Blog 3921 – 08.18.2026

The Neighborhood Is Changing

The neighborhood where my wife and I live is called Oak Forest. When this subdivision was first developed right after World War Two, it consisted of mostly two bed room, one bath, and one car garage starter homes for veterans returning home from the war and anxious to start families.

A few years after she finished college in the seventies, my wife bought one of these homes and at first had to have a couple of roommates to afford the payments and utilities. After a couple of promotions at the bank where she worked and a home improvement loan she had a large den built across the back of the house. Linda and I met again in January of 1988 and in August of 1989 we were married. Since that time we have together made some home improvements together. We installed a large above ground pool and I built a large raised deck for the pool. All that remains is the deck. 

We had the one car garage made into an additional bedroom and installed vinyl siding to modernize the look of the house and make painting it unnecessary. After years of lobbying for it, I finally convinced Linda to give up a corner of the den and allow me to build a small bath with a walk in shower.

We raised our son Jon in this home and Emily our daughter spent many happy weekends here with us and summer vacations. We have made a lot of happy memories here. I was away working on the road for the last eight or so years of my working career and the neighborhood began to change. Many of the homes in the neighborhood were sold, the houses torn down, and new two stories mini-mansions built in their place. Younger and wealthier families with children are revitalizing neighborhood.

Our long time next door neighbor retired and sold his home a few years ago to a man who had built one of the new mini-mansions just across the street. The building at first rented the house, but after a bad storm dropped a large oak tree on the garage and bedroom he decided to go ahead and clear the lot. A couple of weeks ago equipment began preparing the lot for the building a new home.

Our son asked me to take pictures of the construction progress. Several concrete mixer trucks and the big pumper arrived this morning.

The neighborhood is changing. Updates on this story to follow.

Your friend and fellow traveler,

David James White