There are two sides of Lima, the north and the south. And they are about as different as two neighborhoods can be. In between the north and the south is downtown Lima.
Northern Lima is called the north. It contains the country club, and a large assortment of new and fancy restaurants. It's public library was recently refurbished and now contains a new technology lab and an extensive after-school tutoring center. The neighborhood middle school has a large pool, sports facility, and active PTA. Even the train line that runs from downtown to the north, the Brown Line, is clean and efficient. It has minimal graffiti and practically no crime. The north is a pleasant area to raise a family.
The south is a different story. People call it the Heights or Lima Heights due to its large number of tall apartment buildings. Lets take a tour by riding the main bus route in Lima, the number 9, down Ashland Street. Ashland goes all the way from the north to the southern city limits, an area known as Lima Heights Adjacent. Ashland Street is just west of downtown, so the number 9 does not go through the city.
The bus starts in the wealthy neighborhood, predominantly white upperclass. The streets are neat and the lawns trim. Wrought iron fences surround the large tidy houses and charming flower patches line the sidewalk. The sun is shining and the sky is blue as the bus bumbles its way south down Ashland Street. As the bus proceeds south, the houses grow smaller and closer together. More kids are seen running down the sidewalks which are brightly decorated with chalk drawings and hopscotch grids and candy bar wrappers. Neighbors sit on the curb, eating and having neighborly conversations. Its not the wealthy neighborhood but its very comfortable.
The bus is now just west of downtown and on a block with several apartment buildings. Their yards are fenced with chain link fencing and the kids of this neighborhood are messing around on a nearby basketball court. The hoop is missing its net but the kids are having a blast. Nearby, a squirrel munches on the garbage in an overturned trashcan. The grownups here work a little later but still find time to socialize occasionally.
Now the bus is in the south. Gone are the fancy gates and impeccable yards. Chain link fences surround the apartment yards and the kids are playing in the streets. Potholes big enough for a child to sit in dot the streets. The train the runs from downtown to here, the Green Line, has armed security at every stop and homeless people sleep on the steps nightly. The neighborhood middle school recently adopted a new system in which see-through, plastic backpacks are required for all students. Three young people with clear backpacks sit on the curb, watching the setting sun make long shadows down the cracked concrete. They pass a bottle between the three of them. People don't have time to socialize here, most people are working class minorities. A nearby store has a sign "Se habla español, tenemos clases de ingles" (We speak Spanish, we have classes for English). A few members of the neighborhood gang "Los Reyes Latinos" (The Latin Kings) loiter around the entrance to a corner store. This gang is idolized by most of the boys from the area.
A young woman holding a baby in one hand a pushing a cart in the other enters the store, followed by a little girl.
"Mommy, can I get that?" She cries, pointing to a display of a pink feather pen in the window. The mother checks her wallet and replies "No, baby, we're only getting food today." She pulls out a small book labeled "Ohio LINK" and enters the store. (Author's note: I live in Chicago and our food stamps are called Illinois LINK cards. I don't know what they're called in Ohio so I'm just going to call them Ohio LINK.)
The bus is now on the border between Lima Heights and Lima Heights Adjacent. The Adjacent is most certainly different that the Heights. Members of los reyes latinos don't venture into the Adjacent unless accompanied by their friends, their guns and their friend's guns. the apartments and projects are so close that there is no room for yards anymore. Kids play of the roof, or in the abandoned lots. Most boys from this area drop out of school to join a gang. The housing projects are over thirty stories high and are drug dealing havens. Prostitutes and dealers stalk the hallways and drug trades go down in the stairs. Large families with six, seven, and eight kids live here. Almost no grownups in this area speak English. The number 9 bus has reached it's last and possibly most grim stop. It is on Garfield Street. Across the street is the centro de crisis para niños, the children's crisis center. On the next block is the area widely known as the Adjacent Hell. This is the home of Santana Lopez.