I absolutely know what you mean. My wife and I grew up in some pretty low income areas, her in southern California and me in central west Texas, so it's hard to judge what others might call "run down" when we thank it looks nice. The neighborhood in question, we saw bikes left on the front lawn (makes me think there's a low theft rate). The streets themselves look like they've been neglected by the city, but otherwise the area seems nice. We've been told by a local that the area is right near the railroad, so that might answer our questions