Author Topic: In a city where the streets are clogged...  (Read 12945 times)

K Frame

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Re: In a city where the streets are clogged...
« Reply #25 on: May 12, 2023, 07:25:38 AM »
I'd say that's pretty much the same in any city. The corporations move out because they can't take the crime load and small bodega-like stores open to fill the vacuum.

The concept of service deserts in major urban areas crops up for all kinds of services -- health, food, and financial.

Back in the mid- to late-1990s local politicians started touting one of the service deserts in Washington, DC, as a financial black hole. The only financial services available to many residents were check cashing stores, which were very expensive. So, the politicos started spouting all of the standard tropes about how the big financial corps were keeping those in the area in poverty blah blah blah.

Finally they managed to find a company (for some reason I'm thinking it was either Bank of America, but I may be wrong about that, it's been 30 years) to open a local branch to serve the residents of the service desert.

Two things happened... despite lots of publicity, relatively few residents opened accounts with the bank because many of them were recent immigrants who were either in the country illegally, and thus couldn't jump through all of the hoops, or they didn't trust banks because of experiences in their home countries.

The other thing that happened?

The spiffy new branch was hit with something like 4 armed robberies in the first 6 months it was open.

It wasn't open much longer after that.
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WLJ

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Re: In a city where the streets are clogged...
« Reply #26 on: May 12, 2023, 07:50:56 AM »
Here in STL, we have a bunch of folks from Iraq or Afghanistan who open neighborhood stop'n'rob groceries... They charge more than the big groceries, who aren't there anymore.

Had a job at a convenient store in the early 80s that was in a nice neighborhood. In talking to reps one of our sister stores in a not so nice neighborhood had a little shoplifting problem as in they estimated 1 in 5, one even said 1 in 3, items leaving the store were not paid for and was going to be closed. Drive by that spot every once in awhile and stores come and go where it was located. Rather than actually do something about the crime the city figures it's  cheaper and better PR to throw money at someone to open a store there and make a big production about how they're helping neighborhood and then later cry how the evil racist the company is bringing down the neighborhood by closing.  No one lasts long there for a reason. Think they ran out of companies or they wised up because it's been empty for awhile now while the city whines about the food desert.
« Last Edit: May 12, 2023, 11:22:35 AM by WLJ »
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WLJ

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Re: In a city where the streets are clogged...
« Reply #27 on: May 12, 2023, 01:50:39 PM »
CNN is here to tell us the REAL reason stores are closing

"A glut of stores "
" Remote work "
" Online shopping "
" ‘Downtown is for People’ "

Next article they'll be screeching about the racist food/retail deserts. 

 The real reasons stores such as Walmart and Starbucks are closing in big cities
https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/12/business/stores-closing-cities-downtown-retail/index.html
“Liberals claim to want to give a hearing to other views, but then are shocked and offended to discover that there are other views.”
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“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”
― George Orwell, 1984

“Those who believe without reason cannot be convinced by reason.”
― James Randi

RocketMan

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Re: In a city where the streets are clogged...
« Reply #28 on: May 12, 2023, 07:05:55 PM »
"Downtown is for people."

Not if every store and restaurant has shut its doors because of out of control criminal activity.  There would soon be no reason to go downtown.
If there really was intelligent life on other planets, we'd be sending them foreign aid.

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Fly320s

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Re: In a city where the streets are clogged...
« Reply #29 on: May 12, 2023, 08:23:39 PM »
"Downtown is for people" .... who want to shop, work, and eat, but who won't go into dangerous areas to do so.
Islamic sex dolls.  Do they blow themselves up?

Hawkmoon

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Re: In a city where the streets are clogged...
« Reply #30 on: May 12, 2023, 09:16:33 PM »
"Downtown is for people."

Not if every store and restaurant has shut its doors because of out of control criminal activity.  There would soon be no reason to go downtown.

There already is no reason to go downtown -- unless you have to appear in court, and for many matters even that can be done remotely.

I don't know if the .gov planned it, but the COVID-19 *expletive deleted*it-down put the final nail in the coffin of urban centers. The pandemic is over, and my state's government can't get workers to come back to work. Everyone got used to working remotely from home, and they don't want to come back. A friend of mine is a senior IT manager for a major hospital chain in this area. He used to commute to an office about a half hour south from us. He now works entirely from home, and many of his staff don't even life in this state. He hasn't been to his office for several years -- I don't know if the hospital even leases space in that building anymore.

The trend in urban real estate is to convert former mid-rise and high-rise office buildings to apartments. I'm watching -- but if people no longer need to be in the city to work, why would they want to live in the city? It would be convenient if your job was a block or two away, but if you can work from hours away -- why even consider living in a glass and steel box 200 feet in the air?
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
100% Politically Incorrect by Design

zahc

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Re: In a city where the streets are clogged...
« Reply #31 on: May 12, 2023, 09:32:00 PM »
There already is no reason to go downtown -- unless you have to appear in court, and for many matters even that can be done remotely.

I don't know if the .gov planned it, but the COVID-19 *expletive deleted*it-down put the final nail in the coffin of urban centers. The pandemic is over, and my state's government can't get workers to come back to work. Everyone got used to working remotely from home, and they don't want to come back. A friend of mine is a senior IT manager for a major hospital chain in this area. He used to commute to an office about a half hour south from us. He now works entirely from home, and many of his staff don't even life in this state. He hasn't been to his office for several years -- I don't know if the hospital even leases space in that building anymore.

The trend in urban real estate is to convert former mid-rise and high-rise office buildings to apartments. I'm watching -- but if people no longer need to be in the city to work, why would they want to live in the city? It would be convenient if your job was a block or two away, but if you can work from hours away -- why even consider living in a glass and steel box 200 feet in the air?

You are exactly right, and what this really amounts to is a failure of central economic planning: downtowns were never fiscally sound it the first place, so they fall like cards when the economy shifts. Real, organically grown markets are anti-fragile and adapt. Fake, puppetmastered, well-laid plans always end in disaster.
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WLJ

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Re: In a city where the streets are clogged...
« Reply #32 on: May 15, 2023, 07:26:08 PM »
I had to double check to make sure this wasn't real.....yet

San Francisco Announces Plan To Release Monkeys Onto The Streets To Fling Away All The Poo
https://babylonbee.com/news/san-francisco-announces-plan-to-release-monkeys-onto-the-streets-to-fling-away-all-the-poo
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― George Orwell, 1984

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MechAg94

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Re: In a city where the streets are clogged...
« Reply #33 on: May 15, 2023, 11:32:11 PM »
I saw that earlier.  Those guys are great.  :laugh:

Quote
At publishing time, the monkeys had broken several windows with poo flinging, but fortunately, the buildings were all abandoned storefronts.
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WLJ

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Re: In a city where the streets are clogged...
« Reply #34 on: July 05, 2023, 01:27:35 PM »
More fun in SF

Quote
Children wielding baseball bats are reportedly attacking and robbing helpless mothers and nannies in a wealthy San Francisco neighborhood known for its young families.

Noe Valley, which is also known locally as "stroller alley" because of the many families with young children who live there, experienced 11 phone robberies last week, which authorities believe are linked to a gang of youths who have also lately been assaulting women with bats while they pick up their kids from school, according to the Telegraph.

Bat-wielding kids attack San Francisco moms, nannies outside school in wealthy neighborhood
https://www.foxnews.com/us/bat-wielding-kids-attack-san-francisco-moms-nannies-outside-school-wealthy-neighborhood
“Liberals claim to want to give a hearing to other views, but then are shocked and offended to discover that there are other views.”
― William F. Buckley

“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”
― George Orwell, 1984

“Those who believe without reason cannot be convinced by reason.”
― James Randi

HankB

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Re: In a city where the streets are clogged...
« Reply #35 on: July 05, 2023, 02:39:34 PM »
. . .
The trend in urban real estate is to convert former mid-rise and high-rise office buildings to apartments. I'm watching -- but if people no longer need to be in the city to work, why would they want to live in the city? It would be convenient if your job was a block or two away, but if you can work from hours away -- why even consider living in a glass and steel box 200 feet in the air?

Maybe it's the view?

Trump won in 2016. And again in 2024. Democrats haven't been so offended since Republicans came along and freed their slaves.
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WLJ

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Re: In a city where the streets are clogged...
« Reply #36 on: July 18, 2023, 07:32:08 AM »
More news from the Democrat paradise on left coast

San Francisco Walgreens NOW resorts to CHAINING their freezers to stop shoplifters in crime-riddled city swiping pizza and ice cream 20 times a day - as another branch completely boards up its windows
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12309415/San-Francisco-Walgreens-resorts-CHAINING-refrigerator-section-overnight-stop-shoplifters-swiping-pizza-ice-cream-20-times-day.html
“Liberals claim to want to give a hearing to other views, but then are shocked and offended to discover that there are other views.”
― William F. Buckley

“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”
― George Orwell, 1984

“Those who believe without reason cannot be convinced by reason.”
― James Randi

MechAg94

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Re: In a city where the streets are clogged...
« Reply #37 on: July 18, 2023, 09:39:17 AM »
More fun in SF

Bat-wielding kids attack San Francisco moms, nannies outside school in wealthy neighborhood
https://www.foxnews.com/us/bat-wielding-kids-attack-san-francisco-moms-nannies-outside-school-wealthy-neighborhood
That reminds me of a scene in Robocop.
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MechAg94

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Re: In a city where the streets are clogged...
« Reply #38 on: July 18, 2023, 09:41:17 AM »
More news from the Democrat paradise on left coast

San Francisco Walgreens NOW resorts to CHAINING their freezers to stop shoplifters in crime-riddled city swiping pizza and ice cream 20 times a day - as another branch completely boards up its windows
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12309415/San-Francisco-Walgreens-resorts-CHAINING-refrigerator-section-overnight-stop-shoplifters-swiping-pizza-ice-cream-20-times-day.html
I am surprised they don't just close up the store except for a front area and have people order and pick up at a slot.  Let the employees pick the items and bring them up.  I can't see any other way to make it work.
“It is much more important to kill bad bills than to pass good ones.”  ― Calvin Coolidge

Ben

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Re: In a city where the streets are clogged...
« Reply #39 on: July 18, 2023, 09:57:13 AM »
I am surprised they don't just close up the store except for a front area and have people order and pick up at a slot.  Let the employees pick the items and bring them up.  I can't see any other way to make it work.

Anybody remember the retail chain Best (not Best Buy)? That's exactly how they did it as a "brick and mortar catalog store". We might be going back to the '80s model in big blue cities.

Of course then the criminals will just head out to the "gun free zone" parking lot and mug everybody for their stuff as they leave the store.
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RocketMan

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Re: In a city where the streets are clogged...
« Reply #40 on: July 18, 2023, 11:05:06 AM »
^^^  Didn't Service Merchandise have the same business model?
If there really was intelligent life on other planets, we'd be sending them foreign aid.

Conservatives see George Orwell's "1984" as a cautionary tale.  Progressives view it as a "how to" manual.

My wife often says to me, "You are evil and must be destroyed." She may be right.

Liberals believe one should never let reason, logic and facts get in the way of a good emotional argument.

K Frame

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Re: In a city where the streets are clogged...
« Reply #41 on: July 18, 2023, 11:06:56 AM »
^^^  Didn't Service Merchandise have the same business model?

That's what I remember about them.
Dogs are our link to paradise. They don’t know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring—it was peace. — Milan Kundera


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WLJ

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Re: In a city where the streets are clogged...
« Reply #42 on: August 18, 2023, 09:01:52 AM »
Don't come in to work, it's too dangerous
Quote
    Officials at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services advised hundreds of employees in San Francisco to work remotely for the foreseeable future due to public safety concerns outside the Nancy Pelosi Federal Building on Seventh Street. https://t.co/LUTS4FrwXr
    — San Francisco Chronicle (@sfchronicle) August 12, 2023
https://twitchy.com/aaronwalker/2023/08/18/federal-employees-told-to-work-remotely-in-san-francisco-due-to-crime-n2386335

Welcome to dem paradise
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“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”
― George Orwell, 1984

“Those who believe without reason cannot be convinced by reason.”
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WLJ

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Re: In a city where the streets are clogged...
« Reply #43 on: September 03, 2023, 09:39:14 PM »
San Francisco Now So Bad That Passing Ruffians Say 'Ni' At Will To Old Ladies And Even Those Who Arrange And Sell Shrubberies Are Under Considerable Economic Stress
https://babylonbee.com/news/san-francisco-now-so-bad-that-passing-ruffians-say-ni-at-will-to-old-ladies-and-even-those-who-arrange-and-sell-shrubberies-are-under-considerable-economic-stress

 :rofl:
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― William F. Buckley

“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”
― George Orwell, 1984

“Those who believe without reason cannot be convinced by reason.”
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WLJ

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Re: In a city where the streets are clogged...
« Reply #44 on: September 27, 2023, 09:25:30 AM »
Color me shocked

Quote
Democratic San Francisco Mayor London Breed on Tuesday unveiled a plan to require anyone receiving welfare to comply with mandatory drug testing and treatment programs amid growing pressure to get ahold of the city’s homeless and fentanyl crises – the same day a new primary challenger in next year's election entered the race.

Announcing the proposal with Supervisor Matt Dorsey, a recovering addict and former spokesperson for the police department, Breed said the new initiative would require individuals with substance use disorders who want to access county-funded cash assistance to be enrolled in treatment and services.

Remember when the Rs proposed something along these lines nation wide awhile back and the Ds started foaming at the mouth over it.
Of course the devil is in the details and they'll probably make sure there's plenty of loopholes

Democrat San Francisco mayor announces plan to require drug testing, treatment to receive homeless services
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/democrat-san-francisco-mayor-announces-plan-require-drug-testing-treatment-receive-homeless-services
« Last Edit: September 27, 2023, 09:48:32 AM by WLJ »
“Liberals claim to want to give a hearing to other views, but then are shocked and offended to discover that there are other views.”
― William F. Buckley

“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”
― George Orwell, 1984

“Those who believe without reason cannot be convinced by reason.”
― James Randi

WLJ

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Re: In a city where the streets are clogged...
« Reply #45 on: September 29, 2023, 03:39:34 PM »
$900 a/month for a 4ft pod in a communal house.
But that's okay, the tax payers will be footing the bill.

California housing crisis: Tiny 4ft pods in San Francisco are rented for $900 per month - but resident claims you get 'cool, hacker' neighbors and the communal lounges 'are actually nice'
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12575629/California-housing-crisis-Tiny-4ft-pods-rented-900-month.html
“Liberals claim to want to give a hearing to other views, but then are shocked and offended to discover that there are other views.”
― William F. Buckley

“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”
― George Orwell, 1984

“Those who believe without reason cannot be convinced by reason.”
― James Randi

WLJ

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Re: In a city where the streets are clogged...
« Reply #46 on: November 11, 2023, 11:43:55 AM »
And just like that POOF!

Quote
    REPORT: The San Francisco homeless population has "miraculously" gone missing as President Biden & Chinese President Xi Jinping are set to meet in the liberal city.

    Remarkable!

    The typical drug addicts & homeless who wander the city like zombies have disappeared as 20,000… pic.twitter.com/2iDpl4FHCG
    — Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) November 11, 2023

Quote
    Where did they go?
    — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 11, 2023

Reportedly they've herded them to less visible areas for the visit

https://twitchy.com/amy-curtis/2023/11/11/where-did-they-go-san-francisco-homeless-gone-streets-cleaned-ahead-of-biden-visit-to-apec-summit-n2389666
“Liberals claim to want to give a hearing to other views, but then are shocked and offended to discover that there are other views.”
― William F. Buckley

“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”
― George Orwell, 1984

“Those who believe without reason cannot be convinced by reason.”
― James Randi

WLJ

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Re: In a city where the streets are clogged...
« Reply #47 on: November 13, 2023, 02:05:09 PM »
Not hiding why they did it.
Now the question is will it revert back to business as usual afterwards?

Quote
RNC Research
@RNCResearch
After San Francisco was magically cleaned up ahead of Xi Jinping's visit, Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom says:

"I know folks say, 'Oh, they're just cleaning up this place because all these fancy leaders are coming into town.' That's true because it's true."
https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/1724087910809383376?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
“Liberals claim to want to give a hearing to other views, but then are shocked and offended to discover that there are other views.”
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“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”
― George Orwell, 1984

“Those who believe without reason cannot be convinced by reason.”
― James Randi

WLJ

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Re: In a city where the streets are clogged...
« Reply #48 on: November 13, 2023, 02:08:14 PM »
And I just noticed the guy wearing the hardhat to the left of Newsom. I could swear I've seen him in other Newsom videos before. Prop guy?
“Liberals claim to want to give a hearing to other views, but then are shocked and offended to discover that there are other views.”
― William F. Buckley

“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”
― George Orwell, 1984

“Those who believe without reason cannot be convinced by reason.”
― James Randi

WLJ

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Re: In a city where the streets are clogged...
« Reply #49 on: November 13, 2023, 06:46:56 PM »
Newsom Deploys Giant Can Of Febreze Over San Francisco To Mask Poo Smell
https://babylonbee.com/news/to-mask-poop-smell-newsom-sprays-san-francisco-with-giant-can-of-febreze
“Liberals claim to want to give a hearing to other views, but then are shocked and offended to discover that there are other views.”
― William F. Buckley

“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”
― George Orwell, 1984

“Those who believe without reason cannot be convinced by reason.”
― James Randi