Leaving the ghetto after 5 years - My experience, and advice ...

Finally have closed on land out in the country after living in the ghetto for 5 years, an old mill town that was left to disintegrate after the mills closed. In the late 90s there was a big push for revitalization and a lot of artists and musicians moved into the neighborhood, buying under a special tax rate. Not a bad deal and just a couple miles from downtown where they were opening art galleries and music venues.

The houses are solid, built in the 1930s and earlier, and each has about an eighth of an acre as a yard, deep lots for growing Victory gardens. We have been renting from a friend, a musician who bought in during that great tax break. The first couple years weren’t bad here, and as a writer I enjoyed sitting on the front-screened porch and watching the locals.

Our block has kinda been the unofficial “white” block; the neighbor across the street inherited his house from his mom, and owns several on the block. The neighbors next to him are just good country people who own a couple houses next to each other, and plant in their yard and are often offering excess veggies. The neighbor next door was a hunter, and although he’d clean kill in his front yard, he cleaned up well and would often offer fresh venison, wild hog, turkey, or catfish to us. I also do a lot of things for the neighbors, including rides to the doctor, or work, etc, not to mention feeding a lot of people during the ice storm that left us without power for a week (my gas stove still worked, while most had been shifted to full electric).

Our hunting neighbor, though, after fixing up a house that was probably about to be condemned, moved out and rented to a section 8 family. It was last September and there was a tropical storm moving through the night she moved in. I had the door to the screened-porch open to catch the cool air (our houses are only about 12 feet, if that, from each other), and I heard someone yelling. I stepped on the porch to listen and the woman was having a big rant about how she hated white folk.

It was rather hard to understand her, but I got the gist of it – white folks suck, are horrible, are stupid, of the devil, and should die. She couldn’t see me as I had let the evergreen bushes grow very thick around the porch, but I could certainly hear her. And what she didn’t discover until the next morning was that all of her neighbors were white. Her vehicle had broken down and she sent her daughter (about 8-yr-old) knocking on doors and asking for jumper cables. We helped her that morning, despite what I had heard.

When I saw the owner, I relayed what had been said, but he told me she seemed like a nice woman and besides, she wouldn’t be there long. And if I had a problem let him know – he gave me his number.

A couple weeks later I got a big pup.

In the months since then, transients are in and out of her house, eating from the trash, and pissing in the back yard. I live on a corner, have a privacy fence on the street, but a chain link between us. Over the months she and I have had words, but I think I out-crazied her on New Years Eve when they were throwing fireworks in my yard. They were literally sitting on the porch, lighting shit, and throwing it in my yard.

Anyone with pets know those events are stressful to animals, and we had all the animals inside (except the chickens, lol), and the sheer audacity of them doing that had me out front yelling at them. They have a large back yard, why throw them off in my front yard? Couple big fat women tried to get up in my face, but little, old, crazy me (50ish, 5-feet-tall) evidently had them moving down the street. Yes, I checked my crazy card, and it’s about worn down after five years of living here.

Then I hear our new neighbor as she’s sitting on the porch on the phone and telling whomever that if my big pup barked at her or her friends again she was going to kill it, shoot him. I bowed up, we exchanged heated words as I clarified my dog was doing his freaking job of barking when her “friends” were pissing in the back yard, or peeking over the fence to see what they could steal. She ended with, “Alright, then,” and stepped back in the house, slamming the door.

Her landlord doesn’t answer the phone, and hasn’t since he gave me, and the neighbors, his number.

Then the family across the other street moved out (I live on a corner), and I knew it was going section 8. Across that street is a huge house, with a garage with apartments, and a smaller house behind it. Now there are six or more girls with expensive long braids and too many youngens to count living and screaming over there. My neighbors around here immediately said, “Hope it’s not a brothel.” BTW, somehow they can afford the most expensive cars while we’re driving older, paid off vehicles, and there is a lot of traffic over there, and broken beer bottles outside my privacy fence.

In garage apartment some new folks moved in over the weekend, and what do you do when you move into a new apartment? Evidently poke your big head into the privacy fence across the way. Luckily, my husband saw him and called him out with a mighty “What the fuck are you doing?” The dude ran.

In my time living here, I have tended to at least three accidents – kids on motorbikes running the stop sign and getting hit. I have seen fistfights in the street. Screaming fights in yards that last for hours. Police chases, one of which ended in a fatal accident across the way, harassment from homeless people (I will never help another homeless person who knows where I live), prostitutes being picked up and dropped off outside my living room window, two young gay guys who I assume where about to have sex in the bushes outside my window (checked the crazy card a couple times that day, because what the ever-living-fuck??). Gunshots on a regular basis, and I’ve found gun casings in the yard, sirens all day and night, thumping stereos sitting at the corner after midnight. Neighbors knocking on the door wanting food (but not peanut butter, because they had that in prison and it makes them itchy), cigarettes, or money – like we’re rich (idiots, we live here too), things thrown in the back yard - from utensils, bottles and cans, food items, back packs (roaming bully kid, I guess), and syringes. We have a feral cat problem (some folks I know have fixed over 30 cats, and released them back to the streets), dog packs, wild roaming roosters, and even a pig.

The local (and very corrupt) government is crazy as hell, taxing everything imaginable as the service gets worse and worse, and more people move away. They not only tax rain water (but took forever to fix the sink hole that opened on a major thoroughfare), they are also taxing folks, responsible pet owners, when they get animals spayed or neutered

My advice to those moving into such a neighborhood is be nice, but distant. Don’t befriend anyone, and use that crazy card. I’m sure my new Section 8 neighbors don’t want to mess with the crazy, red-neck (I garden, and have chickens, which is perfectly legal here), woman next door, and I am fine with that. And let them know you are armed.

The next few months will be the hardest as the land is cleared and the construction of the new house, but I see, finally, the quiet and golden light at the end of the tunnel. Thank God!

I’m grateful for the experience as I will have plenty to write about, but I’m thrilled to be leaving.

Augusta, Ga.

'Bout to cross over the river into SC.

A strong desire, and no smart phones, or new cars, and a wavering but steady focus on the dream.

Shopping for shoes and clothes at the salvation army, eating out maybe 6 times a year, growing food in the yard, and having plenty protein from the chickens.

And more ... And yes, 5 years paid off all of our bills and fixed the credit so we could get out of the ghetto.

Thanks AS, karma going to you for recognizing the hard work we have done

White people are afraid of ghettos since they get thier asses beat when they lie.

The good thing about the internet is that white folks can coward behimd a contract when they lie since they can't produce an honest means of revenue for themselves.

What's sad is that house niqqurs are spreading, and helping jewish people place colored folks back in shackles. Just look at the Air Force's modernised plantation commercials.

Must have been in Gary, IN. That place DOES SUCK.

I forgot the damned chip bags, candy bars, and snack refuse, all over the front yard, until the wind takes them to the next yard.

Yep, folks have no idea about not littering. Eat and drop it is how they function

My goodness! What an amazing tale! You're a great story teller. And yes, I've heard the 'crazy card' works. My ex had a friend and in the 70s a gang of kids tried to corner him, he said he just started acting like he was off his nut and they all backed away. lol

Good on you, I'm glad you'll be getting out of there.

We moved from San Diego to southern Maine 17 years ago. When we first landed we ended up in an old home broken up into 4 apartment units. We were there 12 years, and boy did we see some white trash come and go from that place. No respect for others nor themselves. The neighborhood was spotted with hard working families and the white trash sort. My man knew what neighborhood we were moving into because he's from these parts. I had no idea, as it looked quaint to me with older homes that I thought were fantastic. I learned pretty quick. We bought our first home 6 years ago and are now in a Pleasant Valley Sunday section of the same city. About 3-4 miles away. Amazing difference!

Thank you

It's been a long 5 years.

I forgot the damned chip bags, candy bars, and snack refuse, all over the front yard, until the wind takes them to the next yard.

Yep, folks have no idea about not littering. Eat and drop it is how they function

I think this story shows that in 5 years living in a low income environment One can save money to upgrade so to speak themselves.

Think of all the people living in a Ghetto. Many feel they are trapped and stuck.

I wonder what the difference is?

Why the hell would you live in the fucking ghetto?

Did you read the OP AT ALL?!?!?!?

Fantastic observation!!

Good for you OP! I really like your writing style and wish you the best

Augusta, Ga.

'Bout to cross over the river into SC.

Wow, what a story.

What city are you in, OP? Or state?

Your narrative is a great reminder of why I RENT instead of OWN. If the neighborhood goes to shit I can just up and move when the lease is up. I wouldn't have that freedom as a homeowner.

I moved into what used to be a ghetto, and it's surrounded by ghettos and Public housing. Thanks to me moving in it it now 700k plus to get into the neighborhood, if you even can. All I did was clean up and garden a little bit. Did near zero to the house.

Thank you, and is why I write books, lol.

The next one is gonna be awesome, and as usual GLP gets it first and free