One of the big problems in our city is that many of our neighborhoods grew up around factories that employed someone from almost every family in the neighborhood (lots of them were able to walk to work, which decreased the need for two cars, and meant that people didn’t have to rely on buses to get to work).
Lots of smaller businesses including coffee shops, restaurants, grocery stores and “drug stores” (pharmacy plus beauty products plus household products plus toys, etc.) grew up in the neighborhoods, too–little “business districts” that provided a great place for the neighbors to gather and be friends.
Schools were established in these neighborhoods, and churches, and many people in the neighborhoods attended these schools and churches.
Little friendly bars and nightclubs became the place for factory employees who lived in the neighborhood to get together and hear good (local) music, dance, and enjoy an evening with friends.
And parks–our city has an award-winning Park District which has been around for over a hundred years, and every neighborhood has its own park. Years ago when I was a child, during the winter, the Park District would freeze over the ball diamonds in these parks so people could ice skate, play hockey, etc.–this helped to develop the sport of figure skating in our city, and we had several National, World, and Olympic competitors and champions grow up here. (There were also a couple of indoor rinks.)
EVEN though the CEOs of many of these factories did not actually live in the neighborhood (they lived in big mansions in the “rich section” of the city!), most of them got involved with wholesome activities in the neighborhood that helped the neighborhood to thrive. Often they would provide summer “work” for teenagers, or they would build sports fields at the parks and schools, or build a swimming pool/center in the neighborhood. People LOVED these CEOs and welcomed them to their neighborhood block parties, Christmas parades, summer picnics, church festivals, restaurant openings, etc. Often these CEOs would stop for coffee every morning in one of the little restaurants and this gave them a chance to talk to their factory workers.
AND…these factories were in neighborhoods that included people of all colors and nationalities–if you wanted to work in that factory, you moved into that neighborhood.
It’s all gone now. The factories closed down during the Reagan years and many moved to states where the labor unions didn’t have as much power. The parks are still there, but they are dangerous and run-down (Park District keeps getting de-funded because our property taxes go to pay for Illinois pensions.) Almost all of the restaurants and coffee shops are gone and even the McDonalds are closed down (mainly due to shootings). We have huge big chain grocery stores far away from these neighborhoods–I only know of 2 “mom and pop” stores in our city. Most of them closed after a beloved owner or employee was shot to death in his/her own store. I suspect that the two still open are owned and operated by drug-selling gang members.
The shootings have turned our neighborhoods into twilight zones.
