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The basketball court at Prairie Grass Park can be busy on a warm Fall Day. Many of the friends who hang out at the park have aspirations of becoming musicians or rappers. Sunday, October 15, 2017. Photo by Jerilee Bennett/The Gazette (JERILEE BENNETT, THE GAZETTE)

The basketball court at Prairie Grass Park can be busy on a warm Fall Day. Many of the friends who hang out at the park have aspirations of becoming musicians or rappers. Sunday, October 15, 2017. Photo by Jerilee Bennett/The Gazette

The basketball court at Prairie Grass Park can be busy on a warm Fall Day. Many of the friends who hang out at the park have aspirations of becoming musicians or rappers. Sunday, October 15, 2017. Photo by Jerilee Bennett/The Gazette (JERILEE BENNETT, THE GAZETTE)

The beginning of the the Eastlake subdivision can be seen east of Prospect Lake and downtown Colorado Springs in the mid 1950s. (Photos courtesy of the Pikes Peak Library District, Special Collections)

Looking south on North Chelton Road near Palmer Park Blvd in the 1970s the newly built The Citadel mall and the Cinema 70 movie theater can be seen in the background. Photo courtesy of The Pikes Peak Library District, Special Collections

Terrie Blackwell, right, visits with childhood neighbors, Tony Pacheco, left, and Lazaro Archuleta, tank top, Friday, Oct. 20, 2017, while she returning to her childhood home on Pepperwood Drive behind Centennial Elementary School. Blackwell grew up in the house on the right and Pacheco and Achuleta grew up in the house on the left. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (CHRISTIAN MURDOCK, THE GAZETTE)

The 14-story Satellite Hotel opened in 1969 on Lakewood Circle. It was the closest hotel to the airport when it was built. Today it’s mostly condominiums. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (CHRISTIAN MURDOCK, THE GAZETTE)

Dottie Keffer, 86, has lived in the Eastlake subdivision since her home on Yellowstone Drive was built in 1959. âWe thought we were really moving up in the world,â Keffer said. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (CHRISTIAN MURDOCK, THE GAZETTE)

Vehicles wait at the light to enter the eastbound lanes of the Martin Luther King, Jr., Bypass at Fountain Blvd. Monday, Oct. 16, 2017. King Soopers pulled out of the shopping mall, in the background, in 1994, just months after the bypass was finished. Dave Savage, King Soopers executive vice president at the time, said sales at the supermarket dropped âconsiderablyâ after the bypass cut off access to the store. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (CHRISTIAN MURDOCK, THE GAZETTE)

The basketball court at Prairie Grass Park can be busy on a warm Fall Day. Many of the friends who hang out at the park have aspirations of becoming musicians or rappers. Sunday, October 15, 2017. Photo by Jerilee Bennett/The Gazette (JERILEE BENNETT, THE GAZETTE)

Developer Steve Schuck looks out his office window on the 12th floor of the 1st Bank Building in downtown Colorado Springs Friday, March 4, 2017. Schuck envisioned southeast Colorado Springs becoming a gateway to the city’s airport and an industrial and research and development hub when he started building in the area. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (CHRISTIAN MURDOCK, THE GAZETTE)

Colorado Springs Airport in 1965. Photo courtesy of the Pikes Peak Library District, Special Collections

Al Cordova has lived in southeast Colorado Springs since 1973. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (JERILEE BENNETT, THE GAZETTE)

Al Cordova has lived in southeast Colorado Springs since 1973. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (JERILEE BENNETT, THE GAZETTE)

The former Smuggler’s Inn restaurant lies abandoned Monday, Oct. 16, 2017 along Fountain Blvd. in southeastern Colorado Springs. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (CHRISTIAN MURDOCK, THE GAZETTE)

A pedestrian walks along South Academy Blvd. near the Hancock Plaza Monday, Oct. 30, 2017. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (CHRISTIAN MURDOCK, THE GAZETTE)

Vehicles drive east-weat on he Martin Luther King, Jr., bypass Monday, Oct. 31, 2017. The highway splits the southeast Colorado Springs. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (CHRISTIAN MURDOCK, THE GAZETTE)

Weeds grow though the cracks of the empty parking lot outside the old King Soopers at the Mission Trace shopping center Monday, Oct. 30, 2017. King Soopers left the shopping center in 2003 and moved across South Academy Blvd. to the Handcock Plaza shopping center. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (CHRISTIAN MURDOCK, THE GAZETTE)

The abandoned Smugglerâs Inn restaurant lies abandoned Monday, Oct. 16, 2017 along Fountain Blvd. in southeastern Colorado Springs. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (CHRISTIAN MURDOCK, THE GAZETTE)

Fabian Orozco works in the kitchen during the lunch rush with his staff at his third Taste of Philly restaurant in the Hancock Plaza Monday, Oct. 16, 2017. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (JERILEE BENNETT, THE GAZETTE)

City Councilwoman Yolanda Avila (Photo by Rich Laden, The Gazette) (JERILEE BENNETT, THE GAZETTE)

People attend the Value Care Health Clinic in Colorado Springs, Colorado on October 17, 2017. (Photo by Dougal Brownlie, The Gazette).

People attend the Value Care Health Clinic in Colorado Springs, Colorado on October 17, 2017. (Photo by Dougal Brownlie, The Gazette). (JERILEE BENNETT, THE GAZETTE)

People attend the Value Care Health Clinic in Colorado Springs, Colorado on October 17, 2017. (Photo by Dougal Brownlie, The Gazette). (DOUGAL BROWNLIE)

People attend the Value Care Health Clinic in Colorado Springs, Colorado on October 17, 2017. (Photo by Dougal Brownlie, The Gazette). (JERILEE BENNETT, THE GAZETTE)

Fabian Orozco works during the lunch rush with his staff at his third Taste of Philly restaurant in the Hancock Plaza. “I know the area here,” Orozco says. “It’s a very good area. I’ve lived here for 20 years. And I don’t wan’t to move from here.” (Photo by Christian Murdock, The Gazette)

Rappers and musicians DJ Williams and YoRudeBoy are hang out at the skate park at Prairie Grass Park on Sunday, October 15, 2017. There are two studios in the area that they go to with friends to work on their music. Photo by Jerilee Bennett/The Gazette (JERILEE BENNETT, THE GAZETTE)

Fourth-grader Zyeisha Bogan does a cartwheel while playing after school Thursday, Nov. 2, 2017, outside her home on Mazatlan Circle in southeastern Colorado Springs. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (CHRISTIAN MURDOCK, THE GAZETTE)

Du’Wayne Hall waits outside of his apartment complex, Cedar Creek Club Apartments, for the Mountain Metropolitan Transit (MMT) around the city on Thursday November 9, 2017 in Colorado Springs. (Photo by Dougal Brownlie, The Gazette). (DOUGAL BROWNLIE)

Whispering Pines property manager Minerva ‘Sam’ Boyungs gives gift baskets of school supplies to teachers Sydney Groves, left, and Elizabeth Lockard, behind her, Friday, Oct. 6, 2017, during a pizza party at the southeast Colorado Springs apartments. Boyungs gave gift baskets to the three teachers who live in the complex. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (CHRISTIAN MURDOCK, THE GAZETTE)

Long-time southeast resident Jeannie Orozco helps paint a house near Jet Wing Drive and E. Fountain Blvd. Friday, Nov. 3, 2017, while volunteering for Council of Neighbors and Organizations. The group works with the cityâs code enforement office and helps neighbors in need around Colorado Springs and the Pikes Peak Region. Orozco was recently elected to Harrison School District 2âs school board. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (CHRISTIAN MURDOCK)

Karin Smith, 26, walks across the pedestrian bridge above the Martin Luther King Jr. Bypass Thursday, Nov. 2, 2017, to pick up her son from the preschool at Pikes Peak Elementary. Smith lives in the apartments north of the bypass. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (CHRISTIAN MURDOCK)

Karin Smith, 26, walks across the pedestrian bridge above the Martin Luther King Jr. Bypass Thursday, Nov. 2, 2017, to pick up her son from the preschool at Pikes Peak Elementary. Smith lives in the apartments north of the bypass. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (JERILEE BENNETT, THE GAZETTE)

Du’Wayne Hall takes a smoke break before visiting the T-Mobile store to pay his bill for his iPhone and iPad on Thursday November 9, 2017 in Colorado Springs. (Photo by Dougal Brownlie, The Gazette). (JERILEE BENNETT, THE GAZETTE)

Pastor Bill Chancy gives his sermon during the Sunday service in November at Grace Be Unto You Outreach Church at the corner of N. Chelton and Airport roads. (Photo by Christian Murdock, The Gazette)

Al Cordova is a regular at the Southeast & Armed Services YMCA and despite his children’s recommendation, doesn’t want to leave southeast Colorado Springs where he has lived since 1973. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (CHRISTIAN MURDOCK, THE GAZETTE)

Trash piles up Monday, Oct. 16, 2017, under the Martin Luther King, Jr., Bypass that divided the neighborhoods when it was built in the early 1990s. One of the cityâs challenges in the future how to find a community hub around which to rally (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (CHRISTIAN MURDOCK, THE GAZETTE)

New homes in the Spring Creek development populate the once deserted land Tuesday, Oct. 31. 2017, between S. Circle Drive and the Hancock Expressway on the right. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (CHRISTIAN MURDOCK, THE GAZETTE)

A pedestrian crosses the S Vance Street in front of some of the new housing in the Belmar Shopping District Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2017, in Lakewood, Colo. The 22-block area of retail shops, restaurants, offices and housing replaced the dying Villa Italia Mall beginning in 2004. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (CHRISTIAN MURDOCK, THE GAZETTE)

Jeff Padilla cleans the surface of The Rink at Belmar Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2017, at the Belmar Shopping District in Lakewood, Colo. Padilla was blowing the leaves and debris off the surface in preparation for the first night of ice making. The 22-block area of retail shops, restaurants, offices and housing replaced the dying Villa Italia Mall beginning in 2004. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (CHRISTIAN MURDOCK, THE GAZETTE)

Terrie Blackwell, right, hugs her old neighbor Ernesto Reyes while she return to her childhood home on Pepperwood Drive behind Centennial Elementary School. Reyes has lived on Pepperwood since his house was built in 1969. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (CHRISTIAN MURDOCK, THE GAZETTE)

Terrie Blackwell, right, hugs her old neighbor Ernesto Reyes while she return to her childhood home on Pepperwood Drive behind Centennial Elementary School. Reyes has lived on Pepperwood since his house was built in 1969. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (JERILEE BENNETT, THE GAZETTE)

Trash piles up Monday, Oct. 16, 2017, under the Martin Luther King, Jr., Bypass that divided the neighborhoods when it was built in the early 1990s. One of the city’s challenges in the future how to find a community hub around which to rally (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (JERILEE BENNETT, THE GAZETTE)

Special Report: In booming, free market-oriented Colorado Springs, southeast continues to languish Colorado Springs is a city rising, its economy jet-fueled by one of the hottest housing markets and lowest unemployment rates in the country. Downtown is on the cusp of a residential and commercial renaissance. Cranes dot the skyline, new hotels are going up and ground has broken on the new U.S. Olympic Museum. To the north and east, new houses are sprouting in the expansive Banning Lewis Ranch. But not all of Colorado Springs is sharing in these good fortunes. There is a corner of the Springs whose prospects have dimmed as the rest of city’s brightens, where the gap between the haves and the have-nots is stretching. The southeast. Read more here. (Christian Murdock, The Gazette)

The basketball court at Prairie Grass Park can be busy on a warm Fall Day. Many of the friends who hang out at the park have aspirations of becoming musicians or rappers. Sunday, October 15, 2017. Photo by Jerilee Bennett/The Gazette (JERILEE BENNETT, THE GAZETTE)

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A pedestrian walks past shopping carts filled with clothes and trash along Mallard Drive near the Terry Ragan-owned Cedar Creek Club apartments. (Photo by Christian Murdock, The Gazette) (CHRISTIAN MURDOCK, THE GAZETTE)

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At the Deerfield Hills Community Center, facility director Jody Derington (right) hands a bag of Thanksgiving groceries to preschool mom, Rachel Vasquez, after she picked up her daughter, Jennifer Vasquez (left) and Cecelia Salinas (center) on Thursday, November 16, 2017. (Photo by Jerilee Bennett, The Gazette) (JERILEE BENNETT, THE GAZETTE)

The Deerfield Hills Community Center houses a preschool. Children from the preschool have a playground plus a new addition on the building for the kids. Thursday, November 16, 2017. (Photo by Jerilee Bennett, The Gazette) (JERILEE BENNETT, THE GAZETTE)

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Hannah Mulqueen, center, a Fourth grade teacher at Wildflower Elementary School, helps her students with reading on Wednesday October 18, 2017 in Colorado Springs. The school, a Harrison School District 2 elementary school, was just named a National Blue Ribbon Award, for improving academic achievement in Colorado Springs. (Photo by Dougal Brownlie, The Gazette). (DOUGAL BROWNLIE)

Senior Andrew Ware juggles school work, high school sports and working at Burger King like many other students at Mitchell HIgh School. Ware, pictured at school Thursday, Nov. 16, 2017, wants to study culinary arts or business at college. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (CHRISTIAN MURDOCK)

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Margie Chavarria breaks down Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2017, at the Shrine of Remembrance while she and her daughter, Corina Charmona, in the background, visited the grave of her other daughter, Cindy Arias, who was killed in a double homicide in 2015. Arias, 22 at the time, and her boyfriend, Luis Fernando Sandoval, 33 at the time, were taken from their apartment in southeast Colorado Springs and executed near Calhan. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (CHRISTIAN MURDOCK, THE GAZETTE)

Margie Chavarria visits the grave, in the background, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2017, at the Shrine of Remembrance in Colorado Springs, of her daughter, Cindy Arias, who was killed in a double homicide in 2015. Arias, 22 at the time, and her boyfriend, Luis Fernando Sandoval, 33 at the time, were taken from their apartment in southeast Colorado Springs and executed near Calhan. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (CHRISTIAN MURDOCK, THE GAZETTE)

The gravesite of Cindy Arias at Shrine of Remembrance in Colorado Springs Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2017. In 2015, Arias, 22 at the time, and her boyfriend, Luis Fernando Sandoval, 33 at the time, were taken from their apartment in southeast Colorado Springs and executed near Calhan. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (CHRISTIAN MURDOCK, THE GAZETTE)

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Colorado Springs Police Officer James Kuehn types up incident notes while another officer watches at a driveway to the Citadel Mall, on Tuesday, November 14, 2017. The officers responded to a suicidal individual. (The Gazette, Nadav Soroker) (NADAV SOROKER)

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Gang members “Little Psycho,” left and “Loner” of “Parkside Varrio” pose in a Colorado Springs park Saturday, February 10. Reis photo (Mark Reis)

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Courtney and 2-year-old Cheyenne visit the Value Care Health Clinic, the only primary care clinic outside the Printers Park area in the 80910 ZIP code in southeast Colorado Springs. (Photo by Dougal Brownlie, The Gazette)

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An officer collects evidence at the scene of a homicide at 1360 Firefly Circle Saturday afternoon. Morris Weintraub/The Gazette 9-2-00 (Morris Weintraub)

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Terrie Blackwell, right, hugs her old neighbor Ernesto Reyes while she return to her childhood home on Pepperwood Drive behind Centennial Elementary School. Reyes has lived on Pepperwood since his house was built in 1969. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (CHRISTIAN MURDOCK, THE GAZETTE)

Like other parts of town, southeast Colorado Springs has its success stories. Long lines of pastry fans are common at Amy’s Donuts, the popular eatery along Fountain Boulevard just off South Circle Drive that opened in 2013. (NADAV SOROKER)

Terry Ragan’s complexes account for more than half of all city code enforcement housing cases and about 80 percent of all housing code violations. Ragan’s 9 bedroom house in the Broadmoor neighborhood is valued at $2.1 million according to Zillow. (Photo by Nadav Soroker, The Gazette) (NADAV SOROKER)

Duwayne Hall keeps nothing in his cabinets or closets at his complex in southeast Colorado Springs, Because of a monthly spraying of all the apartments at his complex, it’s too hard for him to take them in and out all the time because of a disability. He leaves everything piled in the middle of his living room. (Photo by Jerilee Bennett, The Gazette) (JERILEE BENNETT, THE GAZETTE)

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