Update: I went back up this way again in late summer of 2019.

Last fall, I did a post entitled “North Up Blair Avenue,” which looked at a cross section of the neighborhoods that were affected by the construction of Interstate 70, but that also show signs of rebounding. Beginning above, a house long admired in Old North but left to rot by McKee has finally been demolished, and a vacant lot has been left behind. At least one building on the south side of the street on that block has been demolished, as well.

Update: There has been some work done on the house above.

I still think there is a market for the small houses above and below in the Old North neighborhood, just around the block from the sad demolition I showed above.

Just to the north in Hyde Park neighborhood, I’m concerned about the small bungalows from the Twentieth Century that were all occupied when I first came up here in 2008. They’re being abandoned now in great numbers.

Update: The house below is now complete with the lights on.

But there’s good news; the renovation of the amazing remnants of the row on Bremen Avenue just northeast of the park in Hyde Park has been going along, and I see new signs of progress. I can’t wait to see it completed.

But many houses are still deteriorating badly, with trees and other undergrowth hiding them in thick blanket of green due to all of the heavy rain and sun.

But as the elevation rises up towards College Hill, the abandonment sets in, and I have only seen things get worse over the last twelve years.

And as happens every summer, the old wood frame half-flounder that is exposed during the winter is wrapped in a heavy green coat of leaves. See it this last winter here.

I did find these two wonderful houses, long since their construction fused together into a single home, when I went west up East Prairie Avenue. It looks abandoned now, unfortunately.

Just two months ago, I had reported the good news that the rare double flounder in College Hill seen in the picture below had survived the harsh winter. But unfortunately, it has not survived the heavy rains and winds that hit the region in the last couple of weeks. It now looks like it will be demolished in the future, sadly.