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There are good neighborhoods and ghettos in pretty much all cities and Milwaukee is no different, besides I think the worst neighborhoods in Milwaukee can't even compare to some of Chicago's worst.
Detroit, Cleveland, Flint, MI, Gary, Indiana come to mind.
Cleveland's westside (Parma etc) and its daily newspaper The Plain Dealer blow the bluecollar trumpet nonstop. When you read the front and metro sections of the PD, you wouldn't think the affluent white collar 'burbs even exist. If you're not blue collar, you're not considered a real person.
The upmarket rejuvenation has not really happened downtown, except for a few business class hotels and restaurants.
Scranton, PA (For the time-being). We're currently in "transition" mode though. The current mayoral administration and his loyalists are pushing to transform Scranton from being a nitty-gritty blue-collar town with solid roots into being more of a "creative class" haven amid the mountains, with art galleries, loft apartments, jazz cafes, coffee houses, etc. I like to say that the city resembles the "Great Divide." Those blue-collar workers who laid the foundation for this great city and who can't afford the new boutiques, cafes, coffee houses, etc. are begrudging those who can afford them with their class envy, and those who can afford them likewise don't care that they're starting to drive up the city's cost-of-living, making it more difficult for the working-class blue-collars.
In the future, things will definitely be changing around my neck of the woods---we'll becoming more "cosmopolitan", and we'll have to cling hard for any vestiges of our blue-collar heritage. NYC's exurban frontier continues to push its way northwestward. First, North Jersey was gobbled up with sprawl. Then, Monroe County (Poconos), become the "hot spot." Now that the Poconos are starting to cool off a bit as well, the Lehigh Valley has been heating up. As soon as the Lehigh Valley stops sizzling, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre is the next most logical target to be "gobbled up" by the New Yorkers seeking inexpensive real estate ventures in an "up-and-coming" market. We just landed a minor-league affilliation for the NY Yankees, we're home to "The Office", and by 2015 we'll have a commuter rail to Manhattan, a new medical school, a new cargo airport, a new film office, a widened I-81 through the metro, and various other large-scale projects that will only hasten our growth pressures from NYC/NJ.
If there ever was a city that exemplified "RENT" at its finest, then Scranton may just be it. The main characters from the play would be like Scranton's current blue-collar working-class, getting tossed around by greedy developers looking to build "the next TriBeCa" wherever they can. LA VIE BOHEME! Any visitor to Scranton today wouldn't quite compare it to Manhattan, but give it ten more years, and the number of galleries, lofts, coffee houses, etc. would give you the impression that Scranton is your typical "Rust Belt Rebounder", just like Bethlehem, PA, Collingswood, NJ, and various other cities in the Tri-State Area.
Last edited by SteelCityRising; 02-20-2007 at 12:25 PM..
Reason: Typo
I've always loved Baltimore. It's blue collar status is magnified by being next-door-neighbors with white-collar mecca D.C. I love the authentic historic feel and look of Baltimore and the ethnic neighborhoods that still have a real international flavor. It reminds me of Philly or Boston in those respects. I think people there are generally more down to earth than in some other cities I've vistited...they are more willing to talk to a stranger in my experience. Maybe that has a little to do with its proximity to the south.
I wouldn't exactly label other cities 'a craphole' because they are popular destinations for new residents and they aren't blue-collar...Atlanta is far from a craphole, not all strip malls and big-box. It has a redeeming quality or two, even though it's not blue collar. Blue Collar T.V. is filmed here...
The first city that came to mind was Pittsburgh; the second city that I thought of is Providence (RI).
Except for the university population, this is blue-colour all the way. And strangely, it too has hills, rowhouses downtown, one great river, and lots of hard-working, hard-living folks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dullnboring
Pittsburgh. The hills, the windy and narrow streets, the old colorful rowhomes, the natural setting (junction of three rivers, and hills all around) the high-density urbanity, all combined with a low cost of living. It's a good town and I would choose it over most other desired sprawly "new-ish" cities like Dallas and Phoenix.
I'd say America's biggest blue-collar corridor starts at about Green Bay, WI and runs along the Great Lakes thru Milwaukee, Chicago, Gary, South Bend, Toledo, Detroit, Cleveland, Erie, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany, Springfield, MA and all points in between. Extensions south to St. Louis and east through all of PA, much of NJ, Baltimore and much of CT.
I just noticed that Baltimore isn't on the list of cities...I assumed it was included without looking. I think it qualifies as blue collar...
I'd like to visit. I had an Aunt that was born there. H.L. Mencken would live nowhere else. It seems like John Waters is very fond of it, too.
I heard somewhere, the other day, that it is famous for low price and high quality heroin.
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Any visitor to Scranton today wouldn't quite compare it to Manhattan, but give it ten more years, and the number of galleries, lofts, coffee houses, etc. would give you the impression that Scranton is your typical "Rust Belt Rebounder", just like Bethlehem, PA, Collingswood, NJ, and various other cities in the Tri-State Area.
