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This ain't 1958, enough with the nostalgia, times change.

In 1958 the economies of Europe and Asia were still recovering from WWII, American industry had little competition and our economy boomed. We built the national highway system, put men in space, industry flourished, and the suburbs boomed. This was primarily because of the bonus of not only being on the winning side of WWII, but also not having our factories bombed to rubble. This advantage was all but gone by 1970. As Europe, Japan, and China got their factories up to the standards of the time, our economy faced competition for the first time in 20+ years. This had consequences.

Since then, there has been a reluctance to invest in infrastructure. The highways, bridges, and public buildings of much of America are in poor condition due to the changing economics of America and the desire of politicians to kick problems down the road and let someone else deal with it in the future. Well, this is 1970's future.

Despite the trope of people leaving Warwick "in droves," the numbers just don't support it. Check the census data, the city's population has been between 82,000 and 87,000 since 1970. What has happened is that people moved here in the 50's and 60's and never left. Their kids grew up and moved out and when the baby boomers stayed, there was precious little housing for young families with kids to move into.

The number of people under 18 living in Warwick has plummeted in recent decades. This is why we have empty schools, there are simply fewer students.

If people want to have better sports facilities and complexes all we have to do is pay for them. You know, with TAXES. The problem is, I don't recall any citizen ever saying "raise my takes," or any politicial with any sense of self-preservation stating that they planned to raise taxes.

WE all want to believe that "things were better when I was younger," but this is almost never accurate.