We were in this article though...
http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2010/0...red-recession/
And no one's hopping that fence. I believe it's 12 feet high.
Our assessments are no big deal and they're optional, so that's not really an issue. The majority of our budget comes from grants from the city. And as far as my neighbors being as well off as me, I don't really know. So long as they keep their yards up, I don't really care either.
As far as gentrification goes, even in the circumstances where it is not win/win, being poor sucks and it should suck. That you've let your neighborhood slide to a point where external forces are needed to essentially wipe the place out and start over means that you have failed. If that happens in my neighborhood someday, then I failed at being a good steward for my neighborhood and doing what I could to protect my property value.
The problem will never be solved because the problem of blight, left unchecked tends to spread. Best to nip it in the bud if possible and salvage a bad situation, or if not possible, to at least contain all the blight in one area -- in OKC, there are certain neighborhoods you just don't go to at night... or if you do go, you go armed (conceal and carry is permissible here and open carry is about to be).
The fix is cultural. I agree you can't throw money at the problem. If the police won't clean up your neighborhood, you have to take it upon yourself to do something. There may be consequences for that, it's all a cost-benefit analysis, and it may be the case that eventually you're resigned to the fact that the neighborhood will slip into blight.
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