I have very spirited memories of the neighborhood I grew up in as a child; memories of running through the neighborhood with friends, going in and out of our houses and playing in our yards. Our neighborhood was an open one and as children we had the ability to run freely where ever we desired. We had access to each other’s homes and toys were freely shared. If I try hard enough, I can nearly remember what every yard, house and family looked like. This was the culture of our neighborhood: open and inviting, willing to share what we had with each other.
Next door to my house was a big plot of land that for many years sat empty. This was a shared space where all of us could play and be as crazy as we wanted.
That is…until everything changed.