Still alive... barely, it feels like sometimes

Gosh, I haven't written anything in so long. In all reality that is likely a good thing, as my Mom always says, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." I've always tried to shoot it straight about the ups and downs of living in Cole, while injecting some humor, and it has been very satisfying that a good number of people have found it entertaining, or even occasionally useful as they evaluate a move to Cole, Whittier, Five Points, Curtis Park, or urban Denver in general.

It still amazes me when I get an email from someone that read one of my previous posts... back when I had a sense of humor... asking me to write some more. It's a small success but one I find quite gratifying.

So where the hell have I been? Working, honestly. I don't work from home anymore, which has been the healthiest thing that could happen to me. I know a lot of the same frustrating shit still happens on my block, but I'm just not around to see much of it anymore. Living and working from my home, especially early on when it was pretty sketch over here was more exhausting than I ever realized. It took me getting out of Dodge to realize it.

Only downside is that I don't get as much material to write about.

By the way I'm writing this post from a hotel in Philadelphia. I can't sleep because while I feel tired, my body still thinks it is MST which makes my 12AM really 10PM. I mention this because this likely won't be the most well-written post I've ever made.

It's ironic--Our block, and Cole in general is so much better now than it was back in 2005 when we bought our home, but I've come to realize that I've simply hit my breaking point, and my existence here is less about hope and looking to the future as it is of simple survival.

It is an absolute certainty that the economic downturn and housing crisis set the revitalization of Cole back significantly... I'd bet on the magnitude of five years. We have it pretty darned good on our block, but there are still two very cute houses on our block that fell into foreclosure and are looking for the right owners. They've been sitting vacant for over two years. Things would have happened so much faster around here without the recession. But oh well, could have been worse, we could have bought out in Green Valley Ranch and seen the value of our house drop by half, rather than pretty much stay the same as it has since we bought it.

I'm tired of waiting for Cole to change, but we're sticking it out. It's all we can do. Otherwise all the shit we've put up with and I've written about would be for nothing.

On that note, a couple on our block that bought soon after we did just moved away. They couldn't sell their house so they just rented it out. But they had hit their breaking point, more so than I. In fact, when they first moved here, they were involved with the neighborhood association, helped us plant street trees, and were optimistic about the potential of their investment. But over time they too got tired of the grind of living in the city and just ran out of patience.

Since we moved here, this makes three households (that we know of, in our circle of friends) that have come and gone after having less-than-palatable experiences in Cole. So to my critics--Suck it, I'm not the only one that doesn't see Kentucky Deluxe bottles, baby diapers and spicy Cheeto bags littering the street as the sign of a "vibrant" neighborhood I'm proud to call home.

Who is still on the block? Our friend's next door neighbors, who with a back yard full of trash and aluminum cans, music blaring, 8 people living in their 2 bedroom house, four cars monopolizing the on-street parking on our block, and a steady stream of checks from the state to sustain them, were a big reason why our friends finally moved out.

It is in fact downright amazing what is finally happening around here. We have a wonderful, locally-owned and operated neighborhood bar and grill in Jakes, the transportation hub on the near horizon (which will include reconfiguring the klugey roads on the north end of the neighborhood, and the passage over to another potential neighborhood gem, the Platte River, which is psychologically an eternity away from Cole given how difficult it is to get over there, by foot or by bike. We just learned of a European-style market coming nearby, and while it is a small thing, a new Dollar store in the Down-and-Out Supermarket building, which is the first corporate chain to show up in Cole since Burger King.

Anyone with more patience and tolerance than I would be making a wise decision to buy in Cole right now. They sure won't have to put up with the crap we did, nor wait as long for profound progress.

But we just moved here too effing early, and honestly, as a result, I don't know if I'll ever recover my faith and hope that Cole will one day be a safe, clean place where I'll want to reside, and perhaps raise a kid. At this point I know I'll be a homeowner here for some time, but I just might jump ship and just be a slum lord until I can get a couple of nice yuppies to rent our house.

I'm even more committed to stay after Saturday, when one of the gang-banger kids on our block (living in the house I mention above) randomly started yelling at me, calling me a "snitch" and telling me to "get off (his) block". This household has had numerous problems with numerous of the "new neighbors" including the couple that just bailed. But somehow, I've been branded as the guy that calls the cops, which in all reality is only about 10% accurate (and I've admitted to them when I was involved). I have absolutely no idea what he's yelling about now (in all reality, the last thing that I know happened was his sister calling the city suggesting that we left our recycling tote out in front of our house too long, hindering her family's ability to park their cars--Seriously). There are at least three new white households on our block in the last year, but of course, it must be me that "snitched". No matter the fact that I've been traveling and been away from home about 90% of the time for a year now, and likely wouldn't even know if he was selling WMD's to Iran out of his slammed Dodge Stratus.

But that entire household has had a huge chip on their shoulder since neighbors on the block started asking them to keep their two monstrous rotweillers from barking 24/7 and their baby's baby out of the street. Guess America isn't really the land of the free anymore.

This incident confirmed for me how short my fuse is anymore, as I let the little knucklehead pull me into a profanity-laden shouting match. Stay classy, CNM. I've been looking the other way for quite a while now, and ignoring when he says shit under his breath, but apparently have/had reached my breaking point. It's not good.

Probably a good time for me to ride off into the sunset too, before I get shanked or get a brick thrown through my front window, as a former neighbor experienced before we moved to the area (they were the reputed "snitches" at that time).

But I won't, I can't. I am committed to being here when he and his... um... OK I'll bite my tongue... family pack up and leave. I'll hopefully be home that day, sitting on my front porch with a Martini in my hand. That day, if and when it comes, I could be drinking Purina Dog-Chow-Infused-Vodka, and it'll still be the most satisfying cocktail I've ever had.

CNM