The Bronx---like the rest of the outer boroughs---is a city within a city. And like any other city, there are good parts and parts that are run down.

It's true that the southwest Bronx has been run down for longer than I've been alive (and I'm almost 53), but as Dapper alluded to, there are some nice developments going up now. The area will almost certainly remain low income, but it's a start.

Now here's the thing: When people from outside of New York hear "The Bronx," they automatically think of the area below Yankee Stadium (the southwest portion of the borough), because that's what's usually depicted on television. But the rest of the borough is quite beautiful, with tree lined streets and everything.

The Throggs Neck zip code (10465), where I live, contains one of the lowest crime rates and has some of the highest property values in all of the outer boroughs. A two family split level house here averages well over $500,000. The subway doesn't come here, and there are very few apartment buildings, so the area is quite residential. Throggs Neck is pretty much to the Bronx what Howard Beach is to Queens. It's almost more like Long Island than the rest of the Bronx.

But there are other sections of the borough that are still nice as well. Pelham Bay is still very nice, and Castle Hill is still remarkably blue collar and as integrated as, say, Woodside in Queens. It's quite the "melting pot."

Unfortunately, it's true that some neighborhoods aren't what they used to be, but I think you'll find that in any city. I know you'll find that in every borough. Manhattan has Washington Heights. Queens has Hollis. Brooklyn has East New York. Even Staten Island has the Stapleton section, which, believe me, is not an area where you want your car to break down at night.

I think my point (or rant) is, you have to take the good with the bad.