Cities/towns that's lost their charm

[Rothman]

Asbury Park is totally lost its charm.  At one time it had one of the most popular boardwalk along the Jersey Shore.  Its Paramount Theatre was a popular concert venue and many named acts once performed there including the Rolling Stones and Molly Hatchet.   Springsteen wrote songs about the city and even dedicated his debut album to the community.

Now its just a typical city and no longer the resort it once was and its boardwalk is just about defunct.

I don't think Asbury Park had the kind of charm that you're implying when those concerts were happening there.

It had its charm up until the Boardwalk died.

Eh...wouldn't have called it quaint.  I'll put it that way.

[HighwayStar]

Asbury Park is totally lost its charm.  At one time it had one of the most popular boardwalk along the Jersey Shore.  Its Paramount Theatre was a popular concert venue and many named acts once performed there including the Rolling Stones and Molly Hatchet.   Springsteen wrote songs about the city and even dedicated his debut album to the community.

Now its just a typical city and no longer the resort it once was and its boardwalk is just about defunct.

I don't think Asbury Park had the kind of charm that you're implying when those concerts were happening there.

It had its charm up until the Boardwalk died.

The Boardwark passed away this morning peacefully in its sleep, it was 87 years old. Survived by longtime neighbor Park Place.   

[abefroman329]

I don't want to sound like I'm crapping on the Midwest, but what it that they supposedly offer now that wasn't already gone by the late 1990s? 

We have bountiful fresh water.

I've said this before on here but I think there are elements in this country (I've even gotten this impression from a couple of the usual suspects on this board) that don't want the Rust Belt to recover or be successful, and think we need to more aggressively incentivize even more people to move south and west.

There absolutely are.  My personal rule of thumb is "don't live anywhere that was uninhabitable before the invention of air conditioning"

[Max Rockatansky]

I don't want to sound like I'm crapping on the Midwest, but what it that they supposedly offer now that wasn't already gone by the late 1990s? 

We have bountiful fresh water.

I've said this before on here but I think there are elements in this country (I've even gotten this impression from a couple of the usual suspects on this board) that don't want the Rust Belt to recover or be successful, and think we need to more aggressively incentivize even more people to move south and west.

There absolutely are.  My personal rule of thumb is "don't live anywhere that was uninhabitable before the invention of air conditioning"

Interestingly my wife didn't grow with air conditioning in the Central Valley of California.  She is really tolerant of hot weather and gets cold at temperatures I think are warm.  It is really apparent when it's summer time and we don't run the AC or have it set up high (85-90F).  It took me years in Phoenix to get comfortable in the 85-90F range.  When our AC broke down in the summer last year it was a huge struggle for me to get comfortable when it was 95F-98F in the house but she was fine.  To some extent there seems to be some climate acclamation at play with both of us. 

[HighwayStar]

I don't want to sound like I'm crapping on the Midwest, but what it that they supposedly offer now that wasn't already gone by the late 1990s? 

We have bountiful fresh water.

I've said this before on here but I think there are elements in this country (I've even gotten this impression from a couple of the usual suspects on this board) that don't want the Rust Belt to recover or be successful, and think we need to more aggressively incentivize even more people to move south and west.

There absolutely are.  My personal rule of thumb is "don't live anywhere that was uninhabitable before the invention of air conditioning"

I for one agree, recovery of the Rustbelt and a reverse migration to the northeast would be a net positive for the country as a whole. The Northeast is easily one of the most beautiful and rich parts of the country, people are leaving for economic reasons more than anything. No one is going to Florida or Texas for the stunning natural beauty of either, they are going because they can afford to live there.
Environmentally staying put where we already were seems the best solution as well. Fewer houses to build, less use of land, etc.

[kphoger]

My personal rule of thumb is "don't live anywhere that was uninhabitable before the invention of air conditioning"

Meanwhile, I curse my ancestors for having migrated out of the tropical zones eons ago.

Don't live anywhere that is uninhabitable without wearing multiple layers of clothing or having central heat.

[NWI_Irish96]

My personal rule of thumb is "don't live anywhere that was uninhabitable before the invention of air conditioning"

Meanwhile, I curse my ancestors for having migrated out of the tropical zones eons ago.

Don't live anywhere that is uninhabitable without wearing multiple layers of clothing or having central heat.

Things you don't have to worry about in places that require multiple layers of clothing or central heat:
poisonous snakes
scorpions
alligators
hurricanes

[abefroman329]

Don't live anywhere that is uninhabitable without wearing multiple layers of clothing or having central heat.

I feel like, if I want to live in the US, I have to choose between one or the other, and I'd rather have to put on multiple layers in the winter.

If I could live in Medellin, Colombia, I wouldn't have any complaints.

[HighwayStar]

My personal rule of thumb is "don't live anywhere that was uninhabitable before the invention of air conditioning"

Meanwhile, I curse my ancestors for having migrated out of the tropical zones eons ago.

Don't live anywhere that is uninhabitable without wearing multiple layers of clothing or having central heat.

You can always add more clothing, but there is a limit to how much can be removed. 

[Max Rockatansky]

My personal rule of thumb is "don't live anywhere that was uninhabitable before the invention of air conditioning"

Meanwhile, I curse my ancestors for having migrated out of the tropical zones eons ago.

Don't live anywhere that is uninhabitable without wearing multiple layers of clothing or having central heat.

Things you don't have to worry about in places that require multiple layers of clothing or central heat:
poisonous snakes
scorpions
alligators
hurricanes

Were they poisonous snakes like this?

I'm more worried about poisonous dogs, bees, deserts, bandits and places:

[skluth]

My personal rule of thumb is "don't live anywhere that was uninhabitable before the invention of air conditioning"

Meanwhile, I curse my ancestors for having migrated out of the tropical zones eons ago.

Don't live anywhere that is uninhabitable without wearing multiple layers of clothing or having central heat.

Things you don't have to worry about in places that require multiple layers of clothing or central heat:
poisonous snakes
scorpions
alligators
hurricanes

FTFY. There are both rattlesnakes and copperheads all over the Midwest and Appalachia. Plenty of hurricanes hit New England. We all saw Sandy hit New York and New Jersey. And while we didn't get hurricanes when I lived in the Midwest, we would get the leftover heavy rains coming up from the Gulf into the Midwest.

[Ned Weasel]

Breezewood.

I believe the thread title said "charm", not "harm".

Har de har har.

The charm was the dazzling array of roadside businesses in a relatively short stretch.  The corporate logos that are leitmotifs of the American landscape, rose in a crescendo to the moment of relative climax that was the Breezewood strip.  Fortunately, some of the classic-style motels can still be found standing and operating, but, as a whole, the (in)famous highway junction of commercial stimulation has only a fraction of the potency it held in its heyday.

[Ned Weasel]

Don't live anywhere that is uninhabitable without wearing multiple layers of clothing or having central heat.

Why hasn't science come up with a cure for humans' relative hairlessness, and allowed us to grow thick, warm, insulating fur, like a wolverine?  Places like Alaska, or even Pennsylvania on Groundhog Day, would be much more charming if I could be a charming, thick-furred manimal whilst visiting them.

[ZLoth]

I lived in Sacramento, CA for almost 41 years of my life, and for the last 25 years, my attitude was "if I lost my job, I would either get another one in the area or move out of state". If it weren't for the Sacramento Kings and the associated arena, most major shows would pass Sacramento by entirely. Sacramento "International" Airport really only serves Vancouver, BC in Canada and five cities in Mexico, plus mainly west coast cities. Only about 11 cities west of Salt Lake City have non-stops to Sacramento. Downtown Sacramento seems to be stuck in 1940s-1950s, with the more modern areas being Elk Grove, North Natomas, and Roseville. And, yes, there is a segment of the population which "supercommutes" to the SF Bay Area.

While brings up another city that lost it's charm... San Francisco. Several decades ago, it would have been considered one of the jewels of the west. Now, it's a rarely-cleaned toilet. Even conventions and conferences have pulled up stakes and moved elsewhere. Even the San Francisco 49ers moved south to Santa Clara/San Jose to Levi's Stadium, and even that "modern stadium" that is only eight years old is considered mediocre at best, with some places ranking it as one of the ten WORST NFL stadiums currently in the NFL especially with the lack of shade in the summertime. The title of worst NFL stadium used to held by Oakland "Ringcentral" Coliseum until the Raiders moved to Las Vegas, and is currently the worst MLB stadium. And, do you really want to walk through Oakland?

To be quite honest, the entire state of California has lost it's charm, and I can point to why. The Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA Metro Area has a estimated combined population of 13,211,027 people, or 33.6% of the population of California. Only the states of Texas (28,635,442), Florida (21,216,924), and New York (19,514,849) have more people than this area. The San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA Metro Area has a estimated combined population of 4,709,220 people (between $24 Alabama and #25-Louisiana), or 12.0% of the population of California. Combine that was Los Angeles, and we have a population of 17,946,602, or 45.5% of California's total population. Care to guess how many congressional representatives whose districts are partially or entirely within Los Angeles county? Hint: It's the same number of representatives as the entire states of Pennsylvania and Illinois separately. Thus, the decisions made to benefit those two areas has adverse effects on the rest of the state, and has resulted in a declining quality of life and the nations highest gas prices... higher than even Hawaii. Sure, the state has some of the best weather and scenery, but how can you enjoy it when you are working all the time to afford it?

Another city that has lost it's charm is the "biggest little city" of Reno, NV. Once upon a time, Reno, and not Las Vegas, was considered the Nevada's gambling destination. Now, beyond gaming and using it as a launch point to visit Lake Tahoe, it is essentially dullsville.

At least DFW is a great place to move it and is a growing area, however, some of the "charm" has already been lost because of the rapidly increasing rental and home prices. Traffic may be a challenge, but at least Texas is making major efforts to improve traffic flow, while California, in association with the Anti-Car Alliance, keeps pushing unworkable "alternative transportation" options.

[bing101]

https://www.news.com.au/travel/destinations/asia/its-the-worst-island-ive-ever-been-to/news-story/73dd39015358f6df008ccc51e6f6b93d
Boracay, Philippines according to this review lost it's charm because of the area being a tacky tourist city in the country according to some of the reviewers. If this thread wants to include other places besides USA that lost it's charm then here is one of them.


https://annaeverywhere.com/boracay/

[formulanone]

Breezewood.

I believe the thread title said "charm", not "harm".

Har de har har.

The charm was the dazzling array of roadside businesses in a relatively short stretch.  The corporate logos that are leitmotifs of the American landscape, rose in a crescendo to the moment of relative climax that was the Breezewood strip.  Fortunately, some of the classic-style motels can still be found standing and operating, but, as a whole, the (in)famous highway junction of commercial stimulation has only a fraction of the potency it held in its heyday.

And you can get those corporate monoliths just about anywhere that doesn't have logo/sign restrictions. I fail to see the "charm", but to each their own.

[kkt]

Then again, maybe it's just the Detroit and Chicago years in my youth that making the prospect of going back vexing?  I don't want to sound like I'm crapping on the Midwest, but what it that they supposedly offer now that wasn't already gone by the late 1990s?

Compared to what?  I don't want to live in any red state now that their governors are trampling municipalities' rights to enact laws the governors don't like.  Our recent trip to DC reminded me that I never want to raise my son there, or anywhere on the East Coast.  I'd move to California in a heartbeat if it wasn't so expensive.  That leaves Oregon and Washington State and...what do they offer that Illinois doesn't?

Mountains, beaches, forests...

[kkt]

I don't want to sound like I'm crapping on the Midwest, but what it that they supposedly offer now that wasn't already gone by the late 1990s? 

We have bountiful fresh water.

I've said this before on here but I think there are elements in this country (I've even gotten this impression from a couple of the usual suspects on this board) that don't want the Rust Belt to recover or be successful, and think we need to more aggressively incentivize even more people to move south and west.

There absolutely are.  My personal rule of thumb is "don't live anywhere that was uninhabitable before the invention of air conditioning"

[kkt]

Don't live anywhere that is uninhabitable without wearing multiple layers of clothing or having central heat.

Why hasn't science come up with a cure for humans' relative hairlessness, and allowed us to grow thick, warm, insulating fur, like a wolverine?  Places like Alaska, or even Pennsylvania on Groundhog Day, would be much more charming if I could be a charming, thick-furred manimal whilst visiting them.

Science has come up with a cure.  We take other critter's fur.  Sheep, etc.

[kkt]

Palo Alto, Calif.  Used to have a funky college town vibe.  Then silicon valley happened, the funky housing and businesses disappeared, the orchards that were left disappeared, and the place has about as much personality as a shopping mall.  Even grocery stores - used to be two supermarkets, now they are gone, and all that's left is one Whole Foods.

[kevinb1994]

Palo Alto, Calif.  Used to have a funky college town vibe.  Then silicon valley happened, the funky housing and businesses disappeared, the orchards that were left disappeared, and the place has about as much personality as a shopping mall.  Even grocery stores - used to be two supermarkets, now they are gone, and all that's left is one Whole Foods.

I could tell that by driving up and down 101.

[brad2971]

Breezewood.

Seriously, how did we get four pages into this thread without anyone saying it already?  So many of those businesses have closed their doors in recent years, and I doubt it's all because of the pandemic.  You can't even get Taco Bell there anymore.  Aside from the pandemic, I'm not really sure what the deal is.  New Stanton doesn't seem to be more popular.

Some would argue that Breezewood never had any charm, that it was a notorious overcommercialized traffic tie-up where businesses sprang up to take advantage of a captive audience forced to navigate two blocks of surface roads to continue on a major interstate highway linking the midwest to the east coast.

I've always found it to be charmingly charmless if that makes sense.  It's basically the "so bad it's good"  version of tourist trap.  For whatever reason it's infamy seems to have an odd draw to it.

Those of us who live west of the Mississippi River often use "so bad it's good" to describe Wall, South Dakota:) And that town's charms are always present every time blowing snow doesn't block I-90.

[kphoger]

My personal rule of thumb is "don't live anywhere that was uninhabitable before the invention of air conditioning"

Meanwhile, I curse my ancestors for having migrated out of the tropical zones eons ago.

Don't live anywhere that is uninhabitable without wearing multiple layers of clothing or having central heat.

You can always add more clothing, but there is a limit to how much can be removed. 

When it's -5°F and windy, by the time I've put on enough layers to stop the bitter cold from biting through me, I can no longer do anything.  My hands are worthless, with bulky gloves and liners.  I can barely put anything over my shoulder, because of all the extra bulk.  And, even then, I generally don't want to be doing anything anyway, because there's always some sliver of my face that's still exposed to the frigid air and ends up hurting like a headache.

On the other hand, when it's 105°F and sunny, I can strip down to a pair of shorts and a tank-top, and I'm generally just fine like that.  If I get too hot, the worst that happens is that my throat gets dry (drink some water) and I sweat (so what?).

[bing101]

I lived in Sacramento, CA for almost 41 years of my life, and for the last 25 years, my attitude was "if I lost my job, I would either get another one in the area or move out of state". If it weren't for the Sacramento Kings and the associated arena, most major shows would pass Sacramento by entirely. Sacramento "International" Airport really only serves Vancouver, BC in Canada and five cities in Mexico, plus mainly west coast cities. Only about 11 cities west of Salt Lake City have non-stops to Sacramento. Downtown Sacramento seems to be stuck in 1940s-1950s, with the more modern areas being Elk Grove, North Natomas, and Roseville. And, yes, there is a segment of the population which "supercommutes" to the SF Bay Area.

While brings up another city that lost it's charm... San Francisco. Several decades ago, it would have been considered one of the jewels of the west. Now, it's a rarely-cleaned toilet. Even conventions and conferences have pulled up stakes and moved elsewhere. Even the San Francisco 49ers moved south to Santa Clara/San Jose to Levi's Stadium, and even that "modern stadium" that is only eight years old is considered mediocre at best, with some places ranking it as one of the ten WORST NFL stadiums currently in the NFL especially with the lack of shade in the summertime. The title of worst NFL stadium used to held by Oakland "Ringcentral" Coliseum until the Raiders moved to Las Vegas, and is currently the worst MLB stadium. And, do you really want to walk through Oakland?

To be quite honest, the entire state of California has lost it's charm, and I can point to why. The Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA Metro Area has a estimated combined population of 13,211,027 people, or 33.6% of the population of California. Only the states of Texas (28,635,442), Florida (21,216,924), and New York (19,514,849) have more people than this area. The San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA Metro Area has a estimated combined population of 4,709,220 people (between $24 Alabama and #25-Louisiana), or 12.0% of the population of California. Combine that was Los Angeles, and we have a population of 17,946,602, or 45.5% of California's total population. Care to guess how many congressional representatives whose districts are partially or entirely within Los Angeles county? Hint: It's the same number of representatives as the entire states of Pennsylvania and Illinois separately. Thus, the decisions made to benefit those two areas has adverse effects on the rest of the state, and has resulted in a declining quality of life and the nations highest gas prices... higher than even Hawaii. Sure, the state has some of the best weather and scenery, but how can you enjoy it when you are working all the time to afford it?

Another city that has lost it's charm is the "biggest little city" of Reno, NV. Once upon a time, Reno, and not Las Vegas, was considered the Nevada's gambling destination. Now, beyond gaming and using it as a launch point to visit Lake Tahoe, it is essentially dullsville.

At least DFW is a great place to move it and is a growing area, however, some of the "charm" has already been lost because of the rapidly increasing rental and home prices. Traffic may be a challenge, but at least Texas is making major efforts to improve traffic flow, while California, in association with the Anti-Car Alliance, keeps pushing unworkable "alternative transportation" options.

I know Sacramento Traffic pretty well in Solano County the area next door to Sacramento we have to deal with Sacramento and Bay Area Traffic at the same time. I can see why California lost its charm because of this but at the same time because of job reasons. However I hope California reforms itself just in time to adapt to the era of Gen Z.  Also I  hope for the best I see this as society reforming itself to cater to a new generation in general.

[Max Rockatansky]

I'm still trying to understand what is so appealing about Texas east of San Antonio.  At least the western part of Texas tends to live up to its supposed reputation as being rural, the big cities are very gentrified at this point.  People my age seem to love Austin, but to me it is just the Texas version of San Francisco.