There are several indicators that will tell you if a town is in trouble. Pawnshops are one of them. Downtown Allentown, in Pennsylvania where I grew up, has a proliferation of them. Other indicators: 'for sale', 'for rent', 'seized' and 'vacated' signs on empty buildings that once housed all the landmarks of one's youth. Other indicators: bingo halls everywhere and busy corner bars already filled with people drinking at 2:00 pm. That's Allentown, Pennsylvania. It really saddens me.