A Home In The 'Hood

"For young adults on a tight budget in the city, moving to a less expensive -- and less fashionable -- neighborhood is a way to make ends meet. The hood has perks. In addition to more space for less money, we may find historic housing stock, a bohemian atmosphere, and vibrant multicultural communities. Many of us were brought up in the suburbs. Now we either can't afford to move back, or can't stomach the prospect of being so isolated and bored ever again."

Yet the threat of crime and the nuisance of graffiti is a powerful obstacle for some who want to try living in inner-city neighborhoods.

But for those who can stomach it for a period of time, there is often some rewards -- in the form of neighborhood improvements.

"Young adults have been homesteading in neglected urban neighborhoods since after World War II, according to geographer Neil Smith, an author and professor who studies gentrification at New York's CUNY Graduate Center. Artists did it long before, in spurts, he says. Now gentrification by the poorer, younger crowd is almost systematic in cities around the world."