Have you ever lived in a neighborhood that went "downhill" through the years? (cul-de-sac, middle-class)

[CArizona]

Have you ever lived in a neighborhood that went "downhill" through the years?...I have! When we first moved to AZ our cul-de-sac and the surrounding neighborhood was nice and quiet!..Most of the homeowners were retirees or "respectful families." But some of the retirees passed-away or decided to move near their kids in other states. And the "respectful families" moved elsewhere too!..Pretty soon "boomers" and "party animals" started to move into the neighborhood and a whole other "breed" of people!...It's rough when the housing market is down and homes are hard to sell. And it's rough when a neighborhood isn't quiet anymore!

[LongIslandPerson]

Almost everytime that I read the term "downhill" or "changing" on these forums, it's a codeword/sugarcoated term for a change in racial demographics.

I never really lived in an area that was going "downhill" (in whatever way ppl choose to define that).

[Infamous92]

My neighborhood started going downhill in the 70's, fell off the deep end in the 80's and never came back.

So no, it's always been at the bottom of the hill for me, I wasn't alive to see it any better than it is right now.

[MOKAN]

Originally Posted by CArizona

Have you ever lived in a neighborhood that went "downhill" through the years?

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Yes! Unfortunately, it was the broad area surrounding the neighborhood I grew up in. During my childhood, the area went from a healthy working-to-middle-class neighborhood - with plenty of businesses, locals and chains, and a nice mall, Indian Springs, and a couple of nicer strip malls - to a state in which many or most of the people I went to grade school with have left the area. Most of the development is 1940s-1970s. The area is increasingly becoming suburban ghetto. Indian Springs mall was busy and full when I was a little kid with 3 department stores, now not even one original tenant is still there. The mall is partially closed off and partially used for municipal offices and eventually is to be torn down once a hopeful redevelopment, most likely a Walmart, moves forward. The beginning of the downfall of the mall was rooted in multiple murder/robberies. I was born in 1986 and the downfall of the area mostly occured in the 1990s. It was basically a late wave of white/middle-class flight as crime and the black population surged. The area has now become majority black and housing prices have plunged. Even the McDonald's closed! The area I speak of is mid-Kansas City, KS, just west of Interstate 635 along the State Ave, Parallel Pkwy, and Leavenworth Rd corridors. I grew up on a deadend street, where my dad still lives. It was actually a great place to grow up and much like the TV show Dennis the Menace, me being Dennis (maybe not quite as annoying), where I interacted with many of my adult neighbors. It's a shame the area has gone down hill, otherwise I would probably choose to live there.

The 4900 block of Kimball Avenue, Kansas City, KS, where I grew up: http://maps.google.com/?ll=39.138915...19205&t=h&z=16

[cittic10]

Yes. All of them.

Most recent one went down hill in large part due to get-rich-quickers (from out of state, no less) that bought up properties years ago to rent out. The renters do not give a s.

[jtur88]

My sister bought a house in Milwaukee in about 1960, which was a newly-built and very cozy neighborhood house, and she took good care of it, and spent a lot of money on improvements. 35 years later, she sold it for less than her original buying price, after there had been three car thefts and one murder and one arson fire on her block. And yes, "downhill" in this case is a codeword for change of racial demographics. And making that observation leads to an automatic verdict of "racist" along with the assertion that there is no such thing as race.

[TheCalifornianWriter]

Originally Posted by LongIslandPerson

Almost everytime that I read the term "downhill" or "changing" on these forums, it's a codeword/sugarcoated term for a change in racial demographics.

I never really lived in an area that was going "downhill" (in whatever way ppl choose to define that).

Why could that NOT mean downhill?

I mean sure it always doesn't, but occasionally, that's exactly what happens. Houses belonging to nice retirees and seniors are bought up by a new group of people from a different area who seek to completely change the area to their liking and thus destroy the old neighborhood.

I've seen it happen and I needn't be called racist for noticing.

[animatedmartian]

If they're changing it to their liking, then that's not really downhill. If they're bringing in undesirable attributes (ie: drugs trafficking, disrespect for property and local laws, and being an all around nuisance), then that's what I'd consider downhill.

I've seen many neighborhoods change demographics and even sometimes the neighborhood improves with the new group of people. But then, I'm not surprised really that people still haven't learned that race does not define character.

[dreamofmonterey]

In some retirement and/or vacation areas, I dont think "downhill" necessarily refers to race.

We had a house in Boca...the area became vacated after 2005...not necessarily a bad thing but easier for home invasions and robberies...alot of second vacation home and retirement areas can change very rapidly, especially in this strange economy. Add that to a dearth of infrastructure and jobs, and its a bad mix in general.

[Klhbrown]

Originally Posted by LongIslandPerson

Almost everytime that I read the term "downhill" or "changing" on these forums, it's a codeword/sugarcoated term for a change in racial demographics.

Not true! Our neighborhood has taken a huge plunge "downhill" in the last 6 years we've been here and it has nothing to do with race. The racial demographics haven't changed here one bit - it's always been very diverse anyway.
In our neighborhood, I think the problem has come with increase in rental homes. When we moved in, all the homes around us were family owned and it was a great place to live. Over time, with the economy tanking, everybody moved to bigger cities to find higher wages. Home values in the neighborhood had dropped, as well, so the neighborhood homes were bought up by investors, for the most part, and turned into rentals.
Nothing agaisnt renters - some take great care of their rented homes. That was not the case in our neighborhood. When the renters came, so did all of the shenanigans. The 2 houses directly across from us were so trashed by their renters that after the renters moved out, the owners have just let them sit vacant, which in turn, makes the neighborhood even worse. We now have cops here every night. We occasionally hear gun shots. Homepless people & stray dogs wander through. It's a shame. Six years ago kids were riding their bikes, people were walking dogs & it was a lovely place.