No one put a gun to anyone's head to sign. People make choices based on their situation and what they know/don't know. Unless you are flipping houses in this neighborhood, the housing market will get better. History has proven this in other markets. No one has a crystal ball to tell the future. No thought that gas wells would be put so close to houses and yet all over Fort Worth there they are.
Instead of blaming neighbors, let's blame the lack of planning by our nation when the 1970s energy crisis showed that we as a nation needed an energy policy.