Candlewood Street in Lakewood is a regular neighborhood filled with regular people -- young and old, Republicans and Democrats, blacks, whites, Latinos and Asians. The lawns of the 1950s-era houses are groomed, and some porches are dressed with U.S. flags. In one yard, children toss a football as a couple walk nearby with a dog.
It's a placid suburban tableau.
But knock on doors, ask a couple of questions, and a flood of anxiety -- and often anger -- spills out.
Layoffs. Jobs in jeopardy. Foreclosures. Unease over bank failures and Wall Street dives.
"We're barely keeping up; we're on the edge," said Angie Zaragoza, 43. "And I think it's going to get worse and worse."
The folks on this street blame inept government and greedy corporate executives for the state of affairs. Even those who know how they'll vote in November say they have little faith that the next president can make things better.
The few who aren't overly anxious about the economy, generally younger workers, are nonetheless making simple lifestyle changes to pinch pennies. But many residents of Candlewood Street are scared that they're just a few paychecks or an unforeseen crisis away from disaster.
Zaragoza, a loan processor at the Nissan dealership down the street, has watched weekend car sales slip from 90 to 25. People are walking through the doors to give cars back, not drive new ones home. Some salespeople and support staff have been laid off, and her bosses have warned that more downsizing is imminent.
Today, she has a job. But next week? Next month? She can't say.
Zaragoza knows she's far from alone. The guy next door?
"He only lasted here one year," Zaragoza said. He was there, then he was gone. The house went up for sale.
She looked up his address online. The listing said "short sale." He got in over his head.
Stuff like that just makes 86-year-old Frank Gutierrez angry.
"I'm not in trouble," said Gutierrez, who bought his house in 1962 for about $13,000, lives off savings and Social Security and is now "just waiting to die."
"Thirteen thousand was nothing," he said. "That's why I'm angry at the system for taking advantage of the middle class, the backbone of the country. I worry about the people working day in and day out. . . . If they bail out Freddie Mac, why not bail out the middle class who lost their $50,000 down payments? You and I deserve more."
