wow, this has gotten out of hand.
i'm going to try to keep this civilized as the last thing i want to see is for us to get all gangsta up in here
LAmetroguy. You're right that i shouldn't have said that you misquoted me. Sorry about that. I just wanted to make it clear that i along with going to the movies every couple weeks i'm also in the area almost every day, which i didn't mention the first time around.
Outside of that you have to admit that you're putting the spotlight on what you want push from this conversation and you're ignoring all the facts. I've mentioned plenty of times that for me i have personally witnessed more then one incident that was clearly gang related. But yet you keep claiming the only one incident thing making it look as if i'm totally blowing things out of proportion, which isn't fair of you to do. either is putting words in our mouths like saying that we want to ban people and racially profile the public.
From the beginning of this conversation Sopas EJ was just trying to say that in the past it's been somewhat of a turnoff to see a gangster looking element from time to time. i was agreeing with him to say i've witnessed it as well and i've also witnessed the violence to go along with it.
then it seems as if we were made to look like bad guys and to point out that drunk people are in every city that has entertainment so we should just chill out. of course this isn't about drunk people outside bars, obviously that happens in every city. just another example of where you guys are stretching things to fit your argument.
so just to clarify from my end, there are some shady looking people that hang out around the pike/downtown from time to time. I'm not saying they're all gangsters, but they're definitely not my cup of tea. The biggest point that Sopas EJ and i are trying to make (sorry to speak for you sopas) is that people gain an impression of downtown based upon what they see. Sure, the guy with the triple XXXL white t shirt, baggy pants off his ass, doo rag, tats and backwards hat might be an upstanding citizen, but in the court of popular opinion people are going to make a judgment about him. People have a bad impression of downtown long beach due to a part of the demographic that hangs out here. It's a fact guys. If you don't believe me you should poll some people that live in LA, OC or other parts of Long Beach. I've talked to people from belmont shore that are afraid to come down here because they think they'll get carjacked/mugged/robbed. Like i said i'm not making this shit up, do your own research.
That's why i try to espouse raising the bar. Bring some class back to the city. We fucked up with walmart and the pike but we can get it going in the right direction. Demand a better city that will hopefully attract better people so that in the end of day people will have a better impression then the one they have now.
Back to the business at hand...where did you get that crazy mockup from? i've heard of it and my first impression isn't a good one.