Allentown, Johnstown, Anytown

Billy Joel wrote a 1980s song about the decline of Allentown. I haven't been in Allentown in a while, but I was in Johnstown, much of which is composed of empty steel mills. Here are a few photos from Johnstown taken from the train:

I didn't take any photos in Altoona, but it was similar.

It looks like not much has happened in the past 30 years since Joel's song came out. Roberta Lynn and I went out for breakfast before she put me on the train and everyone stared at me when I walked in the restaurant. I realized it was because I was by far the youngest person in the room.

The Amtrak trip through a bunch of small Pennsylvania towns is kind of depressing. Lots of clapboard houses that are imploding, their porches sliding off them.

I don't know what the solution is to disinvestment in vast swaths of America. Journalist Chris Hedges writes about sacrifice zones--how the impoverishment of these areas feeds the wealth of the narrowest slice of society. I do see a contrast in Britain and Europe. The European Union allocates funds to preserve and enliven communities. I've seen it over and over in Londonderry, Belfast and Hornsea (where David was last weekend). Not every town can be saved but there seems to be the will to fight back, which is harder to see in the U.S.