The Milkman Of Allentown

Years ago, on the quiet, clean streets of Allentown,  the mornings belonged to the milkman, until people got up for their jobs. The streets are still quiet in the mornings, but they're not clean, and very few people get up for a job. Over the decades, center city became entrenched with the professional low income, migrating from the bigger cities. The Historic District, and other endeavors, served only as a finger in the dike for the middle class. As welfare rules tightened, the under-motivated became dependent on Social Security Disability, a life long de-motivator. On Monday, as the Budweiser Clydesdales walked down the street at noon, half the city's population was still asleep. As Allentown builds a shiny new arena, hoping for a revival, those very people they hope to attract have moved on and away from that urban malady, not inclined to return.

above retitled and reprinted from September of 2013

UPDATE AUGUST 17, 2021: Monday mornings are recon day for me in center city.  As usual, I found Hamilton Street deserted, with other streets strewn with litter.  Ninth and Chew might be the litter epicenter, but I have no empirical data to support that observation. I do know that years ago even a parade wouldn't have generated  that much trash.  Talking of data,  the Morning Call reports that while the Hispanic population of Allentown grew to 54%,  the whites decreased by another 25%. The article goes on to say that more translators are needed, because although most Spanish speakers know English, when they get stressed, they revert to Spanish.  When I get stressed, I revert to blogging.