I lived near 63rd & Cottage Grove. We never crossed Cottage Grove to the west side. It was like a line that divided the area..Whites lived & shopped on the East side and the Blacks lived West of Cottage Grove. I lived in this area in the 1940s til 1951. The entire area from Cottage Grove to Jackson Park at 62nd & Stony Island consisted of well maintained apartment buildings. There was not a single lone house that I saw in this neighborhood. The apartment buildings were maintained by janitors who daily emptied garbage & c,earned hallways. I lived in a courtyard building with 42 apartments. We had a janitor who lived with his wife in a basement apt....he was there 24 hours & took care of any problems. The streets were tree lined & well maintained. Almost every apt. On our street at 62nd & Drexel had at least one porch. We actually had both a back porch & front balcony. It was a safe place to live & we had everything we needed in this one mile area...theaters...restaurants....clothing stores....Jewelers etc. yet even as a 12 year old girl I felt safe shopping alone or going to a movie theater with a friend. I graduated from High School in 1951 & shortly after small crimes started to occur. The neighborhood was changing so we moved further East to South Shore. How this happened I don't know as I really loved living in such an interesting & convenient area. The end of my living on East 63rd Street.