The Good Neighbor

THIS IS A TRUE STORY. The view was so important to him. He had searched and searched for a home in Nevada that, when looking out from his living room window, would provide him with the perfect view of the mountain range in the distant desert. Better yet, if it also captured those magical lights from the Vegas strip-that would indeed be perfection.

And he found it! The home had a great expansive unobstructed view of purple mountains majesty and on those clear desert nights the 10,000 lights of the Luxor,Flamingo,Paris,Mirage,Frontier,Bellagio and their sister casinos danced in front of his living room.

Three years later it happened-the unspeakable disaster that his realtor promised would never occur. He remembered with absolute clarity the words she spoke to him-

"This home will provide you with the perfect view you been looking for and it will remain permanently unobstructed!"

It had been announced that a retirement community was going to be built in an area between his home and his perfect view. Hundreds of homes were going to fill up that great expanse of desert in front of him. All was not lost he had told himself-the sight line really would not be compromised-after all ,the house tops were not high enough. So he thought,so he hoped.

Three more years passed. He had been right.The house tops didn't affect his perfect view.

WRONG!!!! The trees planted in and around the retirement community homes grew and grew and grew. Those damn trees did compromise his perfect view. Finally, one day ,his view had all but disappeared.

Then a miracle happened. His view,little by little, seemed to get better. Within another year it was as if he had never lost his perfect view. It had come,however at the expense and great consternation of the retirement community. Something seemed to be eating away at the tree tops. They were disappearing-all of the tree tops in a two mile wide swath. Aborists were called in to fight this uspeakable blight. Nothing could be found.

Well-almost nothing could be found. One night, the police caught our GOOD NEIGHBOR,the man with the perfect view, with saw in hand admist the remaining tree tops. His perfect view will now be three concrete walls and dull black cell bars.

Now what about those perfect permanent unobstructed views your realtor
promised you between the Chicago high rise canyons? Have any building tops disappeared recently?