Nelly Harmon has lived in Westview since 1970, during white flight: “When we moved the neighbors across the street were moving; the neighbors next door were moving out, the house over here was vacant, they had already left.” She credits many of the changes in the neighborhoods to older homes being turned into rooming houses: “And that’s kind of what happened to the neighborhood. As people moved in and the older people passed away, and the younger children didn’t want the homes or whatever, and they sold it or rented it out and you got all kind of people coming in, buying homes to turn them into rooming houses. And a lot of people don’t realize or didn’t realize that you have to permit a rooming house . . .” She wishes codes had been enforced more to keep rooming houses from developing and bringing in more transient residents to the neighborhood. Her hope for the changes coming is that people commit to being a part of the neighborhood. "The community would come together when needed, if asked."

For her whole story, listen below: