4 Answers

I was 18 months old when we moved from Tyler and I have never been back. I wouldn't know it if I suddenly appeared there........

My home towm is about 20 minutes away.  When I grew up, it was a small (less than 10,000) town with mom and pop stores.  My elementary school had about 25 kids in each class (1st-8th).
I moved away to go to college (junior year), and when I came home that first summer, I almost lost control of my car when I passed a strip mall where a vineyard used to be.
Twenty-five years later, that strip mall is still the north end of town, for the most part, but the city has grown to over 25,000.  There are an abundance of mediocre subdivisions, everyone attends junior high for 7th and 8th grades, and the ethnic makeup of the place has gone from being primarily caucasian to being predominantly hispanic.  The mom and pop places are almost completely gone. Our major grocery stores are suffering huge losses because the WalMart supersized itself this past year.
There is nothing quaint or charming about my home town.  It is just a pit stop between Sacramento and Los Angeles.

My home town is a long way away but I know it hasn't changed.  Nothing changes there it just gets restored.

I've lived in so many places, they all have changed. Most have changed for the worst. Dope is the major factor for the demise of most communities.