What cities have changed the most since the 1970s? (crime rate, compared, place)
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Not so sure about that. Since 1970, Los Angeles has added more than 2 million in population; the percentage of Latino population went from 15% to 50%; transit track mileage went from zero to 87, and; visually went from.. to...
Not to mention, the county added 4 million people; the CSA 8 million (). That's like taking all the residents in the DC-Baltimore CSA and adding them to the L.A. region.
I'm not seeing how a city that's grown less than 5% in 42 years tops this list.
New York, hands down!
Most of the complaints about Los Angeles stem from how much the place has changed since the 1970’s. But even in a discussion about net change since the 1970’s, many consider LA less relevant to the conversation than NY. It’s like there’s some kind of geographic bias, or something.
This is a good question, gets you to think about how cities have been devolving. Cities have changed in different ways. New York's population hasn't changed that much, but its economy is now far more dominated by Wall Street. The LA economy isn't so terribly different, but politics there have changed enormously. Up until 1973, LA's Mayor was Sam Yorty, who won his last campaign with openly racist appeals.
Philadelphia seems to have maybe changed less than other cities--it hasn't had the population collapse of places like Cleveland or Detroit, but it hasn't had the economic growth of Boston or New York.
I'm not seeing how a city that's grown less than 5% in 42 years tops this list.
Giant demographic shifts several times in various neighborhoods, serious urban blight with blocks upon blocks of abandoned or destroyed buildings, times square was a great place for prostitutes and drugs, the subway cars were filled with graffiti inside and out, the great urban parks so pretty today were often complete eyesores which were dangerous to boot, abandoned cars just laid out everywhere, broken glass all over the pavement, some neighborhoods like the complete landfill built battery park city downtown wasn't even in existence, and also there were the world trade centers. NYC is pretty well known for its really turbulent 70s where everyone piled out and its now very bougie in a lot of parts. I understand that sunbelt growth is also a dramatic change, but these are two different kinds of changes and both are pretty extreme. Another kind of change is the worst hit of the rust belt cities like Detroit--which might have been having serious issues back then already but it wasn't nearly as bad as it is now.
Really, the question is what kind of change seems most impressive to you. I think NYC's change was the most dramatic to me in terms of going from an incredible decline and reversing so quickly into this kind of bougie upscale thing it is now.
1970 predates the "Bronx is Burning" era though, the city had yet to hit those delths, when it lost a million people. Also, demographic shifts and periods of blight/gentrification are not unique to NYC (see: DTLA, Hollywood, SoMa, big swaths of DC). NYC was already a melting pot in 1970, its housing stocking wasn't much different, and it wasn't much less populated than it is today, a sign that its urban fabric (our term of the day, lol) was largely in place. There are better options in this category.
Last edited by RaymondChandlerLives; 11-21-2012 at 10:53 PM..
LA from the 1970's -- today is pretty much our version of New York and Ellis Island 1890s-1930s.
Hispanic culture has always been apart of Southern California but during this time, the region changed with a large influx of Mexican immigrants, and it's population grew in part because of it.
1970 predates the "Bronx is Burning" era though, the city hasn't hit those depths yet, when it lost a million people. Also, demographic shifts and periods of blight/gentrification are not unique to NYC (see: DTLA, Hollywood, SoMa, big swaths of DC). NYC was already a melting pot in 1970, its housing stocking isn't much different, and it isn't much more populated today, as sign that its urban fabric (our term of the day, lol) was largely in place. There are better options in this category.
The 1970s was that era I believe. New York City lost 10.4% of its population from 1970 to 1980 (Bronx lost 20.6%) and then gained from 1980 to 1990.
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I'm not posting this to be prickish, but seriously EVERY central city has changed drastically since 1970. While it doesn't seem like it was that long ago, it has almost been half a century since 1970 and I've seeing most of it (seriously old man here). And I'm not just saying evolutionary change either. All of at least the top 25 would be unrecognizable to day if a resident time traveller from the same city was to come from 1970 to 2012. In fact, I cannot think of any city/metro of any sizeable population not being drastically than they were 42 years ago.
Now, as far as who is the most drastic of them all? I think residents of 1970s Detroit, Miami, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Portland, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, DC, Chicago, Austin, Charlotte, and Las Vegas would be the most in shock of the current state of their respective central cities/metros. All in different ways.
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). That's like taking all the residents in the DC-Baltimore CSA and adding them to the L.A. region.
