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David Puddy

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Posts posted by David Puddy

    Historic Devils Auction Listing

    in Hell

    Posted

    I like Pickers because there have been instances where the seller offered what they thought was too little and paid them more. They've also donated stuff as well.

    Pawn Stars is funny because there is always someone who gets an item appraised for like 3000 dollars retail and then they want Rick to buy it for 3000 dollars.

     

    Hate to be the one to tell you, but all these shows are scripted and staged as professional wrestling.

    The Rock doing well

    in Politics, Religion & War

    Posted

    I disagree with you in some cases and agree with you in many cases, especially my own case.

     

    My own area is a good example of this. I live in Hudson County, town of North Bergen/West New York. It's a mostly middle or lower-middle Hispanic population (which makes up half of my background as well) and is undergoing a very steady stream of gentrification.

     

    There've been at least 4 playgrounds and basketball/mini-soccer courts get torn down in the past 2 years, and replaced with dog-runs. Not that the original residents don't walk their dogs, but their kids always made full use of the playgrounds, they were always packed. Now, you only see upper-middle class white professionals in their 20s and 30s hanging out with their dogs at the dog-run.

     

    It sounds small, but it always starts small. I love my neighborhood because food and groceries are cheap and pretty much everything is cheap and within walking distance. Not to mention, the cuisine is incredible: tons of amazing Colombian and Hispanic cuisine. The next step is once the bodegas and dive bars start getting bought out and replaced with yoga studios and vegan minimarkets and some interpretive arts space opened by some art kid on his rich family's dime. These are all red flags that lead to new businesses and amenities on a neighborhood-scale which attracts a certain kind of people, like termites. And they'll suck all the roots out of the neighborhood and turn it into what their version of the neighborhood "should be".

     

    An area like mine doesn't want gentrification. The crime's pretty low, and most people here like it the way it is.

     

    An area like Newark though, I don't think you can really argue against a little cleaning up. There's really nothing much else you can do to help many of the people there. Ironbound's tight-knit enough to not really give in to a massive gentrification but I can't say the same for much of the rest of the city.

     

    Hah, this sounds very close to my neighborhood, but there's not much to romanticize about my neighborhood. It used to be known for antiques, but the only antique shops that remain are dust buckets. There's a used car lot and a barbershop or hair salon on almost every block. The latest trend is discount cell phone (pay all your bills here!) stores. Plus, tons of empty storefronts. I don't think you can make an argument for my neighborhood having any kind of character.

     

    We had a yoga studio in my building that failed within a year (it's now a hair braiding salon). There was a graphic design/t-shirt shop that opened, but is now a cell phone store. The quirky hipster art gallery space (which opened in an antique/architectural salvage place that moved out of the neighborhood) is still going, but the vintage clothing shop and artisanal chili store next to it didn't last long. (Now they're opening an artisanal breakfast shop in the chili place... but it's being opened by a chef with 2 successful restaurants, so it might have a chance. I'm still not paying $8 for red velvet pancakes or whatever they come up with.) Oh, and a micro-brewpub, which I am actually excited about. And we do have some architects and graphic designers moving into the neighborhood.

     

    In my neighborhood's case, when there are so many buildings and storefronts sitting empty, you can't complain about any tenant moving in, be it the next MetroPCS dealer or another yoga studio. I just wish there was some middle ground between blight and pretentiousness.

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