In the early 1970s, Mayor E. Dent Lackey was pushing the fact that the city needed to begin focusing on tourism. Canada was beating us. Jobs and residents were leaving. We needed to find a way to keep tourists here, and this new project called “Urban Renewal” with a “Convention Center” might just do it.

In the 1980s, Mayor Michael O’Laughlin was pushing the fact that the city needed to focus on tourism. Canada was beating us. Jobs and residents were leaving. Urban Renewal didn’t work as planned. We needed to find a way to keep tourists here, and this new project that the Ghermezians were considering here (some sort of massive mall) might just do it.

In the late 1990s, Mayor James Galie was pushing the fact that the city needed to focus on tourism. Canada was beating us. Jobs and residents were leaving. Urban Renewal was a horrible mistake. The Ghermezian mall was never built here. We needed to find a way to keep tourists here, and this new project called “Aquafalls” might just do it.

In the early 2000s, Mayor Irene Elia was pushing the fact that the city needed to focus on tourism. Canada was beating us. Jobs and residents were leaving. Urban Renewal was nothing but a plague on the city. The Ghermezian mall was a distant memory. Aquafalls was looking less and less likely by the day. We needed to find a way to keep tourists here, and this Seneca casino idea might just do it.

We sit here, as we always have, in a loop. The Cataract City exists in a record skip: a needle jarred by the tremors of industry literally falling into the gorge.

I think the time is right to flip the record.

via Daily Prompt: Loop