Reply #23: You could be talking about my hometown

[Art_from_Ark]

1960s-- almost no national franchise/chain stores except for Western Auto, A&W drive-in, car dealerships. Piggly Wiggly came and went. Most of downtown buildings were built in the 1880s-1910s, with a few more added through the '60s. Stores there offered nearly everything that was useful for daily living.

But in 1971, the first hamburger chain came into town-- Mr. Quick! Apres ce-la, la deluge. Now it seems that practically everything has to be a franchise/chain in order to survive. Downtown is all but forgotten. Mr. Quick is long gone, but the road it fronted is now cluttered up with the ugliest assortment of franchise restaurants and strip malls imaginable. What one author referred to as "the sloburbs".

Northwest Arkansas used to be America's Number 1 apple growing area--- now, it would be quite a challenge to find an orchard of any size there. They deliberately tax farmers out of existence, it seems. Can't have someone growing apples when that land could have yet another fast food restaurant/ strip mall/convenience store combination sitting on it.

And you're right, it will never be stable again.