An increasingly impoverished neighborhood. Latte Dolce in Sassari has long been losing services: from the doctor's office to the bank, from Punto Città to the impending closure of the Employment Center. Several associations have moved elsewhere, and only a detachment of the Municipality's Social Services remains. The Serd (social services unit) has also disappeared, having been transferred to San Camillo, but its absence is not regretted by anyone, given the problems it had with drug addicts. Instead, the two-story building stretching along Via Bottego appears like a monument to abandonment. In the 1980s, it housed the Statistics, Civil Protection, and Local Roads offices, and now houses some homeless people. "The Municipality, some time ago, wanted to build a building for the associations," says Franco Fenu, president of the Nostra Signora del Latte Dolce association and a resident of the neighborhood for 64 years. "Then it would house families in need." Nothing has come of it, and the current scene speaks of desolation, with 14 shutters closed, broken windows, and garbage everywhere, including sanitary waste. The Punto Città on Via dell'Anziano, essential for processing paperwork for approximately 9,000 residents, closed during the COVID-19 pandemic and hasn't reopened. "But why do I have to go to Li Punti or Via Bogino to get an ID card?" complains a resident.
The Latte Dolce and Santa Maria di Pisa Committee has repeatedly raised the alarm about the situation, and the recent closure of the neighborhood's only children's playground, due to the dilapidated slides, swings, and seesaws, would seem to confirm the difficulties. "There's a lack of meeting places," continues Franco, who for 15 years has managed an open space where people from Latte Dolce, and others, gather to dance. The center that, unfortunately, attracts many people is the Caritas center on Via Kennedy, which offers food and clothing. But the negative narrative is partially offset by the ongoing construction of a multipurpose sports hall where five-a-side soccer, volleyball, and basketball will be played. This project, funded by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), the Fondo Opere Indifferibili (Indifferable Works Fund), and the Palazzo Ducale, aims to create a sports center with positive economic and, above all, social benefits. This is a sign of a counter-trend that, hopefully, will lead to more.