The Rusting Belt: Peoria Ill

Vacant homes. Empty commercial space. Unfilled parking lots. Open streets. Large industrial corporations migrating to other cities. Crime rates spiking and populations declining. It's the stuff you read about... so far removed from your own reality that its hard to imagine or even find a place for it in your mind. I had heard of the infamous epidemic Detroit has been facing for years. It really exists and the hollow feeling of empty towns is hard to shake off.

I just got back from Peoria Illinois and caught a glimpse of what the recession, outsourcing, advancing technology, economics, and basically what time can bring to a city. Things change.

It's a city that feels bigger than what it really is. Its like a over sized fridge that when you open the doors has just an assortment of condiments and other odds and ends. You can see marks from where it was filled to capacity not long ago. You kept asking yourself and even aloud, as you drove past big empty buildings, "what happened here?"

First, there is a greater trend in the Midwest that people are moving away. It's not growing and Peoria has seen the its population decline since 2010. The declining population, coupled with the 2008 housing crisis, has made way for a significant side affect - vacant homes and declining home values.

There are areas of Peoria that have vacancy of 25-40%. This is outrageously high and dangerous. A home in some parts of Peoria go for as little as $20K. Just scroll through Zillow - there are plenty of foreclosed homes for you to consider. The city of Peoria has been looking for new ways to deal with the vacancy problems. Even proposing to allow citizens to gain rights to abandoned lots/homes if they are adjacent to their current lot. (One item that was mentioned on several occasions was a rising crime rate -- while this is technically true if you look Year over Year, the annual report for 2016 does not paint a desperate picture comparatively to the historical records. And it's still early for 2017, but it has gotten off to a hotter start than the average.) This surely is the sickness that eliminates community after community until a city is dead.

It's not just people looking to leave - it's Fortune 500 companies are even looking to re-locate.
This move by CAT just illustrates a continuing issue that the city is already suffering from; downtown Peoria has a vacancy rate of 25%. Not only do they take up office space, they employ tens of thousands of people and are responsible for tens of millions of dollars for the local economy (see 2012 report, Table VII and XV). From donations to sheer taxable value, losing CAT is a huge blow to this already struggling city and economy.

This is a multifaceted problem with many contributing factors. But when people and businesses leave, its a recipe for disaster. It was a humbling experience to just observe. 

Spelling. It is tuff

Last night I saw this map on Twitter and my head almost exploded. I was late to the party, so a lot of what I am going to point out was already stated.

First off, if you are going to point out incorrect spelling and errors, you need to make sure your graphic is bullet proof. There are some errors on this graphic. Here are a couple: (1) Colorado and Arizona have the same word but different coloring. I guess each state counts differently. (2) Nintey? Really?





How glorious! Calling out others and then in turn getting it wrong! That is my LIFE!

What does this map say about each state? Or even our nation?! On one hand it seems very positive: Four states are curious how to spell beautiful, three are praising the Lord or clarifying a heavenly being.... while six are worried about sickness (pneumonia, diarrhea, and disease) and Arizona and Colorado cannot wait to move on - DONE WITH TODAY!

New Mexico is still wondering how to get their hands on an elusive banana.

BUT Wisconsin. C'mon man. 

Rhode Island... geez. Be more like Lousiana and learn about African animal... 

Then Connecticut and West Virginia are trying to spell made up words. 

Tip of the cap to South Dakota. You'll earn that degree!

Ahhh... its funner in my mind I guess.

Whitney: decent at singing.

Music that TRANSCENDS through the ages... and always will.

Does this song sound familiar? That's because it is. Ever seen Space Jam? Yeah. The greatest soundtrack of all time. Take the time to listen to those tunes.



I heard O.P.P., by Naughty by Nature during the super bowl, so of course I came home and YouTubed it. Which took me down the rabbit hole. I couldn't get out. Two hours later, I wished I had been born a decade earlier.






And you CANNOT beat Marky Mark. Why did he give it up??????????????????????

Grateful for Gratitude.

I like people that list the things they are thankful for. Those people are generally optimistic, friendly, and easy to be around. Here's to you people who see the glass half full of opportunity and awesomeness. I wanna make a list of things I am thankful for. To be a really good list you must have more than 7 entries. It's a rule.

1. Tom Selek. He. Is. Awesome.
2. Tenative NBA agreement.... Unlock Kobe.
3. Adventures of TinTin. (It's animated. Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson. Indiana Jones/ Pirates of the Caribbean. It will be awesome.)
4. Sweet Potatoes.
4a. Turkey with cranberries.
4b. Turkey Bowls.
5. The phrase, "boom-shock-ololaca."
6. The paradox of Tim Tebow.
7. NFL Sunday Ticket.
8. Dave's Day.
9. Andy Samberg/ Kristen Wiig.
10. Rotten Tomatoes.

Reminder...

After a summer of selling alarms, and being back in school, where there is somewhat of a routine, I am ready to devote some time to the corner. If you have felt neglected, I apologize. If you didn't really notice, then bravo for even looking now.... whenever your now is...The poor upkeep of this blog was a consequence of having no computer or internet for most of the summer months.

Here I am though, back from a journey of true proportions. I hope to share some of these adventures. Not only for my own poor memory, but for your enjoyment and pleasure.

First, a thought. Pilots.

I know of one personally. He is the father-in-law to one of my brothers. He is retired. He is a good man, I like him. The rest, I am not so sure about.

The icon, the image of a pilot, where did it come from? How did they get this built in reputation that they are patriotic? Sure, Americans invented flying. A lot of pilots are former Air Force or Military pilots, but what is it about pilots that makes them inherently more American than a normal person. Sure, they wear nice pendants on their chest, and snickerdoodles on their shoulders, even an American flag tie, but remember, sheep come in wolves clothing. I am not going to buy into them any more than I have to. They are gratified bus drivers. They don't even have to deal with people tailgating them, and shotty breaks.... Too much. I crossed the line there. Let me back up.

My main point, which I can't seem to get across, is that pilots, in my book, are still on trial. The jury is out. I am not buying into their whole facade. That's just me. Look at them next time... if you even see them... and see how they have that ugly little smirk, like they are getting away with parking in handicapped zones. Their eyes are glazed over with a sorts of indulgences and lewd behavior. I don't care how many thousands of feet we are up in the air, that man, flying the plane, is a snake.

Buy from me....

Selling door to door is hard. No question about it. People can be some real jerks (white people), rain sucks and the nice weather feels like a kick in the face. Your mind starts to wander on the doors. You start to think about friends back home or what you would be doing... The worst is the nightmares. Just when you think selling is over, you go to sleep and it creeps into your dreams. Haunting really. I thought money would be enough to endure the trials, but it isn't. The only thing that keeps me going is pride. I don't want to be a quitter.

Here are some observations I have about selling in the Tacoma area: white people are jerks. Black people are much more trusting. Hispanics are too nice to kick you out of their home and just say 'no' flat out. Asians will NEVER buy. Old people hate young people. White trash people usually rent and never pass credit.

What has really struck me is how easy it is to break into homes. It is scary. I mean, go look at your front door. Did you look at your dead blot? There is maybe a half inch of wood holding that bolt in there. Use a chain lock, I don't care, you could be 120 lbs and break down the door. You can kick down a door in 2.5. Or your windows... That's cake. We live in so much trust in this world that it makes me nervous. I look at other countries and all of their homes have bars on their windows. That's basic protocol. We aren't that far away. I knocked a neighborhood that had six murders within a five month period. This was maybe a few miles from a nice part of town. Washington isn't really known for killing and break-ins.

I may be going in a huge circle here, just think about it. Look around you. What is holding people back from going ape wild? Thin pieces of paper.

Baseball... Shoulda, coulda, woulda

First, let me clarify about my previous post, there are not a lot of rednecks in Washington. I was just watching "My Redneck Wedding" on TV and was floored... I couldn't believe that there are people who actually think that camouflaged dresses are a good idea, american cheese is good enough to be a wedding cake, and that invitations can be hand written and rubbed in dirt.
Now, to what I'm really wanting to talk about... but please, open your heart. Give me a chance to defend a sport that I never really played or followed. All I am asking is to not be prejudice.

I now understand why baseball is our pastime, why it is America's sport. I know this because I went to a big league game.

As soon as I ascended the stairs in Safeco Field, a smile overcame my entire face. I could not help it. My view was immediately exposed to the pristine field, with grass almost too pure. People surrounded me and were in constant motion. From concession stands to the bathrooms, the walls held everyone in order in what would otherwise be complete chaos. My nose was totally occupied with the food acoustics of carmel popcorn and hotdogs. The only way we could escape was finding our seats. It was then that I realized that TV and ESPN does not come close to the scene that played out before me.

Here they were, A-Rod, Jeter, Cano, Posada, Burnett, and... Ichiro, all assembled to play a simple game. The distance between home and the back wall seemed like a mile. The throws seemed to defy human capability. Surrounding the players was a sea of people, some chanting, "A-Rod sucks", others trying to get their less than interested son involved, and finally the rest who just did not understand how to clap properly. It was all beautiful.


This video does not do justice to how it was in person. It was unreal. I can now fully appreciate web gems.

I am not asking you to love baseball. Just go, once. Be willing to spend some money... on where you sit and what you eat.

Flying Front Kick to the FACE!

This video is awesome. 

Political poker

I had a conversation with a friend recently....
"-" denotes what I said. "=" denotes what he said. 

= The government is shutting down this Friday. Can you believe it?

- Really? I didn't know that.

= Oh yeah, every government job is getting shut down. I just don't see why they can't print more money!

- Because that will cause... (cuts me off).

= Inflation I know. Whatever that means. It doesn't make sense to me.

-Well, if you print more money the monetary value decreases. It becomes less valuable. The more scare the resource, in our case money, the more it is worth. Just like pearls, or gold.

= Yeah, they should just print more money.


First of all, how did I not know that the gov't was shutting down? I feel just as ignorant as him, who hasn't taken an economic class or really wants to. But then again, why wasn't this mentioned in any of my classes? Not a big deal?

Feel free to chime in Burke, on inflation. You did go toe to toe with Baker right?

My wants are worth the blood of others.

Switching gears.... and yes, I can do that on occasion.

I have noticed that ever blog post of mine incorporates the pronoun "I". Not that taking about myself is bad. I mean, this is my blog. My experiences. This blog is very informal. ANYWAYS, this thought got me thinking, if ever post is talking about myself, then what does everyday consist of? Thinking of myself. Totally self absorbed? Do all I really think about is myself? And for some reason, this got me thinking about the larger scale. Like, where did I get this kind of attitude, of selfishness. Or what perpetuates this culture of narcissism that seems to dominate my country...

America is consumed with the idea of being comfortable. We insist that our wants are more important than the greater good. This comes from capitalism, which so many patriots claim to be our saving grace. Capitalism equals progress. Progress equals American exceptionalism. Exceptionalism equals selfishness. This is the reason why so many of us take no thought of the sweat shops incorporated so that we can wear our hip clothes and nikes. No one questions how many solders were killed to provide the gallon of gasoline to top off the SUV tank. Hardly anyone considers the hardships of illegal immigrants harvesting our foods. The problem is that we are so used to  luxuries that they have become commodities. We are spoiled, but yet point to our neighbor as the culprit.

I am to blame. I hear myself rationalizing immoral things so I can be "happy." For example, I say to myself, "At least those sweat shops provide an income that would not otherwise be there," or, "Solders understand that they are going to risk their lives for my "freedoms." Luxury items do not bring happiness. I could do just fine with a pair of pants and a shirt... but will I give up my excess? Heck no. It is MINE. I deserve it. And why not? How dare anyone tell me to do something that is unnecessary.

Sorry if this all just a huge snowball of so many issues that lines are crisscrossed and nothing makes sense. I guess I am just trying to create thoughts within myself, or rather, ideas of how I can change. How I can change this behavior and ideology within myself. I feel like I have done nothing of substance to really give back to the world or this great country. I am thankful for everything I have. I hope that I have not made all of America look evil. We are the greatest country in the world because we are striving to become better, one individual at a time. That change might as well be started with me... I still don't know how, but I am sure something will come to mind.

All the places you go...

If you were going to live out the last year of your life where would it be?
I am sure most would say some place exotic or romantic.
I wouldn't.

I've been to some really unique places in my short existence. From Kauai to NYC, down to Cocoa Beach, and even further south to the jungle of Guyana. I'm not saying that I have been to a grip of places, but enough to confidently say, that up to this point in my life, I would choose the small town in the desert hills of Northern Nevada.

Fallon. People often cite that it is a boring city. Nothing to do. No entertainment. Those are just negative vibes. Here is the thing, people make the place. No matter how many attractions, a city is empty without a friend, or a smiling face welcoming you into the gates.

Ignore that your average Fallonian is a redneck. The place is a diamond in the rough. People are sincere, not afraid of who they are, in fact they are proud of themselves- G.E.D and all. Forget the unwashed hair, these people are hardworking souls, just trying to carve their own place in the world. And who is to blame? I blame the Navy. They caused the leukemia cluster! Google that shiz!

The true reason I love Fallabama, is because that is where my heart is. That is where I was raised from birth. That will always be home. That is where my family is... or was. Take for instance Dorothy. Did she really love Kansas? Not really. She was a teenage girl stuck on a farm with her unmarried uncles and grandparents. Plus she had a nasty neighbor. "BUT WHY DID SHE WANT TO GO HOME SO BAD AND LEAVE OZ!?" Easy, she realized that going home would be way better than living in a dream land. Who would like dwarfs and witches from every region? Not me. Not Dorothy. Not any sane American dammit!

Beauty is nature in unadulterated state. That is what you find in Nevada. The land has stayed relatively the same since the beginning of time. And no matter where I am in the Silver State, I know that when night comes, I can look up and see the stars.

Sam Sparro. Song: Black and Gold. By request.