Where a city sees decay, a fight to save a community

Charlestown, US

WHAT is left of Pleasant Ridge, a neighbourhood of prefabricated World War II-era homes, sometimes belies its mellifluous name. Some of these tiny duplexes are battered by wear, holes in their sides. Dogs growl in cluttered yards. On a recent early afternoon, a woman stumbled down a street here muttering curses, as the words "Call your officer now!" emanated loudly, again and again, apparently from her ankle monitor.

Leaders of Charlestown, a city of 8,000 in southern …