When your town is in the dumps ... paint it

I've actually seen that sorta thing here in Winnipeg and we haven't had a G8 meeting here. Similar to that butcher shop, a closed down shop had it's door and windows painted over to make it look busy. I wondered why that is. Perhaps it helps sell the property when potential buyers see the place as it might when open. Perhaps it deters vandals? Perhaps it's just for the property value of the neighbors (sorta like how a vacant house next to yours is likely to drop the price of your house, however, if you decide to put the effort to mow the grass of the vacant house it might actually restore some value back to yours). And yes, a little bit of paint can make a huge psychological difference.

North Korea is known for staging things like that to impress foreigners. I would suspect that going the extra mile and actually filling the stores with actual stuff would be more convincing. Most people aren't fooled by photos of stuff like that, I'd hope it's kinda obvious.
 
"If you build it.....They will come"


sounds like a really cool thing to do.

If the place where you live looks like a dump - that affects people physiologically.
 
cecilia said:
"If you build it.....They will come"


sounds like a really cool thing to do.

If the place where you live looks like a dump - that affects people physiologically.
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Then I suppose we should hope that all towns get visits from the ruling classes so they can all get painted up so as not to offend ruling class sensibilities.

Personally I think that the G8 attendees should get an honest look at the situation so they know what it is they are supposed to be solving. Trying to make things look OK while they drive past in their armored limos so they can't see what a mess they made of the economy smacks of the peasants trying to protect the local lord from his own incompetence.
 
FluffyMcDeath said:
Then I suppose we should hope that all towns get visits from the ruling classes so they can all get painted up so as not to offend ruling class sensibilities.

Personally I think that the G8 attendees should get an honest look at the situation so they know what it is they are supposed to be solving. Trying to make things look OK while they drive past in their armored limos so they can't see what a mess they made of the economy smacks of the peasants trying to protect the local lord from his own incompetence.
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I have to agree. If we rip on North Korea for such nonsense, anyone is fair game to rip on.

That said, the G8 attendees can go {bleep} themselves.
 
Nothing new. There's a decades-old Billy Connolly joke that the Queen thinks the entire world smells of paint because there's always a guy ten feet ahead of her, slapping emulsion on every surface.
 
FluffyMcDeath said:
Then I suppose we should hope that all towns get visits from the ruling classes so they can all get painted up so as not to offend ruling class sensibilities.
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I suppose you missed my post.

Personally I think that the G8 attendees should get an honest look at the situation so they know what it is they are supposed to be solving. Trying to make things look OK while they drive past in their armored limos so they can't see what a mess they made of the economy smacks of the peasants trying to protect the local lord from his own incompetence.
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I think you have an amazingly pessimistic view of everything. I'd imagine that there are closed down shops in Berlin, Paris, London, Washington, etc and I'm sure world leaders have seen them. I see very little incentive for anyone to protect the ruling class sensibilities from some poverty in THIS town. The fact is that when the G8 roles into town so does the media and what town wants the media to focus on how crap the town is. For them it's an opportunity to attract interest and with it potentially some income. No reason the same wouldn't have happened if there was any event in town that had the potential to attract future revenue.
 
FluffyMcDeath said:
Then I suppose we should hope that all towns get visits from the ruling classes so they can all get painted up so as not to offend ruling class sensibilities.

Personally I think that the G8 attendees should get an honest look at the situation so they know what it is they are supposed to be solving. Trying to make things look OK while they drive past in their armored limos so they can't see what a mess they made of the economy smacks of the peasants trying to protect the local lord from his own incompetence.
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actually I wasn't thinking about the so called 'ruling classes' at all.
i don't give a rats ass what they think about Anything.

I was referring to the REAL people that actually live in these cities. It's THEM who should feel good about their home. I've seen what happens in my own city where a formerly run down park or neighborhood is spruced up. People start coming out to enjoy the new look.
If you wish to start a new business wouldn't you rather that the surrounding "empty" shops at least look nice rather than empty hovels?

I know I would. It increases the chance that people come out and possibly drop into MY shop.


You worry too much about the scum rich. They don't count
 
I can understand the twitters of "well, isn't that nice - makes the place look smart - maybe it'll help" etc, but I cannot relinquish my cynicism just because it's not a bad idea. It put some painter's to work, certainly, and may improve the mood, and even put a bit of money into the local economy but ...

"I can accept some people have reservations about it but it was a source of funding that was open for a very narrow window and I think that those involved have done a very good job in the short period of time in terms of the work that has been carried out."
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It isn't part of a program to fix up the country or fix the fundamental problems. It's money that magically appeared to make the place look nice for the mucky-mucks. Should people take advantage of that money? Of course, but if it can be made to appear out of thin air so the G8 attendees don't have to look upon a mess, then why can't magic money appear for all the distressed areas - enough of it to actually get the economy moving again. It's not that I'm the cynical, but this whole decorating blitz is cynical. It's a limited time offer (you can't refuse) but once the party moves on to the next venue no-one's going to pay to keep the decorations up at the old place.
 
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my too live crew preparing for the" g-0nly" summit in benthamistan...:D
 
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