I’m looking at my drafts folder and wondering why I didn’t publish this. This was supposed to be published on 1/28/2009. The link I had no longer works, so I removed it.
Here’s the dilemma. On one hand you don’t want to seem unfair and blame all of your neighborhood woes on one person, or one family or household. On the other hand, when the city drives up in the form or police, fire/EMT, or an array of social services with sharp teeth and you instantly and correctly know where they’re going, you’ve got a problem house.
I thought of that when reading Blagden Alley’s post on 1258 10th St, regarding an address with a history of problems. I also thought, as the problem houses become fewer, we may do, as people do when something unpleasant goes to the past from the immediate present. We romanticize the past and the people. We get more sympathetic towards the residents and overlook the transgressions, such as the crack dealing. Mainly because it is tucked safely well into the past, unable to terrorize, threaten or destroy our tomorrows.