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"Back in the day" Old fart rants.


Turbroke

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Well, in my area, in my 28 years, I can remember my town being more 'mom and pop' like. It was a big suburban town, but it was a place where a lot of people here knew eachother and had stake in the town. Then, it lost the GM bearing plant and other factories and people struggled and started moving away. And many of the smaller and medium size businesses went out or were bought out by big corporations. And a lot of the farms became commerce and neighborhoods. I miss that about the old days, but I guess I wouldn't realize how nice it was, if it hadn't changed.
The small, rural town I grew up in the Catskill mountains of N.Y. was just like Mayberry when I was a kid. All of my friends were dairy farmers who's ancestors cleared the land, survived Indian raids, fought in the Revolutionary War and built prosperous little family farms some 300 years ago. These farms were still owned and operated mostly by the families who established them until the mid 80's. Developers came and cast a greedy eye on the beautiful rolling fields with breathtaking mountain views and decided McMansions on 5 acre lots and strip malls for N.Y.C. yuppies were needed in gay abundance. The resulting rise in land value and taxation, demand for yuppie niceties and fluff along with the life crushing school taxes that followed drove all of those families into bankruptcy. Within 10 years time even the most driven and successful die-hards were forced to sell their farms to the developers or loose them. Today a small handful of the old farmhouses still stand as "historic homes", but the 300 year old farm families and mountain folk are long gone and the place looks like every other yuppie shit-hole in America. You can afford to live there now if you have a six figure income. It literally drives me to tears to think about it.
 
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Mike Tonon

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The small, rural town I grew up in the Catskill mountains of N.Y. was just like Mayberry when I was a kid. All of my friends were dairy farmers who's ancestors cleared the land, survived Indian raids, fought in the Revolutionary War and built prosperous little family farms some 300 years ago. These farms were still owned and operated mostly by the families who established them until the mid 80's. Developers came and cast a greedy eye on the beautiful rolling fields with breathtaking mountain views and decided McMansions on 5 acre lots and strip malls for N.Y.C. yuppies were needed in gay abundance. The resulting rise in land value and taxation, demand for yuppie niceties and fluff along with the life crushing school taxes that followed drove all of those families into bankruptcy. Within 10 years time even the most driven and successful die-hards were forced to sell their farms to the developers or loose them. Today a small handful of the old farmhouses still stand as "historic homes", but the 300 year old farm families and mountain folk are long gone and the place looks like every other yuppie shit-hole in America. You can afford to live there now if you have a six figure income. It literally drives me to tears to think about it.
I guess that was a more extreme, faster change than my town. Up until about the 1950's, most of the land in my town was rural, probably much like where you grew up. But near the middle was a small city, which is where most of the population lived, which was probably around 35,000 people at the time, but was quant. Then, in the 60's, 70's and mid 80's, the town boomed! Not all that much population wise, it hit about 60,000 in the mid 80's, which is where it's still at today. But the population went from mostly urban, even though most of the land was rural, to a large suburban town. Streets that weren't so heavily travelled, now had traffic. Businesses went from Main st.to Route 6. That GM bearing plant built this town and it was a nice blue-collared suburban city, the type of place where people knew how to do things with their hands and weren't afraid to. I was born in 86, and this 60,000 population is not the same as the 60,000 population from the late 80's. When the plant closed and other smaller shops closed, it wrecked the local economy. But, some people took advantage, with the unions and all, so, maybe it needed to happen.
 

Mike Tonon

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I guess in my time, too, I saw a few farms and pieces of farms (something like 15-50 acres), get developed. I know a farmer here who still has about 20 acres, but his father had 100 acres. Up until the 1960's, when they had a barn fire, lost the barn where the cows were kept, so they used the old milk barn for keeping the cows and I think they needed the money, so they sold some. Then in the 70's sold some more. The guy used to hay a couple fields one town over, that got developed. It was a dairy farm, now he just raises about 15-20 head he sells for meat.

Bristol still has a slaughter house, that might be where he takes them. But, it must be tight to have a farm on only 20 acres. For being around 60,000 people, the town still has significant agriculture, but not all that much.
 

Turbroke

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Unions and folks demanding far more pay than the job was worth had a great deal more to do with outsourcing and moving factories overseas than people like to admit. America's voracious appetite for "more" is really at the heart of the problems we are facing today. Yes. It's our fault. :/ Most of New England had tons of small dairy farms in the past. I can't recall exactly when, but there was an episode in the 80's that drove milk prices far lower than anybody except huge, corporate farms in the mid-west could bear. It happened right about the time the developers started pushing for "progress". "Kick em while their down" tactics that really worked out well for them. It came at the cost of destroying a genuine American community with an amazing heritage a long, vibrant history though.
 

85_Ranger4x4

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Having a section for a free moving gas in an open room always seemed pointless and never really worked.
 

Mickey Bitsko

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Mark_88

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Having a section for a free moving gas in an open room always seemed pointless and never really worked.
what do you mean ?
I think it was a reference to "smoking sections" that were in the same space as the non-smoking section...which was rather dumb...more so in the winter than in summer when you could open windows and let all that fresh air pollution in for everyone to filter...
 

alwaysFlOoReD

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Having a section for a free moving gas in an open room always seemed pointless and never really worked.
It's not that hard to have negative pressure in a closed off room inside a restaurant/bar.
 

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It's not that hard to have negative pressure in a closed off room inside a restaurant/bar.
Apparently harder than you think. the one difference in most of the places growing up was the section of the room. I remember Pizza Hut was stupid because you had to walk through the smoking section to get in or out or to the buffett... With only a half height wall between.
 

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I agree there was stupid designs. Probably being cheap rather than doing it right.

sent while sitting on the throne
 

Mark_88

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Pink Flamingos! Every yard used to have them...now they only show up after a newborn baby arrives...especially females...babies...
 

Turbroke

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Pink Flamingos! Every yard used to have them...now they only show up after a newborn baby arrives...especially females...babies...
I remember those too. It was especially strange seeing sub-tropical birds on yards in upstate N.Y. I wish I could come up with, make and market a fad item like that. (Pet rocks, gnomes, dogs playing poker paintings on black velvet, Obama's election....)
 

Mike Tonon

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I remember those too. It was especially strange seeing sub-tropical birds on yards in upstate N.Y. I wish I could come up with, make and market a fad item like that. (Pet rocks, gnomes, dogs playing poker paintings on black velvet, Obama's election....)
Obama's election, roflmao!

I had an idea for a blue bird figure wearing sun glasses, that moves around while singing blues music. Kinda like those talking fish.
 

Mickey Bitsko

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So much for the "Back in the day" Old fart rants thread looks like it's been hijacked by a young wannabe...:thefinger:
 

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