Farewell, Neighbors

The Hispanic family next door has officially moved out.

We learned a few months ago that they were going to be moving, as their ARM (adjustable rate mortgage) had just gone up and put their payment out of reach. While the grandparents that own the house don't speak English, and our Spanish is abysmal, we were able to talk to one of their sons. It's unclear whether they were the victim of predatory lending, or just borrowed money against their mortgage too many times. Either way, they decided to simply stay in the house until they were told to move out by the bank. I guess they finally got that letter. Technically, does this qualify as displacement?

I have to say that I have mixed feelings. They are wonderful people, and have been extremely nice to us since we moved into the neighborhood. We're certainly going to miss their grandkids too, who are some of the most well-mannered, friendly kids I've ever met. They're always leaning over our side fence petting our dogs, or out playing ball in the front yard. There certainly are a lot of parents out there, who have much more money, that could learn some things from this family. And no doubt, if they're replaced by a white couple, some of the "flavor" of the neighborhood will certainly be lost. I know some folks feel the same about when we moved in, but oh well.

However, I won't miss the constant pile of empty soda cans and other trash that litters their front, side, and back yards, or their swamp cooler propped up on two old car tires and a couple of two-by-four scraps on their front porch. Or the broken, clogged gutters that drip water for four days after a rain and likely breed mosquitoes. Or the unbelievable clatter of the grandmother brooming up the empty soda cans in the alley between our houses (right outside our bedroom window!) at 6 in the morning. But overall, I'm sad to see them go. No neighbors are perfect (I'm sure our neighbors would say the same about us), and overall these folks are great people.

And I'm anxious. There are two ways things can go from here. One, since their house is a bit neglected, someone could purchase it and leave it as-is and simply rent it out. This is what worries me, as we could easily end up with the same or worse litter and maintenance issues, but with noisy or even unlawful neighbors there to boot.

The second option, much more desirable to us, would be that someone purchases the house and fixes it up to sell to a new, responsible homeowner. The fact that three homes on our block have been "flipped" in the two years we've lived here leaves me at least hopeful that this will be the case.

As someone reminded me recently, "you can't pick your neighbors." It will simply be a roll of the dice and another chapter in the Cole Neighborhood Memoirs.