# Signs you may be in the ghetto... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 14, 2013, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911 "2013-11-14T14:56:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/141 "2013-11-19T17:15:55Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > . . . Faded signs for stores that closed over twenty years ago. . . . Hand-lettered signs posted on telephone poles announcing cash for clunkers and houses. That reminds me of a neighborhood I used to drive through to get to work. For awhile, every new sign was hand made. One of the barbershops painted the trunk of the city tree in the sidewalk out front to look like a barber pole. They did a good job of it. There’s been revitilization since then, including street widening and new signs. I kind of miss that tree-pole. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/142 "2013-11-19T17:21:44Z")
> [@Caffeine.addict](#): > > There was a place that we would get takeout from that didn’t, but you’re right, all of the delivery places that deliver to me do. I wonder if places west of the park do? I don’t think so, if only for the fact that most people who live west of the park have much better options than the all-in-one Chinese takeout joint. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/143 "2013-11-19T17:22:12Z")
> [@Caffeine.addict](#): > > …There was a place that we would get takeout from that didn’t, but you’re right, all of the delivery places that deliver to me do. I wonder if places west of the park do? What sucks is that they deliver, but they don’t do any of it well: crappy pizza, crappy Chinese, crappy sub, and crappy seafood (good mambo sauce though). West of the park is a different city, off the top of my head, you have Meiwah by the Whole Foods at Wisconsin and a bunch of good takeout along Connecticut. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/144 "2013-11-19T18:27:17Z")
Faygo. When the entire soda department is Faygo with little or their cola and mostly root beer and that citrus crap, you done be in da ghetto son. PS – KNOW HOW TO SPOT AN AMISH GHETTO? EVERY HOUSE HAS A DEAD HORSE UP ON BLOCKS. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/145 "2013-11-19T18:59:57Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > PS – KNOW HOW TO SPOT AN AMISH GHETTO? EVERY HOUSE HAS A DEAD HORSE UP ON BLOCKS. Having seen you in Santa garb, I’m cracking up here.😃 ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/146 "2013-11-19T19:01:45Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > Faygo. When the entire soda department is Faygo with little or their cola and mostly root beer and that citrus crap, you done be in da ghetto son. > PS – KNOW HOW TO SPOT AN AMISH GHETTO? EVERY HOUSE HAS A DEAD HORSE UP ON BLOCKS. Fanta too. The city where I live has a sizable African immigrant population, and Fanta is a staple in some African countries. ---
**Author:** ![Caffeine.addict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@Caffeine.addict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caffeine.addict)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/147 "2013-11-19T19:09:35Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > I don’t think so, if only for the fact that most people who live west of the park have much better options than the all-in-one Chinese takeout joint. That’s the funny thing though. I’m very close to H Street NE, so I have a ton of restaurant options, and some good ones for delivery now, just not Chinese. I’m starting to think that good Chinese is vanishing. ---
**Author:** ![LuckyBastid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecae2f/32.png) [@LuckyBastid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LuckyBastid)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/148 "2013-11-19T19:17:52Z")
> [@JerrySTL](#): > > Street named after MLK nearby. Yep. I once got lost on the way to work in Las Vegas and was telling the story to a co-worker. Went something like this: Me: So then I figured I’d missed the exit and just got off on MLK instead. Then I… Co-worker: (interrupting) Wha? _sputter_ Never get off on MLK in ANY city! Sad but true. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/149 "2013-11-19T19:23:15Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Almost forgot one… > > If there are several non-homeless men hanging out at the local convenience store all day, you might be in the ghetto. Is it a step _up_ or _down_ from ghetto if the men at the convenience store are homeless? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/150 "2013-11-19T19:25:15Z")
> [@LuckyBastid](#): > > Yep. I once got lost on the way to work in Las Vegas and was telling the story to a co-worker. Went something like this: > > Me: So then I figured I’d missed the exit and just got off on MLK instead. Then I… > Co-worker: (interrupting) Wha? _sputter_ Never get off on MLK in ANY city! > > Sad but true. Chris Rock has a routine about this very topic. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/151 "2013-11-19T19:28:44Z")
> [@LuckyBastid](#): > > Yep. I once got lost on the way to work in Las Vegas and was telling the story to a co-worker. Went something like this: > > Me: So then I figured I’d missed the exit and just got off on MLK instead. Then I… > Co-worker: (interrupting) Wha? _sputter_ Never get off on MLK in ANY city! > > Sad but true. Au contraire! Thi[s is Martin Luther King Boulevard](http://www.saa-madison.com/sites/saa-madison.com/files/project-images/MLK-1.jpg), from one end to the other, in Madison, WI. Forgot to mention – I work in the building that’s in shadow in the left foreground of the picture. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/152 "2013-11-19T19:45:45Z")
Some of y’all don’t know anything about the ghetto, but that’s okay. I’d say my favorite sign is mechanics’ lots “security systems” consisting entirely of loud-ass barking dogs. I took a trip to Chicago’s west side which sheltered North siders are terrified of just to see what all the cowering in fear was about, and I was like, “What’s the big deal? This looks like the neighborhood I grew up in.” I felt truly at home when I biked past the lots guarded by vicious dogs. I knew then that I was back in the hood. > [@Lucky\_13](#): > > At least in LA, there’s at least one guy selling either Popsicles or corn on the cob out of a cart. The dudes selling elotes are nothing. I’ll take you to my hood with the dudes selling bootlegged DVDs and Obama shirts in the Ralph’s parking lot. > [@Ambivalid](#): > > Drive-thru beer stores. Where are these? That’s just convenience! > [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > -Men wearing swastikas forced you to move there. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/153 "2013-11-19T21:21:18Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > The dudes selling elotes are nothing. I’ll take you to my hood with the dudes selling bootlegged DVDs and Obama shirts in the Ralph’s parking lot. Nah. Bootlegged DVDs is fine. There a bar I go to in my neighborhood where about half the time I visit a local entrepreneur comes buy to sell his DVDs. Then again, there are those who think the southwest side of the Chicago is a bit ghetto, so who knows. The West Side can get pretty crazy, though. I was driving down Pulaski near Madison a few months ago when I saw a guy dump a big silver gun into a dumpster. I was at a stoplight and fixed on him, because he just kind of looked out of place and weird with the rest of the people around. It was a rather surreal moment for me, as I had never really seen a gun so clearly out in the open in the afternoon in Chicago during rush hour. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/154 "2013-11-20T14:15:05Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Is it a step _up_ or _down_ from ghetto if the men at the convenience store are homeless? Neither; homeless men hanging out at convenience stores probably means that the convenience store is near a highway or major intersection more than anything else. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/155 "2013-11-20T14:24:03Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Au contraire! Thi[s is Martin Luther King Boulevard](http://www.saa-madison.com/sites/saa-madison.com/files/project-images/MLK-1.jpg), from one end to the other, in Madison, WI. > > Forgot to mention – I work in the building that’s in shadow in the left foreground of the picture. The idea comes from the fact that in many cities, TPTB usually renamed an existing street, usually in a predominantly black part of town after MLK. Example: MLK Boulevard in Houston (formerly “South Park Boulevard”), MLK Boulevard in Dallas (formerly “Forest Avenue”) etc… So there’s kind of a ready-made indicator of what part of town you’re in; much like you’re liable to find the barrio if you go down Cesar Chavez Avenue. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/156 "2013-11-20T14:27:01Z")
> [@bump](#): > > The idea comes from the fact that in many cities, TPTB usually renamed an existing street, usually in a predominantly black part of town after MLK. > > Example: MLK Boulevard in Houston (formerly “South Park Boulevard”), MLK Boulevard in Dallas (formerly “Forest Avenue”) etc… > > So there’s kind of a ready-made indicator of what part of town you’re in; much like you’re liable to find the barrio if you go down Cesar Chavez Avenue. I inderstand the idea – it’s just not always true. I was responding directly to the statement in a previous post: > [@](#): > > … Never get off on MLK in ANY city! > > Sad but true. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/157 "2013-11-20T17:00:45Z")
[On the other hand](http://www.yelp.com/biz/west-river-martin-luther-king-jr-drive-philadelphia) ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/158 "2013-11-20T17:06:36Z")
Piles of dumped construction materials-builders rehabbing houses find dumping old plaster, wood, windows in the Ghetto is cheaper than paying for a trash hauler. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/159 "2013-11-20T17:17:59Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Piles of dumped construction materials-builders rehabbing houses find dumping old plaster, wood, windows in the Ghetto is cheaper than paying for a trash hauler. Concrete too. I knew a gut who worked for a concrete company. When they busted out all the old concrete they loaded it in dump truck and gave him a couple hundred to take it to some approved site where he was supposed to pay the fee and dump the load. More often than not he kept the couple hundred and dumped it in a lot on the west side of Chicago. Apparently his boss knew about it but didn’t really give a shit. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/160 "2013-11-20T17:42:51Z")
When we got our chain link fence taken out and a new one put in, we were just told to leave it in the alley and someone would take it, rather than pay the hundred bucks or so to have them haul it. Sure enough, it was gone before the day was done. Whenever we throw away most any furniture, it is gone long before the trashmen get to it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911.md?page=9)