There has been some recent national news stories which state that Allentown is a desirable place to live, that's nonsense. These stories are written or researched by reporters, regurgitating misconceptions from previous erroneous articles, that appear in google searches. While a puff piece written last year by The Morning Call may praise downtown as a renaissance in motion, it doesn't mention a fraught school system. Articles about all the new jobs don't mention that they were hijacked from elsewhere in the valley.
For those who doubt the existence of nonsense articles, witness the report that Pawlowski does well in a matchup with Toomey. Never mind that the mayor hasn't been a candidate for eight months, or is implicated so far in three guilty pleas.
Pity the poor SOB moving to Allentown on the merits of such nonsense articles.
In a piece today, a study reveals that despite a $Billion dollar of revitalization, center city Allentown remains mired in poverty. It doesn't take a study to make that determination. Simply drive down Turner Street to 4th, turn north one block to Chew Street, and drive back west to 17th Street. Repeat the process on adjoining streets, and soon anybody not blind will realize that there is no revitalization. What we have is one man, with a portfolio of new taxpayer financed buildings between 5th and 9th streets. While a few more men will add a few more buildings, and the phenomena will be repeated in the 6th Ward by the river, revitalization only exists in the vocabulary of the newspaper, and a few optimists, most of whom have something to gain for their enthusiasm.
The reality is that Allentown is just another city in the rust belt, but with a bunch of new buildings. For millennials, who desire an urban experience, the unprecedented state subsidy is creating more dining and buzz than any real marketplace would have generated.
The optimists, needless to say, hate posts such as this. Although, they will dismiss it as naysaying, they needn't worry. Neither optimism or pessimism changes the facts. With enough money you can create an illusion that can last for a couple of decades, take Baltimore's Inner Harbor for example. Eventually, reality catches up with such staged productions, but, by then our professional optimists can retire to Hilton Head.
photocredit:Harry Fisher/The Morning Call
I predict we have seen the death of the established media, its perversion of the facts are everywhere and has now descended into a liars competition or show, I am now retired and a political junkie, I am able to see live speeches and other things as they happen on TV. and then watch the misrepresentation and twisting of facts. Just as you who live in Allentown see the truth, the media has become the architect of reality. The problem they are now having is they can no longer control peoples access to the facts and once proven to be without credibility, I doubt they can ever recover.
ReplyDeleteProfessional liars is more like it.
ReplyDeleteIn 2005 Allentown's poverty rate was 23 percent.
ReplyDeleteIn 2009 despite the downturn, Allentown's poverty rate remains steady at 23 percent.
In 2014 it was 27 percent.
If there was a rising tide in Allentown it missed a lot of harbors.
Having been born and raised in A-Town, and educated at Penn State, as was my wife, who was from around Lake Erie - we wanted to stay in PA - but neither of us could find a job - that was back in 1972.
ReplyDeleteWe lived in several other states, but would occasionally return to A-Town. I investigated job prospects, which were few or nil. As well as the accelerated decay of center city A-Town. It doesn't look any different today.
I can tell you from experience, there are many, many, plain vanilla places in the US, that are much better than A-Town. Anyone who 'has been around the block' would not consider moving to Allentown.
The NIZ is nothing more than an entitlement program. It will fail just as all the other liberal entitlement programs have failed, since the beginning of the 'Great Society.'
I am deadly serious when I say: "Take a look at these Chinese Ghost Cities." There is a lot of similarity: These cites were built with government money, without regard to all the other components you need for an economy.
Do take a moment to see these cities.
https://www.google.com/search?q=chinese+ghost+cities&rlz=1C1CAFB_enUS624US625&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjfh93GrcrLAhXss4MKHSOWCKkQsAQIHA&biw=1419&bih=866
I wish I was wealthy enough to print your posts as paid ads in the local media. While it would provide pain to fill their coffers it would be great to get your point of view (which is shared by many) into the conversation or our community. Short of that may I respectfully suggest posting your commentary into a Facebook account which then can be "shared" with thousands of our cumulative 'friends.'
ReplyDeleteThere's a reason people want to vote for Trump. Our voice has been suppressed, completely suppressed by the MSM and most of the local newspapers.
ReplyDeleteThere are over 50,000 Somalis in Minneapolis. It's not racism, or hatred, but one cannot even ask a question. Such as why doesn't some of this money get spent on American Citizens - that need it. There are many African American people who could use a new roof, furnace, etc.
Any mention of a problem is completely suppressed. The MCall appears to be similar.
I urge all my readers who comment, or may wish to in the future, to get a google account name. It need not be your actual name, but can be a pseudonym. At some point in the future I will limit comments to only those on an approved list.
ReplyDeleteRay Nemeth Sr said...
ReplyDeleteI predict we have seen the death of the established media, its perversion of the facts are everywhere and has now descended into a liars competition or show, I am now retired and a political junkie, I am able to see live speeches and other things as they happen on TV. and then watch the misrepresentation and twisting of facts. Just as you who live in Allentown see the truth, the media has become the architect of reality. The problem they are now having is they can no longer control peoples access to the facts and once proven to be without credibility, I doubt they can ever recover.
March 18, 2016 at 7:24 AM
Dear Mr. Nemeth,
For many years, his writer once a center city resident attended endless Allentown council meetings on a regular basis. Would rush to the Morning Call the next morning to see how the local city reporter covered the comments and folks' concerns. Always stunned to see never a mention of the "real" meeting. Fluff. According to Mr. Molovinsky, this will be my last post, so bye.
As requested, Google Account "done"....PJFiske
ReplyDeleteMM,
ReplyDeleteIn a recent depiction we stod together in this fight against a fictisious fantasy of fakery and calculated miscalculations¿!)$ Allthough in some parts of the city espeicially on a arena agenda night the fictisious circus commerce looks to be prospering¿!)$
One, as all say is just to cover a dept service of white boxes built¿!)$ I had a personal experiance with this particular part, someone that lived far from allentown I had seen at the hamilton on a event night¿!)$ When the question was poised to this idividual claims were made that it was not me, than our departure became a permenant fact as to there ommision¿!)$
Than there is th one were commerce looks to be a real and viable positive, the fact that there are many people with feet on the street really dosn't a true economy make¿!)$ Many are there just to be part of,allmost like gang mentallity¿!)$ This is more evidence than I need that there is a fictisious fact fact that there is positive commerce being done there¿!)$
Like sands through the hour glass the circus must play out so are the days of our lives in the fictisiuos facts faked and fuged by designing people claiming to be economists¿!)$
The reel is a hard fish to land¿!)$
redd for registered Republican
patent pending
anon@7:57, yes, the morning call never reports on courtesy of the floor comments, no matter how pertinent.
ReplyDeletePaul@7:59, i will be at some point restricting comments to a pre-approved list, which doesn't lend itself to the "anonymous" top heading. google/blogger user names need not be an actual name, but identify a particular person. it will also prevent a troll/cyberstalker from using another person's name or pseudonym.
anon 7:58, According to Mr. Molovinsky, this will be my last post, so bye. if you're referring to my request for commenters to get a google/blogger/open id handle, i will not be implementing that change immediately. it is my hope that regular contributors, such as monkey momma, fred windish, scott armstrong, banker and others get such a registered handle, to help me elevate the dialogue here, and also to protect the integrity of their input. although such a restriction doesn't encourage comments, calories or comments are not something that i count.
ReplyDeleteGood decision MM. In a few hobby forums I read we must use some 'handle' in our comments. Even though about half use pseudonyms it is helpful to readers to 'digest' a comment based on that commentators 'history'. It is much more enlightening.
ReplyDelete