1 of 26

No

Write now Article Tools

It's not surprising that the strongest responses to this question are from individuals who have anecdotes to share about prior experiences. While most of us have noble hearts, sometimes life experiences put a specific spin on what we would do in the future.

Based on two periods of my life when mine was the only family of a particular race and ethnic background living in a neighborhood, I would either avoid the situation again or think more than twice about doing it. The reason has nothing to do with feeling comfortable as the only person or family of a particular race among my neighbors. It's all about how the neighborhood came to be, in essence, segregated.

In my late twenties, I was (at least as far as I knew) the only person of my race in a small Chicago neighborhood that was a mixture of older apartments and row houses. I had a fairly long commute on buses and the subway and like most of the residents, little time to interact with my neighbors. I also worked a second job on the weekends to be able to afford to live without any roommates. And I dated several guys while I lived in that apartment.

By the sixth month of my lease, I had already needed repairs to appliances, heat, and plumbing. I actually took a Sunday afternoon to knock on several neighbors' doors in my building and found out that the individual who owned it was in effect a slum lord. Just 10 years prior, mine was a thriving, racially-mixed neighborhood whose buildings were kept up by their owners. I moved at the end of the lease.

I have lived in my current home outside Washington, DC for almost 21 years. When I purchased it from my landlord a few months after leasing it, the neighborhood was a mixture of singles, young families, single parents like myself, and a few retirees. It was also fairly evenly mixed as far as race. From being on the homeowners' board, I knew that about 85 percent of the townhouses were owner-occupied.

Neighborhood residents are now almost exclusively of one race. If today I were looking at this area as a place in which to live, I would head the other direction. Over the years, the neighborhood has become 90 to 95 percent tenant-occupied. The original owners have mostly sold out and moved elsewhere. Many of the homes, about 25 years old, are in visibly poor condition. Their yards need work. Boards have rotted. House numbers are missing. This has less to do with the age of the homes (mine is kept up, and I am only able to work part time) than it does new owners scarfing up the houses, turning them into rental properties, and then being unwilling to maintain them due to cost.

In the owners' defense, I must add that it's the tenant's responsibility to keep up the yard, pick up trash, and inform the landlord of major repairs needed. However, that doesn't negate the history of the neighborhood or the fact that I would never move into it as the only person of my race.

Learn more about this author, Vonda Sines.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

Add your voice

Know something about Would you move into a neighborhood if you were the only person of your race living there??
We want to hear your view. Write now!