I grew up right around those years, so this made me smile. You had crime, and the city was a lot dirtier back then. But you also still had a lot of blue and grey collar workers around the city proper. That element has faded away in the last few decades. Also race relations, while troubled, were a lot realer back then. Also the nightlife, etc.... was more fun.
Also, since it might get asked, the guy in the red SS shirt isn't a Nazi, the building they pass then is the 3rd street Hells Angel club house, and that was one of the souvenir shirts you could buy. It's funny, that whole area now is so gentrified, that one of the big worries they have now is keeping hipsters and soccer moms off the clubhouse benches.