Damn

[icenine]

If Political Chat was the movie Stripes I think you would be Psycho Chas.....
I am more like the Bill Murray character (Winger) in my mind but of course I think in reality I fit the John Candy character more.



I meant Franics...lol sorry

[BlueStreak]

I've just returned from a trip to lovely Warren, Ohio. Hmmm.........

Suburbs of the Youngstown/Warren Metropolitan area seem to be shining up a bit. Actual growth and new businesses and stuff like that. I was surprised at Niles, it's actually looking like a nice place to live, once again.

The cities themselves? Not so much. The west end of Warren is shockingly run down, all sorts of boarded up businesses and abandoned, delapidated homes. Tod Avenue at night is a friggin' zoo. Hookers and drug dealers operating right out in the open. The feds swept through Warren back in April/May and arrested dozens of people in a narcotics sting. Dealers, suppliers, traffickers.......their faces filled an entire page in Sundays paper. Everything from small time marijuana & crack dealers to two women who were charged with wholesale distribution of heroin. Supposedly, the two are major league and face 20 years in prison.

The Warren ploice department is broke and down to 2 officers on patrol for each shift. Not good for a city with ~40,000 residents.

My hometown, Newton Falls, has scarcely changed for better or worse in the last 20-30 years.

Dave

[icenine]

Yeah the small cities have lost the tax base. My neighborhood was the newest in my hometown of Vermilion in the 1960s and 1970s but the streets are so bad now and it looks way run down...because of the loss of the Lorain Ford Assembly plant.

[bobabode]

Originally Posted by BlueStreak

I've just returned from a trip to lovely Warren, Ohio. Hmmm.........

Suburbs of the Youngstown/Warren Metropolitan area seem to be shining up a bit. Actual growth and new businesses and stuff like that. I was surprised at Niles, it's actually looking like a nice place to live, once again.

The cities themselves? Not so much. The west end of Warren is shockingly run down, all sorts of boarded up businesses and abandoned, delapidated homes. Tod Avenue at night is a friggin' zoo. Hookers and drug dealers operating right out in the open. The feds swept through Warren back in April/May and arrested dozens of people in a narcotics sting. Dealers, suppliers, traffickers.......their faces filled an entire page in Sundays paper. Everything from small time marijuana & crack dealers to two women who were charged with wholesale distribution of heroin. Supposedly, the two are major league and face 20 years in prison.

The Warren ploice department is broke and down to 2 officers on patrol for each shift. Not good for a city with ~40,000 residents.

My hometown, Newton Falls, has scarcely changed for better or worse in the last 20-30 years.

Dave

Welcome home, Dave. Fire up that 9300 Maggie and spin up or reel up some tunes, man. Glad to hear that Ohio hasn't completely gone to the dogs.

[BlueStreak]

Originally Posted by bobabode

Welcome home, Dave. Fire up that 9300 Maggie and spin up or reel up some tunes, man. Glad to hear that Ohio hasn't completely gone to the dogs.

Actually, on average the area looks a bit better than it has in decades. The contrast between the bad and better areas is far more pronounced now.

If that makes any sense..........................

Dave

[bobabode]

Originally Posted by BlueStreak

Actually, on average the area looks a bit better than it has in decades. The contrast between the bad and better areas is far more pronounced now.

If that makes any sense..........................

Dave

It makes perfect sense. It's that nasty "Fuck you, Jack. I've got mine" mentality that has replaced empathy in this country.

[BlueStreak]

Originally Posted by icenine

Yeah the small cities have lost the tax base. My neighborhood was the newest in my hometown of Vermilion in the 1960s and 1970s but the streets are so bad now and it looks way run down...because of the loss of the Lorain Ford Assembly plant.

There are a few new manufacturing type employers and quite a bit of service industry bussinesses popping up recently. But the traditional industries continue to decline. Delphi (Packard Electric) is just about totally gone. G.E. is gone after making flourescent lights there since 1911 and RG Steel (Former Republic mill.) is idled. So, right now, it's a mixed bag.

The future could go either way.

I'm hoping it goes up.

Dave

[hillbilly]

Originally Posted by BlueStreak

There are a few new manufacturing type employers and quite a bit of service industry bussinesses popping up recently. But the traditional industries continue to decline. Delphi (Packard Electric) is just about totally gone. G.E. is gone after making flourescent lights there since 1911 and RG Steel (Former Republic mill.) is idled. So, right now, it's a mixed bag.

The future could go either way.

I'm hoping it goes up.

Dave

Few months ago I ordered a another set of Matco impact sockets. I had the shallow and deep sets already in 3/8'' and 1/2'' drives, but wanted a set of 3/8'' drive semi-deep metrics. I was thrilled to see them roll-stamped U.S.A. as my others before had no COO on them, just said Matco. I don't know that the others were made elsewhere ( as the COO isn't on them ), but for the cost I always hoped they wasn't offshore. I feel better seeing the last order stamped USA.