Not in my neighborhood, but I have been to major cities (though I avoid them when I can) going all the way back to the 60s. There were and are places you don't want to go or is really not safe to go and there always has been. Just because it is a popular meme for a city or state, does not make it representative of the state as a whole. My brother went out there on vacation a couple of years ago and enjoyed their mountains, deserts, ocean views, he just didn't seek out the homeless camps or downtown streets, so his impression was one of a beautiful state, with many natural wonders, but high gas prices and crowded highways.
Do you actually live where heroin needles are covering sidewalks? Or is it something you saw, driving looking for it or in a report on the problem? It sucks wherever it is, but is it really what I should expect if I vacation in that state? I don't live there or intend to and doubt they are maintaining their state or cities from my approval.
Things do tend to reach a tipping point. Case in point, I drove in an open military jeep toward Birmingham, Alabama in the mid-70s when it was still a steel town. I saw a pink cloud illuminated at night in the distance. When i came over the top of the ridge, I was in a fog that burned my eyes and made me cough. It is gone now. Hasn't been there for years.
The problem you describe is bad and may get worse before it gets better, but if bad enough, will reach a tipping point some time, sooner or later. I just won't be going there to live with it or clean it up. Knock yourself out.
The tipping point seems to be moving the OTHER way, where we as a society is going to get worse, before it gets goes competely bonkers.
I avoid such areas too. But such behavior is the product of fucked in the head people. People walk. They take buses. They even drive.
You have made your position clear. You don't care because you are old and you feel you have time to die in peace.
That's great for you, but makes your perspective not helpful...
AND, there is an unstated premise in any healthy society in discussion on topics, that the goal is to find the Truth so that problems can be addressed so that we can have "craft a more perfect Union" and improve " the general welfare" of society.
You don't have that. You don't care.
That that premise is breaking down, that people engaged in debate, are NOT looking for ways to "tip" things for the better,
is, imo, a big part of the problem. You are not alone in not caring about your fellow citizens or our future.
And more and more people are making policy or voting accordingly. And we are declining rapidly.
I read once, that when one group of barbarians approached Rome and the army had been defeated, that it was worth noting that the number of military aged males in the city, vastly outnumbered the barbarian forces that were about to sack the city.
BUT, by then, the moral fiber of Roman society has been utterly corrupted by various factors, so despite on PAPER them having the potential to defend themselves, in reality they were utterly helpless.
You know, like you citing California's credit score, like that means something when a society is in such decline that they have forgotten how to be civilized.