Maybe that title is a little strong now but, in a few years I think it will be more than correct here and in many neighborhoods in Lorain. Our home was built in the early fifties and built for the folks who worked at Ford and US Steel. When I moved in with my wife the neighborhood was a nice place to live and most all the folks took very good care of their homes. Sprint forward to 2013 and now the neighborhood has become dotted with section eight homes high grass and trash in the street.
Through bad breaks, some self inflected and some because the economy is what it is all my old neighbors are gone. Now, let me give you an idea of how this happened. Immediately to my left a middle class couple with two kids lived in a home that was a show place for the neighborhood had some bad luck. Husband lost his job and things went from bad to worse. Empty for months the lack of maintenance soon took its toll and the house fell into disrepair. Foreclosure then sheriff sale found the home sold cheap and now is a section eight property. Next door on my right the family was an older retired couple who had some family issues and they fell into foreclosure and again the house sold for cheap and again section eight swooped in and now the shingles on the roof are gone the siding is loose and the grass is always in need of cutting. Across the street the home was rented and the gentlemen that owned the property was taking the rent and using it for vacations in the Caribbean and not paying the mortgage. Guess the rest…foreclosure and a good friend and a nice neighbor was literally out on the street and did I mention he is disabled. Talk about add insult to injury!
Now, what's my point is all this? The folks that live in these homes now are nice people every bit as nice as the folks that left them behind. Problem is the folks that live there now have no vested interest in taking care of the home. Just a stop on the road to somewhere else and or something better. Consequently, the home continues further into disrepair and the cancer continues to eat away at this city. I am sure that there are many more neighborhoods that are in the same predicament. Moreover, what does this mean for me and my wife? Stay and continue to take care of our home no matter what happens? Conversely, do we let try and sell if we can and run for the country or a better neighborhood. Can we try to lead by example and continue to make are home and yard look as nice as possible in hopes the new folks will take the hint.
I suspect only time will tell and will be based on facts that we do not know ourselves. Should things get worse for us this part of our neighborhood could be a section eight hatrick.
Move out.
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