2012-10-26

Downtown


My city’s downtown looks depressed. Picture it in your mind: abandoned buildings, paintless houses, broken sidewalks, and drug addicts. A war movie can be filmed there without significant changes.

But this decline in the quality of life has occurred slowly. For example, families migrating to the suburbs, mom-and-pop stores displaced by big retailers, high crime rates, and an indifferent mayor comprise some of the reasons for this ongoing deterioration. Curiously, churches are the only ‘businesses’ that thrive in the downtown.

Living in the downtown is better than in the suburbs because you have bakeries, five-and-ten stores, banks, and recreational places within walking distance. Unfortunately, right now I am living in the suburbs, so I can’t enjoy those amenities without driving a car.

3 comments:

  1. Really good, Alex. Great vocabulary, very expressive. I have only one suggestion:

    A war movie COULD be filmed there without significant changes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the comments.

      I always confuse 'can' and 'could'.

      I used 'can' because I was talking about something related to the present or future, "the movie".

      I use 'could' to express something in the past.

      Delete
    2. In this case, "could" is the conditional tense, like "podría". What a ridiculous language that has the conditional and past tenses the same!

      Delete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.