Posted on 06/02/2020 4:26:07 AM PDT by EyesOfTX
The inevitable outcomes of this past week of rioting in the major, Democrat-controlled cities are very predictable. The abject refusal by Democrat mayors and governors to make any effort whatsoever to protect the citizens and small businesses from the excesses of Antifa- and BLM-led burning and pillaging will have consequences for those cities for decades to come.
The first two decades of the 21st century have seen a revival of the central cities in America, as the Baby Boomer flight to the suburbs has given way to a move back to downtown and mid-town areas by Gen-X, Gen-Y and Millennials wanting to avoid being trapped into a life of long commutes they watched their parents endure. Life in high-rise and mid-rise condominiums within walking distance of office and shopping centers has become the new norm for these younger generations of Americans, and hundreds of thousands of small businesses have sprung up on the ground floors of those condo buildings to serve them.
When I first lived in Houston in 1980, no one lived in the downtown area, and the thriving area called “mid-town” was a slum. You didn’t want to linger downtown past dark because it was too dangerous to be caught there. Most other large cities in America were in similar shape after all of the “white flight” to the suburbs that had taken place since the 1960s.
That all began to change in the mid-1990s, after mayors like Rudy Giuliani had taken charge of the security situations in those downtown areas and city governments and business leaders invested in invested billions in urban renewal projects designed to make those areas attractive places to live. College graduates of all races, colors and creeds, having grown up watching their parents spend 2 to 3 hours a day in stop and go traffic saw the advantages of living a few blocks from work and seized the opportunities to do so.
From Seattle to Portland to San Diego to Phoenix to Denver to Dallas to Houston to Miami to Boston, and many points in between, downtown/mid-town neighborhoods that were basically hellholes 40 years ago were turned into great cultural melting pots of our society. It was a stunning success story of 21st century America. But then came Barack Obama and Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch and the policies of hands-off policing, policies that order the police to stand down and watch helplessly during riots as the bad actors vent their rage at the expense of residents and small businesses.
The last week is simply the inevitable result of those “progressive” policies.
Thousands of young-ish New Yorkers who moved to Soho because it was a cool place to be woke up Monday morning horrified by the reality that Bill de Blasio had allowed the neighborhood they had believed to be safe and secure to be looted and burned during the night. Thousands more New Yorkers are waking up to similar realities in other Manhattan and Brooklyn neighborhoods this morning. Residents and business owners in downtown and mid-town areas of Minneapolis and Chicago and Philadelphia have seen their lives and livelihoods destroyed by city leaders who couldn’t be bothered to do anything to stop all the mayhem.
The worst thing about it is that that mayhem – the looting, the burning, the shattering of doors and windows – was largely committed by their neighbors, egged on by BLM and Antifa organizers from out of state.
If you are a young mother or father who has just seen half of the buildings surrounding your home vandalized, burned and looted by people who live just blocks away, how will you ever feel secure in that home again? If you are a small business owner who has just had your storefront windows shattered and your store looted while your city’s leaders sat safe in their mansions and did nothing, what will be your incentive for reopening? You may do it for awhile, try to get back on your feet while putting bars on your doors and windows, but how long can you last as you watch half of your customers flee back to the suburbs where they were raised by their commuting parents?
The Democrat mayors and inner-city councilmen won’t care, because the captive population left behind will only lean more strongly in their favor. Their lives of grifting in positions of political power will have been secured.
For the people left behind, life will become grim. Sadly, most of them will have no understanding of the fact that the re-created downtown/mid-town hellholes to come are the result of their own actions.
Life’s a cycle, and when you just keep mindlessly voting for Democrats, you get what you ask for.
That is all.
Nobody likes to be robbed—nobody—and all the left-wing propaganda in the world won’t change that simple fact.
I trust that the ads for President Trump and Republican office seekers will replay, over and over, those disgusting scenes as brutal reminders to the voters.
At least we now know why Dem strongholds wanted us to stay indoors as well as why convicts were released from prison.
Took many cities 40-50 years to start re-gentrifying from the 60’s riots. Many never did recover, and almost certainly now never will.
Wonder what all the hipsters who repopulated these areas think now about all their wokeness?
Took many cities 40-50 years to start re-gentrifying from the 60’s riots. Many never did recover, and almost certainly now never will.
Wonder what all the hipsters who repopulated these areas think now about all their wokeness?
“America’s Downtown Renaissance”
An imaginary fiction - never been one, never will be no matter how much money is squandered on the idea.
To create such a thing, you’d have to go back to what caused the current mess.
Try 1964 and the Supreme Court. Vagrancy becomes illegal; loitering becomes illegal; downtown becomes a cesspool.
The answer has been right in front of our nose for more than 50 years. And since your screen name is “EyesOfTexas” you might want to use San Antonio as an example.
Pre 1964, beautiful place; now, after over a billion dollars squandered (remember Tri-Party) still a crap pile.
DRAT, DRAT, DRAT
Should have been
Vagrancy LAWS become illegal; loitering LAWS become illegal; downtown becomes a cesspool.
re: the subject of the article I believe the author is correct. A lot of people are going to say "eff this" to themselves and get out just as soon as they are able. A whole lot more people have already said "eff that" and are not going to go into these areas and neighborhoods for a long time if ever again. The businesses in these neighborhoods, already struggling from weeks of lockdowns, are going to see what few customers they had dwindle even further. Probably a death knell for many of them. Already beat down by restrictive lockdown policies, now faced with few if any customers and large repair/rebuilding costs. (not everything is going to be covered by insurance) Increased insurance costs...
Way to go rioters and looters - you protested to make a positive change, well, I'd guess you effected change in your neighborhoods all right, though not the change you were looking for. Loss of residents, loss of businesses and economic activities and opportunities. You just re-enforced a whole lot of negative stereotypes regarding your areas and your race. You called attention to an injustice by committing injustices many times over. The next time some over-zealous LEO having a bad day takes it out on a suspect or detainee there's not going to be the same reaction. That business owner whose shop you looted is going to smile. The LEO's partner who lost a friend and fellow officer is going to look the other way while his/her body cam "malfunctions." That motorist whose car you burned last time is going to switch off their dashcam and keep driving right by.
In short, these riots and senseless acts of violence have probably burned up a whole lot of sympathy that might have been generated by Mr. Floyd's death. Sure, you've got women and kids out in suburbia posting cute signs and sayings all over social media. However, when those same hip me-to types see a group of young black males they are going to cross the street, or turn around, or avoid those neighborhoods/malls/etc. altogether. They'll espouse public "support" but inside, they're now afraid, and they'll act on those fears even if it is very subtle. Lots of people like to shout "racism" when they have nothing else to contribute. Well, this kind of thing, this kind of behavior is what feeds real racial tension.
Personally, I've avoided large cities for years. I don't like crowds and cities offer nothing I want or need. I prefer the open road under my wheels, the rumble of my Harley's V-twin, the crunch of gravel under my hiking boots, or the quiet crackle of a camp fire and sizzle of charred animal flesh while sipping a little whiskey. I had travel plans for this summer. The covid-19 farce and self-induced panic pretty well trashed some of them - particularly my plan for a cross-country road trip. As I re-work, re-consider alternatives for this summer and trying to plan my big trip for '21 I am already modifying that to avoid even simply blasting through several big cities on the interstate. I wasn't planning on stopping, now I'll be adding miles to go around and avoid even simply going through.
Democrat Riots. That’s a label that should be plastered on every story about this.
Way to go rioters and looters - you protested to make a positive change, well, I’d guess you effected change in your neighborhoods all right, though not the change you were looking for.
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PING. Real nice comments to read, ThunderSleeps. Sounds like a great user name for a motorcycle enthusiast. All the best.
Amazon benefits hugely from the destruction of physical retail.
The strong pro-America Trump message was lost on a coupla them lily-livered governors Witmer and Pritzker.......
but you can bet your bottom dollar several million more Americans have decoded to vote Trump based on that phone call.
Oh, that sounds so good. Crunch, crackle, sizzle....
Are you a writer or at least someone who enjoyed creative writing? I like your style. Also, avoiding cities sounds like a reasonable plan.
I am a nurse. I have never been afraid to travel to my center city medical center to take care of patients during Covid. But now....these past few days of rioters and looters …... I now consider my co-workers to be brave. I have felt fear …..Demoncratically run Philly....the LEO are not maintaining order. Curfews without consequences. Nothing good happens in a mob. They are destroying areas where my fine hard working co-workers live and raise their families. My sympathy for rioter looters is none.
Love that governor conference call talk by Trump!
And by calling them out, when a State uses the National Guard to help, Trump wins politically — and protects Americans from more violence.
Amen.
Democrat violence on Democrats is ok by me.
Not good. The idiots who voted for politicians who did this will now move to the suburbs and do the exact same thing they did in the urban hellholes by voting for liberal idiots
How about recognize BLM as a terrorist organization?
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