neighborhood...pronto. Many folks can't take this behavior from a like race, let alone ANOTHER race. That's why white trash seeks out white trash, black trash to black trash, and nowadays, black AND white trash all hanging together.
Yes, people... woe to those that don't "fit in" to THAT lifestyle.
All it takes for ANY neighborhood to be torn asunder is for just ONE house to succumb to those "curious characters", who don't have the vaguest inkling as to how to behave themselves among normal people, haven't a clue as to what being a good citizen is all about, and only want to do whatever they want, any time they want, with as many others like themselves as possible.
THAT becomes the first rock cast in this whole "broken window" theory, which as you must know by now is predicated upon the principle that having a broken window sends a message to the "bad" element of a society that people have stopped caring, causing a domino effect of other "bad" things to come down the pike, ergo, more broken windows. And once it begins, it's quite self-sustaining.
Whether or not any neighborhood can fix the window is the problem these areas now face. Will people band together to prevent further decline, or will they tuck tail, bug out, and head for the hills?
Many call it "white flight", but I can tell you that this flight comes in ALL colors.
And, believe it or not, the suburbs are getting CLOSER to the cities all the time, thanks to overzealous developers..
Some neighborhood will survive the onslaught, while many others will fall, and become "reborn" into something akin to what larger cities call a slum, or a ghetto, much like MY neighborhood...and Phil Marx's.
People will refrain from calling it a slum, but the facts are that when crime takes over, people care less and less, or stop caring, or even move away, what else can it really BE called?
I mean our neighborhood isn't going to show up on ANY home show or tour anytime soon, that much IS certain.
This is but one facet of our "diamond in the rough". Other factors (aside from the people) at work here help to speed or slow our declining neighborhoods.
And THOSE factors will be discussed in upcoming posts