I live in Heritage Community. They rebranded it a couple years back from “The Core” in attempts to make it more friendly sounding. It’s not THE worst neighborhood in Regina, it’s only second worst. I often boast this with pride. Well, okay, maybe not “pride” persay but it’s important to distinguish that it isn’t North Central. I can walk in safety at night (with my huge Sheppard-Rottie) without fear.
Recently, we gained a new “murder house” on the block. I say recently because when I first bought my house in 2008, there were 2 “murder houses” on the block. And yes, they were different ones. We have also had drug houses on our block. (I’m pretty sure we still do.) We’ve had SWAT visit the house to the north of us (prior to it being rebuilt.)
A couple weeks ago, the “murder house” burned. Not sure if it was to destroy evidence or to get the insurance money on the house. I just know we wanted to pop a bowl of popcorn and watch it burn. No love lost in our house when these shitty houses burn or are torn down.
In all honesty, our neighborhood is NOT that bad. The bad things come in spurts and leave stories for us to tell. But I still choose to live there. My house is one of the better ones on the block (second only in tax assessment value to the new one directly to the north). We know a few of our neighbors (even if we choose not to associate with them). We look out for each other. Which brings me to the point of my rant.
Any neighborhood has crime. Any neighborhood can have good neighbors and bad. Just because there is a perception that a neighborhood is bad doesn’t mean that it should be written off. Our neighborhood is getting fixed up, slowly but surely. We have a couple local businesses in the area that are great.
We need to get more involved in our communities. We need to get to know our neighbors and we need to step in when we see stuff that shouldn’t be happening. I dare you to go and introduce yourself to someone on your block that you don’t know. You don’t have to be best friends…just find out who they are and maybe get a name.
Happy neighboring.
