Before we moved into our house we used to idolize this neighborhood. Before this home we rented a 2 bedroom home that used to actually be a farm house before they built a neighborhood around it. Our oldest child, Bella, went to school with the kids in this neighborhood, and on several occasions was invited over to a play date. I remember going with my wife to one of these play dates and commenting on how we would never make enough to actually live in a place like this.
About 2 years later, and a huge raise, we bought a house in that very neighborhood. I remember the process of finding the right one with our inflated sense of pride due to our new found money. There was one house in particular that caught our eye at first. It was like our dream home. It looked like a castle and was nestled away in a little cul-de-sac. When our car rounded that corner our hearts jumped at the chance to live in the same neighborhood as a real life castle.
We moved in, and things we good; New neighbors, beautiful green lawns, well maintained gardens, and very nice sidewalks. We got dogs right away and started taking walks every day. Our neighbors would come out to greet us and reach down to pet our dogs and ask silly questions like “What kind of Dogs are those?” and “How’s the job treating ya?” Our neighborhood association came by with a welcome basket and invited us to the “Neighborhood Picnic” and told us who in the neighborhood would be a great person to talk to about various problems with our home, lawn, and animals.
Well, about a year later I lost my job. I will spare the details on how I felt, but share with you that I continued my daily walks with my dogs to get my mind off things. I remember walking past all those beautiful lawns in awe that people were spending so much on the one thing I didn’t have; Money. Over the next few weeks my walks decreased. I was ashamed to stick my head outside and our lawn became a huge mess. I would mow but not take time to edge. I would trim the bushes by our front porch so we could come in and out of the house, but not weed the garden. Over time our neighbors started to complain and we got several empty threats from the neighborhood association via certified mail.
We of course stopped paying our neighborhood association fees because the money was better spent putting food on our table. The economy one year ago was bad, but not in Oklahoma. See, Oklahoma City had recently been called “The most recession proof city in America.” And Business Week called Yukon Oklahoma the Best Small Town in Oklahoma because of size, income ratio, and availability of products and services. But we weren’t able to really be part of any of that since my income had dropped more than half.
Fourteen months later, I still haven’t made a homeowners association fee payment. My lawn really doesn’t look any better, but my neighbors across the street and to the west both earned lawn of the month. My wife and I would like to thinks we contributed to that because of the contrast to our own lawn. The 2 neighbors to the east both have their homes up for sale. With all of the attention given to our little block, and especially being at the entrance of our neighborhood, I am surprised to report that the neighborhood association has yet to send a letter of complaint to us this year. Perhaps the angry rebuttals we sent last year made some impact on their train of thought. We did however receive a complaint from the City this year about the “bushes” that were growing along our fence into a drainage ditch just do the west of our home.
Today, on a whim, I decided to take the dogs on a walk again. I grabbed my daughter and son and we all headed out into the neighborhood. My lawn looks pretty decent, considering I just groomed it to address the city letter. I see the two neighbors to the west are still trying to sell their homes after spending months on the market. As I walk on this incredibly mild afternoon, I am struck by the lack of people outside of their homes that I had gotten so used to when we moved it. Where were the forced waved, and the awkward questions about my dog’s breed.
Along the way I see a garage sale going on. Well, I wouldn’t call it a garage sale so much as junk furniture that looks like it was ripped from an abandoned business. One of the desks even had the “we accept these credit cards” stickers on it. Letting my daughter lead the way, we decided to take that turn down the corner where the castle home was. Then something starts to occur to me; the sidewalks don’t seem as clean as they used to. No one is edging their lawns anymore. In the cracks of the sidewalk there are weeds sprouting up. Then I notice the gardens, weeds, unkempt grass, no flowers. And dead trees.
Suddenly things start to add up. My neighborhood association hasn’t sent me a complaint letter because my bad lawn isn’t an uncommon sight anymore. My two neighbors to the west have being trying to sell their homes for months, but no one wants to buy because they can’t afford it. Round Up weed control sales are way down because the residents of our neighborhood aren’t buying it anymore. The pearl of Oklahoma (the City of Yukon) and the neighborhood of pride in community and prosperity were now being hit by the recession that for so long being absent in our state.
The saddest part is when I walked past the dream home. The one that made our hearts jump the first time we saw it because it was quite literally a castle. It now looks abandoned. The grass and weeds are up to my knees. The garden can’t be seen through the lawn. There is a yellow notice, probably a cut off notice from the water company, on the door of the house. It sits vacant and hopeless. The symbol of our hopes and dreams for a lust after money and vanity in a place to live reflects today how those same dreams sit in our own hearts; Dead, abandoned, choked out by weeds.