No way that many people live there

[Rojo]

Clearly, Stockton has a vibe.

It's a river port town in California, not many of those. I think it has an economy that rises and falls with commodity prices.

[Boston Red]

Huh, their MiLB team is actually called the Stockton Ports. On the nose.

[BernieCarbo]

It's a river port town in California, not many of those. I think it has an economy that rises and falls with commodity prices.

I worked in Stockton for a while in the early 2000's at their newspaper (the Record maybe?). It was definitely run down, but I found a great little Mexican place that I went to every night. But the best part was the smokin' hot waitress that waited on me each night, and she always said, "Please, take me with you back east. I'll make a wonderful wife", and I always responded with "Well, I already have a wonderful wife, but if I didn't, you would definitely go to the front of the line."

It was a fun city, but I wouldn't call it a place where you would go on vacation.

[dougdirt]

Stockton is one scary place. It is a ghost town because no one is willing to come out of their homes.

[WrongVerb]

I have a distant relative in Stockton, and the couple times I've gone to visit, it's seemed like any other city I've been in.

[Rojo]

But the best part was the smokin' hot waitress that waited on me each night

Funny, one of my associations was a gal from Stockton who was supper gorgeous. She looked like a bit more va-voomish Sandra Bullock. She also drove the same old Peugot that Colombo drove.

And, alas, I had a girlfriend. Also, she didn't show a shred of interest in me.

[vaticanplum]

I was just reviewing some population numbers for something I'm working on, and there's some places where the numbers just don't seem right. Like, I'll take their work for it, but I've been to these and they're ghost towns. According to census numbers they've got 100,000+ people who call them home and that feels like propaganda. I'll mention the two near me that got me onto this kick, but I figure we've got a national spread on this board and there's got to be plenty of places that feel more like Hollywood sets than places where real people live.

Worcester, MA - population 185,000

I've been to Worcester plenty of times and I know people from Worcester. So I know some people live there, but good luck finding people mulling around its downtown areas at any time of the day. Maybe there's a tunnel system. Maybe they've been social distancing for the past 35 years. And I've never heard of a festival there. They have venues which host events. Many years ago I went to a massive march to honor a group of firefighters who died (and ended up hanging around with Bob Backlund). Yet that all involved people coming in from elsewhere. When you're just travelling through the heart of Worcester, there's nobody. Even in my college days, the college campuses there (Holy Cross, Clark, WPI) were eerily silent. Never been caught in traffic in Worcester either. Feels like a quiet little burg.

For a time my best friend lived in Worcester when I was living in Boston and I visited him occasionally. There is a roundabout there that definitely has 185K people there at any given time. The rest of the place does feel pretty deserted, but i think they are all at that roundabout. Most terrifying place I've ever driven (and I like roundabouts).

I do remember that when he got the job in Worcester they told him that it was the second-biggest city in New England and that blew our minds. Portland? Hartford? Providence? Worcester. Sure.

[SunDeck]

NM

[klw]

Stockton is one scary place. It is a ghost town because no one is willing to come out of their homes.

As I bring most things back to Springsteen, when I hear Stockton I think of this song:

We split up come the springtime
I never seen Frank again
'Cept one rainy night he blew by me on grainer
Shouted my name and disappeared in the rain and the wind

They found him shot dead outside Stockton
His body lyin' on a muddy hill
Nothin' taken, nothin' stolen
Somebody killed him just to kill

[EnglishRed]

Good thing you weren’t going to Gloucester.

Or heading over here to the UK and going to Towcester. (pronounced Toaster)

[Rojo]

Or heading over here to the UK and going to Towcester. (pronounced Toaster)

Do the cafes have towcest on the menu?

[CaiGuy]

Honestly, all American cities/towns are like that. When I have had visitors from other countries, they always ask, "where are all the people?" There might be cars out and about, but never any people.

Whenever a TV show is set in a typical American town with a nice little main street downtown, it always depicts the main characters interacting with all of these locals everyday on the street, and running into the same regulars everyday in the local dinner or shops downtown. You see all of the extras on the main square, shopping, and walking down the sidewalk, selling fruit, ect.

Walk down the street in a real small town or even city's downtown, and you are unlikely to meet another person walking. In fact, you often get some strange looks from passing drivers. "What's the deal with that lowlife, he can't even afford a CAR? Must be up to no good."

[westofyou]

Honestly, all American cities/towns are like that. When I have had visitors from other countries, they always ask, "where are all the people?" There might be cars out and about, but never any people.

Whenever a TV show is set in a typical American town with a nice little main street downtown, it always depicts the main characters interacting with all of these locals everyday on the street, and running into the same regulars everyday in the local dinner or shops downtown. You see all of the extras on the main square, shopping, and walking down the sidewalk, selling fruit, ect.

Walk down the street in a real small town or even city's downtown, and you are unlikely to meet another person walking. In fact, you often get some strange looks from passing drivers. "What's the deal with that lowlife, he can't even afford a CAR? Must be up to no good."

Gotta disagree, my neighborhood is not all like that

https://www.kgw.com/article/entertai...3-986e952ccdc9

[CaiGuy]

Gotta disagree, my neighborhood is not all like that

https://www.kgw.com/article/entertai...3-986e952ccdc9

Meant to say "most" cities are like that. Portland is definately an outlier, in a good way.

[westofyou]

Meant to say "most" cities are like that. Portland is definately an outlier, in a good way.

My buddy lives in Oakland and his brother from the Amelia area came to visit him. They were driving through town and his brother kept saying, where do people eat here? There are no restaurants anywhere. My friend pointed out about five places and his brother said... no, I mean Burger King, Wendy's, KFC... where do people eat?