It's tough, Dennis. The stress, frustration, and anger that comes with living in Mt. Hope spreads it insidious tentacles into every aspect of one's life. Even a seemingly benign activity that should bring joy and relaxation, like gardening to beautify your yard or street, becomes fraught with stress, anger, and frustration.

Your story serves as a good example of this. We pay a high price for living in Mt. Hope, but as you said, one can't give up: it is a work in progress.

To quote that wonderful line from the mouth of Billy Crystal's character, in the movie, Analyze This! "It's a process."

John, you are so right....

Unfortunately it is what it is.....

Thankfully, we have this wonderful website on which to vent about the ignorance we live amongst.

I was wondering what it is about Mt. Hope that keeps you here. It sounds as though you do not feel safe or comfortable with the surroundings. I know what keeps me here. I love my neighbors and enjoy seeing the same kids my kids grew up with now that they are adults. I have seen that our neighborhood has changed over the past 25 years that I have been happy to call this home. Mt. Hope is for me a place that I feel at home. What are your reasons for living here?

Lisa, I don't know whom you are asking, Dennis, me, or the multitude of like-minded residents who don't have the courage to voice their opinion the way that you, I, or Dennis do.

I respect your point of view and your willingness to share it, I respect your courage even, for fear is what keeps most people from expressing themselves in this forum.

You state "It sounds as though you do not feel safe or comfortable with the surroundings."

Speaking for myself, I feel safe and comfortable in Mt. Hope but only because I'm a tough guy, experienced with the ways of the streets, capable of taking care of my self and my family, confident that I can deal tit for tat with any of the cowardly, petty criminals who haunt Mt. Hope's streets.

But if I were a single mother, or a mamby pamby academic, or just an average citizen, someone who was unprepared for the violent crime and the drug dealing in Mt. Hope, I don't know if I would feel as safe or as comfortable as I do given my background. I definitely doubt it. In fact, no, I would not feel safe or comfortable.

But my street is clean. My street is safe. I made it that way.

Personally, what keeps me here, well, I love my home, my property, and I won't let corrupt politicians, corrupt community organizations, and petty criminals drive me out of the home I love.

Lisa, I know that you are a great sympathizer with the African Community in Mt. Hope. Yet, as you recognize, change is coming to Mt. Hope. No longer will the sense of entitlement that the African American community feels to freely break the law in Mt. Hope be tolerated.

You and I both know that Kevin Jackson and the powers behind the Mt. Hope Neighborhood Association, the Browns, have constantly played the race card in Mt. Hope, portraying the African American Community as victims and discouraging the City from enforcing the law evenly in Mt. Hope.

This attitude empowers the mindset of the Great White Father coming to the rescue in the form of lax law enforcement, more entitlement programs, and it holds back the African American Community from self fulfillment and from achieving even a segment of the American Dream.

All races, all cultures strive to live in a clean, safe environment. What sets Mt. Hope apart?

What sets Mt. Hope apart from other East Side neighborhoods?

Why does the African American community deal drugs in Mt. Hope?

Why do African Americans vandalize private property in Mt. Hope?

Why do African Americans constantly throw garbage on the streets of Mt. Hope?

Is there anything I can do to help them overcome this self-destructive behavior?

I respect all the reasons you stated for your love of Mt. Hope and the reasons why you live here.

I wonder if you own a home in Mt. Hope: do you? Do you pay a mortgage and steep property taxes?

One is no less a citizen of Mt. Hope if they rent an apartment and do not own a home, yet one's perspective as a renter, not subject to a mortgage and steep property taxes may be quite different from one who has made the commitment to buy a home in Mt. Hope and assume all the responsibilities that that entails.

I too love my home, and I worked hard to pay for it, and I work hard to pay the mortgage and to pay my property taxes.

I simply want to live in a clean, safe neighborhood, free of drug dealing and the petty and violent crime that the drug trade brings.

If you have any suggestions, I would love to hear them.

I think most of Mt. Hope residents want to live in peace, free of filth and crime.

Do you deny that right now, Mt. Hope is a toilet, full of drug dealers, vandalism, and filth?