There were no visible phone lines or power lines, as they were all buried in the Canal Zone (with very rare exception). Small square white buildings hid the electrical transformers in the neighborhood, and one could hear them buzz when you walked by them. There were many tropical trees, iguana, thousands of parrots, and it was always green. No billboards or commercial advertisements were visible anywhere. Yards were sometimes surrounded by thick hedges of hibiscus, but were never fenced. The government cut the grass everywhere to prevent disease. Therefore, it was rare that one would own a lawn mower. The houses had silver stainless steel garbage cans with lids. 55-gallon drums were spaced out along the streets, labeled "dry trash". Garbage was collected several time weekly by crews. The houses were modest four-family, duplex, and single-family dwellings, of wood, concrete, or experimental steel construction. The four-family units were all three-story wooden construction built circa 1940. Of the remainder, the concrete homes were built in the 1950s when the layout of the neighborhood was changed. At that time, many multi-family dwellings (some 12-family) were removed. The remainder of the wooden construction are of the circa 1940 vintage. The experimental steel homes result from the sea-level canal project circa 1960. All residents rented their home from the Panama Canal Company; no one owned their home. If a person did not work for the Panama Canal Company, he could not rent a home in Diablo (with occasional exceptions for U.S. military personnel and other special circumstances). The homes did not have built-in dishwashers or central air conditioning. There were no homes in the Canal Zone with swimming pools. Also in Diablo were public tennis courts, the "Spinning Club" (a private club for fishermen and boaters), a public boat ramp, and the Diablo Picnic Area (a picturesque public area alongside the canal featuring 2 bohios, a grill, and the view of passing ships and tugboats). A large patch of mangrove swamp behind the Diablo Elementary School was home to many variety of birds and other wildlife. Almost all of the mangroves were removed to expand the Port of Balboa. References Panama Canal Zone Townships