"Sounds like Detroit, circa 1965."
Detroit was still a decent place to live in 65.....the seachange worth noting was the summer of 67....its been downhill ever since then, in every way.
Actually, D.C. and PG County were not so bad until about then, too. I had a couple of elderly relatives decide Arizona looked better to them, "for their health" in '66 or so. They beat the rush to get out.