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January 1, 2006
What's Different: Ten Years Later
After I posted the first 'What's Different' entry, I realized there was another way of looking at it; thinking of all my far-flung friends, what had changed in the ten years since we had lived in this area?
My distant friends are a good starting point. With a few exceptions, nearly everyone I knew has moved away; Brandie & I were here weeks before our first random encounter at the grocery store with someone I went to high school with. So far, I've randomly run into more people I went to high school with at the IKEA in Emeryville than at the Wegman's in Johnson City.
The university and area around it has grown, and there's rumor of other growth on the horizon, but a lot of the other areas have continued to decline. There are a few nice stores and restaurants scattered throughout the Triple Cities, but they're surrounded by empty storefronts and run-down buildings.
Speaking of restaurants, most of the stand-bys from ten years ago appear to have survived. Number 5, Cortese, even the Olive Garden on the Parkway are still in business and apparently unchanged. There are new places, including our favorite restaurant in town the Lost Dog Cafe, but they're usually small and very rare. Chains like Outback and Texas Roadhouse have also moved in, I guess like everywhere else. For local chains, I don't remember Nirchi's from my high school days but they're everywhere now.
Local radio has probably seen the least amount of change, not only the stations but also the playlists. 92.5KGB is still the only station regularly playing music from this decade.
Posted by Jacob at January 1, 2006 2:56 PM