On a west side block of bungalows and sturdy two-story homes, the Murray Hill Street block club is mustering pluck and fortitude.
Laura Berman writes in The Detroit News that over 12 months, four homes have been abandoned. On one, graffiti is growing faster than the daffodils. On another, a shattered pane of glass, with a hole punched through it like a fist, stares onto the street. But it's the house in the middle of the block that's driven them to send a three-page typed letter to the president of Bank of America — with copies to elected officials and media, from the governor to Diane Sawyer to me.
Bank of America owns the house, according to public records, and the structure is not in obvious disrepair. The disorder lies within.
A few months ago, neighbors spotted people in the house, and signs of moving in, one or two items at a time. First knickknacks. Then, furniture: A couch. A table.
