Update: The minivan was replaced by an abandoned trailer filled with old tires in November of 2018.

A year ago, these houses on Laflin Avenue in JeffVanderLou were in acceptable shape, even though they had been abandoned for a long time. I was shocked to drive by in the last week of August to discover that someone had set a car on fire in front of them, the flames obviously spreading to the two on the north. I assume the car was stolen, having been used in a crime, as there are no occupied houses nearby. Of course, the majority of the property around this forlorn scene is owned by Paul McKee’s Northside Regeneration, so it is not possible for there to be any neighbors around to call the police on the person who did this. See why we’re so angry about what he did to North St. Louis?