The Durable Myth of Urban Hellholes

[odanny]

Republicans continue to push the myth of urban hellholes, but is it really worse than flyover country? Republicans always appeal to the Red Staters with promises of more jobs, more jobs, and more jobs, and consistently fail to deliver, proving they really are not trying.


Over the weekend J.D. Vance, the author of “Hillbilly Elegy” and now a Trumpist candidate for U.S. senator in Ohio, tweeted that he was planning a visit to New York, which he has heard is “disgusting and violent.” Vance, a graduate of Yale Law School who currently works as a venture capitalist, surely knows better. But he presumably hopes that Republican voters don’t.

But why do so many Americans still believe that our major cities are hellholes of crime and depravity? Why do so many politicians still believe that they can run on the supposed contrast between urban evil and small-town virtue when many social indicators look worse in the heartland than in the big coastal metropolitan areas?

To be sure, there was a national surge in homicides — although not in overall crime — during the pandemic, for reasons that remain unclear. But New York is still safer than it was a decade ago, vastly safer than it was 30 years ago, and, for what it’s worth, considerably safer than, say, Columbus, Ohio.

And if you wanted to single out some region as being in crisis, New York is hardly the place you’d choose. Our biggest social problems are in the “eastern heartland,” an arc running from Louisiana to Michigan. This is where an alarmingly large number of men in their prime working years don’t have jobs and where “deaths of despair” — that is, deaths from alcohol, suicide and drug overdoses — are running high.

Opinion | The Durable Myth of Urban Hellholes (Published 2021)

Why are politicians still contrasting rural virtue with urban vice?

www.nytimes.com

 

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

This is where an alarmingly large number of men in their prime working years don’t have jobs and where “deaths of despair” — that is, deaths from alcohol, suicide and drug overdoses — are running high.

So in rural areas they are killing themselves as opposed to urban areas where they are engaging in more criminal violence and killing others.

Pick your poison, I guess.

 

[Moonglow]

This is where an alarmingly large number of men in their prime working years don’t have jobs and where “deaths of despair” — that is, deaths from alcohol, suicide and drug overdoses — are running high.

So in rural areas they are killing themselves as opposed to urban areas where they are engaging in more criminal violence and killing others.

Pick your poison, I guess.

The animals do most of the killing in the rural areas...or humans killing animals....

 

[odanny]

This is where an alarmingly large number of men in their prime working years don’t have jobs and where “deaths of despair” — that is, deaths from alcohol, suicide and drug overdoses — are running high.

So in rural areas they are killing themselves as opposed to urban areas where they are engaging in more criminal violence and killing others.

Pick your poison, I guess.

In some urban areas, especially in Chicago, most of the murders are committed in certain areas, in Chicago on the West Side and South Side of town. Localized gang shootings make an entire city sound unsafe, but it's not true. I go there all the time, and see thousands of tourists from all around the world on every visit.

 

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

This is where an alarmingly large number of men in their prime working years don’t have jobs and where “deaths of despair” — that is, deaths from alcohol, suicide and drug overdoses — are running high.

So in rural areas they are killing themselves as opposed to urban areas where they are engaging in more criminal violence and killing others.

Pick your poison, I guess.

In some urban areas, especially in Chicago, most of the murders are committed in certain areas, in Chicago on the West Side and South Side of town. Localized gang shootings make an entire city sound unsafe, but it's not true. I go there all the time, and see thousands of tourists from all around the world on every visit.

It eventually spills over. Take a look at Buckhead in Atlanta

 

[Moonglow]

Around here meth, alcohol and sex are the leading factors of murder.

 

[Billy_Kinetta]

Republicans continue to push the myth of urban hellholes, but is it really worse than flyover country? Republicans always appeal to the Red Staters with promises of more jobs, more jobs, and more jobs, and consistently fail to deliver, proving they really are not trying.


Over the weekend J.D. Vance, the author of “Hillbilly Elegy” and now a Trumpist candidate for U.S. senator in Ohio, tweeted that he was planning a visit to New York, which he has heard is “disgusting and violent.” Vance, a graduate of Yale Law School who currently works as a venture capitalist, surely knows better. But he presumably hopes that Republican voters don’t.

But why do so many Americans still believe that our major cities are hellholes of crime and depravity? Why do so many politicians still believe that they can run on the supposed contrast between urban evil and small-town virtue when many social indicators look worse in the heartland than in the big coastal metropolitan areas?

To be sure, there was a national surge in homicides — although not in overall crime — during the pandemic, for reasons that remain unclear. But New York is still safer than it was a decade ago, vastly safer than it was 30 years ago, and, for what it’s worth, considerably safer than, say, Columbus, Ohio.

And if you wanted to single out some region as being in crisis, New York is hardly the place you’d choose. Our biggest social problems are in the “eastern heartland,” an arc running from Louisiana to Michigan. This is where an alarmingly large number of men in their prime working years don’t have jobs and where “deaths of despair” — that is, deaths from alcohol, suicide and drug overdoses — are running high.

Opinion | The Durable Myth of Urban Hellholes (Published 2021)

Why are politicians still contrasting rural virtue with urban vice?

www.nytimes.com

NYT?

Worst inner cities in America -
worst inner cities in america - Yahoo Image Search Results

Worst small towns in America -
worst small towns in america - Yahoo Image Search Results

 

[odanny]

You're right about Buckhead, Atlantans are now selling and moving out. There are isolated instances of North side murders in Chicago from people who don't live there, but the spillover effect is what worries many people. My sister lives right next to the Inner Harbor Baltimore where row houses are expensive enough that gangbangers cant afford to be there. Her neighborhood is safe, but it's also all white in a city that is unsafe once you leave that neighborhood.

 

[Mikeoxenormous]

Republicans continue to push the myth of urban hellholes, but is it really worse than flyover country? Republicans always appeal to the Red Staters with promises of more jobs, more jobs, and more jobs, and consistently fail to deliver, proving they really are not trying.


Over the weekend J.D. Vance, the author of “Hillbilly Elegy” and now a Trumpist candidate for U.S. senator in Ohio, tweeted that he was planning a visit to New York, which he has heard is “disgusting and violent.” Vance, a graduate of Yale Law School who currently works as a venture capitalist, surely knows better. But he presumably hopes that Republican voters don’t.

But why do so many Americans still believe that our major cities are hellholes of crime and depravity? Why do so many politicians still believe that they can run on the supposed contrast between urban evil and small-town virtue when many social indicators look worse in the heartland than in the big coastal metropolitan areas?

To be sure, there was a national surge in homicides — although not in overall crime — during the pandemic, for reasons that remain unclear. But New York is still safer than it was a decade ago, vastly safer than it was 30 years ago, and, for what it’s worth, considerably safer than, say, Columbus, Ohio.

And if you wanted to single out some region as being in crisis, New York is hardly the place you’d choose. Our biggest social problems are in the “eastern heartland,” an arc running from Louisiana to Michigan. This is where an alarmingly large number of men in their prime working years don’t have jobs and where “deaths of despair” — that is, deaths from alcohol, suicide and drug overdoses — are running high.

Opinion | The Durable Myth of Urban Hellholes (Published 2021)

Why are politicians still contrasting rural virtue with urban vice?

www.nytimes.com

Uhmmmm....I just dont see all the smoke coming from flyover country...

 

[TheParser]

This is a very painful and hurtful topic.

But dang it!

We all know that an unusually large number of certain young gentlemen are extremely violent and have no conscience about the lives of perfectly innocent people whom they destroy.

The politicians and the media do their best to paper over these facts, but the American people know the brutal truth, even if they wisely keep their mouths shut in public.

It is truly the Achilles' heel of this nation.

 

[Oddball]

Republicans continue to push the myth of urban hellholes, but is it really worse than flyover country? Republicans always appeal to the Red Staters with promises of more jobs, more jobs, and more jobs, and consistently fail to deliver, proving they really are not trying.


Over the weekend J.D. Vance, the author of “Hillbilly Elegy” and now a Trumpist candidate for U.S. senator in Ohio, tweeted that he was planning a visit to New York, which he has heard is “disgusting and violent.” Vance, a graduate of Yale Law School who currently works as a venture capitalist, surely knows better. But he presumably hopes that Republican voters don’t.

But why do so many Americans still believe that our major cities are hellholes of crime and depravity? Why do so many politicians still believe that they can run on the supposed contrast between urban evil and small-town virtue when many social indicators look worse in the heartland than in the big coastal metropolitan areas?

To be sure, there was a national surge in homicides — although not in overall crime — during the pandemic, for reasons that remain unclear. But New York is still safer than it was a decade ago, vastly safer than it was 30 years ago, and, for what it’s worth, considerably safer than, say, Columbus, Ohio.

And if you wanted to single out some region as being in crisis, New York is hardly the place you’d choose. Our biggest social problems are in the “eastern heartland,” an arc running from Louisiana to Michigan. This is where an alarmingly large number of men in their prime working years don’t have jobs and where “deaths of despair” — that is, deaths from alcohol, suicide and drug overdoses — are running high.

Opinion | The Durable Myth of Urban Hellholes (Published 2021)

Why are politicians still contrasting rural virtue with urban vice?

www.nytimes.com

The appeal to me of rural areas isn't more work, it's vastly fewer smug, know-it-all, liberoidal asswipes like you.

 

[Likkmee]

This is where an alarmingly large number of men in their prime working years don’t have jobs and where “deaths of despair” — that is, deaths from alcohol, suicide and drug overdoses — are running high.

So in rural areas they are killing themselves as opposed to urban areas where they are engaging in more criminal violence and killing others.

Pick your poison, I guess.

 

[Oddball]

This is where an alarmingly large number of men in their prime working years don’t have jobs and where “deaths of despair” — that is, deaths from alcohol, suicide and drug overdoses — are running high.

So in rural areas they are killing themselves as opposed to urban areas where they are engaging in more criminal violence and killing others.

Pick your poison, I guess.

 

[Likkmee]

 

[Likkmee]

 

[irosie91]

Republicans continue to push the myth of urban hellholes, but is it really worse than flyover country? Republicans always appeal to the Red Staters with promises of more jobs, more jobs, and more jobs, and consistently fail to deliver, proving they really are not trying.


Over the weekend J.D. Vance, the author of “Hillbilly Elegy” and now a Trumpist candidate for U.S. senator in Ohio, tweeted that he was planning a visit to New York, which he has heard is “disgusting and violent.” Vance, a graduate of Yale Law School who currently works as a venture capitalist, surely knows better. But he presumably hopes that Republican voters don’t.

But why do so many Americans still believe that our major cities are hellholes of crime and depravity? Why do so many politicians still believe that they can run on the supposed contrast between urban evil and small-town virtue when many social indicators look worse in the heartland than in the big coastal metropolitan areas?

To be sure, there was a national surge in homicides — although not in overall crime — during the pandemic, for reasons that remain unclear. But New York is still safer than it was a decade ago, vastly safer than it was 30 years ago, and, for what it’s worth, considerably safer than, say, Columbus, Ohio.

And if you wanted to single out some region as being in crisis, New York is hardly the place you’d choose. Our biggest social problems are in the “eastern heartland,” an arc running from Louisiana to Michigan. This is where an alarmingly large number of men in their prime working years don’t have jobs and where “deaths of despair” — that is, deaths from alcohol, suicide and drug overdoses — are running high.

Opinion | The Durable Myth of Urban Hellholes (Published 2021)

Why are politicians still contrasting rural virtue with urban vice?

www.nytimes.com

I did not grow up IN New York----but nearby and easily visited relatives in the city at the age of seven--under the care of my 11 year old brother via public transport----in the 50s. A mother could be arrested today for sending kids into that sort of situation. I grew up and since GROWING up spent decades working in NYC inner city hospitals-----some places in NYC WERE safe---but other places have been HELL HOLES since the 60s---and much worse since the 70s and today----even todayI (not timid about walking about in "slums") would not take a walk thru.. the "hood" around the corner. Acute lead poisoning to the brain was a weekly diagnosis even back in the 1980s-----and COUNTING in just one ER

 

[Likkmee]

Yallunz aint doin it right

 

[marvin martian]

You're right about Buckhead, Atlantans are now selling and moving out. There are isolated instances of North side murders in Chicago from people who don't live there, but the spillover effect is what worries many people. My sister lives right next to the Inner Harbor Baltimore where row houses are expensive enough that gangbangers cant afford to be there. Her neighborhood is safe, but it's also all white in a city that is unsafe once you leave that neighborhood.

It all makes sense once one realizes you people want it that way.

 

[odanny]

Republicans continue to push the myth of urban hellholes, but is it really worse than flyover country? Republicans always appeal to the Red Staters with promises of more jobs, more jobs, and more jobs, and consistently fail to deliver, proving they really are not trying.


Over the weekend J.D. Vance, the author of “Hillbilly Elegy” and now a Trumpist candidate for U.S. senator in Ohio, tweeted that he was planning a visit to New York, which he has heard is “disgusting and violent.” Vance, a graduate of Yale Law School who currently works as a venture capitalist, surely knows better. But he presumably hopes that Republican voters don’t.

But why do so many Americans still believe that our major cities are hellholes of crime and depravity? Why do so many politicians still believe that they can run on the supposed contrast between urban evil and small-town virtue when many social indicators look worse in the heartland than in the big coastal metropolitan areas?

To be sure, there was a national surge in homicides — although not in overall crime — during the pandemic, for reasons that remain unclear. But New York is still safer than it was a decade ago, vastly safer than it was 30 years ago, and, for what it’s worth, considerably safer than, say, Columbus, Ohio.

And if you wanted to single out some region as being in crisis, New York is hardly the place you’d choose. Our biggest social problems are in the “eastern heartland,” an arc running from Louisiana to Michigan. This is where an alarmingly large number of men in their prime working years don’t have jobs and where “deaths of despair” — that is, deaths from alcohol, suicide and drug overdoses — are running high.

Opinion | The Durable Myth of Urban Hellholes (Published 2021)

Why are politicians still contrasting rural virtue with urban vice?

www.nytimes.com

The appeal to me of rural areas isn't more work, it's vastly fewer smug, know-it-all, liberoidal asswipes like you.

Good, do me a favor and stay there. Thanks.

 

[Ben Thomson]

Republicans continue to push the myth of urban hellholes, but is it really worse than flyover country? Republicans always appeal to the Red Staters with promises of more jobs, more jobs, and more jobs, and consistently fail to deliver, proving they really are not trying.


Over the weekend J.D. Vance, the author of “Hillbilly Elegy” and now a Trumpist candidate for U.S. senator in Ohio, tweeted that he was planning a visit to New York, which he has heard is “disgusting and violent.” Vance, a graduate of Yale Law School who currently works as a venture capitalist, surely knows better. But he presumably hopes that Republican voters don’t.

But why do so many Americans still believe that our major cities are hellholes of crime and depravity? Why do so many politicians still believe that they can run on the supposed contrast between urban evil and small-town virtue when many social indicators look worse in the heartland than in the big coastal metropolitan areas?

To be sure, there was a national surge in homicides — although not in overall crime — during the pandemic, for reasons that remain unclear. But New York is still safer than it was a decade ago, vastly safer than it was 30 years ago, and, for what it’s worth, considerably safer than, say, Columbus, Ohio.

And if you wanted to single out some region as being in crisis, New York is hardly the place you’d choose. Our biggest social problems are in the “eastern heartland,” an arc running from Louisiana to Michigan. This is where an alarmingly large number of men in their prime working years don’t have jobs and where “deaths of despair” — that is, deaths from alcohol, suicide and drug overdoses — are running high.

Opinion | The Durable Myth of Urban Hellholes (Published 2021)

Why are politicians still contrasting rural virtue with urban vice?

www.nytimes.com

Wingers also like to deny there was ever any systematic racism yet these so-called 'urban hell holes' were the result of red lining by banks and other financial institutions. Neighborhoods that were not red lined flourished with upscale homes and schools and shopping venues while those that were red lined decayed. Remember when minorities were practically banned from moving into white neighborhoods...wingers conveniently don't.