Reply #13: I've lived in this house since 1961

[5thGenDemocrat]

With breaks for the Army and time in Petoskey and Florida and so on. It's been the family house since '61 and has been owned by us since grandma G bought it in 1952.
The neighborhood hasn't changed much in 45 years. There have always been people of color as neighbors though Saginaw itself has a reputation (IMO undeserved) as a largely segregated town. I know the names of all the people on my block and it is the kind of neighborhood where we watch out for one another and where you can go next door and borrow a cup of sugar.
In fact, Johnnie next door came by around midnight two nights ago and dropped off a couple of beers because his family had been having a party and he thought I could use a cold one. Yes, we were invited to drop in for the festivities, but one doesn't want to intrude, does one? My neighbor on the other side, Tom (who is a glass salesman), saw me building my yard shed this spring and saved me a couple of very nice aluminum-frame windows his crew pulled from a house during renovations.
Across the street is a halfway-house run by First Baptist Church for men who've run afoul of the law. No fights, no drugs or liquor, quiet by 10 pm (actually pretty quiet all the time).
One house that's been abandoned since Mrs Shattuck died fifteen years ago. Tom may well buy and renovate it. I hope so. Dennis on the corner has a nice all-Democratic family, works at Delphi and has a nice ten-year-old golden retriever.
This is a wonderful urban neighborhood. Looks a lot like America -- or like what America SHOULD look like. I love it here and will never move.
John
Plus my taxes are, like, $600 a year. And the house is paid for.