Yep, I grew up in a neighborhood where a number of houses were built by their owners, lots immigrant family, 975% owner-occupied homes, a few multi families that generally had longer-term tenants. It was an urban area, but a real "neighborhood" - people knew each other, looked after each other, kids played together, people took pride in their homes and maintained them well.

My parents built there in the 60's. They intended for it to be their "starter home" but they liked it so much they just stayed and raised us there in the 70's and 80's. We loved it - it was a great place to grow up.

Things started to decline in the 90's. The older generation passed on, empty nesters started to downsize/move to the suburbs because of huge property tax increases, homes were sold, investors came in and a lot of owner-occupied homes became rentals with a transient population and the minimum maintenance done. The "neighborhood" started to fade.

My parents sold in 1995 as did my grandma, who lived next door, and moved to the 'burbs. Within the next five years, the neighborhood became unrecognizable. High crime, lots of police activity, houses not maintained, etc. It literally happened that fast. These days, it's unrecognizable from the place I grew up. So very sad - it really was a great place to be a kid back then, but not any more...