The upside of Pokémon Go's insane popularity in my neighborhood is that you can see someone on the street playing Pokémon Go and strike up a conversation. Yesterday, I went to 7/11 to get a free Slurpee and there were a bunch of boys outside playing Pokémon Go. They (like me) were on Team Red, and we had a nice talk.
The downside is the competition.
I'd argue that having almost guaranteed control of a Gym due to lack of opposition is almost better than what happens over here. I captured two gyms and added my ~400 CP Weepinbell to a third. All three were taken within the hour. I witnessed another Gym being stolen... at 1:00 AM. Today on my walk, I saw someone sitting on a bench in the vicinity of the Gym. He had a bad Pokémon in the gym, and whenever someone else tried to take it, he'd instantly take it back with his more powerful Pokémon. There are people with 1100 CP Pokémon everywhere. I've gone on long walks pretty much every day since this game came out and my best Pokémon is a 526 CP Pidgeot. Hopefully the hype will die down at least a little.