There’s a very interesting situation happening in town in the shadows of the now defunct glass factory. When the town was in its infancy post WW2 there were a lot of jobs, a lot of opportunities, but no decent, cheap places to live. In response to the needs of the workers and the factory, over six dozen row houses went up. This would work well for decades until the factory was closed and ultimately gutted by fire on the inside. It now stands as a huge eyesore staring over what used to be worker homes. As the workers moved away, poorer familys started moving in to the point where most would consider it "The Projects". For every 10 houses, at least one became either a drug den or a house of prostitution, or both.
Fast-forward to last year. With mysterious funding of almost a half million dollars, two entire blocks of these houses were razed. In their place, prefabricated housing is being built, most likely unaffordable to those who lost their houses. Here lies one of the apparent controversies. As the election grows near, more and more people are wondering exactly who planned this or if there’s even a plan.
Talking to a few locals I see two main points of view:
1. "I was getting tired of these crack houses, all the shootings, the fights, people literally selling right out in the middle of the street."
2. "We’re destroying part of our towns history! And for what? To build houses most locals can’t even afford?"
In part two I will be interviewing voters to see just how, if at all, this has effected their vote (hopefully without directly asking them HOW they voted). I’ll also be taking pictures of the once proud street to let you, the reader, decide just how you would react to this situation.
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