Well I got my dose of NE Ohio and Pittsburgh this past week, and the experience can pretty much be summed up by those 4 words.
I didn't expect much from Newton Falls, but neither did I expect what I saw. The area is unbelievably depressed. Abandoned factories, store fronts and houses are everywhere, and what houses aren't abandoned are unbelievably dilapidated.
It was truly depressing, to see a place I lived for 4 years, and where Edie grew up, deteriorate so much.
But I was even disappointed in Pittsburgh as well.
I had heard so much about how Pittsburgh had changed, and while there where a lot of improvements, especially in the downtown area, most of the city was either unchanged or depressed as well.
The streets are narrower than I remember, the houses smaller, the streets in worse condition than in LA, and riding a bike in this city can definitely be hazardous to your health. Plus all my favorite breakfast and deli haunts were replaced by Starbucks and Brueggers.
Even the famous Primanti Bros Restaurant that has been featured on many network TV shows was a disappointment. They say it's been around since 1933, but I don't remember it from my time living in Pittsburgh, and I think I know why. Anyone who thinks a sandwich topped with [tasteless] cabbage (they called it coleslaw) and [tasteless and soggy] french fries is any good, can be fooled into believing anything, and I'm not easily fooled. This place exists on the hype alone.
It was still good to get home to see what I wasn't missing, and to get any thoughts of ever moving back out of my system.
It's so good to be 'home' in Long Beach, CA, and back on the bike again. Pittsburgh doesn't have anything on LA or Long Beach (except maybe for the Steelers, but I can still root for them from afar). I plan on being here for the duration, even if Meg Whitman gets elected governor.
I didn't expect much from Newton Falls, but neither did I expect what I saw. The area is unbelievably depressed. Abandoned factories, store fronts and houses are everywhere, and what houses aren't abandoned are unbelievably dilapidated.
It was truly depressing, to see a place I lived for 4 years, and where Edie grew up, deteriorate so much.
But I was even disappointed in Pittsburgh as well.
I had heard so much about how Pittsburgh had changed, and while there where a lot of improvements, especially in the downtown area, most of the city was either unchanged or depressed as well.
The streets are narrower than I remember, the houses smaller, the streets in worse condition than in LA, and riding a bike in this city can definitely be hazardous to your health. Plus all my favorite breakfast and deli haunts were replaced by Starbucks and Brueggers.
Even the famous Primanti Bros Restaurant that has been featured on many network TV shows was a disappointment. They say it's been around since 1933, but I don't remember it from my time living in Pittsburgh, and I think I know why. Anyone who thinks a sandwich topped with [tasteless] cabbage (they called it coleslaw) and [tasteless and soggy] french fries is any good, can be fooled into believing anything, and I'm not easily fooled. This place exists on the hype alone.
It was still good to get home to see what I wasn't missing, and to get any thoughts of ever moving back out of my system.
It's so good to be 'home' in Long Beach, CA, and back on the bike again. Pittsburgh doesn't have anything on LA or Long Beach (except maybe for the Steelers, but I can still root for them from afar). I plan on being here for the duration, even if Meg Whitman gets elected governor.
Comments
I must also admit I was back in my home town this summer(central New York) and found the same thing, very depressing! The potholes were even in the same places.