Northeast of downtown Belleville, the housing stock clearly dates to the early Twentieth Century with a mix of different revival styles on larger lots.

But it is deeply concerning to me that right in the middle of extremely well-maintained and restored houses, there are just flat-out bombed-out houses and duplexes such as the building below. What happened? I don’t understand.

This house below, and all the others, are just around the corner from the abandoned one above.

A little bit to the south, the houses get older, and there are more abandoned buildings, such as the one below, and the other houses that are occupied look poorly maintained by absentee landlords.

But then, a block away, the houses pick back up again, in great condition and occupied.

And then old German settler houses, such as the one below,  appear, mixed in with houses from around the Civil War.