Shauffstitutes

Josiah,

Nobody likes my blog anyway...you get pictures of these 'johns,' and I'll make a nifty section for my blog. Title it something like, "Local Fornicators," or "Pervy old men," or "Check to see if your husband/boyfriend is using underage girls." Kinda like "COPS" when they do a sting for soliciting and show it on TV.

Carl

sounds like that might be a good column for the Pulse......hmmmm.....if only I knew a photographer with press credentials....hmmmm.....

Gotta agree with sboatright on this one. That would be a great column for the Pulse.

Carl

i don't know of any ministries focusing on this. maybe you have a new calling...

Be careful. There could be some heavy legal ramifications if you snap/post/publish a shot of some guy with his teenage daughter - teenagers dress like hookers these days - who really is just going in for a newspapaer and candybar.

Clint has a good point. Also be aware of the safety issues that arise when some guy gets busted, and then realizes where the photographs were taken.

And on another note, is the st. elmo area past 50th st. (towards georgia) still considered the bad part of st. elmo? What needs to happen in order for that to change, and how long do you think it will be until that area is on par with the rest of st. elmo?

I think Clint has an irrelevant point, at least, an altogether tertiary one. But its not his fault. He doesn't realize that the prostitution is occuring on a side street, where there'd be no reason for a father and his daughter to be picking up a newspaper and candy bar (not actually AT the Stop n' Go Market). And there'd certainly be little reason for some white suit n' tie guy in a big caddy SUV to be picking up a young African American girl on that street either.

There isn't really a bad part of St. Elmo anymore. There are bad "pockets" here and there. But I'm more and more convinced that its silly to think about St. Elmo like that. Maybe its because I feel part of the neighborhood, and I'm a loyal SOB to a fault.

I'm also slightly annoyed at the obvious (to me) racist undertones that come with much of the "do you feel safe in St. Elmo?" questions. Mostly they come out of ignorance for the neighborhood, but I can't shake that there's some racism going on there.

I apologize if my questions had racist undertones, because it was not meant to come across that way. I don't think that safety has anything to do with the racial breakdown of the neighborhood, not do I really care what the racial/ethnic breakdown is. What I am concerned about is the crime rate (whether its reported crime, or observed crime). Would I feel safe with drug deals happening in close proximity to my property? Probably not. Would I feel safe with prostitution happening within close proximity to my property? Probably not. Would I feel safe if I constantly had to worry about my property being vandalized? Probably not.

Drugs, vandalism, and prostitution can happen in the best of neighborhoods, it all really boils down to whether or not those things outweigh the *goodness* of the area. I think the goodness of the 40's blocks of st. elmo outweigh the bad, but when I was in st. elmo, the 50's blocks were still ridden with the aforementioned crime.

Kyle, didn't mean to imply that your questions sounded like they had racist undertones, I was more making reference to interactions in Chatty with certain groups, and its not specific to St. Elmo really.

Also, a large percentage of the "crime" that occurs in st. elmo which would effect "us" happens in "the 40'", and it certainly isn't limited to any end of the neighborhood, at least not in the last couple of years. While certain parts of the neighborhood look "rougher", those looking to commit crimes aren't partial to one area or another.

And then again, crime has been dropping so steadily and quickly in the last decade in St. Elmo its great.

All that to say, I'm trying to get to know my neighbors, and thus far I haven't had the slightest bit o' trouble.

You snap the photos, we'll take a look.

Thanks for the clarification. I miss the community feeling of st. elmo (being able to walk down the street to your friends house). I'm very eager to help renovate/revitalize st. elmo, with hopes that I can bring my family back to st. elmo in the next few years. All i need is a job, and a cool house that needs some work, and I would be one happy camper.

Ps. I thought my bike being stolen was the worst thing that happened in the 40's :)

Josiah- thought you'd like this image:
www.cedartreedesign.com/blog/american_gentrifier.jpg

It comes from Stay Free! magazine, a leftist political magazine offering great satire on things like, well gentrification: www.stayfreemagazine.com

Wow, I stop blogging for a week or two and I miss all this great dialog. Many things to comment on.

First off, the dealing of drugs and flesh has been going on for twenty years here, and as long as there are buyers we'll keep having the problem. Photos might help, but cops busting the buyers at a higher ratio than the sellers would help.

Secondly, crime happens all over the city and all over St. Elmo. It gets reported more in the 40's because those home owners tend to believe the police (and their insurance) will do something about it.

Third: as far as the "ethnic divide," according to the census reports there is more distinction between west and east St. Elmo than north - south. Income distinction follows the east-west model too, but there's a greater concentration of folks below the poverty line past 52nd.

And last: I'm glad you all are looking into the notion of gentrification. It's a interesting topic and one that tends to be more pollicitally than rationally driven. The core truths are there though, and it would be cool to hear what folks thoughts are.