Government
'We Look Out for Each Other Here'
Who will love, and take care of, my neighborhood the way the older residents have?
This essay appears in the forthcoming Detroit Neighborhood Guidebook from Belt Publishing, and is excerpted here with permission.
The first month I lived in Minock Park, my new neighbors would stop while I tackled the endless yard work to introduce themselves, and always had the same reaction. I’d watch as a look of surprise and maybe mild amusement would cross their faces. They would then shrug and smile and give a warm introduction. The interaction would always end the same way—with phone numbers exchanged and a serious, heartfelt promise: “We look out for each other here.”