Working from home is not really going to make unsafe neighborhoods safe, it's not going to turn underperforming schools into good ones, it won't update roads & sidewalks, and so on.

They had good town leadership and were investing in streets, sidewalks, and housing facade improvements.

Other reasons why "reversed living" is not as desirable is that it often means you have 1 or more bedrooms facing the street/sidewalk which is not great for privacy, and you lose the interior/exterior connection between the living spaces and the rear yard which is soooo essential in SoCal.

Lastly, for a big renovation project, I'd take things a step further and go through the city to close down the sidewalk along your frontage.

It's good to see some real improvement being done by the city to roads and sidewalks (and police cameras).Fort Worth Spending Millions To Turn Around Stop Six Neighborhood

Every once in a while I ride by and see people standing around on the sidewalk, sitting on cars, etc.

Talk to people walking the sidewalks.

From my recollection things can change from block to block there - If you want to avoid a bad situation drive around on a weekend in the afternoon - Sunday on a nice day - see if families are milling about or a bunch of WT dirtbags or drug addicts living in rentals the other landlords dont care about up and down the block.Or go for a walk in the evenings with your dog and simply walk the sidewalks and take it all in.   

Legally snow removal, maintenance, making sure entryway, stairs, sidewalk are salted and ice-free is landlord's responsibility. 

Some easy DIY to use in your landscaping plan: Applying the best organic weed/feed treatment for your area during this spring season to encourage a lush lawn, mow every 10-21 days (depending on rainfall and growth rate), use an edger along the hard surfaces of your lawn (along the driveways, sidewalks, porches, etc. which gives your lawn a more defined look), trim hedges and trim limbs back from property (discourages insects and birds from trying to find entries into the property), replace and put down fresh mulch/pinestraw around trees, flower beds, bushes, and shrubs.Please let me know if that helps.Best to you!