In the Neighborhood

We live in a cute, formerly more scary, slightly improving but still occasionally sketchy neighborhood. None of this was apparent on first glance. We drove through the 'hood with our realtor and liked what we saw. Most of the houses were built in the '60s (ours was built in '61), with one section of newer houses from the '80s. Many of our neighbors are the original owners and slowly the neighborhood is changing as people (ugh, I hate to say this) die or move to nursing homes. The neighborhood is gradually becoming younger.

Houses are generally well-maintained, people are very friendly, and overall it's a great place to live. But we border a not-so-great area on one side; there are two great areas on another. So things are interesting and we hear our share of gun fire. A few other odd incidents have happened as well, including waking up one morning around four a.m. to a woman screaming bloody murder as she walked down the street (she was totally alone), and, on another night, hearing two people argue over a knife after they had crashed their car. Did I mention this was in our front yard? Anyway, I've freaked out on occasion, but there are some good things happening, too.

Our area has received some money to begin improvements on the two roads that make up the nearest major intersection near our house. We've heard the plans and I think the improvements are going to make a big difference. It'll be right purty.

There are some new town homes being built, which, while ugly, may help improve the quality of the stores in the shopping center near our home because there will be more customers.

One of those flagship Whole Foods stores is going to be built in Lakewood, about a ten-minute drive away.

Our neighborhood also got bond money passed for both a library (which might be within walking distance!) and a rec center. Right now the hold up is whether to build them in the same facility, or build two.

They're eventually going to build a veloway nearby as well.

So, there are some positive developments on the horizon, some that will make living in our area nicer.