It was always considered a rough neighborhood. I grew up in the Far Northeast and moved in with my GF in Kensington. She bought a house for $12,000 that was between the Tioga and Allegheny stops on the El.

The neighborhood had a bunch of elderly people still living there. Mostly Irish and Polish. I worked for the phone company at the garage on 2nd and Erie. Kensington Ave was a thriving business district. Ostroff's Candies, Bea's Broasted Chicken, Village Thrift. On hot summer days I used to go to McPheson library to read because they had air conditioning.

In the early 90's Crack was the big drug. There were Crack whores would hang out alongside Harrowgate Park.

Overall, it wasn't bad. Much better than today.

I look up our old house on Zillow every now and then. It's strange seeing the changes to the interior. We had a claw foot bathtub which has been replaced by a regular tub enclosure.