Any Interesting Observations Out There?

g under p

I headed out to work early this morning and noticed something about the nations Capital Washington DC. Some of you may know DC is broken down into quadrants of NE, NW, SE, SW. I drove through SE (rather poor) and NW (very wealthy, embassies VP's House etc) to get to my client's very, very wealthy neighborhood.

It was quiet and no traffic so I took a close look at the city and noticed in SE a liquor store and a fast food restaurant of practically every block. So when I reached NW I really paid attention to see if I could find a liquor store or even a McD's or Wendy's etc. I couldn't find ONE and I know this route I took on Mass Ave. I knew where one liquor store was on a busy st on the outskirts of this neighborhood and the same for any fast food restaurant.

Then I thought of where my wealthy client vacations in winter in Palm Beach, Florida. No fast food on the island and one liquor store that I know of. The summers on the islands Nantucket or Martha's Vineyard, they're no fast food places in either and one or two liquor stores that I know of.

This imagery made me think why is there such a disparity in these neighborhoods?

Again race seems to play a factor in this question, you guessed it poor neighborhoods plenty of fast foods eatery and liquor stores mostly black/Hispanic, wealthy neighborhoods few liquor stores and fast food places and mostly white. In SE I don't think you'll see a Whole Foods Market in that section of DC.

Any other interesting observations out there where you live :?:

Peace

hedave

I know in Fontana, CA., where I grew up, the same is true. The neighborhood is just as you described. On each corner of the major intersection, there's one or two fast food joints - 7 total.

Byrnzie

Something I noticed in a lot of places in America were the lack of pedestrians. Everyone drives, because there aren't any pavements (sidewalks). The bars, fast food joints, e.t.c...you have to drive to get to these places. So you have to drive to get to a bar and you have to drive home from the bar - so there's a load of drunk drivers out there. Someone told me that unless you're swerving all over the road the cops don't bother you. Even in the residential areas, peoples lawns meet the road - there's no pavement separating the lawn from the road, so everyone has to drive a car. So not only does this create a lot of fat people in America, but I imagine it must effect the way people are able to interact with each other. Everyone is closed off & separated by roads.

Where I live here in China, everything happens right outside on the street. People eat at tables on the street, play card games and dice games, drink beer. Everyone seems to know everyone else, the kids play in the street, people set up stalls and sell cheap food, or clothes e.t.c, there's markets in the streets which are always busy. On some nights between 2am and 5am the fishermen come in and sell their catches and the night markets are heaving with people.

I imagine that some places in America are similar - New York, or maybe San Francisco? But a lot of places - like what I saw in Florida, are just weird. How do people live that way? Isolated from one another with nothing going on outside, and with no means to even take a walk somewhere?

Smellyman

Byrnzie wrote:

Something I noticed in a lot of places in America were the lack of pedestrians. Everyone drives, because there aren't any pavements (sidewalks). The bars, fast food joints, e.t.c...you have to drive to get to these places. So you have to drive to get to a bar and you have to drive home from the bar - so there's a load of drunk drivers out there. Someone told me that unless you're swerving all over the road the cops don't bother you. Even in the residential areas, peoples lawns meet the road - there's no pavement separating the lawn from the road, so everyone has to drive a car. So not only does this create a lot of fat people in America, but I imagine it must effect the way people are able to interact with each other. Everyone is closed off & separated by roads.

Where I live here in China, everything happens right outside on the street. People eat at tables on the street, play card games and dice games, drink beer. Everyone seems to know everyone else, the kids play in the street, people set up stalls and sell cheap food, or clothes e.t.c, there's markets in the streets which are always busy. On some nights between 2am and 5am the fishermen come in and sell their catches and the night markets are heaving with people.

I imagine that some places in America are similar - New York, or maybe San Francisco? But a lot of places - like what I saw in Florida, are just weird. How do people live that way? Isolated from one another with nothing going on outside, and with no means to even take a walk somewhere?

There are a lot of pavements (sidewalks ) in the US, depends on the neighborhood. When you live out in the suburbs, there arent many places (restaurants, bars, markets) nearby so you have to drive to the nearest strip mall. Bus service and other public transportation are usually quite some distance away too.(if there are any)

When I moved to Hong Kong there were some things I looked really forward too. One was giving up the money draining, worst purchase people make, a car. The other was having a great public trasportation system, living close to work and having everything I need within a short walk.

I really don't want a car again.

Byrnzie

Smellyman wrote:

There are a lot of pavements (sidewalks ) in the US, depends on the neighborhood. When you live out in the suburbs, there arent many places (restaurants, bars, markets) nearby so you have to drive to the nearest strip mall. Bus service and other public transportation are usually quite some distance away too.(if there are any)

When I moved to Hong Kong there were some things I looked really forward too. One was giving up the money draining, worst purchase people make, a car. The other was having a great public trasportation system, living close to work and having everything I need within a short walk.

I really don't want a car again.

Hong Kong's a cool city. I'm gonna pop back there next year for a few days. Are you on the island, or Kowloon?

Smellyman

On the island. I occasionaly get up to Shanghai(thats where you are?) as well for work. Although not as much with flight restrictions due to cost cutting.

OffHeGoes29

Here is one,

People with the least life experience have the biggest opinions on things they know nothing about.

gabers

I can tell you I was doing work at a jobsite in one of the scarier parts of Houston a few years ago and this was the merchants at each of the four corners of the nearest intersection - fast food chicken, liquor store, pawn shop, gun shop. Anytime you see these four types of businesses so close together your best option is to keep on moving. Just being truthful here. You know though, visit any "GI town", or town just outside any army base in America, and it's pretty similar. Through in a bunch of used car lots and strip clubs and you have it. I often wonder though why Popeye's Chicken is never in a nice area. I mean, nice wealthy white folks like good fried chicken too, right? I know I do!

blackredyellow

ya... it's like that everywhere.

The building I work at is like at the meeting point of the good part of town and the bad part of town. If I go left, there are a few hotels (one really nice boutique one), a bunch of nice bars, pizza shops, delis, bruegger's bagels, starbucks, nice banks, etc... If you got to the right, you get a McDonalds, the bus station, "the chicken spot", run down seedy bars (some boarded up) and check cashing/payday loan places...

cincybearcat

Byrnzie wrote:

Something I noticed in a lot of places in America were the lack of pedestrians. Everyone drives, because there aren't any pavements (sidewalks). The bars, fast food joints, e.t.c...you have to drive to get to these places. So you have to drive to get to a bar and you have to drive home from the bar - so there's a load of drunk drivers out there. Someone told me that unless you're swerving all over the road the cops don't bother you. Even in the residential areas, peoples lawns meet the road - there's no pavement separating the lawn from the road, so everyone has to drive a car. So not only does this create a lot of fat people in America, but I imagine it must effect the way people are able to interact with each other. Everyone is closed off & separated by roads.

Where I live here in China, everything happens right outside on the street. People eat at tables on the street, play card games and dice games, drink beer. Everyone seems to know everyone else, the kids play in the street, people set up stalls and sell cheap food, or clothes e.t.c, there's markets in the streets which are always busy. On some nights between 2am and 5am the fishermen come in and sell their catches and the night markets are heaving with people.

I imagine that some places in America are similar - New York, or maybe San Francisco? But a lot of places - like what I saw in Florida, are just weird. How do people live that way? Isolated from one another with nothing going on outside, and with no means to even take a walk somewhere?

I currently live in a smaller town in the 'burbs of the town. We have lots of sidewalks and tons of walking paths. It is very nice. IN fact, during the winters, they actually plow the walking paths before the streets...even though you have to drive to get anywhere.

Jeanwah

I've lived in cities most of my life and moved out to a nice area in the "sticks" a few years ago where we built our small house. Never living in the country before, I was looking forward to the "mentality" that people would be friendlier and there would be more sense of community. Boy was I wrong. There's a reason that houses are spaced 100 yards from each other I've found...people are very unfriendly, and just want to be left alone with their privacy. Threw me for a loop, for sure, especially after trying to be neighborly and having people deliberately not answer their door when I needed help on a 20 degree morning with an infant in my arms and being locked out of my house.

DriftingByTheStorm

LAURENCE FISHBURNE CONSPIRACY!
2:19 for the specific reference to this thread.

"Why is it that here is a gun shop on almost every corner in this community?"
"Why?"
"I'll tell you why. For the same reason that there is a liquor store on almost every corner in the black community. They want us to kill ourselves. You go out to Beverly Hills, you don't see that shit. Nah. But they want us to kill ourselves. Yeah, the best way you can destroy a people is you take away their ability to reproduce themselves."
- Laurence Fishburne, Boyz in Da Hood

Fo shizzle, my nizzle.

MOKELE MBEMBE

g under p wrote:

I headed out to work early this morning and noticed something about the nations Capital Washington DC. Some of you may know DC is broken down into quadrants of NE, NW, SE, SW. I drove through SE (rather poor) and NW (very wealthy, embassies VP's House etc) to get to my client's very, very wealthy neighborhood.

It was quiet and no traffic so I took a close look at the city and noticed in SE a liquor store and a fast food restaurant of practically every block. So when I reached NW I really paid attention to see if I could find a liquor store or even a McD's or Wendy's etc. I couldn't find ONE and I know this route I took on Mass Ave. I knew where one liquor store was on a busy st on the outskirts of this neighborhood and the same for any fast food restaurant.

Then I thought of where my wealthy client vacations in winter in Palm Beach, Florida. No fast food on the island and one liquor store that I know of. The summers on the islands Nantucket or Martha's Vineyard, they're no fast food places in either and one or two liquor stores that I know of.

This imagery made me think why is there such a disparity in these neighborhoods?

Again race seems to play a factor in this question, you guessed it poor neighborhoods plenty of fast foods eatery and liquor stores mostly black/Hispanic, wealthy neighborhoods few liquor stores and fast food places and mostly white. In SE I don't think you'll see a Whole Foods Market in that section of DC.

Any other interesting observations out there where you live :?:

Peace

So what you're saying is, if I'm hungry or dry in D.C., go north west? Thanks!

g under p

DriftingByTheStorm wrote:

LAURENCE FISHBURNE CONSPIRACY!
2:19 for the specific reference to this thread.

"Why is it that here is a gun shop on almost every corner in this community?"
"Why?"
"I'll tell you why. For the same reason that there is a liquor store on almost every corner in the black community. They want us to kill ourselves. You go out to Beverly Hills, you don't see that shit. Nah. But they want us to kill ourselves. Yeah, the best way you can destroy a people is you take away their ability to reproduce themselves."
- Laurence Fishburne, Boyz in Da Hood

Fo shizzle, my nizzle.

Yes, Yes I remember that scene now.....*You have to think young brother, about your future* They has been many DC residents complaints about why is it so difficult to get a Safeway or a Giant food store in parts of Southeast DC. It doesn't happen, many leave that were already there. So what ends up happening those predominately black neighborhoods is that many live a life of obesity and misery of hard liquor. Health and fitness is NOT a main priority when your choice of food are fast food restaurants and liquor stores. They completely out number 7-eleven stores where you can get a drink without having to weed through a wide variety of liquor.

BTW I tend to believe there's some truth to that scene cause they're not many others choices available.

Peace

g under p

MOKELE MBEMBE wrote:

g under p wrote:

I headed out to work early this morning and noticed something about the nations Capital Washington DC. Some of you may know DC is broken down into quadrants of NE, NW, SE, SW. I drove through SE (rather poor) and NW (very wealthy, embassies VP's House etc) to get to my client's very, very wealthy neighborhood.

It was quiet and no traffic so I took a close look at the city and noticed in SE a liquor store and a fast food restaurant of practically every block. So when I reached NW I really paid attention to see if I could find a liquor store or even a McD's or Wendy's etc. I couldn't find ONE and I know this route I took on Mass Ave. I knew where one liquor store was on a busy st on the outskirts of this neighborhood and the same for any fast food restaurant.

Then I thought of where my wealthy client vacations in winter in Palm Beach, Florida. No fast food on the island and one liquor store that I know of. The summers on the islands Nantucket or Martha's Vineyard, they're no fast food places in either and one or two liquor stores that I know of.

This imagery made me think why is there such a disparity in these neighborhoods?

Again race seems to play a factor in this question, you guessed it poor neighborhoods plenty of fast foods eatery and liquor stores mostly black/Hispanic, wealthy neighborhoods few liquor stores and fast food places and mostly white. In SE I don't think you'll see a Whole Foods Market in that section of DC.

Any other interesting observations out there where you live :?:

Peace

So what you're saying is, if I'm hungry or dry in D.C., go north west? Thanks!

You would be driving around for some time if you wanted fast food and if you were dry (liquor). Southeast would probably give you a better choice of fast food eatery.. Goodluck.

Peace

g under p

Jeanwah wrote:

I've lived in cities most of my life and moved out to a nice area in the "sticks" a few years ago where we built our small house. Never living in the country before, I was looking forward to the "mentality" that people would be friendlier and there would be more sense of community. Boy was I wrong. There's a reason that houses are spaced 100 yards from each other I've found...people are very unfriendly, and just want to be left alone with their privacy. Threw me for a loop, for sure, especially after trying to be neighborly and having people deliberately not answer their door when I needed help on a 20 degree morning with an infant in my arms and being locked out of my house.

That's unreal...the same thing happened to me when I got locked out and I was starving for something to eat. My neighbor across the street invited me in for something to eat and gave me a number to call a friend who was a locksmith for help. A pro locksmith wanted $425 to unlock my glass screen door. Well that friend couldn't come by but sent someone else who was learning to be a locksmith and did it for No COST. Come to find out we coached our daughters to the Catholic School"s 2005 championship softball team.

I sent them both some juicy oranges from Florida we have to say thank you when we get stuck like that. More of us in America need to lend a hand when we're in need.

Peace

Peace

gimmesometruth27

i saw a really sweet mercedes with an oval shaped W'04 sticker on it. i mean its been 5 years, don't you think its time for that to come off? then again it was on the painted bumber so maybe it would screw up the paint if the owner tried to remove it? i was just posting this because i have not seen one of those stickers in a long long time....