The neighborhood includes 390 homes off Tillman Road and Wayne Trace. The addition was 20 years old when the Pettits moved in. It had been annexed to Fort Wayne only a few years before the couple bought their home. Though it is a staunchly middle-class neighborhood, because it's in the southeast, it shares the burden of the negative perception many have of southeast Fort Wayne. Eighty-four percent of residents live in family homes, compared with 82 percent citywide.
Crime is rampant.
The southeast is the most densely populated area in the city, with about 52,600 residents in 16 square miles. The southwest area, which has 46,622 people, is 22.2 square miles. There are certain categories of crime that are higher in the southeast, said Deputy Police Chief Annanias Brooks. Theft is one. Brooks said there is more opportunity for crime in many areas of the southeast because of the number of detached garages.