Pennsylvania has the most charming little towns, maybe because they are so backwards. I am sure if a town like Wellsboro existed in New York, the state would have shown up with buckets of money to “tear out those polluting, old fashioned gas lights in favor of modern LED technology.”

Modernity has it’s benefits, but even our state has started to learn that urban renewal often leaves spaces cold and undesirable. The newest of technology might have impressive “environmental performance” but it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s green or a good place to live.

Of course the biggest joke of it all is, now after the state has spent millions bulldozing downtowns, they’re spending millions to install quaint-styled park benches and decorative old-fashioned looking light fixtures (using LEDs, of course).

There are few downtowns left in New York that haven’t seen the aggressive hand of urban renewal, followed by the state trying to undo the damage from all the buildings they bulldozed and replaced with “modern structures”.