Delaware Top Blogs

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Lower depths

So I am driving around downtown Wilmington, looking for a place to drop off my broken DVD/television, and I suddenly notice a complete change of neighborhood. I have stumbled into a rundown, treeless, charmless low rent industrial area. Broken sidewalks. Boarded-up stores. Signs in Spanish. Storefront churches. Polish Catholic schools. My first thought was: I'm in New Jersey! Delaware had morphed into some lowdown industrial area, say Paterson, New Jersey on a bad day.

It's not a bad neighborhood, necessarily. There are lots of businesses that appear to be going concerns, manufacturing or wholesaling some necessary but utilitarian product--floor tiles, maybe, or plumbing supplies. It's just an area totally bereft of charm, right off--of course--Martin Luther King Blvd.

It was interesting to see the seamy side of everyday Delaware. By this I mean the underpinning of society: the place where cars get new body parts, plumbers get pipes, homeowners get flooring. This is where it all comes from. Without this area, there would be no gardens, no historic houses, no big box stores. The beautiful parts of Delaware are just the surface.

5 comments:

airforcewife said...

That's an awesome way to see it. Thank you for pointing that out.

airforcewife said...

And Happy New Year, Miriam! May your blessings abound.

Anonymous said...

Happy new year, Miriam!
2009 was pretty crappy. Good riddance and welcome "hopechange"!

Anonymous said...

Happy new year, Miriam!
2009 was pretty crappy. Good riddance and welcome "hopechange"!

miriam sawyer said...

Happy New Year, all, and thanks for the good wishes.