interesting, that was such an iconic pic of urban decline in the 1970's. btw check out the movies 'wolfen' or 'the warriors' if you want to see this time period on film. from the nytimes:

 

 

In the Bronx, Blight Gave Way to Renewal

 

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/10/05/nyregion/05charlotte-600.jpg

President Jimmy Carter toured the decaying landscape of Charlotte Street on Oct. 5, 1977. “See which areas can still be salvaged,” he told his housing chief.

 

By MANNY FERNANDEZ

Published: October 5, 2007

 

The cream-colored limousine pulled to a stop on Charlotte Street. It was not so much a street but a remnant of one, lined with barren lots, abandoned buildings and eight-foot-high piles of bulldozed bricks. President Jimmy Carter stepped from the limousine and walked around, his hands in his pockets, trailed by reporters, officials and Secret Service agents.

 

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/10/05/nyregion/charlotte190.jpg

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/10/05/nyregion/05charlotte-650.jpg

Charlotte Street today. In the 1970s, it was beset by crime, fires and neglect. By the 1980s, new residents were moving into ranch-style houses.

 

 

One day after discussing nuclear disarmament at the United Nations, Mr. Carter had decided to take a sudden trip to the urban slums of the South Bronx. A stretch of Charlotte Street near Boston Road was the motorcade’s second stop of the day...

 

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/05/nyregion/05charlotte.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion&oref=slogin

I have a picture of something like that in Dayton. ..suburban style houses in vacant neighborhoods.  I bet you can see this in other Ohio citys.

 

The ones in Dayton dont look quite so "West Carollton/ Ryan Homes" as these do, though.

 

Being old enough to remember the 1970s, the South Bronx was, indeed, shorthand for urban decline (mrnyc is quite correct about that), sort of like "Detroit" is today.