i live in the 3rd worst neighborhood in the city. not exactly the deepest bowels of the ghetto, but close enough. a practice ghetto if you will.
my neighbors are either fistfighting, making drug deals, getting drunk on the porch, riding dirtbikes up and down the (narrow, thickly-settled with cars parked on both sides) street, having drama on the phone, bumping crappy music while they detail their car for the 4th time this week, or getting arrested.
i do have new neighbors and i think their son is a little slow because he keeps coming over to ask me if i need help landscaping and whatnot. i know it sounds nice but this is just not the type of place where you walk up to strangers and ask them to invite you onto their property. it's generally a "no eye contact" zone and it doesn't take long to figure out. in his defense he gets picked up by a short bus for school and he's about 17. i think his dad is afraid to call him away. the kid's already mixed up with shady characters and they've only been here since april. he's doomed.
i do get the occasional cool neighbor, but getting too social with certain people is a good way to find one's self in a world of shit, and not just about a grow. i have a few people i say hi and bye to, but only because i knew them before i moved here.