Small town America....

[fish]

Nearly every store front and building in these pictures of my small Ohio downtown needs a tenant.
This is downtown, mind you.







Fish

[homie]

I believe that.. we were heading for ghost towns in most of America. You might need a Gourmet gift basket so get on in there and be a patriot LOL

[fish]

I believe that.. we were heading for ghost towns in most of America. You might need a Gourmet gift basket so get on in there and be a patriot LOL

Closed a year ago....don't think they were there long enough to pay for the sign.
Fish
I told a lie....daughter said they went belly up more kike 3yrs ago.

[easyrider]

This is happening all over America. The world is metamorphosing rapidly and you are seeing the snake skins lying in waste. The big box stores first did them in, and now the big warehouses are doing in the box stores.Time will tell how far this dot com and technology will take to finish off the term "store" as in structure. Hope we keep around some as museums so future gens will see how primitively we lived.

[Mel46]

I know that I have been an amazon.com member since the day they started, and I can still find better deals there than at most stores, but there will always be things that we need immediately, like batteries, so some stores are necessary. Unfortunately, Walmart made sure that store was theirs. I have driven through so many dead towns that I often wonder how anyone makes a living in that area.

[PCX150Rider]

Soylent Green is People! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_jGOKYHxaQ

[easyrider]

Soylent Green.. Population regulation?? Its going to happen.. Our leaders are working on it. The Rothschilds and the Bilderburgs are on the case. Look at who we elect ... have you ever seen a truck driver become President !Not going to happen because the $ powers are in control and when the population needs adjustment they will pull the switch ..take notice of what's looming.Time for an adjustment you think?? Time will tell.. ride on and have fun . LOL..

[homie]

Soylent Green.. Population regulation??

The scoop trucks should start at University of California Berkeley.

[PCX150Rider]

Almost cut my hair. . .happened just the other day. . .was gettin kinda long. . ..

People in the back move way back. . .please get off the towers.

Oh say can you see??????
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKvnQYFhGCc

[Mel46]

Both of our daughters in California say that California should break off from the rest of the state's and be an independent country. They both say it is self-sufficient. Really?? One daughter lives in San Francisco. The other works in the movie industry. Anyone know where they get their water from? :-)

[PCX150Rider]

Both of our daughters in California say that California should break off from the rest of the state's and be an independent country. They both say it is self-sufficient. Really?? One daughter lives in San Francisco. The other works in the movie industry. Anyone know where they get their water from? :-)

Granted it is or was about the World's 4th largest economy but to break with the U.S. sounds like secession mid 1800's style.

As far as the water. . .haven't they been able to remove the benzene from the ocean water yet in those desalinization plants? Sorry, but I'm ignorant about that. However their water supply comes from the northeast right? Lake Mead. . .Colorado River Basin? Aqueducts? Those concrete waterways that the Terminator rides his Harley on?

I'll be back. . ..

[kramnala58]

Just a friendly reminder ... let's refrain from political discussion. At the moment, this thread has become borderline political, so let's not go any further in that direction. In fact, let's head in the other direction. If any of us want political discussion, there are plenty of other forums that can scratch that itch.

And coming back on topic, even in the not so small towns, such as smaller cities like Niagara Falls where one of my homes is, storefront's are boarded up, never mind just needing tenants.

Niagara Falls, NY grew on industry (such as chemical plants like Dupont and Hooker), while Niagara Falls, Canada grew on tourism. When industry subsided (basically crashed), the city did as well. The population was just over 100,000 in 1960 and is less than half of that today. My guess is that two-thirds of the buildings on Main St. are boarded up. Once you get more than a block from the falls, the decline of the city is very evident.

[fish]

Both of our daughters in California say that California should break off from the rest of the state's and be an independent country. They both say it is self-sufficient. Really?? One daughter lives in San Francisco. The other works in the movie industry. Anyone know where they get their water from? :-)

Boil the Pacific until you can walk to Honolulu ?

....knows a thing or 2 about water / Fish

[Mel46]

it is really sad that small towns are boarding up their stores, but I guess progress is inevitable. Still, many of us grew up in the environment of corner stores that you could hang out at and get a Coke. The charm and relaxed atmosphere in those stores were what attracted the customers. Walmart just doesn't appeal the same way.
I would say that you either adapt or disappear but really, there is no excuse for some of the big stores, like Walmart, coming into the small towns and forcing them to close up shop all over town. They know what they are doing. My brother lives in one of those small towns that was unfortunate enough to get a Walmart. It took that town 20 years to recover, and even now there are still a lot of boarded up stores.

[PCX150Rider]

Yup. . .know what you mean.

The last time I took a train ride I remember how many towns I passed through that seemed alike due to the numerous Micky D's, Dunky Donuts, CVS, Walgreens, Walmarts, Gas Stations, and traffic congestion. The "Mom and Pop" shops are fading away. . .they can't buy wholesale in volume to compete. I remember when stores were closed on Sundays and families could be together. It's certainly changing and sincerity costs extra.

[Alibally]

It like that in the UK as well. Out of town shopping malls have killed small town centres. The place where I live has more charity shops than anything else now.

[easyrider]

Metamorphosis... I grew up with the corner candy store, the shoemaker, the dress shop etc etc. I also remember when the big department stores came into town the folks were elated. One stop shopping became the rage ..no more running all over town here for this there for that.. People loved the idea at the time of going to one place and get everything at one spot.We all love the nostalgia of our childhood days but progress usually is an evolution of what folks want now and in the present. Sam Walton (Walmart) was once a mom and pop store too.. He just expanded his operation..Welcome to American entrepreneurism.Its what we are taught in a free society, free enterprise .
How many of us would like to go back to a Library today and use the Dewey decimal system card index file to find a book..How many of us even go to a library ??????

[Mel46]

I go the the library quite a bit. My wife loves the feel of books over her ereader, though she does read using both. She can check out 5 or 6 books at one time and have them all read within a week. I can't, so I love my ereader. Holding a book is difficult sometimes, depending on how I am situated in bed. The Kindle I have is light and easy to handle.
The library is also great when I want to read up on something but don't necessarily want to buy the book. I have a lot of books that I refer back to, so I don't want to get rid of them, but getting additional ones means more clutter when we are trying to get rid of a lot of 'stuff'.

[relic]

Going to switch this a little to small town Canada, retirement age but still working. After working the past week and staring at life through a windshield,truck driver, had Saturday off, got to one on one with the locals, shopping voting etc. Got to make a couple young kids and women laugh and got some reinforcement from those I have known most of my life. You have to have that social contact to thrive.
People know me and I know them, a good thing I think,I know where I stand.

[PCX150Rider]

Going to switch this a little to small town Canada, retirement age but still working. After working the past week and staring at life through a windshield,truck driver, had Saturday off, got to one on one with the locals, shopping voting etc. Got to make a couple young kids and women laugh and got some reinforcement from those I have known most of my life. You have to have that social contact to thrive.
People know me and I know them, a good thing I think,I know where I stand.

The "Mom Pop" shops seemed to greet you with enthusiasm as I remember it because they knew that they have to sell themselves first before they sell the product. So it was mutually beneficial. They were making a living and you spent your money where you felt it was appreciated.

In contrast today the big box stores are more like shopping in a warehouse. That being said I feel I need to know about the products before I go shopping for anything these days because I'm not that confident the people working in the stores know much about what they are selling. It's not their fault. . .it's the business model. . .and without a career path or decent wages the young ones don't stick and go on to some place else to work unless they want to become a manager.

When you did have to walk the town or drive around to go to different stores for different product categories it seemed it was the same faces year after year and they knew what they were talking about.

I remember when one famous retailer (who is slowly selling off parts of their business like real estate) used to have a pick up counter staffed with personnel ready to greet you and get your item out of their warehouse and bring out to your car or truck for you (if it was large). Now you go to a kiosk kind of thing and key in the information and take a seat like you are in a Doctor's office waiting to be called until someone mysteriously appears out of a door with your stuff. . .and maybe they'll bring it out for you. . .but it's more like having to ask for the help than it is offered. Kind of like when you go through a Burger Drive Thru and they don't give you salt and ketchup anymore unless you ask for it. . .all those salt and ketchup packs, not to mention napkins, add up.