NEIGHBORHOOD: As we grow older, it’s hard to see changes in places that meant something to us.

Reader Joy Pascarella wrote a poem about an old Bradford neighborhood that included Ascension, Buffalo and Terrace streets, off West Corydon Street in Bradford.

Here it is, titled Goodbye beautiful neighborhood.

“Goodbye beautiful neighborhood,

The sun shines no more –

They stripped it away.

Such an eyesore.

My love for the neighborhood comes from sweet memories —

Carefree summer days,

Running about free.

Such a beautiful neighborhood

With fun, freedom and friends —

In the heart of a child,

Seemed like it would never end.

When I would drive by the neighborhood

And look up toward the hill —

Very few houses were there, partially still.

The child in my heart hurts —

For now it is nothing but darkness and dirt.

There’s no longer a reason to drive by,

For there is nothing left to see …

Goodbye beautiful neighborhood —

Thanks for the sweet childhood memories.”

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The houses in those areas were at the end of steep streets. Not long ago, the Bradford Board of Health had been up there and found where a homeless encampment had been. The houses had been long empty, some burned down, others lost to time and negligence.