An Interview with Grandma

In an effort to better understand how the south side is perceived by its residents my group members and I conducted an interview with my great grandmother, who is an amazing 87 years old.  Her name is Ruth Cosgrove, and she arrived in Phoenix in 1959, escaping the “frigid” temperatures of St. Louis.

 In October of 1959 she started teaching 7^th grade at Wilson Elementary.  After 12 years living near McDowell Road they were displaced by freeway construction, and after shopping around, eventually they settled in the “country”, she and her husband moved to her current home which they purchased, for “about $25,000” and is located at 12^th street and Desert Lane.  Desert Lane was then the last block before South Mountain.

At the time Baseline, her nearest crossroad was just an “old country road”, surrounded by what she called “orchards” and “flower gardens”, almost hard to imagine.  The flower gardens were closed “years ago”, and the orchards are very quickly fading, with only one or two visible on Baseline. 

When asked about her experience living in the dangerous south side, or South Mountain Village as is now the official name, she couldn’t remember calling the police one time in over 30 years.  Something sort of odd occurred to me.  I Noticed that even though she had never been robbed, or had any problems with others in the neighborhood she has bars on every window.  Noticing this made me realize how powerful the public attitude is, even making someone who lives in the environment, and knows the reality react with fear.  Other points of interest were the fact that some chains of stores are “hard to get out here”, noting that Albertsons has never moved close, and other big chains also seem to stay out of the area. 

Overall this interview proved insightful, and interesting.  Even though I have had this wealth of knowledge at my finger tips for years I have never taken advantage.  By speaking candidly with a resident of the “south side” I have discovered a little more knowledge about this area, and what it represents.  Although an area can be labeled good, bad or otherwise by the public, only the actual residents determine which kind of neighborhood they will have.  Some take advantage of this power and create a safe, happy environment for themselves.