re: Visiting the U.S from down under

Yes, they are all getting bad. I travel mostly for work, return to many of the same places, see the changes. It’s happening.

NYC under Giuliani/Bloomberg was much better

SF under Newsome was much nicer, cleaner

Philly under Street was better

Houston under Bill White

Many of our cities are devolving after numerous years (90s/00s) of progress

However, there’s been new rising stars that have continued progress. Richmond, Charleston, Nashville, Boise, And others.

And those places offer something radically different than NYC/Philly/Boston which share almost all the same characteristics except for accents and some other stuff