Will our downtowns be ghost towns in another twenty years?

We've been through this in a lot of downtowns.

First they decay as more and more close up shop. Much later a wave of gentrification comes in, but that also fails as prices are too high and crime rates rise. Finally the wrecking ball, and the once-thriving downtown block becomes a park named in honor of some "diversity" figure with no connection to the community at all. Surrounded by high-rises, the park is just a rallying point for protests and some lunchtime visits by office workers. After 5 PM it is more of a ghost town than when decay had set in.
 

911 said:
I watched that same video. I was also shocked. Hershey, Pennsylvania is also beginning to thin out. I have noticed that especially on Fridays and Saturdays the town isn’t as busy as it was not so long ago. I have also noticed the many for sale signs that is a real oddity. People generally want to live in Hershey for life. We have a lot of life-long residents, or at least used to, but I have noticed some of the old-timers leaving town also.
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When we took Rt 81 through Pennsylvania recently, we were surprised at the number of huge new warehouses all along a stretch. I looked it up and some are over a million sq feet. Amazon, Target, Walmart, and others. No cars in the lots of some so they are not open yet or possibly, run by A.I. ?
Maybe because of supply chain issues they are stocking up and/or part of the new re-industrialization.
Anyway, it was quite a site replacing farmland.
 
hearlady said:
When we took Rt 81 through Pennsylvania recently, we were surprised at the number of huge new warehouses all along a stretch. I looked it up and some are over a million sq feet. Amazon, Target, Walmart, and others. No cars in the lots of some so they are not open yet or possibly, run by A.I. ?
Maybe because of supply chain issues they are stocking up and/or part of the new re-industrialization.
Anyway, it was quite a site replacing farmland.
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Getting ready for much more online shopping most likely
 

Sort of obvious the Small County seat towns Square have become dilapidated structures, maybe full of Asbestos.

I am going to guess the Towns reconstruct with Business like Dollar and General becoming the main businesses with Gas and Electric Charger stations. The Saturday night Town Square has mostly had its days. Warehouses, Sale Barns, Auctions and Lumber Companies/ hardware stores will remain nearer the County and the towns outskirts. Maybe only the Courthouse, jail and police will remain in the Center of Criminals and Coffee/donut shop. "The CCC/DS." ...Where will the Millions of 18 wheelers park is the next huge development. The Interstate off ramps simply do not have the room anymore.
 
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hollydolly said:
WE have had pianos inside Shopping malls and Train stations for decades....



Here in the UK its not the Malls which are closing down it's the High street. Something which isn't really huge in the US... but has always been the mainstay of British shopping....shops and stores boarded up in the majority of towns, and then re-opened as nail salons, betting shops.. Pounds stores, and coffee shops...
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Until recently, I was stuck inside the house. I had to stay behind to look after pets and more. I've only been discovering cities and places with daughter for the past 18 months. Sorry!

Our downtown area here in West Coast has seen many stores disappearing. Au Natural, Comet, Bed Shed and more.

Due to harsh management inside our one shopping centre, many good stores have gone. Radio Shacks, Wilko, Marks and Sparks and an excellent vinyls and CDs family store as well as as Claire's, WHSmith and Dorothy Perkins.

I simply never noticed pianos for free play in shopping centres before. I stayed away from the ones in USA, too many people yikes!

One shopping centre became a ghost building in my old town as told by friends. The two biggest areas in surface were taken by a famous grocery store which went bust at one end. The other end had the town's favourite, a Sears Canada. So, it's ghostly in there.

Hoping that explains it ☺️
 
hearlady said:
When we took Rt 81 through Pennsylvania recently, we were surprised at the number of huge new warehouses all along a stretch. I looked it up and some are over a million sq feet. Amazon, Target, Walmart, and others. No cars in the lots of some so they are not open yet or possibly, run by A.I. ?
Maybe because of supply chain issues they are stocking up and/or part of the new re-industrialization.
Anyway, it was quite a site replacing farmland.
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And they are still building warehouses along the interstates. It seems like since PA is on the east coast and in the mid-Atlantic, it is going to be used as an east coast warehouse for a lot of companies. Some of those warehouses are run as a lights out operation, if you know what that is.
 
911 said:
And they are still building warehouses along the interstates. It seems like since PA is on the east coast and in the mid-Atlantic, it is going to be used as an east coast warehouse for a lot of companies. Some of those warehouses are run as a lights out operation, if you know what that is.
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You mean like the cloud? So no physical inventory type warehouses? Interesting.
 
hollydolly said:
well fortunately there's never been a problem here with panhandlers, ... but the rents here are what is causing the vadt majority of large and traditional stores to close, couple with online purchases..Also here at our town centres and malls, we have to pay to park..in some malls and supermarket car parks it's a significant amount ..so people would rather just sit at home and order online...
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Yes! My rent went from $950 to $1126, so I went to an apartment that rented for $849. Not a choice I normally would make but affordable. And I went down from a 2 bedroom to 1 bedroom. Gas has gone down to $2.99 recently here in the panhandle of TX.
 
fancicoffee13 said:
Yes! My rent went from $950 to $1126, so I went to an apartment that rented for $849. Not a choice I normally would make but affordable. And I went down from a 2 bedroom to 1 bedroom. Gas has gone down to $2.99 recently here in the panhandle of TX.
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Here Gas ( Petrol is approx £1.60 per litre).... that's £7.30 per gallon... equivalent to $8.90 US dollar per gallon....
 
911 said:
And they are still building warehouses along the interstates. It seems like since PA is on the east coast and in the mid-Atlantic, it is going to be used as an east coast warehouse for a lot of companies. Some of those warehouses are run as a lights out operation, if you know what that is.
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hollydolly said:
Here Gas ( Petrol is approx £1.60 per litre).... that's £7.30 per gallon... equivalent to $8.90 US dollar per gallon....
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Yikes! I think Texas goes down in gas prices during the holidays.
 
What surprises me is when driving DT in the evening, there are so many cars parked. Many stores now close around 4PM. It’s too early for dinner or theatres or nightclubs. They must know something that I don’t.
 
hollydolly said:
what smaller communities are these ?..I live in a rural area and we haven't had those types of facilitates for 40 years ....and today , people living in rural villages couldn't buy enough groceries from a grocery truck...to meet their needs..

WE cannot step back 40 years in the name of progress...
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These are some small villages in the countryside. In Austria or Germany, there are these problems in some regions. You certainly can't compare that with the USA.
For some people, 30km is certainly not far, but for older people in the countryside it is. Young people are migrating from there to the city and there are fewer inhabitants. That's why these villages are also unattractive for companies. Without infrastructure and work, young people can no longer move to these villages, and not everyone works from home.

Is it really a step backwards? Times are changing and in a few years it will no longer be a problem. Then older people will also be able to drive to the nearest supermarket, doctor, bank, etc. They will simply get into a self-driving vehicle. You don't have to like these innovations, but you won't be able to stop them.
 
Some developments cannot be stopped, you have to live with them whether you like it or not. If you resist them for too long, you will be left behind. This applies to people, companies and even entire cities. In my opinion, there are also developments that will make it possible to live in small towns in the future. But a small town will not be a small city. There will be even more differences between life in the country and in the city. But for some people, life in small towns, villages and the countryside will still be more desirable. But we will have to adapt to this.
From today's perspective, there will also have to be a reversal at some point and people will increasingly flee the city. The unaffordable rents in the big cities are driving people out of the city. Young people in particular, people who have completed their education and young families would probably have a better quality of life in the countryside. These people wouldn't mind driving into the city twice a month. You won't have to do it much more often if you have other options.
 
Tomkin said:
These are some small villages in the countryside. In Austria or Germany, there are these problems in some regions. You certainly can't compare that with the USA.
For some people, 30km is certainly not far, but for older people in the countryside it is. Young people are migrating from there to the city and there are fewer inhabitants. That's why these villages are also unattractive for companies. Without infrastructure and work, young people can no longer move to these villages, and not everyone works from home.

Is it really a step backwards? Times are changing and in a few years it will no longer be a problem. Then older people will also be able to drive to the nearest supermarket, doctor, bank, etc. They will simply get into a self-driving vehicle. You don't have to like these innovations, but you won't be able to stop them.
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You're new here so you won't know that I live in a rural area myself
 

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