Well, maybe that explains it

The local newspaper had an online article talking about the recent real estate boom and subsequent crash. It included a little interactive map which you could click on and see the foreclosure rate in certain areas of the county.

I'm sickened by the fact that within about a 10 mile radius of my house, 44 percent of the homes are in foreclosure. Other nearby areas are between 20 and 30 percent, too.

Think about that- it's staggering isn't it? Somwhere between 1/4 and 1/2 of all the people living here are going broke and losing everything.

I don't feel all that sorry for them. They took the risky loans to buy the fancy new houses in the gated communities that kept flying up all over the place rather than living within their means, but can you really blame them? Who doesn't want to have the best for their families? And mortgage companies with their interest only loans made it easy to jump into a home WAY out of your price range. Instant gratification, pressure to keep up with everyone else, and now destitution.

Think it has any correlation to the high crime rate? Broken people with empty wallets and nothing to show for it... it's just a byproduct of desperation.