[bhamoutlook]

Originally Posted by drro

It looks pretty bad when streetviewing it but not quite as bad yet as Detroit or Camden, so maybe there is still hope. There are some boarded up homes, empty stores, roads in need of repair but it doesn't seem to have completely decayed yet. Really sad to see this happening to cities all over the US, it is really becoming a huge nationwide problem.

Why is this town called Selma? It is a girls name over here.

I'm just not sure why Selma would be compared to Detroit. Selma's decline in population isn't really a huge deal in the grand scheme of things like Detroit. Selma may have had some promise at one point. I don't know. But so did hundreds if not thousands of other cities the same size.

[harry chickpea]

"I'm just not sure why Selma would be compared to Detroit."

Because bashing the south gets old and the veiled inference of the OP was that the south doesn't do enough to recognize black history and Alabama is still racist like it was in the 1960s. Sometimes (speaking as a transplanted northerner) northerners just need a slap up the side the head to reinforce reality and get the gears back working properly.

[drro]

Originally Posted by bhamoutlook

I'm just not sure why Selma would be compared to Detroit. Selma's decline in population isn't really a huge deal in the grand scheme of things like Detroit. Selma may have had some promise at one point. I don't know. But so did hundreds if not thousands of other cities the same size.

The rubble, the boarded up homes, the empty lots, the abandoned stores, and the broken streets are among the same problems Detroit faces. Obviously, it is on a much smaller scale than Detroit and Selma does not nearly look as bad as the hoods in Detroit. Interesting though, the south suffers the same problems as the north.

[WanderingImport]

Originally Posted by Mike the Man

You're not from America bro

Well... bro... he's right. Doesn't matter if he's from America or not. We're all subject to cyclical economic rise and fall. It isn't limited to north or south.

[WanderingImport]

Originally Posted by Mike the Man

Yeah but its disrespectful to bad mouth our country if you're not even a USA citizen. I mean go make fun of us in your dutch coffee house or Parisian cafe (make sure you're wearing bullet proof and not eating pork these days) but to our faces?? This is our country we can say stuff he can't. Just like I can say my mom is annoying but if you say it we will have a problem.


Detroit and Selma and Baltimore and Cleveland have mad problems but at least we are better than Europe. There might be hoods but there are no sharia zones and you can't get arrested for "hate speech" for speaking your mind and we have guns to defend ourselves. Even if you're an expat here don't talk down on the USA until you're a citizen. And if you're an American and left then talk bad about us to your snooty euro friends not to other Americans

As I re-read his comment, I'm wondering how exactly he "bad mouthed" our country? He spoke the truth. It is a fact that there are areas where there are boarded up homes, empty lots, abandoned stores and broken streets. It also isn't limited to America.

Also, why can't he speak his mind on an opinionated website? Just because he may or may not be in America shouldn't make any difference in the matter.

Finally, I'm not sure what your beef is with Europe, but they aren't doing as bad as you're making them sound. For starters, their education systems (depending on the country in Europe; I'll highlight Switzerland, Finland, Germany..) are among the best in the world.

[Newsboy]

If you think Selma's bad, you need to see Tuskegee ... YIKES!

[cpg35223]

Originally Posted by Newsboy

If you think Selma's bad, you need to see Tuskegee ... YIKES!

Yes, but Tuskegee actually has a shot. It's along the interstate, near what is an economically thriving part of the state. Selma? Just nothing.

[WanderingImport]

Originally Posted by cpg35223

Yes, but Tuskegee actually has a shot. It's along the interstate, near what is an economically thriving part of the state. Selma? Just nothing.

Eh, sort of. Tuskegee is a lot closer to an interstate than Selma is, but you can't tell that from 85.

There needs to be more incentive than just the fact there an interstate is a few miles from Tuskegee.. to get the town going on a prosperous route, so to speak.

Same goes for Selma. For the record, there has been talk for quite a few years now to either expand 85 further west to connect with 20 at some point in West Alabama or a newly created interstate 4. Either way, it would be years before anything happened even if it were all approved today.

[Newsboy]

Originally Posted by cpg35223

Yes, but Tuskegee actually has a shot. It's along the interstate, near what is an economically thriving part of the state. Selma? Just nothing.

And yet ... Tuskegee is a MUCH worse place than Selma ... has been for years, with no sign of that changing, ever ... so your point fails to connect.

[Tourian]

If Selma once had a huge industry that once represented 1/4 of the country's job force when you added up all the related industries through Kevin Bacon style association then yeah, I could see the comparison. But otherwise Selma and Detroit have a little in common.