Trying to Save a Neighborhood

Windy Ridge is a neighborhood in North Carolina that has been called a "Neighborhood built to fail". Windy Ridge has been hit with foreclosures in the past years and has been struggling ever since. Most of the lots were bought by Barber Builders. They built houses there for families with modest paychecks. The neighborhood seemed to have good potential, but that didn't last. Houses were soon broken into and went into foreclosure. Streetlights were going dark, there were quite a few break-ins, yards were covered with trash, and mortgages were the neighborhood's foundation. In 2007, there were 38 break-ins and 32 more in 2008. In 2009, Habitat for Humanity bought 10 houses in the subdivision. The city then made sure that people were taking care of the houses. There were only 6 break-ins in 2009. With a grant from the city, they got residents together and got students from University of North Carolina Charlotte to do field work in the neighborhood. Volunteers have also been picking up trash in the yards of the houses. Tirado, a woman who lives there, is now the neighborhood's first property inspector, and the neighborhood is now nicer to live in, but it's not great yet.

It's really sad that this is happening in some neighborhoods. It would be really hard to live in a neighborhood I didn't feel safe in. I think it's really cool what the volunteers and students at UNCC are doing to make the neighborhood a better place to live in. It takes a lot of courage to keep working to make Windy Ridge a better community. Doing all that work takes a lot of determination and persistance. I admire the people of Windy Ridge for that.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42253202/ns/business-us_business/