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Probably the two ugliest places I've ever seen, for starters. Also, generations of permanent underclass, though, truthfully, since both places are almost entirely formulated on agricultural economies, those numbers fluctuate seasonally. But I digress. These two places are essentially extensions of Mexico, like much of the lower Rio Grande Valley. For someone who is used to NJ culture, being exposed to an area such as this is a complete flip 180° from every aspect of life you are accustomed to. Work ethic pretty much absent, a very high transient population, litter and graffiti all over the place. You have people who "winter" from the midwest and northeast, spend 4 months here to get away from the cold, then bolt as fast as possible. Towns such as these, in the middle of the Sonoran Desert, are full of people who 'just don't fit in' to normal, functional society. Most of them exist in proximity to the Interstate Highway System, which means they exist in part due to catering to cross country transportation. If you were to formulate the average time of residence (by Anglo residents) in these places versus NJ, you'd see quite a disparity. And it's been my contention (especially since I moved away from NJ) that when you mix people into areas of desolation, the results are often disasterous, if you measure these results by how appealing a neighborhood looks. Many of these people are not in it for the long haul, they are just there for a visit. Military towns in the southwest are guilty of this, El Centro and Yuma especially. When you combine all these factors together, you get high unemployment rates, and horrible man-made environments combined into one steaming pile of dreck.
El Centro:
Yuma residential area:
Doesn't exactly conjure up images of say, downtown Madison, does it?
Probably the two ugliest places I've ever seen, for starters. Also, generations of permanent underclass, though, truthfully, since both places are almost entirely formulated on agricultural economies, those numbers fluctuate seasonally. But I digress. These two places are essentially extensions of Mexico, like much of the lower Rio Grande Valley. For someone who is used to NJ culture, being exposed to an area such as this is a complete flip 180° from every aspect of life you are accustomed to. Work ethic pretty much absent, a very high transient population, litter and graffiti all over the place. You have people who "winter" from the midwest and northeast, spend 4 months here to get away from the cold, then bolt as fast as possible. Towns such as these, in the middle of the Sonoran Desert, are full of people who 'just don't fit in' to normal, functional society. Most of them exist in proximity to the Interstate Highway System, which means they exist in part due to catering to cross country transportation. If you were to formulate the average time of residence (by Anglo residents) in these places versus NJ, you'd see quite a disparity. And it's been my contention (especially since I moved away from NJ) that when you mix people into areas of desolation, the results are often disasterous, if you measure these results by how appealing a neighborhood looks. Many of these people are not in it for the long haul, they are just there for a visit. Military towns in the southwest are guilty of this, El Centro and Yuma especially. When you combine all these factors together, you get high unemployment rates, and horrible man-made environments combined into one steaming pile of dreck.
El Centro:
Yuma residential area:
Doesn't exactly conjure up images of say, downtown Madison, does it?
Yeah, but yet I bet people who live in those crappy looking bungalows still make jokes about NJ and think that it's all oil refineries and highways!
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