Eugene, are there any good neighbors you can band together with to form an informal neighborhood watch, or even a formal one?

You are the best judge of your situtation, of course. It's just that the more good people who walk away from a transitional neighborhood, the worse it gets. That may seem obvious, but it is true.

If enough of you stand your ground, watching out for each other, calling the police at the first hint of trouble, testifying against them in court, etc., "they" will go away. The problem is, it takes time and commitment and a certain amount of risk tolerance. Of course, you don't want to jeopardize your family in the process, which is what makes standing one's ground an extremely difficult decision.

It can work. There was an urban neighborhood not far from here a few years back that had four or five families agree to set up video cameras in their front windows to cover the activity on the street 24-7 for a few weeks. Then they turned the tapes over to the police. Investigations and arrests followed, and the neighborhood became known as a "no fly zone" for the bad element.

Frank2135