The Truth About McKeesport, Pennsylvania: Is It Really That Bad?

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  • Опубликовано: 6 июн 2023
  • I drove through the worst parts of McKeesport, Pennsylvania. This Rust Belt City is easily one of the poorest, most dilapidated, and dangerous places in America. With a violent crime rate 295% over the national average, and a poverty level over 30%, it is nothing short of tragic. So many abandoned homes, businesses, and broken dreams.
    After the industrial decline decades ago, McKeesport, PA suffered dramatic economic collapse. With the combination of steel factories shutting down, a 1976 downtown fire, and major retail stores folding up, this city has never recovered from it. Jobs were gone and the people had to move away. The population was 55,355 in the 1950's, now down to 17,082 as of 2023. Let's take a drive and check some of the hardest hit parts!

Комментарии • 157

  • @robertsole9970
    @robertsole9970 Год назад +53

    Just think that at one time all those dilapidated houses had Xmas parties with kids running down the steps on Xmas morning to open presents and they had thanksgiving dinners too. Birthday parties and first day of school. Would welcome dad home after a long double shift at the steel mill. Now it’s all gone and just the ghosts remain. Sad and lonely.

    • @lawriefoster5587
      @lawriefoster5587 Год назад +4

      I was just thinking that!!

    • @smorgasbroad1132
      @smorgasbroad1132 10 месяцев назад +1

      robert, I don't even think the ghosts would stick around. 😕

  • @dansteigerwald5677
    @dansteigerwald5677 Год назад +31

    Very special thanks for your NOT having added music to your videos. That's good taste!

  • @Shestayfitted1
    @Shestayfitted1 Год назад +15

    Soon as I seen the title I knew it was McKeesport… like many places in PA slowly crumbling with no help coming.. just sad

  • @suzy259
    @suzy259 10 месяцев назад +10

    Wow...Back in the 70s when I was a teenager, it was my stomping ground. My older married sister (now passed) owned a house there in McKeesport, Pa. and I lived with her off+on, I'm shocked at the poor condition it's in!!!

  • @JohnDorsey
    @JohnDorsey Год назад +16

    Could be used as a set for The Walking Dead

  • @edwardkrajewski5735
    @edwardkrajewski5735 11 месяцев назад +12

    My hometown. So sad what it has become.

  • @jodiwest23
    @jodiwest23 Год назад +24

    I used to live very near there from the 80s thru 2009. That whole region suffered when the steel mills closed. They had a healthcare industry boom in the 90s, but that was short lived. A lack of jobs has forced many to relocate including myself. I miss the greater Pittsburgh area.

  • @cmdrdata
    @cmdrdata 8 месяцев назад +7

    I grew up here too, in its prime. Late 60s through the 70s was a great time to live here. Downtown looked like a scene from its a Wonderful Life. Department stores loaded with Christmas toys. People dressed to the nines. We would hang out on those porches, and talk with family all night. Such a far cry from its glory days now. So sad, it can almost bring you to tears. I have family there now, and they stay because its home.

  • @knighttoking7926
    @knighttoking7926 Год назад +22

    What a crying shame. This use to be a lovely city, I can see that. And what amazing, and beautiful, brick roads!

  • @ronb8052
    @ronb8052 6 месяцев назад +5

    I was born in McKeesport hospital in 1946. As a kid from West Mifflin, I would take the bus every Saturday morning an go to McKeesport...Memorial Theater, Army and Navy Store....lots of fun.
    I went back for my 20th reunion....everyone told me "don't go to McKeesport or Duquesne"...I now know why.

  • @lisetteeliseparis7070
    @lisetteeliseparis7070 Год назад +15

    The landscape is so beautiful and yet the ruins are scary at the same time.

    • @janedoe5180
      @janedoe5180 Год назад +2

      Coming from Texas, I love the hills

    • @Curlyloxau
      @Curlyloxau Год назад +1

      Beautiful and green, but destroyed.

  • @bridgetmuehlberger5141
    @bridgetmuehlberger5141 Год назад +32

    Wow. I’m gobsmacked. I can’t imagine what life is like for the remaining 17K+ people who still live there. Gotta admit, my heart was in my throat a little when you decided it was “time for a quick walk….” 😳 You’re a much braver person than I.
    The saddest part for me was seeing the two young girls on theirs scooters, outside “playing.” This is what they will remember as their childhood. 😢

  • @rayF4rio
    @rayF4rio Год назад +9

    For some reason I always get a kick out of seeing the "Deaf Child Ahead" signs. The streets are a mess, houses destroyed, garbage everywhere, burned out buildings.....and the city still comes and puts up the sign, but I guess that's the limit of what they can do.

  • @athalyerajan2823
    @athalyerajan2823 Год назад +24

    How did this happen to my adopted home. As an immigrant who loves my country such videos make me think of an era long gone with prosperity and no moneychanging.

    • @johnr.b.murray3417
      @johnr.b.murray3417 Год назад +4

      NO MONEYCHANGING. BINGO. YOU NAILED THE CULPRITS.

    • @monsterglo
      @monsterglo Год назад +6

      Sadly when the steel mills, auto part manufacturers, textiles moved overseas and to Southern states for cheaper labor was the end for the areas, I grew up in PA, mom and dad moved to CA in the 70's thankfully

  • @malcontender6319
    @malcontender6319 Год назад +9

    I wonder why so many of these abandoned homes have been torched?
    Also, notice the sat dishes on some of these buildings? I'd bet most of these neighborhoods were inhabited only 20 years ago.

  • @jennylynn9835
    @jennylynn9835 3 месяца назад +1

    Grew up in McKeesport, Fawcett Plan. Moved in ‘97 out west. It breaks my heart of what my hometown has become. I have so many great memories there and still so many great people live there. 💜

  • @Chordonblue
    @Chordonblue 4 месяца назад +5

    My mom's family was from this area. She told me about the trolleys that used to run into Pittsburgh and how busy the place was. Those brick roads you see were built over a 100 years ago. My parents were told that the city no longer has the 'institutional knowledge' to fix them, so when a few bricks come out, they simply fill it in with asphalt. The fact that so many remain is testament to how well-constructed they were.
    Well... Nothing lasts forever, but in a time where we have so many homeless, it's a shame these kinds of places can't be revitalized.

    • @hoodsnhollers
      @hoodsnhollers  4 месяца назад +3

      Been on a lot of terrible roads, but this place takes the win. If you notice at one point I almost dropped my camera. I literally hit the bottom of the frame on the car right there and had to get out and pop the bumper back in. Alignment was totally out, I remember letting the wheel go on the way out of there and it would just ghost turn it was so bad LOL

  • @nikasmith206
    @nikasmith206 Год назад +8

    Wow another city left to desolation. Thanks for the video

  • @HackHunter1835
    @HackHunter1835 Год назад +6

    Its unreal how much it cost to demolish a house. The removal / clearing of the lot and so forth.

  • @s5adventures
    @s5adventures Год назад +4

    I didn't think I could see a worse place then your last....but I was so wrong!

  • @johnlocke6506
    @johnlocke6506 Год назад +4

    Adds a whole new meaning to urban decay but the dates you quote indicate that much of this has happened over many decades as witnessed by some of the collapsed houses being completely overcome by nature.

  • @damnationdefied777
    @damnationdefied777 Год назад +5

    This is an epic disaster! Those roads are so bad there!

  • @lisachurchill1185
    @lisachurchill1185 11 месяцев назад +6

    two years ago I thought about moving to McKeesport area because there's homes really cheap. I decided on an area closer to Johnstown, PA where homes are also cheap and dont look anything like McKeesport. Great video.

  • @billwilson6096
    @billwilson6096 Год назад +8

    I see many abandoned decaying buildings but I also notice many shiny late model SUV’s.

  • @reggiedunlop2099
    @reggiedunlop2099 6 месяцев назад +7

    For some reason I watch a lot of these "driving through the worst places" videos, and it never fails to amaze me how you see very decent or even expensive luxury vehicles parked in front of the most dilapidated run-down houses that you could ever imagine.

  • @litaheffley6990
    @litaheffley6990 Год назад +4

    Great 👍 video 👌 thanks sad to see 👀 all the decay

  • @Coffee240
    @Coffee240 Год назад +2

    😱😱😱 some of those run down house's look like ghost lives in them. Scary .

  • @bettybrigance6784
    @bettybrigance6784 7 месяцев назад +1

    The stories that those walls hold......

  • @deborahmacdonald9319
    @deborahmacdonald9319 Год назад +6

    How many homeless and how many destroyed homes.

  • @Danbertex
    @Danbertex Год назад +7

    Really enjoy your clips. Take it to the next level and explore the insides of some of these abandoned homes. That would be fascinating.

  • @leaf1131
    @leaf1131 24 дня назад

    One of my aunts lived in E. McKeesport. I remember visiting her, with my parents,sitting on her porch and watching the lightening bugs; I was around 5 years old. I’m 85 now.

  • @cutty6764
    @cutty6764 Год назад +1

    This is mind-blowing to see.

  • @marial8235
    @marial8235 Год назад +2

    Sadly, most of that housing is too far gone to be rehabbed. I don’t know what you do with the main street section. 🤷🏻‍♀️

  • @rwl8150
    @rwl8150 Год назад +3

    It would be great if you could do these videos in a 360 cam. A magnetic mount on the roof would capture so much more content.

  • @lol_05.76
    @lol_05.76 Год назад +4

    Thank god for public housing (the projects)... @ 3.24 marker.

  • @UmberMalik707
    @UmberMalik707 7 месяцев назад +1

    Why people left? What about city management ...what its doing ?... It feels haunted ...

  • @vadimkorotaev6161
    @vadimkorotaev6161 8 месяцев назад

    lovely places, really inspiring

  • @jamesyman007
    @jamesyman007 Год назад +6

    That was pretty much uninhabited. Are they packing people in the bigger cities? Nice footage. God Bless.

  • @horlos7175
    @horlos7175 Год назад +2

    What is your camera ? Keep up the good work.

  • @lindakloran3247
    @lindakloran3247 11 месяцев назад +4

    So incredibly sad. I remember it when.......sigh.

  • @GK-ku3zv
    @GK-ku3zv 7 месяцев назад +2

    There shouldn't be any property taxes for anyone still there.

  • @lindapietrasz8070
    @lindapietrasz8070 Год назад +3

    08:37 just as you mention the bumpy roads, a slew of destroyed tires appear!

    • @hoodsnhollers
      @hoodsnhollers  Год назад +3

      I felt like the inside of a pinball machine for a good while! I should have brought my rzr and filmed instead!

    • @lindapietrasz8070
      @lindapietrasz8070 Год назад +1

      @@hoodsnhollers
      I'll bet!

  • @lindapietrasz8070
    @lindapietrasz8070 Год назад +3

    Absolutely hate brick and cobblestone roads.

  • @kristinadospoy7347
    @kristinadospoy7347 Год назад +6

    Imagine how many towns like McKeesport are in ruins throughout the entire country.

  • @etandino4136
    @etandino4136 Год назад +3

    It looks like it was abandoned for years

  • @banana_jam_86
    @banana_jam_86 Год назад +5

    Зато учат остальной мир, как жить и что делать.

  • @davidscott3726
    @davidscott3726 11 месяцев назад +1

    Damn 😢

  • @julianaanderson4855
    @julianaanderson4855 8 месяцев назад +3

    Breaks my heart as I grew up in this town.

  • @lindapietrasz8070
    @lindapietrasz8070 Год назад +3

    Thanks!
    Down payment for some struts. This will be last donation for June.

    • @hoodsnhollers
      @hoodsnhollers  Год назад +2

      Thank you so much Linda! After that ride there its definitely getting some upgrades to the hood mobile LOL

  • @monsterglo
    @monsterglo Год назад +13

    Sadly this is happening all over our country, I was born and raised near Reading, PA , mom and dad thankfully moved in the 70's , I have cousins who still reside there, they told me it's sad 😢😢

    • @deborahmacdonald9319
      @deborahmacdonald9319 Год назад +3

      ❤🙏 it has to get better as I can't imagine worse

    • @follyfour506
      @follyfour506 Год назад +1

      We are visiting Philadelphia in September a place called Lansdale . It's nothing like this , what I don't get is how this is allowed to happen.

    • @shirleygiordano7627
      @shirleygiordano7627 10 месяцев назад

      I live near Reading. It's very dangerous. Don't go out after dark. I'm 5 miles away from Reading.

  • @tyronebiggims1613
    @tyronebiggims1613 Месяц назад +1

    Im from over the hill in turtlecreek its looking the same in spots . loved the porch awnings ,the old italian's awalys had them..

  • @jayjaynella4539
    @jayjaynella4539 Год назад +3

    Never seen a city with so many paver base roads. What a shame that the city has gone to the dogs.

  • @effie924
    @effie924 Год назад +3

    Why isn't the state or county in there cleaning this up? It looks like a beautiful area and the need for housing in any state this would be perfect.

    • @richardblayneamerican8149
      @richardblayneamerican8149 Год назад +4

      Nice thought, but it would take a lot of money to do so. Imagine the cost of tearing down and removing just one of those abandoned buildings or homes.

  • @greg2976
    @greg2976 Год назад +6

    Who owns all these properties?

    • @hellsbellez
      @hellsbellez Год назад +3

      Nature 🌱

    • @Curlyloxau
      @Curlyloxau Год назад +1

      Exactly what I am thinking. The land the house stood on, did they sell and move? Who moved in to destroy the place.

  • @thejudgmentalcat
    @thejudgmentalcat Год назад +3

    If this was on the East Coast I'd wonder if I was in Innsmouth 😮

  • @MrTopanga44
    @MrTopanga44 5 месяцев назад +3

    I was born in McK and left (escaped) to California. There were about 55k people there in 1961. I was a fun place to grow up then.

  • @Zodemus
    @Zodemus Год назад +6

    Oh this is out in western PA, that part of the state doesn't even matter.

  • @gabe5946
    @gabe5946 Год назад +4

    So sad, that looks like you are in some other country, but nope that is our 🇺🇸 , just unreal

  • @mohammadelbatniji4448
    @mohammadelbatniji4448 Год назад +1

    the wooded houses by the road too close

  • @ElenorNailsArt
    @ElenorNailsArt Год назад +2

    Міста як люди, народжуються, живуть, квітнуть, старіють і помирають. Природа забирає своє

  • @ckzf1842
    @ckzf1842 Год назад +1

    OMG !! How did this happen?!😮

  • @omenoflaherty1294
    @omenoflaherty1294 Год назад +1

    Michael Myers in the window at 7:00.

  • @UQRXD
    @UQRXD Год назад +3

    What happened. Bad government. They should all be torn down.

  • @frankwoods4532
    @frankwoods4532 Год назад +6

    wow, this is sad. I noticed they have decent cars.

    • @michaelwhite2823
      @michaelwhite2823 Год назад +1

      Exactly

    • @hellsbellez
      @hellsbellez Год назад +2

      Well I imagine the remaining folks try and live normally still...

  • @Bleu-en2bf
    @Bleu-en2bf Год назад +1

    Modern ghost town.

  • @jamesjenkins3384
    @jamesjenkins3384 10 месяцев назад +1

    Readymade movie set for a walking dead movie.

  • @teresaallen3045
    @teresaallen3045 Год назад +2

    What town is this I western pa

  • @groofoot
    @groofoot Год назад +1

    0:19 = Ohh no, Kitties!! 8,-(

  • @SpettroFamily
    @SpettroFamily Год назад +4

    Normal streets with nice cars and SUV, you turn the corner and it's war - what could be the solution here ?

  • @savykoshy4511
    @savykoshy4511 11 месяцев назад +1

    I wonder where all the people are gone.

  • @dennisherskowitz773
    @dennisherskowitz773 Месяц назад

    My family left in 1970, just before the decline started. Saw so many homes I used to pass and so many empty lots that had homes on them at one time. Sure the reasons and blame can go around but McKeesport is dead and it isn't coming back. There are a few nice sections, Myer Park, Christy Park, and White Oak (not part of the city) but I don't see it coming back.
    Life is great here in ATL with lots of jobs, homes, apartments, traffic, lots of stuff to do and many sports teams.
    But we do not have affordable housing or a good mass transit system; but we have the world's busiest airport.

  • @almarowley2370
    @almarowley2370 Год назад +1

    Lot of the houses got X on and what's that mean

  • @michaeljcurry
    @michaeljcurry 5 месяцев назад +1

    So many formerly grand homes.

  • @deborahmacdonald9319
    @deborahmacdonald9319 Год назад +1

    ❤️

    • @hoodsnhollers
      @hoodsnhollers  Год назад +1

      Thank you Deborah! Youre awesome I appreciate it so much! I hope youre ok up there in Canada, its a little smokey here over 2000 Miles away from ya!

  • @peterveldman9498
    @peterveldman9498 4 месяца назад

    Behind the Church was a giant Aldi supermarket

  • @lybra175
    @lybra175 Год назад +1

    Well,the trees should be cut in many places.

  • @lovemusic1963ify
    @lovemusic1963ify Год назад +1

    Former president John F. Kennedy made a stop in McKeesport on October 13th, 1962and gave a speech if anyone wants to google that.

  • @DeOndertoon
    @DeOndertoon Год назад +1

    👍😎

  • @glenngeeful
    @glenngeeful Год назад +2

    What's so dangerous? That something might collapse on you or .....

    • @hoodsnhollers
      @hoodsnhollers  Год назад +6

      Violent crime is 295% over the national average
      Property crime is 40% over the national average
      Robbery/Burglary is 2x higher than the national average
      It has a crime index of 2, which means 98% of other US cities are safer
      It was ranked #4 Most dangerous city in America a few years ago

    • @Earl_Richter
      @Earl_Richter 11 месяцев назад

      @@hoodsnhollers This is the information I was looking for. Thanks! Hard to believe such a quiet (seemingly) place has such an issue with crime. Almost seemed ideal if someone could move into one of the few remaining nice areas but not with that kind of crime around them. New subscriber here. Really enjoying your videos.

  • @itiswhatitis7639
    @itiswhatitis7639 11 месяцев назад

    If those old houses could talk…

  • @nancywysemen7196
    @nancywysemen7196 Год назад +1

    where do collapsing homes go? landfill.....up in smoke....

  • @mrrol5212
    @mrrol5212 Год назад +2

    i can only imagine the lives of families who lived here...at one time it would have been good, enjoyable. Alas times do change., Sad to see. Thanks for the text you add to your vids too!

  • @brokenglass849
    @brokenglass849 Месяц назад

    It's a shame these towns have fallen into ruin. The high crime will keep it from ever being turned around.

  • @hellsbellez
    @hellsbellez Год назад +5

    Y'all, we are seeing what the rest of our country will soon become as wages stagnant and jobs keep moving overseas.

  • @shellybliese9610
    @shellybliese9610 Год назад +2

    This is heartbreaking to see. 😢

  • @deborahmacdonald9319
    @deborahmacdonald9319 Год назад +2

    🙏 you are so brave 😳

  • @deborahmacdonald9319
    @deborahmacdonald9319 Год назад +11

    I can just imagine the great men who built those great homes to have a generation destroy them.

  • @BobRooney290
    @BobRooney290 21 день назад

    i feel sad for all the people that were forced to abandon their homes. it is not an easy thing to lose. and it's not that far from a major city. not sure why the downfall.

  • @adileddhbi3683
    @adileddhbi3683 Год назад +1

    Are abandoned homes possible for anyone to own?

    • @johngreen3543
      @johngreen3543 11 месяцев назад

      The banks probably own the property.

  • @deborahmacdonald9319
    @deborahmacdonald9319 Год назад +2

    😳 👀

  • @wendym.7648
    @wendym.7648 Год назад +17

    This entire country is crumbling.

  • @deborahmacdonald9319
    @deborahmacdonald9319 Год назад +3

    😮 Hola 😞

  • @MrHorse-by3mp
    @MrHorse-by3mp Год назад +3

    If you can believe it President Kennedy stopped here to make a speech during his 1960 election campaign.

  • @lafawnodon1889
    @lafawnodon1889 7 месяцев назад

    "They Need A Real Estate Appraiser/Adjuster Renovation Is Needed On Thee Homes Looks From Where I Sit Sturdy Internal/Foundation Need To Know But Seems Like Most Can Be Saved!!!'😊😊😊

  • @Livingdeadinnz
    @Livingdeadinnz Год назад +1

    That would have been a gorgeous once 10:52

  • @joeyDi8764
    @joeyDi8764 9 месяцев назад

    A lot more hoods worse in Pittsburgh.. Northside, Hill Homewood, Southside Eastside Westside Northside

    • @hoodsnhollers
      @hoodsnhollers  9 месяцев назад

      I did those. I’ll have it uploaded in a week or two

  • @UmberMalik707
    @UmberMalik707 7 месяцев назад

    ...haunted

  • @steveverdoo1859
    @steveverdoo1859 Месяц назад

    dam, I guess Braddock ain't so bad after all.

  • @user-ze5ji1lx8g
    @user-ze5ji1lx8g 17 дней назад

    Actually, I enjoyed there was no commentary or music. It was straight video and I enjoyed it for once without music or someone talking.

  • @lindapietrasz8070
    @lindapietrasz8070 Год назад +2

    I'm moving the end of August. Maybe I should consider moving back to Pennsylvania. 🙄