James Howard Kunstler used to live in Troy, NY I believe. He had wonderful descriptions of it from what I remember.

I'm from Aurora, IL. I live about three miles from the downtown area, which was also a factory town that had its halcyon days in the late Victorian era and died in the 1970s. BLM rioters came in a couple of weeks ago and delivered the death blow to dozens of small businesses that had already been put on life support because of COVID.

All I can say is that I hope the rioters, their supporters, and their financiers get what they so richly deserve.