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A Latino Evolution in Prince George's
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But he said things are getting harder because a disproportionate number of the men work in construction, now in a severe slowdown.
Israel Sose, 32, watched the soccer game on a sunny Saturday. He has been renting an apartment in Langley Park for five years, since he arrived from Guatemala. He said that he likes that most everyone speaks Spanish in the neighborhood. Eventually, he plans to return to Guatemala, "but not right now," he said in Spanish.
Violet Blackstock, who moved to the United States from Jamaica when she was 40, lives with her grandsons in a three-bedroom rental house across from the school. She has been in the neighborhood more than 10 years.
"I like the area because I don't drive. The transportation will take you anywhere you want to go," she said. It's just a block and a half to major bus routes on New Hampshire Avenue and University Boulevard. "It's a good place, and this is why I live here. I love it."
Nonetheless, she was alarmed by the throat-slashings of three men sleeping in parking lots in 2005. Two died.
"I try not to go out at nights, so as not to get hurt," she said.
Almost all her neighbors are immigrants. "We are good friends with some of them," she said. "I have a neighbor, he speaks very good English, so we are good friends."
Earnest Massillon, who bought a rambler in Langley Park in 1986, thinks the neighborhood has a bit of a split personality. Massillon, a taxi driver, grew up in Haiti.
"Believe it or not, from there to down there is a big difference," he said, differentiating between the eastern and western parts of the neighborhood. "Something is always going on between the people who live in the apartments. Down here, it is much quieter."
Hanna said the statistics bear that out. "It has a bad reputation in terms of crime," he said, but most of the crime is in the commercial areas, not by the houses.
"Too many people steal money from other people," said Dave Perara, 29.
He has also been troubled by a handful of nearby murders. "Langley Park is dangerous. Everybody knows that," he said.
Still, he likes how friendly it is. People say good morning to each other, he said. "The community is good."
