Growing Up in Salem, What Happened?

So what is different today? Is the world REALLY that much more dangerous, or is the PERCEPTION of the world just harsher?

(SALEM, Ore.) - When I was growing up, lo these 40 or so years ago, things were very different.

I had my bike and could ride it by myself or with friends anywhere in about a ten mile range. No one feared that as soon as I left my parents' side that I would be kidnapped and, surprisingly, that event never happened.

So what is different today? Is the world REALLY that much more dangerous, or is the PERCEPTION of the world just harsher?

Back in my childhood days there was a sense of community in the neighborhood. Any new neighbor was quickly visited by their new neighbors bearing cookies, etc., who were interested in meeting the new additions to the local greater family. Everyone knew everyone else, they knew what was usual and what was out of the ordinary. If a local kid just stepped one toe out of line, their parents were sure to know about it because the neighborhood parents had a thousand eyes on their kids all the time. It was hard for burglars to strike because any new person lurking around drew automatic attention.

Best as I can figure out two things contributed to the decline of this idyllic lifestyle.

First was when corporate America stopped treating employees like people and started treating them like paperclips - interchangeable and eminently disposable. This coincided with 'Personnel Departments' becoming 'Human Resources Departments". Company loyalty to the employees vanished, mainly during the late 70's and early 80's. The first thing any new hire did on the job was update their resume and start redistributing it. Stability became a concept for the past, not the present.

Second, in line with this instability, people who used to move into a neighborhood and stay for years became short term renters, knowing they would probably only stay for a few months. We became a society of transients. It is hard to put down roots when you uproot and move on so often. Ask any plant.

Then it became a common adage for people to not get too close to the neighbors because you had to live there. The fear of one spat between neighbors overshadowed all the benefits of a close knit society. Also from the other side came the adage of why bother getting close to those who would likely just move on in a short time? How many cookies can you bake?

The end result has been a rise in fear, because it is human nature to fear what you do not know, and we no longer know our neighbors. It has resulted in crime increasing, in fact it flourishes in places where folks isolate themselves in fear.

What needs to be done is not that tough a concept, nor is it an easy one. We need to crack the shell of fear in Salem that has built up over the past few decades.

We need more than just an occasional and ill attended block party every so often. Each neighborhood needs to work hard to reconnect... with all residents, and specifically between neighborhoods, Each of us needs to take the time and effort to actually meet those who live on either side of us. It is not required that you play bridge with them every day or even that you like them. But meet them, know them, understand them. Know if they have kids. If those kids get into mischief do not fear letting their parents know of it. Maybe once you meet those two families you can meet the next two down, or maybe the ones across the street.

Remember it only takes one person to start this. Why not you?

Editor's note: Salem-News.com is proud to welcome Neal Feldman aboard as part of our writing and reporting staff. A resident of the local area for many years, Neal knows Salem, Oregon very well. Please look for more reports and commentaries from Neal on Salem-News.com

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Henry Ruark October 6, 2007 1:54 pm (Pacific time)

Neal et al: Yours re huge disparities between corporate-enriched and endowed vs the ordinary family is right on the money re the corporatist state. Your well-expressed insights herein continue to echo these "brute facts" of American life today, parts of the "big picture" which too few really see.

Neal Feldman October 6, 2007 10:08 am (Pacific time)

Leonardo - Well population size can indeed have an effect but as you have said cities like Gary of similar size have vastly different crime rates. With larger population there is a larger pool of criminals of course but also a larger pool of honest citizens. If they work together in community the criminals do not stand a chance. Another factor is income disparity. If you have the incredibly rich, or view of them, along with the incredibly poor envy will tend to create more desire for that which only criminal activity can provide. This nation needs to slow and reverse the trend over the pas 50 years of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer or the French Revolution will have nothing on the carnage and bloodshed that will be the inevitable result. Unfortunate but, according to human nature, unavoidable eventually. Ah well...

Leonardo October 6, 2007 7:41 am (Pacific time)

Welcome, Neal, to S-N.com. I didn't grow up in Salem, but in Gary, Indiana which went from a community where people didn't lock their doors at night to one which home owners bought burglar alarms and attack dogs. Part of the problem is population size. I'll say this: Salem is a heckuva lot more safe than Gary.

Henry Ruark October 5, 2007 5:25 pm (Pacific time)

To all: Great to see such clear understandings of the tremendous economic AND social responsibilities forced upon us all by the indisputable facts of life now. Those and other impacts are the impossible-to-avoid direct consequences of corporatist state policies engulfing the former "American way" of which we were so justifiably proud.

Neal Feldman October 5, 2007 3:58 pm (Pacific time)

Sue et al - True the 'death' of the single income double parent family model has something to do with things but I don't think, personal opinion-wise, as much as the breakdown of community. But it is true that a great many homes with a single parent are empty while they work and the kids are 'stored' elsewhere which makes such homes a greater target for criminals. And criminals, despite the adage not to poop on your own doorstep, tend to victimize those in their own area. An added sense of community would help watch out for such homes and families in my opinion. Who knows? I could be completely wrong. I don't think I am though. As for my trademarked "Ah well..." I leave that for comments like here. lol Ah well...

Sue October 5, 2007 3:08 pm (Pacific time)

I am so disappointed you didn't end your article with "ah well". ha ha.. I also grew up in Salem and I agree with the article for the most part. For me, the biggest difference is that children today are in day care or other places away from the neighborhood. When I grew up, the mother's were home. If we got hurt, did something wrong or was in any danger, the nearest mother took care of it. That gave us the freedom to ride our bikes or play pretty much throughout the grade school boundaries. They knew us because they would visit each other, volunteer at the school, or see each other in the berry fields. To earn extra $$ most of the mothers near us picked and we did right by their side. I am not saying mothers should stay home. In fact some kids are better off without their mom's there. I am just saying that is the way it was.

Vic October 5, 2007 1:32 pm (Pacific time)

Great article ! I remember growing up in Hubbard during the 60s..even as 8 to 10 year olds, my friends and I would ride our bikes into Woodburn (three miles away) to watch movies at the Pix Theater. Thirty years later, with my own children, things were very different. Its a shame how things have changed. The racists will be clamoring to blame the "illegals" , but that is just a small part of it. Of all the crimes that have been committed against myself and my extended family over the years, all were carried out by white citizens. Yu are right on about the sense of community and how that has vanished. Now it seems, everyone is wary and suspicious of each other....and no wonder, with Fox news and the main stream media churning out fear/threat marinated "news" every night. Thanks for your work, Neal !

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