after being away for 6-7 years we went back somewhere around 2006. And my wife and I found no reason to go back(until we had to for a funeral of her father).
I asked myself why the heck I wanted to lvie there for 40 years.
I noticed the dirt, the traffic, the bad quality air which i never paid attention to ir even minded while I lived there...its all I knew.
I visted the meadowlands race track and it had deteriorated to the point where they closed off half of the second floor because of lack of attendance...and most of the food places were closed down. Atlantic city seemed drab and deteriorating.I am talking about the casinos..since the surrounding area was always deteriorating. It didnt instill homesickness in me.
Its sort of like the same reason I will not go back to Italy. Right after my wedding we left for a Perillo tour of Italy...and it was magical. I dont think we could top that if we went back...or even come close.
Its like going to Disney land as a kid, and its magical. Then you go back as an adult....and you notice the peeling paint, or you notice the screws in the joints of the figures on"Its a Small Word", or you think the lines are too long,..and other peoples kids annoy you.
If you go back you find that your remembrances have not held up over time. You are not going back to that era. You wont see the same corner bakery, its now an empty lot. The scholl you went to is shuttered, the traffic is worse, the pollution is worse, the stores have bars and gates with many empty.
you wont be able to visit much of what you remember. I was gone only 6 years and was disappointed visiting what I remembered.
there is an existentialist question ...are memories something we have..or something we lost