[gaspar]

I too know the area as a friend of mine who works in Washington lives there. These are for the most part good hard-working people. They spend their week working like the devil and on week-ends, at parks and playgrounds, and in open greenspace they meet and hold barbeques, and play baseball and soccer games. They welcome visitors (and I should know)from outside the neighborhood, and the cops have a generally friendly relationship with them. This isn't Hell's Kitchen, and it sure as hell isn't Compton, California or the Bronx.

[angkor]

These are for the most part good hard-working people.

You are absolutely right, and I shouldn't have focused so much commentary on the bad apples (illegals) in the Bailey's Crossroads area.

That Catholic church across the street from the apartments is absolutely packed every Sunday and for every conceivable religious event, and I you're also right that the nieghborhood is not South Central LA or the Bronx, not by a longshot. For the most part it seems a reasonably peaceful area. I rarely see any police activity there, aside from the fairly regular minor fender benders.