Yeah you're right -- Hudson was much better when there were no jobs, except for prostitution, illegal drug sales, and delivering bag money for corrupt politicians. And I pine for the days when every other building on Warren Street was boarded up and falling down, and a person couldn't walk a block without tripping over a homeless person or getting panhandled or even worse, getting rolled. Yessirre, those were to good old days.
BTW, many of the "pansy shops" are located in buildings that were once abandoned and on the verge of collapse. The gay people who brought these buildings and the buildings where they now live paid a 6% real estate commission and/or back taxes to the County, as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars to local architects, engineers, and contractors to rehabilitate these buildings. The contractors hired construction workers and subcontractors, and brought materials, equipment, and supplies from local lumber shops, hardware stores, etc., and their employees spent some of the money they earned at the local deli, restaurants, and taverns, all of which produced jobs that previously did not exist. And while you may characterize these jobs as "low end," a low end job is better than no job at all and often leads to bigger and better things.
“The gay people who brought these buildings and the buildings where they now live paid a 6% real estate commission and/or back taxes to the County, as well as ...”
So if NAMBLA opens up a giant bathouse, you consider that an ‘improvement’? WTF?