Has The South End Of New Bedford Gone Downhill?

I grew up in the South End of New Bedford. My aunt and uncle were proud owners of a three family home very close to the hurricane dike. My grandmother lived on the third floor, my aunt and uncle lived on the 2nd floor with my great grandmother and friend of theirs lived on the first floor.

I would spend many weekends there and my grandmother and I would walk to Cove discount frequently, head over to Mini Chef for a snack, and we didn't think twice about walking anywhere at anytime.

My aunt, uncle and great grandmother have passed and the house was sold.

Yesterday, I had a chance to drive by the house where I spent a good portion of my childhood, and the sight I saw would make my uncle turn over in his grave if he saw what I saw.TOTAL disarray.

A totally rusted garage door, broken window blinds in windows that were wide open with no screen, a backyard totally unkept with a junk car parked in the driveway, weeds everywhere, and the same garbage cans broken and dented up that STILL have my uncle and aunts last name printed on them. (They both have been gone for years now). This wasn't  the only house like this. The entire street minus one or two houses has seen this transformation.

Now, I didn't tour the entire South End, maybe this is just one unlucky street, but something tells me this probably isn't the case.

In the past I have thought about knocking on the door and seeing if the tenants would let me take one last look at the house that I spent a good portion of the '70s in, but after what I saw yesterday, I'm afraid that it will just ruin all the great memories I have there.