A skid row or skid road is a run-down or dilapidated urban area with a large population of impoverished abusers of alcohol and, often, other drugs. In a related expression, someone who is down and out is said to be "on the skids". The term originally referred literally to a path along which loggers skidded logs; that literal meaning is now obsolete. Its current sense appears to have originated in the Pacific Northwest.
Informally, there is an identified skid-row neighborhood in almost every major North American city. Some examples are Pioneer Square, Seattle, Washington[1], Skid Row in Los Angeles, The Bowery in New York City and the Downtown Eastside in Vancouver. Vancouver and Seattle both lie in the region where the term originated.
In recent years some historic North American skid rows have lost their rundown character and have been gentrified.
No comments:
Post a Comment