A roof in good shape, hanging plant, and potted chrysanthemums — it’s positively bordering on suburbia, except this house is another from the Blue Hills neighborhood.

In real life, it’s not crooked, obviously.

What I find really striking about certain neighborhoods, or even blocks, including the one that this house is in, is how residents can be almost competitive about taking care of their homes and yards. Here, most of the houses are on the smaller side, but there is a sense of pride. These are some of the benefits of home ownership. If you want to find a yard that’s dirt year-round or covered in litter, just seek out the property that is not owner occupied. Chances are, the landlord does not come around enough to clean up or care. But here, on this particular street, I have a feeling that if someone so much as drops a cigarette butt on the sidewalk, the homeowner is going to come outside right away to either give the offender whatfor or pick up the debris. That does not seem like such a bad place to live.