Economic Recovery is the only solution
The scenery viewed from the train is only as good as the economic circumstances of the property owner. Abandoned properties look lousy regardless of their location. I used to commute on the same train as the author mentions and even 20 years ago, there were municipal buildings sinking in the muck, rusting train trestles and the occasional Heron. Cleaning up urban blight is no easy thing. I once spent an hour removing a shopping cart from a pond in park in Flushing. When I finally looked up from my task, the pond/lake was filled with people up to their waists pulling all manner of things out of the lake. Eventually, the parks department got around to emptying the lake and using earth moving equipment to remove all the crap people had dumped there for years. Your choices are: 1. Don't look out the window when passing unpleasant scenery. You have a computer to help you with that, or you could check out the pretty girls on the train, if you can find any among the mostly fat aging executives. 2. Turn on the GPS feature on your iPhone (what else would you own) and locate the offending sites, then contact somebody (forget your congressman, he will just send you a stupid form letter not related to anything concerning you) and see if anybody is interested in cleaning up somebody elses mess, without getting arrested for trespassing or contaminated by hazardous waste.
3. Look out the window from time to time, shake your head, appreciate the occassional Heron and check out the babe across the aisle reflected in your window. This only works well if you are sitting on the shady side of the train.
