I think a lot of people are frogs in a pot with regards to their city deteriorating, while some definitely exaggerate because we also do just get cranky as we g

I think a lot of people are frogs in a pot with regards to their city deteriorating, while some definitely exaggerate because we also do just get cranky as we get old. But the 1950s standard of dirty and the 2020s standard of dirty are very different. Disposable heroin needles and piles of plastic garbage simply weren’t a thing, although SF has always had a reputation as rife with opiate usage. I lived in Portland. I loved the city, but over the span of a couple years, it was obvious seeing the progression of the grime. I lived a bit outside the city where it was nothing but green gardens and blackberry bushes free for the picking, and pockets of downtown had homeless camps. It quickly ramped up to the bushes being full of filthy plastic garbage, crusty addicts planting themselves outside stores all over downtown, lines of tents, and more. Dirty cities 70 years ago smelled of piss and had smashed glass. Dirty cities today have all that and more. Our standards shifted.