Why I Love Ungentrified Neighbourhoods

When we moved to our current city in 2013, we were given all the warnings. “Be careful! Don’t go north of Main Street! It’s sketchy! There’s a lot crime in the area you’re moving to!” And yeah. There was some crime. (Name a mid- to large-sized city that doesn’t experience some.) But it wasn’t nearly as bad as people — both from outside and inside the city — made it out to be. Ten years later, still many of the buildings in my neighbourhood are boarded up, giving the false impression to some that we live in a slum. In fact, people from neighbouring cities (and even those in other parts of the city) have written this area off for decades, which is why we were able to afford real estate at the time. While some of our local streets now look like they’re movie sets from Pleasantville, with their shiny new paint jobs and perfect window displays, you can see many signs of a blue collar town reluctantly in transition. There’s something very charming about a community that isn’t trying to be something it isn’t. That’s what it was when we got here, anyway: it was the kid wearing ripped jeans and a rocker t-shirt, proudly walking through the halls like he belonged. <a href="https://medium.com/counterarts/why-i-love-ungentrified-neighbourhoods-eb4ac97fe857">Click Here</a>