Actually it's a good sign .Italians aren't disappearing ,just their old digs.You wouldn't want to be stuck in the old neighborhood forever. Look around at the crumbling infrastructures of today's cities. It's up to the survivors of those old-school relatives to carry on their values and that's what is more valuable. You made the best of it , you moved up, moved out and left behind a physical skeleton . Now the new downtrodden immigrants fill in the spaces . My old neighborhood ( East Boston )is a swill bucket . My family (grandparents-Parents-Aunts-Uncles-Cousins)lived there for 70 years, now none are still there. Cheer up.