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I did this on purpose because people in Pennsylvania are VERY bitter and rude folks who will generally cause a confrontation if you include them in a photo without their permission. In former photo tours of mine I've had complaints from people about photographing their homes or homes of their neighbors WITHOUT first obtaining prior consent, as well as concerns over privacy. Since then I've decided to only snap photographs that are devoid of people whenever possible to limit such unpleasantness. Is it any wonder why even I am now pondering leaving PA?
Springfield, MA. I used to arrive back from out-of-town travels on the train in the evening, then have to wait around downtown for a few hours before the next bus out to the town where I lived about twenty miles outside of Springfield. Pop. 150,000, metro population of 680,000, and the downtown is about as dead as it gets, badly run down as well.
There's one small cluster of skyscrapers--two nice high-rise hotels and an office tower or two--around what appears to be the main intersection. Praise be for those hotels, because the bars inside gave me a decent place to pass the hours until I could hop the bus out of town. There's a tiny indoor mall that starts at that main intersection and runs about half a block down one street. Five or six blocks over from that main intersection, there's one more high-rise hotel, somewhat older in appearance than the two nice places right downtown, and more at the middle level on the luxury scale. Then you've got the Civic Center in the general downtown vicinity, as well as the bus station and the train station. The train station is literally a hole in the wall (the tracks go through downtown on a viaduct, with a tiny door in the side wall of the viaduct opening into a cramped waiting area).
Otherwise, the downtown area is a bunch of grimy, old, crumbling buildings that house dive bars and a video arcade and insurance agencies that sell cut-rate policies and stores that sell used (stolen?) office supplies. Those are the buildings that are even occupied. A depressing number are boarded up and apparently abandoned. At night, other than people waiting at the bus station for their busses to depart, about the only human presence I ever saw downtown was a bunch of gangstas, and here and there a few of the skankiest looking hookers you can imagine. I don't know how those hookers even made a living. I can't imagine why anyone would want to get within fifty feet of any of them. Any of them I saw around there might as well have carried neon signs reading "DISEASED," as scuzzy as they looked.
And that's it. That's downtown Springfield. A true garden spot if ever there was one.
I can't be judge, jury and executioner but from my very brief visit to Syracuse, I found its downtown area to be... horrible. A couple of coffee shops with office workers and... that's about it. The streets were pretty much dead except for these groups of "gangstas", mostly young white guys in baggy clothes, that just stood around at the bus stop or otherwise just congregated on the sidewalks. I'm young myself so I'm generally pretty tolerant of different groups but... these guys were clearly up to no good. Especially when one of them motioned to another and pointed at my mother.
We got the hell out of dodge. Now, in my family, our very brief visit to Syracuse is a running joke.
Now we went to Buffalo and, well, that entire city is DEAD, but I found it so incredibly fascinating. The architecture (Buffalo Central Terminal, City Hall) was worn but beautiful and the place was just... other-worldly. A sad tableau of desperation and despair, all the more sad because it was once such a thriving city.
Downtown Tampa is pretty much a ghost town after 5pm. There's not a heck of a lot to do there, and very few people live there. There are still a lot of vacant storefronts in downtown Tampa. What little nightlife there is in Tampa is in Ybor City (connected to downtown via a nifty trolley, but still not in downtown proper).
what's the deal with Tampa? its got great weather year round and probably has a lot of tourists. they have no excuse.
That's because residents of these cities prefer the suburbs. I never understood why.
Or they prefer other areas of town...like Houston's Montrose, Midtown and Galleria areas. Think how in NYC there's not really one hangout. The whole PLACE is! Restating the obvious, obviously: In places of small city proper size (geographically) there's not room for multiple areas of entertainment, so they all sort of fuse together. On the other end of the spectrum some places have found themselves with too much room and therefore all the fun is spread apart.
Last edited by operadivo; 05-03-2008 at 10:04 AM..
Im sure they have some sort of redevelopment effort but my last trip to DT Fresno was quite unimpressive.
Downtown Fresno is just starting to take off with development. Just a few of the projects underway.
The parking lot behind Selland Arena will be replaced starting this month with 200 apts, retail, office space, and an indoor ice skating rink.
The upper floors (Floor 11 to 16) of the Security Bank building have been remodeled into loft apts. They sell for $400,000 and up.
The old Hilton Hotel across from the county courthouse has been closed since 2002. It was recently gutted and rebuilt and will reopen next month as a Holiday Inn. The 9th floor SkyRoom restaurant/bar will also reopen.
The old Virginia Hotel building on Kern St is being remodeled by a Pasadena developer into offices/retail.
An ultra-lounge nightclub recently opened at 2039 Kern.
The city recently remodeled 3 blocks of Kern Street into a sports themed area. The section connects the baseball stadium with the arena/convention center. Monthly events have already started on this stretch before the AAA baseball games and other sports activites.
Rochester, NY. God Almighty! That place is saaad. The architecture may be something but there is very little happening at that place, unless you consider crime "happening". That place is dead as far as entertainment goes but lively in terms of crime. I can't think of a good reason why anyone would want to visit there.
Also, Salt Lake City isn't rundown but it is worth mentioning because it is truly dead. For anyone who likes a little bit of interesting things to do in a city you will find yourself put into a coma by this place. Yeesh. Everybody leaves the city to go hiking, skiing, or biking. There is very little to do in this city. If you're looking for a sterile environment then Salt Lake City is your answer. Even Ben Stein would be bored in Salt Lake City.
Downtown Fresno is just starting to take off with development. Just a few of the projects underway.
The parking lot behind Selland Arena will be replaced starting this month with 200 apts, retail, office space, and an indoor ice skating rink.
The upper floors (Floor 11 to 16) of the Security Bank building have been remodeled into loft apts. They sell for $400,000 and up.
The old Hilton Hotel across from the county courthouse has been closed since 2002. It was recently gutted and rebuilt and will reopen next month as a Holiday Inn. The 9th floor SkyRoom restaurant/bar will also reopen.
The old Virginia Hotel building on Kern St is being remodeled by a Pasadena developer into offices/retail.
An ultra-lounge nightclub recently opened at 2039 Kern.
The city recently remodeled 3 blocks of Kern Street into a sports themed area. The section connects the baseball stadium with the arena/convention center. Monthly events have already started on this stretch before the AAA baseball games and other sports activites.
This is great.
I was there a few months back on family business and admittedly only went Downtown to the County Tax Assesors Office so I perhaps I didnt stop and smell the roses.
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Syracuse
