Explore America With The Official Small City/ Town Thread

[Mindy]

lol^

[Psy-Fi]

Horneytown

[Mindy]

lol^ ^

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Bridgeport, Connecticut

Population • Estimate (2018) 144,900

[Lisnaholic]

I know Detroit is not a small town and these kind of suburbs are probably not what mindfulness has in mind for this thread, but I find these kinds of drive-through clips (of which there are many on YouTube) strangely hypnotic:-



I think these are uniquely American scenes - nothing like them anywhere else in the world afaik, with the exception of Chernobyl perhaps. What's strange to me is that there is infrastructure, a variety of attractive house designs, and generously laid out streets that many countries can only dream of. And yet, where are the happy families living the American dream? In almost any other country, those suburbs would be packed with people.

[OccultHawk]

It’s amazing all those beautiful homes abandoned.

If the people who lived there when it was vibrant could’ve seen that future surely they would’ve considered it an apocalypse. The fact that those areas haven’t surrendered back to plant life like Chernobyl has shows how incredibly devastating suburban monoculture really is to the environment.

[Mindy]

Originally Posted by Lisnaholic

I know Detroit is not a small town and these kind of suburbs are probably not what mindfulness has in mind for this thread, but I find these kinds of drive-through clips (of which there are many on YouTube) strangely hypnotic:-



I think these are uniquely American scenes - nothing like them anywhere else in the world afaik, with the exception of Chernobyl perhaps. What's strange to me is that there is infrastructure, a variety of attractive house designs, and generously laid out streets that many countries can only dream of. And yet, where are the happy families living the American dream? In almost any other country, those suburbs would be packed with people.

Thats sad how abandoned them neighborhoods are My aunt buys of houses in Davenport area and fixes them up and sells. Shes done 3 houses now but thats just one person. Seems like them houses in the video are over with

[OccultHawk]

I bet if we had UBI of around $2500 monthly people who didn’t have to worry about income would eventually start making those houses habitable again. Especially if they made the zoning laws so you could run small businesses out of those houses and if they didn’t allow competition from large chains. Make the law so that if you fix a home up it’s yours but you can’t rent them out. The owners would have to actually live there in the community. Those houses are large enough to have front rooms that could serve as small grocery stores, cafes, clinics, pharmacies, small schools, funeral homes, law offices, bike shops, pubs, music venues, small gyms, barbers, tayloring and shoe repair, and whatever else people need. The potential to make it one of the most livable places in America is right there. It just needs to be removed from the shadow of the oligarchy that destroyed it by building an industry owned by very few people who could just pull it away without regard for the community. Even if those autoplants had been owned in a real cooperative employee owned business model instead of the top down corporate model this would have never happened.

[Lisnaholic]

Just give it a bit of time and nature will be back in full force I'm sure. I was watching a clip where the driver startled a couple of deer out from between the houses: I think that was Detroit too.

Good for your aunt helping to improve existing US housing stock Mindfulness, but as you say the suburbs in the clip look to be beyond redemption. TBH, I wouldn't like to live there: I guess there's some tipping point at which a neighbourhood looks too scary for anyone.

Originally Posted by OccultHawk

Especially if they made the zoning laws so you could run small businesses out of those houses and if they didn’t allow competition from large chains.

^ Agree with your whole post, but this bit especially. That's the historic way real, unplanned communities developed: the communities generated the businesses that served their own needs. Seemed to work ok for London, which has grown appreciably from it's pre-Roman beginnings.

And in Mexico you can operate almost any business by converting your front room. It gives life, convenience and variety to a neighbourhood, plus of course income to various families. Mexico also benefits from the eefective lack of regulation on health and safety laws, which means you can start up a business at low cost. In both UK and US, inspectors come round and insist on a zillion improvements that turn a start-up into a very costly gamble. Asbestos, lead, cockroaches? In a local Mexican shop that stuff is visibly dripping on you as you walk in, but that's how badass we are down here.

[Chula Vista]

Methuen, Massachusetts. Linda and I both grew up here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methuen,_Massachusetts

Town is 50 years older than the United States. That blew my mind as a kid.

[Psy-Fi]

Bald Knob

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bald_Knob,_Arkansas