Teardowns and tenants

Some have died; some have returned to California, leaving their houses rented to groups of people who don't care; some have not yet returned from their summer homes in cooler places, leaving their houses rented to groups of people who don't care; some are on temporary contracts of various kinds and travel to fulfill their terms, leaving their houses vacant; some houses have been demolished, leaving two half-built and yet unoccupied habitations on the lots; some houses have been bought, whether by speculators or by people who intend to live in them but aren't satisfied by their original dimensions, so that the houses are vacant while being overhauled on a grand scale; some houses are for sale and empty. This has happened in the course of one year. So there are gaps between lit-pumpkin establishments where there used to be none.