Community Chat

[hckynut]

My childhood home until age 14 was Public Housing Projects. These projects were primarily occupied by mothers with several children. There were no man of the house, and most received some form of what then was called ADC(government welfare). My mother was the exception because she worked 6 days and 2 nights as a jewelry department store clerk.

No ADC, only housing she could afford. Crime was present even in those years in these public project neighborhoods . These were torn down years ago and by then were called "Little Viet Nam" because of the level of serious crimes and shooting deaths. It ended me physically being able to see them, but those days are forever etched in my brain.

[ROMARY]

A lot more cars and people there now. It was very quiet 'way back then'. Hardly a car in sight in those days.

[luvmyteddy4]

I always wanted to buy my old house but the neighborhood changed. I just looked up my old address and the pictures of all the rooms are shown from the last sale. That was fun to see. The paneling is gone in the family room and my bedroom is a nursery. It brings back a lot of memories.

There is a large mobile home parked in the driveway next door and that would have driven me crazy but since my neighbors are awful that might be an improvement!

[ivey]

My childhood home was in a working class community. None of the homes were large, but it seemed like everybody maintained them well. When my mom had to move, she sold to a man who was buying these little homes for rental property. For whatever reason, he didn't keep them nice at all. Last time, I passed my parents' home, I wanted to cry--it looked so trashy. So did the neighborhood.

My memories of the cozy place I grew up in--are just that--memories.

[shoekitty]

All our childhood homes are still there, but they have changed. Each one of our homes (3) had huge trees. One had an oak, huge that almost covered the home. The other had redwoods, the last home had 2 huge cherry trees in the front yard. They are all gon of course, which makes the homes look a little bare, and small. I lived in these homes from 1956 to 1967, and all but the last home were old when we moved in. The trees at one home had to 100 years old then!

What is odd when I see these homes, is the surrounding area has changed so much it is hard to get my sea legs when going down the streets. Gone are the corner markets, the older churches and businesses, and gone are the surrounding trees and orchards. The small businesses in a row, have been replaced by stip malls, and tall, storied buildings. You see less through all 3,4,5 and 15 story buildings. It makes the area seem like a huge city and vast, when it once was small and clustered, and cozy.

I think my parents paid 6,000 bucks for the first home. It is now on Zillow for 2.2 million. Yikes.

[nun ya]

I just drove through my hometown a few weeks ago. The whole place looked trashy. The yards used to look all well kept and clean. My Dad used to spend hours mowing and weeding. Now, there is junk and garbage in almost every yard.

[traveler]

My kids grew up in military housing. The German housing was turned over to Germany as the base is closing down. The New Mexico has been knocked down as downsizing. So it's not just this generation that can't go home again.

[lulu2]

We had a large old house, my father's office was downstairs and we lived upstairs. Back in the 1950's this was not unusual. The house is still standing, but the neighborhood is now commercial. Most of the houses have been remodeled with professional landscaping abundant.

[brewhaha]

Not only are the homes still there, but so are the people. They're a lot older now but most of them are still there. The main difference I have noticed is several of them have added a second floor to their house.

[banjo]

All the homes in my old neighborhood were either moved or torn down to build a school. The school is still there.