[scottmandue]

My first house was a shack in the hood... no seriously... the guy who built it (so the story goes) built shacks for the railroad (and I believe them for the following reasons).
2X3 redwood studs 24" on center, 1/4" drywall inside 1/4" ceder clapboard on the outside, no grounded electrical, and no insulation, it was just about like sleeping in a tent so every dog bark or domestic unrest was very apparent.

Oh and the foundation was rows of those little cement piers with random irregular chunks of wood wedges in to fit.

Unknown to me it just so happened the all the parents and grandparents of the gang bangers lived on that block... and if you are a gangster it is extremely uncool to hang out in the street where your parents live. I never had any trouble living ten years in a neighborhood that many white folks were afraid to drive through.

All that to say make me appreciate the comfy house I now have.