12-30-2017, 03:30 AM
When I was younger I moved into "the hood" chasing cheaper rents. When I signed the lease I had no idea the house next to us was literally a crack house. It was an interesting learning experience for a young man. Theft, robbery, home invasions, homicides, etc were common in the area. Police task forces were set up for gangs and various other elements, and they did make some headway while I lived there, but not much.
Oddly enough, the neighborhood gentrified on it's own. The dot-com crash and subsequent recession cratered the already low real estate values and developers, house flippers, and people from the suburbs seeking affordable housing moved into the area. It's now a safe "artsy" area with boutique stores, trendy restaurants, and renovated homes. The old crack house looks great. The run-down green spaces that were once favored by prostitutes and drug dealers are beautiful manicured parks and kids play in the street.
Oddly enough I see some of this happening in Puna. It's a slower and clumsier process because the lack of density, but I have the feeling that if I moved away for 20 years and came back, it would be like me going back to that crack house neighborhood and nearly not recognizing it.
The one thing that isn't better at my old stomping grounds- THE TRAFFIC.
Oddly enough, the neighborhood gentrified on it's own. The dot-com crash and subsequent recession cratered the already low real estate values and developers, house flippers, and people from the suburbs seeking affordable housing moved into the area. It's now a safe "artsy" area with boutique stores, trendy restaurants, and renovated homes. The old crack house looks great. The run-down green spaces that were once favored by prostitutes and drug dealers are beautiful manicured parks and kids play in the street.
Oddly enough I see some of this happening in Puna. It's a slower and clumsier process because the lack of density, but I have the feeling that if I moved away for 20 years and came back, it would be like me going back to that crack house neighborhood and nearly not recognizing it.
The one thing that isn't better at my old stomping grounds- THE TRAFFIC.