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I once lived in a town without a Burger King. It closed down right when I moved there, and promptly reopened when I left.
I moved to metro Denver in 2007. Since then:
-weed has been legalized
-the cost of housing has ~ doubled
-there's a bit more traffic, though some of the freeways have expanded
-it went from a mostly under the radar/fairly modest place with at least some character, to a haven for yuppies, hipsters, and anybody else seeking something "cool"
-there's a few more skyscrapers
-there's a ton more apartments
-many neighborhoods have improved, and none have gotten worse
-more visible homeless
Let's see, since 2002 - when I moved to Metro Detroit, the auto industry meltdown and the recession of 2008 hadn't hit yet. Also, Detroit hadn't declared bankruptcy and the Kwame Kilpatrick (ex-mayor, landed himself in prison) text scandal hadn't hit - he was the "hip-hop" mayor and cool back in the day.
Detroit is recovering now. Lots of activities and energy and rejuvenation in the streets. Lots of abandoned houses gone or refurbished. A lot of renewed hope.
In my specific area, South Lyon/Lyon Township are booming with new residents.
There's now a huge culture war between the newcomers and the older residents.
Highlights - there's a Tim Horton's being built on the main road into South Lyon (oh no!) a new sushi place and our first middle eastern restaurant (I know, it's another sign of the apocalypse,/sarcasm/) Also, there's a new elementary school to accommodate all the new students and subdivisions in the area. Oh - and there's a roundabout now to help alleviate traffic at one the townships most dangerous intersections.
Oh and some more street lights have been added to assist with the flow of traffic.
And South Lyon just passed a law saying that semis can't turn on one of the major roads downtown because the roads are too narrow. So truck traffic will have a new route.
It sounds hokey, but I guess the trucks do a lot of damage to the clock tower when they hit it as they try to make the tight corner. And traffic always gets backed up there and it's just an awful turn for the semis to make.
Oh - and the South Lyon hotel is being rebuilt after their fire this year. A lot of the older residents can't wait for their favorite restaurant to reopen!
Location: Live:Downtown Phoenix, AZ/Work:Greater Los Angeles, CA
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Moved to Phoenix in July of 2001.
In the 16 years I've been here, the metro has added at least a few hundred thousand more people, has expanded in area, once desert areas are now developed suburbia, and more freeways and more lanes. More urban infill in the city and in Tempe as well
We moved to a small "Mayberry" town in Michigan eight years ago into an existing house. At that time it had about 4,000 people and very, very modest growth, which was perfect. Today, some builder from a large metro area an hour away has bought up every empty lot in town and is building new homes as fast as he can. There is also a brand new apartment complex with over 100 apartments and a Hampton Inn is being built 1/2 a mile from our house.
I know you can't stop growth, but I hate it and I wish things were still like they were eight years ago when we moved here. The people moving here are coming from metro areas where housing is much more expensive because they can get a big new house here for a lot less money, then they commute. The bad part about that is that none of them are invested in the community, they just seem to want to see how big of a house they can have and then beef about living in a small town and having a long commute. I grew up in a small town and I value that lifestyle. I wish that people who don't would stay in the city. This isn't remotely a racial thing either, just FYI, because the people moving here are pretty much all the same race as me. I don't care about color, I care about congestion, traffic, and snotty attitudes.
We moved to a small "Mayberry" town in Michigan eight years ago into an existing house. At that time it had about 4,000 people and very, very modest growth, which was perfect. Today, some builder from a large metro area an hour away has bought up every empty lot in town and is building new homes as fast as he can. There is also a brand new apartment complex with over 100 apartments and a Hampton Inn is being built 1/2 a mile from our house.
I know you can't stop growth, but I hate it and I wish things were still like they were eight years ago when we moved here. The people moving here are coming from metro areas where housing is much more expensive because they can get a big new house here for a lot less money, then they commute. The bad part about that is that none of them are invested in the community, they just seem to want to see how big of a house they can have and then beef about living in a small town and having a long commute. I grew up in a small town and I value that lifestyle. I wish that people who don't would stay in the city. This isn't remotely a racial thing either, just FYI, because the people moving here are pretty much all the same race as me. I don't care about color, I care about congestion, traffic, and snotty attitudes.
I could say almost the exact same things about my area.
I lived in Lebanon OH, in 1966-67 and then returned in 1973 when my dad retired from the military. In the old days this was a nice town with good people who cared about the community and put forth an effort to make it a better place, people spent their money at the local stores, volunteered with service organizations, etc. People did not lock their doors and kids could ride their bikes anywhere they wanted to go. Now we are surrounded by subdivision suburbs, HOA developments not in the city limits so the residents don't have to pay local taxes, these people don't even work in town either. All they do is complain, there's no Panera, Applebee's or whatever, they contribute nothing and don't spend a lead penny locally but these pompous bags have unrealistic expectations and only care about what can be done for them. There is too much traffic and the drivers lack any consideration, the schools are overcrowded, the county jail is getting a $50 million expansion, there is litter on every street and peace and quiet are a thing of the past.
As far as the snotty attitudes, some are on display on this very forum although the nextdoor app is 100X worse, I have had to point out that this town did not even have a McDonald's until I was a teenager, and the school buildings that are not good enough for their little snowflakes were the same ones that Neil Armstrong's kids attended without a word of complaint.
About 25 years ago a bunch of us went to a county commisioners meeting because we did not want these developments coming in but the elected officials did not care as much about the people who they were elected to serve as they did the developers who contributed to their campaigns and all our concerns became a reality and our way of life is gone forever. Not one person I know of that has lived here for a long time is happy with the changes here.
I am counting the minutes until I can retire and move back to Maine to a town that is still the way I remember it.
We moved to a small "Mayberry" town in Michigan eight years ago into an existing house. At that time it had about 4,000 people and very, very modest growth, which was perfect. Today, some builder from a large metro area an hour away has bought up every empty lot in town and is building new homes as fast as he can. There is also a brand new apartment complex with over 100 apartments and a Hampton Inn is being built 1/2 a mile from our house.
I know you can't stop growth, but I hate it and I wish things were still like they were eight years ago when we moved here. The people moving here are coming from metro areas where housing is much more expensive because they can get a big new house here for a lot less money, then they commute. The bad part about that is that none of them are invested in the community, they just seem to want to see how big of a house they can have and then beef about living in a small town and having a long commute. I grew up in a small town and I value that lifestyle. I wish that people who don't would stay in the city. This isn't remotely a racial thing either, just FYI, because the people moving here are pretty much all the same race as me. I don't care about color, I care about congestion, traffic, and snotty attitudes.
With all due respect, isn't where you live between Detroit and Toledo? So were all these changes that unexpected?
My hometown had 70K people when my family moved there when I was 2 (1986). Today, it has 170K. The freeway exit to go to our home had only a gas station on one side of the freeway, and barren dusty hills on the other. Now in place of those dusty hills, there are thousands of homes, apartments, and most every big box store and restaurant you can think of. The side with "just the gas station" has filled in with fast food joints, restaurants, mini-malls, homes, and industrial buildings (including Monster Energy's headquarters).
Granted, my hometown is just outside of Orange County, and commutable to Los Angeles if you're particularly ambitious. So it's not that big of a surprise.
I moved to Atlanta, GA in January of 2014, and since then the changes I have witnessed have been pretty remarkable. When I first moved to Georgia, we were on the tail end of the Great Recession so Atlanta seemed kind of sleepy in the development arena. Around 2015 or so, the economy here really took off again. From Buckhead to Midtown to Perimeter and so on, all you see is construction everywhere! And when I say everywhere I mean everywhere! We have added two new Major league arenas (SunTrust Park- Braves and Mercedes Benz Stadium-Falcons). We have gained a new professional soccer team (Atlanta United). They are finally starting to add and upgrade some of the infrastructure such as adding new toll lanes, which more are expected to open next year too. GDOT is also finally redoing some of the major interchanges such as the I-285/ GA 400 interchange. I am not sure how many people the Atlanta metro has added in the last 3 years but I can assume it's in the hundreds of thousands. I am loving all the changes, even though living in a rapid growth and fast changing area like Atlanta, sometimes you feel like there is always something new around the corner and you may be missing out. There has been a few more major changes too but that is what I could think of right now.
Two of the farms across the road turned into subdivisions. There is no zoning in my township. In fact, I was actually a member of the county planning commission when the first subdivision was proposed. Although I preferred black Angus as neighbors, I voted for the subdivision because it met our rules. Not surprisingly, there is a lot more traffic now.
When it was apparent there was a water well contamination problem, the subdivision property owners demanded that something be done about it. Once they found out they would have to help pay for the sewer system, they suddenly decided there was no problem. Too late, we now have city sewer.
We still have biting flies, but the mosquito problem is not nearly as bad as it used to be. I do not know why, but I'll take it. We did have state subsidized mosquito spraying for a while, but the residents did not want to help pay for it. I thought it was well worth the extra $100 a year on my property taxes.
Most recently, the Rover Pipeline project has put 2 42" high pressure natural gas pipelines underground across about 600 feet of my backyard. The original owner of the corner lot beside me sold his property a few years after his house burned down. I was thankful I had nearly 1000 feet of frontage. If his house had been next to mine, my house would have also burned down. The next owner sold the lot to Rover Pipeline for much more than he paid for it.
I moved to metro Denver in 2007. Since then:
-weed has been legalized
-the cost of housing has ~ doubled
-there's a bit more traffic, though some of the freeways have expanded
-it went from a mostly under the radar/fairly modest place with at least some character, to a haven for yuppies, hipsters, and anybody else seeking something "cool"
-there's a few more skyscrapers
-there's a ton more apartments
-many neighborhoods have improved, and none have gotten worse
-more visible homeless
Sounds a lot like Pittsburgh though the change here happened within the last 7 years and some of our neighborhoods have declined.
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