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The neighborhood was a toothless, tired old beast with patchy fur and ruinous bones.  Houses clumped in twos or threes, and every other house still standing was empty.  It wasn't really a "bad" neighborhood anymore because there was hardly anyone still there.  Gangs didn't roam because there was nowhere to roam to.  Burglars didn't bother because there were no more pickings.  Empty houses had quickly lost their copper pipes, water heaters, furnaces, gas meters, radiators and doorknobs.  Inspired 20 and 30-somethings may have once imagined urban farmhouses, turning empty lots into productive land, until they tried.  The houses that once stood had not been removed thoughtfully and empty lots were not really empty.  Basements had been filled with rubble and the dirt that covered them shunted from other projects in better parts of the city; projects that had begun with "remediation".