Wrong side of town

Almost as soon as I moved here, I heard people speaking dismissively about the "north side"of Grand Forks. The new (upscale) building is all happening on the south side. I'm not sure exactly what is wrong with the north side - the homes are older there, but they are are also older on the east side and no one says "east side" with a sneer in their voice. 

If that was where the minorities lived, I could understand it. I guess it's just the poorer white people. Though many of the houses in other areas are similarly small and dilapidated. And there's plenty of nicer homes on the north side. So it's just a perception or a prejudice (or maybe there is other history that I don't know about).

Anyway, the house I'm buying is on the north side and I'm pretty tickled about it. I kind of like the idea of being in the wrong neighborhood, whatever that even means...