History Main / HeelFaceTown

* In season 2 of ''Series/TheMandalorian'', while the Mandalorian is off having his own adventures, Greef Karga and Cara Dune buckle down and clean up Nevarro, turning it from a wretched hive of scum and villainy into a much more respectable town. One scene in particular shows that the seedy bar Greef operated out of in season 1 has been refurbished and converted into a schoolhouse. And then taken further in seadon 3 when Mando returns and the town has grown several orders of magnitude into a full blown city.

[[folder: Real Life]]
* In TheNineties under the direction of Rudy Giuliani, New York City underwent hard gentrification after [[TheBigRottenApple decades of urban decay]].
* In 1993, as Hong Kong was approaching the end of British lease, Kowloon Walled City, notorious for its congested space and a hive for criminals and prostitutes, was demolished and was converted into a park.
[[/folder]]

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': While Ankh-Morpork May still have a less than stellar reputation, ''Literature/NightWatchDiscworld'' reveals that it used to be much, much worse before Lord Vetinari became patrician. Later on, it actually started to become a decent city due in part to the progress of technology such as trains and c-mail.

* Done by pure accident in ''Film/PressStart Adventures''. One episode has our heroes arrive in Freedomsburg, which is anything but. Zack and Sam decide ItIsBeyondSaving, but Lin-ku [[IChooseToStay stays]] in order to found his own criminal empire. His attempts backfired as after he killed all the crime lords, the citizens rose up and reclaimed the city, turning it into a SugarBowl. Lin-ku goes crawling back to the heroes since he no longer fits in.

* In season 2 of ''Series/TheMandalorian'', while the Mandalorian is off having his own adventures, Greef Karga and Cara Dune buckle down and clean up Nevarro, turning it from a wretched hive of scum and villainy into a much more respectable town. One scene in particular shows that the seedy bar Greef operated out of in season 1 has been refurbished and converted into a schoolhouse.

The quant little town of Tropeville is a [[WretchedHive den of thieves and scoundrels]], an ArmyOfThievesAndWhores, supervillains and serial killers. That is, until something happened.

Compare ShiningCity and SugarBowl. Contrast SoiledCityOnAHill, CrapsaccharineWorld, ViceCity and WretchedHive. Compare ''and'' contrast VillainousGentrification, where the city is "cleaned up" by opportunists who have nefarious designs of their own.

* Tromaville in ''Film/TheToxicAvenger'' is displayed as a corrupt little New Jersey town filled with cartoonishly over the top street thugs that seem to get away with terrorizing the innocent populous due to the machinations of the corrupt mayor and the Nazi police chief. After a "harmless" prank led to innocent nobody Melvin Junko to fall into a vat of chemical waste, he turned into Jersey's first hideously deformed creature of superhuman size and strength - later referred to as "the Monster Hero" and officially "the Toxic Avenger" - and would go on to reform Tromaville [[JudgeJuryAndExecutioner one brutal criminal massacre at a time]]. By the time the [[Film/TheToxicAvengerPartII first sequel]] starts, Tromaville has become ''so'' rid of crime that [[VictoryIsBoring Toxie ends up feeling useless without any evil to fight]].
* In ''Film/BatmanBegins'', Gotham City was already struggling in its recovery from economic depression and had only started to improve shortly before Bruce's parents were murdered. The city ''did'' try to continue improving in years after, but by the time Bruce returns from his years of training under the League of Shadows, Gotham was drowning in high crime rates and corruption. So much so, in fact, that Ra's Al Ghul admits to Bruce just incredibly easy it was for the League to infiltrate the city's entire infrastructure to renew their assault on Gotham. But, by the time ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' starts, Bruce's war on crime as Batman, and his alliance within Jim Gordon and Gotham PD, have very nearly rid the city of the Mafia's grip, dealing a massive blow to the city's crime rate in the process. As such, Gotham has not only visibly improved, but its citizens have a renewed sense of hope and faith, the first they've felt in years. [[YankTheDogsChain And then]] the Joker shows up...

* ''Literature/TheThrawnTrilogy'': The planet of Abregado-Rae (or at least its main spaceport) had reputation not unlike that of Mos Eisley. Thus it's a big surprise to Han and Lando when they find a nice, clean, peaceful place when they land there, though planetary security forces are plentiful and conspicuous. When Mara Jade visits there later, she notes the subtle but telltale signs that the peace and cleanliness is imposed from above instead of the result of a genuine desire from the citizens.

--> "But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish?" Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.

* Subverted in ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000''. The primarch Konrad Curze was found on a planet of perpetual crime, and started cleaning it up by basically becoming a mix of ComicBook/{{Batman}} and ComicBook/ThePunisher. The Night Haunter's reign of terror did succeed in lowering crime (that is, people were too scared to leave their homes if they risked being found dismembered the next day), but as soon as Curze left the planet went right back to its old ways, [[AllForNothing which played no small part]] in Curze's VillainousBreakdown.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' has North Haverbrook, which had [[GhostTown nearly all of its citizens move away]] and the remaining residents disillusioned after buying Lyle Lanley's scam in "Marge vs the Monorail." In the end of the episode, a mob of angry citizens came to assault and lynch Lyle when he suffered the misfortune of his plane making a layover in that same town. Cue many seasons later in the episode "Little Big Girl," where the town underwent a massive renovation with Lyle's money.
** In "The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson", a flashback shows that Homer went to New York City in TheSeventies; while there, Homer got most of his possessions stolen (including a CorruptCop stealing his suitcase), got a load of garbage dumped on him by Creator/WoodyAllen, and was chased by a pimp when a banana peel he flung landed on the pimp. Later in the episode the Simpson family visits present-day (1997) New York City, and it is shown as being greatly improved, much cleaner and safer than the 70s flashback version.

* In TheNineties under the direction of Rudy Giuliani, New York City underwent a hard gentrification after [[TheBigRottenApple decades of urban decay]].

The quant little town of Tropeville is a den of thieves and scoundrels, an ArmyOfThievesAndWhores, supervillains and serial killers. That is, until something happened.

Compare ShiningCity and SugarBowl. Contrast SoiledCityOnAHill, CrapsaccharineWorld, ViceCity and WretchedHive.

* In ''Film/BatmanBegins'', Gotham City was already struggling in its recovery from economic depression and had only started to improve shortly before Bruce's parents were murdered. The city ''did'' try to continue improving in years after, but by the time Bruce returns from his years of training under the League of Shadows, Gotham was drowning in high crime rates and corruption. So much so, in fact, that Ra's Al Ghul admits to Bruce just incredibly easy it was for the League to infiltrate the city's entire infrastructure to renew their assault on Gotham. But, by the time ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' starts, Bruce's war on crime as Batman, and his alliance within Jim Gordon and Gotham PD, have very nearly rid the city of the Mafia's grip, dealing a massive blow to the city's crime rate in the process. As such, Gotham has not only visibly improved, but its citizens have a renewed sense of hope and faith, the first they've felt in years.

* In ''Film/BatmanBegins'', Gotham City was already struggling in its recovery from economic depression and had only started to improve shortly before Bruce's parents were murdered. The city ''did'' try to continue improving in years after, but by the time Bruce returns from his years of training under the League of Shadows, Gotham was drowning in high crime rates and corruption. So much so, in fact, that Ra's Al Ghul admits to Bruce just incredibly easy it was for the League to infiltrate the city's entire infrastructure to renew their assault on Gotham. But, by the time ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' starts, Bruce's war on crime as Batman, and his alliance within Jim Gordon and Gotham PD, have very nearly rid the city of the Mafia's grip, dealing a massive blow to the city's crime rate in the process. As such, Gotham has not only visibly improved, but it's citizens have a renewed sense of hope and faith, the first they've felt in years.

* ''Literature/TheThrawnTrilogy'': The planet of Abregado-Rae (or at least it's main spaceport) had reputation not unlike that of Mos Eisley. Thus it's a big surprise to Han and Lando when they find a nice, clean, peaceful place when they land there, though planetary security forces are plentiful and conspicuous. When Mara Jade visits there later, she notes the subtle but telltale signs that the peace and cleanliness is imposed from above instead of the result of a genuine desire from the citizens.

The right mayor got elected that [[ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules actually has principles and could not be bribed]]. A [[Franchise/{{Robocop}} cyborg cop]] built by the local MegaCorp to clean up the streets with mechanical efficiency. [[TheCape A superhero to inspire hope in the hopeless masses.]] Or maybe just a few reforms that prevented future crime by providing for the poor and unfortunate. Either way, by the time the sequel comes out, Tropeville has gone from being a spicy cesspool of crime and villainy to a [[AWorldHalfFull mild-mannered beacon of hope that the world has a bright (and eco-friendly) future ahead of itself.]]

The right mayor got elected that [[ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules actually has principles and could not be bribed]]. A [[Franchise/{{Robocop}} cyborg cop]] built by the local MegaCorp to clean up the streets with mechanical efficiency. [[TheCape A superhero to inspire hope in the hopeless masses]]. Or maybe just a few reforms that prevented future crime by providing for the poor and unfortunate. Either way, by the time the sequel comes out, Tropeville has gone from being a spicy cesspool of crime and villainy to a [[AWorldHalfFull mild-mannered beacon of hope that the world has a bright (and eco-friendly) future ahead of itself.]]

* In season 2 of ''Series/TheMandalorian'', while the Mandalorian is off having his own adventures, Greef Karga and Cara Dune buckle down and clean up Nevarro, turning it from a wretched hive of scum and villainy into a much more respectable town.

* Subverted in ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40K''. The primarch Konrad Curze was found on a planet of perpetual crime, and started cleaning it up by basically becoming a mix of ComicBook/{{Batman}} and ComicBook/ThePunisher. The Night Haunter's reign of terror did succeed in lowering crime (that is, people were too scared to leave their homes if they risked being found dismembered the next day), but as soon as Curze left the planet went right back to its old ways, [[AllForNothing which played no small part]] in Curze's VillainousBreakdown.

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': While Ankh-Morpork May still have a less than stellar reputation, ''Literature/NightWatch'' reveals that it used to be much, much worse before Lord Vetinari became patrician. Later on, it actually started to become a decent city due in part to the progress of technology such as trains and c-mail.

-->-- '''Melvin Junko/The Toxic Avenger''', ''Film/TheToxicAvenger Part II''

* Tromaville in ''Film/TheToxicAvenger'' is displayed as a corrupt little New Jersey town filled with cartoonishly over the top street thugs that seem to get away with terrorizing the innocent populous due to the machinations of the corrupt mayor and the Nazi police chief. After a "harmless" prank led to innocent nobody Melvin Junko to fall into a vat of chemical waste, he turned into Jersey's first hideously deformed creature of superhuman size and strength - later referred to as "the Monster Hero" and officially "the Toxic Avenger" - and would go on to reform Tromaville [[JudgeJuryAndExecutioner one brutal criminal massacre at a time]]. By the time the first sequel starts, Tromaville has become ''so'' rid of crime that [[VictoryIsBoring Toxie ends up feeling useless without any evil to fight]].

Compare ShiningCity. Contrast SoiledCityOnAHill, CrapsaccharineWorld, ViceCity and WretchedHive.

Compare ShiningCity. Contrast SoiledCityOnAHill, ViceCity and WretchedHive.

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': While Ankh-Morpork May still have a less than stellar reputation, ''Literature/NightWatch'' reveals that it used to be much, much worse before Lord Vetinari became patrician. Later on, it actually starting to become a decent city due in part to the progress of technology such as trains and c-mail.