Comment by colinyoung

I think OP was probably referring to the 'dead Main Streets' and 'neighborhood near the plant that closed is totally struggling' phenomenon. I've been around the same areas and see seriously struggling places. When I was growing up, the Main Street was a little better but still bad, but the new strip mall stores/outlets/Walmart out by the highway were doing great. Now, the stores around the Walmart aren't even alive.