I grew up in the most densely populated city in the US, Union City, NJ. It was head quarters for Weider business at the time. When I was a kid of maybe 6 or 8 years old I would go in and they would give me stacks of expired magazines. Reading them I was amazed at bodybuilders. The big stars at the time were Draper, Pearl, Scott, Poole and Ortiz. Poole and Draper were from the immediate area. When I was a kid and I looked at exercise photos I didn't realize you were supposed to move the weight. I never saw anyone lift weights before. 5 sets of 8 reps was meaningless to me as a kid. I just held the weight in the static position like the picture until I was blue in the face.
Union City was a melting pot of new immigrants. On one city block were the Polish family fresh off the boat. Living next to them in the same situation were Irish, Italian, German, Cuban, Puerto Rican, and even a Jamaican family. Every father from all these different families worked their ass off in their jobs. No one was rich but no one was ever hungry. Every other house had outside fire escapes. Moms put a pillows on the their window to watch their kids and the entertainment on the streets.
There were 6 channels on the tv. One family had a color tv but it was a waste of money because just about nothing was in color. If you found a show in color the color was amazingly bad on the tv. No cable just antennas on the tv. No one had an air conditioner or a swimming pool. I mean no one. You slept with the windows open and prayed for a breeze on 90 degree summer nights. Everyone on the block went to church on Sunday. You always had friends to play with the amount of kids these immigrant families had. Go outside and it was johnny on the pony, man hunt, stick ball, football, tag, hide and seek, bottle caps and other games. It was a time when you left your house in the early morning on your bike and returned for dinner when the street lights came on. No one was concerned with molesters or kidnapping. This was a city but it seemed there were more values and morals back then.
When I grew up the city I grew up in starting changing. At first it was a flood of Cubans who had two destinations off the boat. One was Miami and the other Union city, NJ. It was amazing to see how quickly the hard working Cubans transformed the town. They would come with the clothes on their back and in a short time they owned car dealer ships, pharmacies, restaurants, and other businesses. They were the American immigrant success stories and they acquired wealth quickly. Soon they moved to the rich suburbs in another county. Then Central Americans started to flood the area. The city seemed to go down hill quickly.
The city is across the Hudson River from Manhattan and all the rich people from Manhattan are now flooding the NJ cities for the real estate now. Towns like Hoboken, Union City and Jersey City are becoming NY city west. Hoboken seems like the Village in Manhattan now. The once valueless brown stones go for millions now. Some of the richest people in the world like Cozine live in Hoboken.
What have I learned? I learned to get along with people from different cultures. When I was a man I noticed people raised in areas where everyone was from the same culture they had a lot of trouble with anyone different from them self. I learned that being lower middle class if you had a roof over your head and food you were rich. As I got older I learned that having money doesn't make you happier. I learned from my father and the neighborhood that having a work ethic will get you far. I learned to be city street smart. In the city if a person doesn't like you will know it. So many places in the US have phony manners and they smile at your face while they would like nothing better than to see you dead. I also learned that city people from where I grew up are contrary to popular belief are decent good people for the most part. When I moved to the rich suburbs is where I found the nasty mean spirited people.
