It was just such a scenario that helped ruin Asbury Park, NJ. In the late 60's, they closed the local mental hospital, and a lot of them were section 8'd into housing or just plain let out. They turned a seaside mecca into a Carnival of Souls -type empty shell.
Before:
After:
Obviously it's more than just the psychos - it was the druggies and the nearby downtown "civil unrest" of the 60's, let's just say. It's kind of like the pics you see of downtown Detroit.
Sandy, the fireworks are hailin’ over Little Eden tonight
Forcin’ a light into all those stony faces left stranded on this warm July
Down in the town, the Circuit’s full of switchblade lovers, so fast, so shiny, so sharp
As the wizards play down on Pinball Way on the boardwalk way past dark
And the boys from the casino dance with their shirts open like Latin lovers on the shore
Chasin’ all them silly New York virgins by the score
And Sandy, the aurora is rising behind us
This pier lights our carnival life forever
Oh, love me tonight, for I may never see you again
Hey, Sandy girl
My, my, baby
Now, the greasers, ah, they tramp the streets or get busted for sleeping on the beach all night
Them boys in their high heels, ah, Sandy, their skins are so white
And me, I just got tired of hangin’ in them dusty arcades, bangin’ them pleasure machines
Chasin’ the factory girls underneath the boardwalk where they all promise to unsnap their jeans
And you know that tilt-a-whirl down on the south beach drag
I got on it last night and my shirt got caught
And they kept me spinning, babe, didn’t think I’d ever get off
Oh, Sandy, the aurora is rising behind us
This pier lights our carnival life on the water
Runnin’, laughin’ ‘neath the boardwalk, ah, with the boss’s daughter
I remember, Sandy, girl
Na, na, na, na, na, baby
Sandy, that waitress I was seeing lost her desire for me
I spoke with her last night, she said she won’t set herself on fire for me anymore
She worked that joint under the boardwalk, she was always the girl you saw boppin’ down the beach with the radio
The kids say last night she was dressed like a star in one of them cheap little seaside bars, and I saw her parked with lover boy out on the Kokomo
Did you hear the cops finally busted Madame Marie for tellin’ fortunes better than they do
For me this boardwalk life is through, babe
You ought to quit this scene too
Sandy, the aurora is rising behind us
This pier lights our carnival life forever
Oh, love me tonight and I promise I’ll love you forever
Oh, I mean it, Sandy, girl
My, my, my, my, my baby
Yeah, I promise, Sandy, girl
Sha, la, la, la, la, baby
It was the 1970s riot in Asbury Park that did it in (although parts of it have come back VERY strong. I’m a few minutes away.) Then some of the shore towns with large Victorian homes/hotels took in the Section 8s - literally taking them off the hands of more prosperous NJ towns. White flight ensued.
Part of the problem with the loonies in Asbury and Ocean Grove were that they WEREN’T taking their meds.
You should visit Asbury again. It’s doing pretty well. I’m not at all fond of the newly designed waterfront but it’s popular with visitors and residents alike.
No wonder the city folks in Hollywood keep cranking out apocalyptic scenario after apocalyptic scenario.
Maybe that's why Star Trek endures...I think it was the last fictional 'future' which was actually upbeat.