[voiceinthewind]

My neighborhood was middle class, Hispanic, black, Anglo. The kind of place where you knew your neighbor, waved to the mailman, and the flag was seen on many houses year around. Now it's Section 8 central. I had to call the police twice this year. Advice from the police officer? Move, it's only going to get worse. I won't drive down one end of my street, there are men out there all day drinking beer and playing basketball, and no, they don't work nights either. We have seen a sick mentality piggyback with the Section 8 into our neighborhood, and it stinks. One stabbing, one drive-by, and I can't count the number of break-ins. Cars parked on the lawns, grass not mowed,garbage everywhere, unsupervised mouthy rude children out all hours into the night. People aren't moving out because of race or ethnicity, its middle class Hispanics that are doing most of the moving out! Why should we pay a mortgage on a home in a middle class suburb when someone who can't afford to live here can go Section 8 and get the get the govt. to help kill my neighborhood? But, and this is irritating, they need govt. help to make the rent yet drive brand new cars. Not an urban myth, I see it on my street.
Section 8 is a broken program.
I think that if I had the Lionel Ritchie screamer that would be the straw that broke the camels back.

[Clemenza]

But, and this is irritating, they need govt. help to make the rent yet drive brand new cars. Not an urban myth, I see it on my street.

Correct. Both when I lived in the Bronx and in Brooklyn, I saw people who drove brand new, pimped out SUVs, using EBT/Food Stamp card when they went to the supermarket.

[Skywalk]

What you described sounds familiar. I live in a small neighborhood that is nestled between a huge cemetery, a large hospital and the commercial zones of an in-city highway. We have condos, the apartments i live in, another apt building that is nearly complete and an 'assisted housing' complex.

This is Seattle, so maybe the problems aren't AS bad, but what problems this neighborhood does have (aside from an occasional party where someone talks loud in the parking lot after leaving) come from that low income housing.

Just the other day I had to tell these girls to move from the drive-way of the parking lot not only because it was dangerous but they were jumping rope and making noise. And I had 10 year old girls trying to defend their actions and talking back (saying people from our complex go over there, LOL.) MOVE!

All during the summer I had to eject them for coming into the pool and making a large amount of noise while being there. Once should have been enough, but you have to threaten them with the police to get them to stop. At least that is somewhat minor in comparison.

We had a shootout on that street between two people and have had other incidents, like one where police blocked off the road and were searching for a suspect who'd attempted to hit a cop with his car.

The sad part is, people DO work there (there is a max income but also a minimum) and most of the noise you hear from there is just kids playing outside.

But while the degree of our problems is small in comparison, it just gives you an idea of how bad it must be in the rest of the country.