Here is the news from our old neighborhood in St. Paul:
1. A pregnant lady got beaten and raped on the corner of 3rd and Earl, just 4 houses down from our old house.
2. two drug busts on our old neighbor's front lawn.
3. The crack house on the corner burned down.
It's really saddening, because they are trying to make that neighborhood a good place to live, but people there are desperate. They have no money, no real jobs, and it's a competitive city. You have to have your sh*t together to make it work. Even if you are a college grad, you have to hustle it. As Frank Sobotka from The Wire would say, "We used to make shit in this country, build shit. Now we just put our hand in the next guy's pocket."
Which is why there are problems in East Saint Paul. There is no industry anymore. The Ford plant just closed there. Where do these people go for jobs? Now they just rob other people, or as my neighbor Jeff does, make meth out of their kitchens and create a drug distribution channel, with traffic goin in and out all night. I have a previous post that touches on this guy's weirdness.
I feel lucky that we got out when we did, not to mention getting $175,000 for our tiny 960 sq. ft. house. And did it without a realtor. I think we missed the housing crash by a couple of months.
Milwaukee Neighborhood Update:
1. My former landlord, Mark, has put up a 4-sale sign in his front lawn, 3 weeks after we moved out. No one has rented his place, and he is way behind on his payments. Since my neighbor told me that the cops were there last week and she hasn't seen anyone, I wonder if the bank foreclosed on him. I also wonder if he listed the "meth-ready kitchen" as a bonus on the realtor's sell sheet.
As far as our new place, it rules. We have enough room here, without even using the sunroom in the back and the studio space upstairs. It feels like some sort of Bavarian castle. The fireplace is ready and begging to be used. Our landlady watches the Pack every Sunday and drinks Coors and shots of brandy while hollering at the t.v. She's in her late 60's. I will now call her Grandma Coors. Last week when the pack won she said, "I'm gonna have to fly my Packers flag out front, Old Glory is gonna have to take a backseat for awhile." I love Wisconsin.
