Of course, "zenith" may be a matter of opinion, but I would argue that you are off base. Using objective measures of quality of life (wealth, jobs, low crime, etc.) America's heyday was probably around 1950 (+/-). If this standard is valid, then, unless you are at least 80 years old, you couldn't possibly have first-hand life experience of what was in all probability the acme of quality of civilization in the USA, at least in big cities.
I grew up in the South Bronx of the 1940s and 1950s, lived in the North Bronx and worked in Manhattan in the 1960s, and it was a wonderful place to live. I left to join the Air Force in 1970, and by that time the decline was beginning. Every time I went back on leave, my mother had to give me what we called an intel briefing on which streets were no longer safe to walk on. I haven't been back in decades and I wouldn't want to go back. The NYC I knew and loved is long gone.
Bye bye NYC. I saw you and enjoyed you during your zenith. I am sad for you now. I hope you emerge from this. My wishes from afar
Of course, "zenith" may be a matter of opinion, but I would argue that you are off base. Using objective measures of quality of life (wealth, jobs, low crime, etc.) America's heyday was probably around 1950 (+/-). If this standard is valid, then, unless you are at least 80 years old, you couldn't possibly have first-hand life experience of what was in all probability the acme of quality of civilization in the USA, at least in big cities.
I grew up in the South Bronx of the 1940s and 1950s, lived in the North Bronx and worked in Manhattan in the 1960s, and it was a wonderful place to live. I left to join the Air Force in 1970, and by that time the decline was beginning. Every time I went back on leave, my mother had to give me what we called an intel briefing on which streets were no longer safe to walk on. I haven't been back in decades and I wouldn't want to go back. The NYC I knew and loved is long gone.
Yeah Barcode... I hear ya. I'm out since 2016. Found memories and best wishes... NYC will need it...