Below is a comment made to this story on Facebook by a Decatur resident:

B/N isn’t the only place this is happening. Almost all of Decatur is getting this way. Most people wouldn’t recognize the neighborhoods they grew-up in. We have one house on our block where the landlord gets $1200 a month for rent to a drug dealer. And that’s in the 1100 block of W King. There are now 10 rentals, that includes 4 dealers, and only 8 homeowners still living in their houses on the block. It’s terrible. This used to be a working class neighborhood. Our property values have declined so much. I still kick myself for not getting out of here a few yrs ago when we had the chance.

by:  Diane Benjamin

This alley is between E. Jefferson and E. Washington Street in the 800 block.  The date on the pictures is not correct.  The resident who took the pictures doesn’t know how to correct it on the camera.

I’ve reported on this area before.  Good people are leaving because of drug activity, damage to property and vehicles, juveniles trespassing, and intimidation by new tenants.  The police make arrests, the justice systems releases them.  The cycle continues.

How can this neighborhood be saved?  The neighbors used to try to clean it themselves, but many have now left.   The others don’t feel safe outside anymore.  The City of Bloomington has not responded to calls for action.  Even if they did clean it, in 2 weeks it would look like this again.  When renters don’t care, they throw trash anywhere they want.   Maybe the landlords should be held responsible for who they rent to.  Is declining property values fair to the current homeowners?  Is living in fear fair?