A Photo Essay for My Digital Toolbox Class

1. The Infrastructure of New York State:
The Economic Decay of a Decade

2. 90% of American families claim the economy stinks, and the truth is... it
does. It however is not just american families feeling the pinch. It’s everyone
corporations, small buisnesses. Everyone is feeling the pinch

3. Thanks to our current economy, piles like this are becoming more common
among buisnesses big and small. Buisnesses can no longer afford to dispose of
their garbage properly thus these piles continue to build.

4. Another angle of the piles that continue to pile up. A neverending pile of
garbage.

5. Small buisnesses are also having
issues with equipment. Machines
like this have begun to break down.
This machine has been unable to
move for over a year, the company
that made the parts for it no longer
exists. This is because of our fail-
ing and flailing economy. Accord-
ing to smallbiztrends.com only 29%
of businesses founded in 1992 were
still open in 2002. If this trend were
to continue by the year 2012 there
would be less than 1% of the busi-
nesses opened in 1992 still open.

6. This is a photo taken of a local building, it has changed hands over 5 times
in the past 10 years. Each time the business in question lasts a year or less. The
owner of the building is in such a rut that he is trying to strongarm the business
across the street into buying the property for the parking they use every winter.

7. Another aspect of the failing American Infrastructure is the current state of
the american highway system. The road system designed by FDR in the 30’s and
40’s was only designed to last us 50 years, since then we have been continually
patching and stretching the life of these roads, the damage to these roads causes
damage to shipping trucks, and increases the cost on businesses which in turn
increases the costs for consumers.

8. Bibliography
Road Photo courtesy of Google Images.
Statistic on Small Business courtesy of smallbiztrends.com
New York City Background courtesy of Google Images.