Has wherever your at improved or declined in your lifetime?
Muddy
USA
In your point of view? Interesting to hear from folks on the ground who have seen decades of change firsthand. Maybe you moved around but however you want to answer that question.
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43 comments
- NJ: Improved significantly. Somehow the hottest girls are here and don't seem to know they can make way more money in Manhattan or Fairfield County CT (Stamford/Bridgeport CT).
- Manhattan: It was always crap in terms of getting any mileage and being a tourist trap. But now it's even worse b/c the girls aren't even hot anymore.
- Fairfield County CT (Stamford/Bridgeport CT): Worsened signficantly for men but can be a goldmine for hot girls. I'm lucky to be in NJ and to these girls CT is a distant land. Men spend a lot of money on few girls here. And the girls here are well below-average in quality - and that's bad considering the average quality as a whole has gone down.
- Queens NY: Overall stable. It went way down hill from pandemic, but it is recovering slowly. Overall a good place for men. There are a lot of girls, and less men spending money. I think the guys here are smart and know how to play this game.
People drive too fast, won’t stay off their phones, run red lights, have no clue how to properly merge. In general, just plain rude
Middle class people started moving back out of the city to escape rising crime and increased social disorder. This caused a decline in the local strip clubs, since these people were less likely to make a longer trip from the outer suburbs. Without their spending, there was less reason for attractive girls to become strippers. Increased teleworking made it easier to move. More business was done online, and I saw a decrease in the traveling salesman type of customer in strip clubs. The city government blocked the opening of new clubs using zoning and licensing laws and the lack of competition hurt the local strip club scene.
I'm in Toronto, Canada, and the decline in my lifetime may be more drastic than anywhere else. I remember it being a clean, safe, and great city in the '80s and '90s, and since then it's fallen off a clip to become a dysfunctional hellhole.
The biggest and most stunning change that you can see is from mass immigration and demographic change. It's staggering. South and East Asians everywhere. I was in the U.S. recently too and noticed similar things happening in the big cities though with differing groups. It's the R-word. It's not a conspiracy theory and it's obviously happening. Tell the truth. Let's just all tell the truth. Disagree or agree on whether you think it's good or not...fine.
But let's just tell the damn truth.
Then vs now SC (for the worse imo): the music, high heels vs highly elevated high heels.
The strip clubs on the other hand have become among the most liberal extras market in the country, but costs have skyrocketed exponentially.
They revolutionized our lives on how we eat, shop, manage our healthcare, etc. in ways not many ever predicted.
And they are pretty much a necessity no matter how poor or rich you are. Sometimes I think the assumption that everyone has a smart phone is unfair because one needs a phone in almost everything you do. I, like many others, can’t even log in to a work computer now without a phone
Now, we are a large LA suburb.
The solution is to stop illegal immigration and be selective in who we bring in. Engineers. Entrepreneurs with capital. Young people. English speakers. People who are willing to embrace a culture of family and hard work.
Since I moved to NE FL a decade ago things have definitely changed. Housing is much more expensive now due to a huge influx of blue state transplants. But even so, most of that has occurred within 15-20 minutes of the beach or in a few especially desirable suburbs. If a young blue collar guy wants to buy a home and start a family, there are still plenty of affordable options if he's willing to move a bit inland and commute 30 minutes to work.
Around here there is also such high demand for skilled workers (welders, electricians, heavy machine mechanics, etc.) that companies are actually paying kids salaries with benefits to enter their training programs. All these new houses, factories, roadway expansions, etc., ain't gonna' build and service themselves, lol.
By comparison, the Boston suburbs have become much harder for working class families. For starters, unless you have two working adults in the house, forget about home ownership. And even if you do, expect a very long commute. Part of the problem is that everyone has their hands in your pockets: Electricity rates are twice as high as here due to state environmental regs; gas prices are much higher due to state taxes; housing is expensive due to burdensome zoning regs which make building new houses difficult; most municipalities make you pay a property tax on your car which can run several hundred per year which is ON TOP of state registration and inspection fees...the list goes on.
Anyway there it is fwiw.
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Interesting you mention that. A few years ago when I took the Grand Canyon bus tour from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon we passed through Kingman, Arizona and the driver mentioned it’s become almost a suburb to Los Angeles (and to Phoenix and Las Vegas)
LA must be a miserable city (with terrible schools) if people are willing to live in LA and commute almost 5 hours every weekend to go back home to the family
Overall quality of SoCal life has nose-dived, due to congestion & the massive pervasive fear that others exist solely to take your stuff. “It’s all about me, baby” is most everyone’s touchstone. Still can’t beat the weather if you can afford to live within 10 miles of the beach, tho.
My parents moved to central Florida, south of Orlando in the late 80’s and one of their friends purchased a modest ranch style home for only $40,000 around the same time. I visited it several times - it was in excellent condition and perfect for a retired couple.
Even in central Florida I’m guessing you’d pay six to ten times that now.
One thing to keep in mind Florida has always been a boom and bust economy.
The truth is Toronto is exactly like what you've described Chicago and San Fran to be. Unlike the 1990s stereotype, Toronto is no longer clean and beautiful. The city is congested, broken, and ridiculously expensive in terms of rent and COL.
As to the question of SE Asians - yes, it's all those ethnicities you listed. And no, there is nothing inherently wrong with any group in my view, as I adhere to the classically liberal/JFK way of thinking (which of course now bears no resemblance whatsoever to modern woke liberalism).
But the question is, even if one has no animus toward S/E Asians, does that mean one should tolerate them becoming ~80-90% of your community? I know you didn't intend it this way necessarily, but that is the standard neoliberal way of saying "hey these people are fine, be cool with them." That line of thinking made sense in the '80's and '90s when newcomers and foreigners were hovering at about 20% or less of the population, were encouraged to assimilate and speak English, and American/Western culture was strong and everyone was expected to support it.
Here in Toronto, especially in the downtown core, you see only Asians (East, South, etc). To encounter someone who speaks in an unbroken, traditional native-born accent is extremely rare.
The change over the last 30-35 years or so is staggering if one takes a moment to compare against how things were. Which were better. Demonstrably better.
Take this example, I deeply respect Japanese culture. I find the culture emphasizes cleanliness, discipline, politeness, dignity, and hard work. I think these values should be promoted in a society. Most encounters I have with Japanese individuals are positive. Every time I go to a sushi restaurant, it is immaculately clean, so much so as to lift the spirit. If music is playing, it is always soothing and low volume. The seating is almost always comfortable. I am pretty much always treated politely, I get exactly what I order at a good portion, and the food is always fresh. The server is always professional with fast service. There's pretty much never an error in the bill, and if I have a question, it's answered with calmness and politeness.
But if you walked into a bar in Dallas, Texas one day and suddenly it was 90% Japanese folks...like no one in cowboy hats, no country music playing, no line dancing, and everyone was speaking Japanese, would it still be the same? That's basically Toronto now, but with the S/E Asians.
To clarify, Japanese aren't the ones flooding into Toronto (it's the other groups you listed above), but I use this as an example that even if the people and their behavior are admirable, there should still be an emphasis on cultural preservation.
Finally, and notably, the groups coming into Toronto do not, ahem, necessarily have the same emphasis on cleanliness, etc. as the Japanese do.
mark, I think this is kind of a mainstream neoliberal talking point that has seeped into most peoples' thinking that really wouldn't be a problem at all.
Let's say there was no immigration. Even if America's population fell from 330 million to 220 million in a couple of generations, everything would be fine. The economy would adjust. In fact, jobs would pay more, be easier to get, etc. That's not to mention the massive benefits in terms of better social cohesion, less tension, heck, less time waiting at airports, restaurants, etc.
The globalists use these canards such as "we need mass immigration because there are jobs Americans won't do" or "our population will age" and these other economic arguments as excuses to get their cheap labor. The Western countries would be fine - and better off - without mass immigration.
These are just talking points they throw out there to justify their destruction of Western culture via mass migration.
In my area, it has worsened. From what I understand, it used to be pretty fucking awesome. That was well before I arrived. It's not all just because the demographics of the dancers have changed. Some is because of COVID. Some is because of storms, like Ian. Ownership has changed, for the worse. Laws have changed to become more restrictive. Layouts changed with remodels to be worse than they were before. Hey, strip club owners! A refresh costs less than a remodel and is usually better. I wish some new clubs could open.
We already have countries where the age distribution looks like an upside down pyramid. There are more people age 60-80 than 20-40. And, even fewer children 0-20.
That’s a problem. No society has dealt with that before and we don’t know if an economy can function with more retirees than workers.
Sorry to continue the immigration comments, but I do think immigration is a net good, especially in the face of an aging population. However, it is the people -- and really the leaders -- that need to preserve and promote our culture through example and through our institutions. JFC, I'm sounding like trump.
Frankly, native-born millennials and Gen Z (the ones that aren't gay or trans) would be having more kids if they didn't have to compete for jobs with all these migrants, which would address the problem.
Who cares about addressing aging if only 25% of your country will be speaking proper English by 2050? What exactly have you preserved?
A smaller population who understands and appreciates their heritage is stronger than a massive population who don't.
Humanity has changed (and it will change again). The days of Nearly every female having 5+ children is over. Those places this still exists will not exist in the not that too distant future. Society will adapt to a temporary upside down pyramid either smarty or chaotically. Chaotically, for example, would be putting your head in the sand, spending into oblivion and thinking importing tens of millions will make it ok.
“flooding your country with foreign-born Third Worlders with no connection to the host culture is a justifiable “
As I said earlier
“The solution is to stop illegal immigration and be selective in who we bring in. Engineers. Entrepreneurs with capital. Young people. English speakers. People who are willing to embrace a culture of family and hard work.“
Two facts killing this country: 1) Immigrants, legal or illegal collect public benefits at twice the rate of the native born, so the idea they benefit us economically is a total lie and 2) They get money here, so they stay here and don't learn the language, don't work for fair pay and never assimilate. One third of all immigrants came in through Ellis island, also went back out through Ellis island when they failed here and there was no welfare. The Cuban immigration in the 50's was doctors, lawyers, accountants and craftsmen. In the 1970s the Cuban immigration was criminals and mental patients thanks to Jimmy fucking die already Carter.
I used to care about the future of this country and did a lot of volunteer work, but never again. I plan on hoarding what I have and spending it as I see fit. Even stopped putting away for retirement and am spending what we use to save weekly as well. Caveat - 1957 wasn't just the best year for cars, it was the best year to be born. Made the 18 year old drinking age; missed nam; always had a future; no one does any longer; grew up in civic minded powerful America, don't like third world failed America. Look at our fucking cities. I look at places we used to go to often like San Fran and Chicago and now I don't even want to fly over them.
The sole purpose of immigration now is to replace independent, self-sufficient natives, with cradle to grave foreigners.
Tesla is building the Optimus humanoid robot. It is already being used on their factory floor for very simple tasks, like stacking parts.
Tesla is also building the most powerful computer in the world, called DOJO. It will be linked to these robots and use Artificial Intelligence to train them to do ever more complex tasks.
At first, these robots will do jobs that are repetitive and/or dangerous. They only cost $10,000-$15,000 to make ( though they will sell for more ) and, unlike humans they replace, they can work 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Economically, it will be a no-brainer to replace every human as soon as a robot can do the task.
Eventually, as the AI becomes more powerful, these robots will be in every home. I’m guessing 2040, or thereabouts, when this is commonplace.
By and large, they are American. English is their first language. They prefer American media. They like a wide variety of cuisines, including their native foods. They often date outside of their community although admittedly feel pressure to marry within the community (and then not pass that pressure onto their own third gen, totally American kids).
Anyways, I do shake my fist at all the development that has happened in San Diego in the last 20 years. Lots of open spaces are now packed with giant houses on postage stamp sized lots. Traffic has gotten worse in 20 years. Housing costs are insane. Really need some of these people that are supposedly fleeing California to flee.
But if you look at the post-2015 landscape (2015 is relevant because that's the year the mass migration crisis started in Europe which has now made its way here) this assimilation is no longer happening. A walk through the downtown of any large North American city now for anyone over say, 35 years of age (who can remember a time before globalism/mass migration), and let's face it, this is no longer the West if we're being honest about demographics.