Danville Realtor here: If you were trying to prove our entire town is full of blight, I believe you failed. 95% of the houses shown in this video are actually pretty well maintained. Yes, we have some abandoned factories left over from the local economy transitioning from manufacturing to service businesses, but what town in the rust belt doesn’t? You also found our one housing project, Fair Oaks, that is located on the east (not south) side of town. But you failed to mention that the city just demolished several buildings in that complex and has applied to HUD to raze more in an attempt to reduce the amount of high density subsidized housing. Danville also has been aggressively demolishing condemned houses at a rate of about 100 per year, keeping our housing quality from deteriorating further. Recent good news for Danville that you failed to mention is the $80 million Carle Hospital development just announced, of course the $250 million casino that will be started within the year, the new hotels, restaurants, and retail stores that will soon follow, in addition to numerous other big box retail stores already added recently such as Kohl’s, Meijer, etc. The one area you nailed is that Danville is one of the cheapest housing markets in the country, in fact, you can achieve 12-15% cash on cash rates of return on rental property in Danville. The smart money is rotating out of highly appreciated markets with low cap rates, and into markets such as Danville with low prices and high cap rates. Sell high buy low!
Where is the casino tax revenue supposed to go? And where will it realistically go? I don't mean that in a snarky way- I grew up near Danville and now live near a town like Danville (rust belt) that has a casino. The casino was struggling and the community in Anderson, Indiana continues to struggle, too. I pray it helps in Danville-it would be nice to see it back to the nice town it was.
Rebecca Hollingsworth The tax revenue it goes to the state, county, and city. I heard it is projected to increase Danville’s revenue by about $9,000,000 the first year I believe, and grow in subsequent years.
Danville is a shithole now. And it will never come back alive. I grew up in danville and all me and my family seen was nothing but declining in jobs and high crime. Danville was great when i was a kid. We use to be able to play when the street lights were on and neighbors we actually neighbors sitting outside watching kids play and chatting with other neighbors. Now people are scared to come out side.
I live in Danville..he’s spot on with the crime..Illinois is the state of high taxes and high crime ran by corrupt fraudulent politicians for decades...and the schools..forget about it!
I can't believe people think this is the "ghetto", haha.. This is NOTHING compared to the ghettos of Flint and Detroit.. I can take you places in Detroit that police haven't been in 25 years because they're too scared..
Man these were the streets I grew up on for a lot of my life. He actually drove past a house I once lived in. There’s actually rougher areas than where he went. Some of those places use to be so great and really good for families. He ain’t lying tho. It’s crazy to go back to and see the steady decline. Praying for my peoples out that way.
This also my hometown. Things went downhill once people from Chicago moved there. I lived on Jackson. My brother still lives in the house we grew up in.
I live there now its gona be hard there are shooters near the park drugs everywhere I've seen it myself drugs murder well gunshots but Danville is a hopeless city the city council is bad the people are bad not all but many and the amount of garbage like Chicago was bad but Danville is bad for a small town it sucks the taxes keep getting higher and it's hard living in Danville with just drugs and shooters everywhere there was an armed robbery at the walmart Danville is hopeless...😭 I wana move...
when I tried living up in these areas, it sure felt depressing. I thought it just got some getting used to. Plus, much less daylight & grey overcast skys,
I lived on the east end of Danville for years and because of the shootings my children and I spent a lot of nights sleeping on the floor, praying the stray bullets would not hit us. I patched too many bullet holes in my house to count. You said something in this video I've been saying for years...Do a crime in Chicago, run to Danville. Do a crime in Danville, run to Chicago. Now I live on the south side of town and the shootings are starting to move this direction. The casino they are going to put in might "help" the economy, but the crime is only gonna get worse.
@@crazeyjoeIt's always been that way in this country. Adapt or fail. It is up to you. When automobiles became the norm nobody cried over the guys who made horse harnesses and horse shoes and said, gee, someone needs to retrain them, Henry Ford cost them their jobs. They learned a different skill and the world moved on. Those with gumption make it. Those who sit and complain and want others to make things right for them will not.
@@DoubleDogDare54 one of the reasons I ended my career in The Culinary world is because they undercut and are willing to work for next to nothing, I'm not going to turn myself inside out for a few bucks.. Talking about moving I know retirees who are move out of the US so they can afford to live.. This is country has been sold out! less industry and less innovation with higher and higher taxes.
Why did you only show the poverty stricken areas? Danville also has mansions and beautiful neighborhoods. Nature preserves. A big beautiful lake. Yes we have our struggles here but we also have our beauty.
I hope everyone here who is bitching about the way I portrayed their community actually is doing their part to change things in Danville. Are you? Cause there's a lot of armchair quarterbacks in this comment section.
These arguements about the upsides of the city hold no weight. When the foundation is cracked no amount of pretty exterior is going to make it worth more. I live in an even smaller town in the same state and we have a "rich person area" with mansions and nice parks, great sprawling forests and hills, some nice bluffs with a great view, a few national landmarks, but no one cares at all for any of that because the town is littered with bars and crime. Ignoring the downsides of your city is just going to choke it out faster, it is like putting make-up on top of skin cancer. You may be able to ignore it and not notice it, but eventually it will get so bad it will be impossible to ignore, and too deep seeded to remove, and by then it is far to late and death is assured.
@@gracelynnhedgecock6926 It seems like he mostly stayed near the East end of town and didn't touch the Northern part of town or even much of Downtown. He pretty much just showed the worst of it. What's not shown is the booming Businesses like Thyssenkrupp, McLane, Sigma, Watchfire, Etc. This video is pretty biased and focuses on the crap to get views and attention, which is obviously working.
Danville is my hometown and we are all very sad that it has continued downhill for many years. You accurately showed the run down, crime ridden areas, however, you missed the beautiful old homes, still well taken care of, around Lincoln Park. You also missed the areas in North Danville where there are amazing, safe, family friendly neighborhoods. Also, let’s not forget, part of why small town Illinois has gone down hill.....the corrupt politics. Everyone go visit Custard Cup, Royal Donut and Mad Goat Coffee!!
so what is the primary commerce in D.Ville? is it farming or factories. what factory is still there? what industry feeds into the system besides Chicago coke? M. Illinois
@@mwatts-riley2688 IDOC! Lots of people work at Danville correctional center. Prob the best paying job. And when they closed down Cabrini green housing in Chi-Raq that’s where most came to, to Danville and fuc$ed it up ever since
Man, I respect your work and effort to show people how life is for the one's who struggle. I've lived in Illinois for over 40yrs and it's become really hard to stomach living in this state. It's pretty bad when the Governor of the state you live in doesn't even wanna live in it
Born/raised in Danville, IL. Left the town after high school graduation. This is what happens when Chicago politicians suck all of the jobs and investment spending from the state. The rest of the state suffers. Very sad.
@@dannydan1931 What part of Elgin is bad?... I would go to the Grand Victory casino is that near the bad part of Elgin?...usually casinos are in bad areas to suck the money from the poor.
the crime is bad but the town is not this depressing. the melting snow makes it look bad but in the summer, the grass is bright green and there’s brightly colored flowers and trees lining the streets, there’s kids laughing and walking home from school. Danville is filled with kind people that don’t get the attention the crime does. Yeah it needs some work but it’s not the worst place to live. I live in a small town outside of danville and i’m in love with it.
This comment was three years ago, but in my area there are no kids laughing, it is as depressing as it seems. Nice houses, but ruined by all the gunfire
Without naming the town my family is from in Illinois, it is very similar to Danville. I love these small towns that brought so much happiness and joy to me growing up. The simple beauty of the area and people still offers me fond memories. Fireflies in the summer with people talking on their porches. Traditional Americana at its best. True, today may have changed in some areas but I would feel proud to call Danville my home. Small town feeling with lots of civic pride.
Grew up there from 1994 to 2007, this place has nothing, stores and malls closing, factories laying people off and shutting down. Most of the people who work in Danville do not live there. There are alot of small rural towns outside of Danville that provide better schools and housing, which makes the commute worth it.
patrick byrd Exactly. My mom works in Danville but we would never live there. The schools are bad, and the crime is so high. Danville is the prime example of a depressing city. There’s almost an aura over Danville.
I really love how you went through the really shitty parts of this 18.11mi² town and completely ignored the state parks, 2 lakes, the high school, and nicer SIDES(being that you stayed on one side)of town. The small area you went through is the only bad area.
Also, it's cheaper to live in Clinton, Hoopeston, and Hillsboro. Do not know about the rest because I've only discussed this with 3 separate friends but I do know they're cheaper than Danville and are all in Illinois
if u want to tour a small town in illinois for it being getto and full of drugs and filth go to watseka .il is north on rt 1 from danville . go pass bismack , hoopston rosville then go till u cant go anymore make a left into watseka .
Should have gone through Cairo, IL as well. Was a boom town back in the day as it is right by two rivers. Now it’s mostly abandoned houses and businesses.
You could have also driven through Charleston, MO while near Cairo. Charleston is the worst place to live in Missouri in one of your videos. Lol. Also where I live.
You right! I have family that live right outside of Cairo Illinois in a small town call Urbandale. Cairo used to be booming back in the 90's but now, it's just a mere shadow of it's former self. I'm from southern illinois myself as well.
This is my hometown. It’s so sad to see it like this. It was still thriving when I was a child. I’ve witnessed firsthand how badly things have gone downhill. Break my heart
@@Edgeoftown Dude what kind of question is this. blacks don't ruin cities. lack of management and neglect ruins cities. this city is like this because of, probably, rich politician that only care about themselves. all Americans are hurting right now. if we're going to get over we have to work together man.
@@asfasfd7772 all a smoke screen. the rich have been doing this for hundreds of years. the leaders made bad economic decisions and the poor people are paying for it. Trust me dude, the rich politicians are the problem. Heck, drugs wouldn't even be here if not for the rich politicians.
I go to Danville every other month to quilt. I’ve never had any problems in spite of being in a poorer part of town.There are some very nice Victorian homes in Danville too. I meet a group of ladies. We go everywhere in the town and have lots of fun. We have to have empathy for the people who can’t repair their houses. They are living in poverty and doing the best they can. I always feel sad when I see holes in roofs and houses in disrepair. It’s an OK town.
I used to live in a place like this as well, affordable but relatively safe. Two streets over from me started a neighborhood that looked ghetto and scary. I would never walk there but was told that the people living there were just very poor but decent factory folks. A school was in the area, and children routinely walked home to my street from there.
"Lincoln Park, known for its crime". You recorded Friendly Town, where our police teach children traffic safety and how to be better citizens. Know what's on the other side of Friendly Town? The bandstand where we put on plays and concerts every year. No, our town isn't perfect. But many of us still have pride in our town. And if you only drive through one or two neighborhoods that are rundown, in the middle of winter, of course you're gonna make us look terrible. Drive through actual downtown. See the Fischer Theatre (freshly remodeled ty) or highlight the Walldog murals. Drive north and see all the nice houses (watch out for holiday dragons on North Vermillion). Head just outside the city to one of our two parks. Lovely drives, even in the winter. Go see our community college. But hey, that might take more that 15 minutes to highlight anything good in our town.
@@NickJohnson already do. We had a trap house across the street two years ago. I got sick and tired of their business and kept on the cops about it. I've seen maybe one cop on my street since they moved out. The tweakers get chased off by neighbors. Now if we can get the town to remove a couple of empty dilapidated houses, we would be a nice little couple of blocks. And right next to a high school to boot! The trick is many people don't bug their landlords in this town to fix issues until it is too late. And many of those houses you drove by were slum lords. Mine is not the greatest, but with enough pressure they will do their job. We all just need to do our part to try and make this town a better place.
I’m originally from Champaign- Urbana, Illinois. Danville has always been a rough, blue- collar town. The town never recovered from losing it’s GM plant. Up until the late 1950s it had a well- known red light district. It is one of those bleak little towns that it slowly dying. Rantoul, Illinois, is very similar. Up until 1993 it had Chanute Airforce base. The town never recovered from losing the base.
I’ve lived here my whole life and what your showing here isn’t 100%..you damn near drove all of downtown which is basically all run down but didn’t drive up Vermillion near all the nice properties like basically every house starting after the YMCA....you must not of known your way around or something because I can make a video that will make it look completely opposite including the areas you covered..I agree there is a lot of stores that have been closed and the worst of it is our mall which is dead..but at the same time we’ve had a massive increase in new franchises and restaurants pop up within the past 5 years...you didn’t even drive across lake vermillion that’s where your 225k to million dollar homes are. And rent and houses aren’t as cheap as you say they are...our apartments here cost 750 to 900 a month..and for a family of 2 living here that’s quite a lot. When I seen the thumbnail and read your title I knew exactly were you were taking people..Danville like every single other city has the good side of town and the bad side....I’m just sad that this is what you think of Danville..idk why I’m so defensive maybe it’s just because I live here or what but I love this city it will always be my home.
@@NickJohnson this doesn't motivate change. This motivates anger from the people of Danville! The ones that actually live here! We are the ones who motivate change, not some person who drives through the east end and thinks that 10 minutes of the worst part of a town is what we have to offer! Shame on you!
myannec Hi there. I grew up there. Graduated high school in 1980 and moved out in 1983. I would never, ever live there again. The crime is rampant and rising. Chicago has taken over and slumlords from all over, even out of state are buying up the good homes, even some Victorian homes and turning them into section 8 apartment houses. I remember what it used to be and see what it is now. It a dangerous town. The mayor and city council need too attract manufacturers and high tech companies and kick Chicago and all section 8 housing out. Then Danville would have a fighting chance. Good luck.
@@heavenlyguitar5913 the fact that you haven't lived here for 25+ years is very telling. You hear things about the town, but you don't know about the town other than that. Visiting every once in a while is one thing, but living here is completely different. My family has been here for generations, living in different areas of the town. We have always taken pride in our town of Danville. My children are being raised here. They love their town and take pride in it. Our Mayor and our city council are doing amazing things alongside of the citizens of this town! To belittle what we are all trying to do here is just wrong! Maybe you should come visit and sit in on some of the council meetings, take a drive through the old downtown area, check out Lincoln Park in the summer, take in one of the many offerings at the fully restored Fischer Theater, support our hockey team and our baseball team during their seasons, our public and private schools events. Check out what the local churches and downtown are doing. Summer sounds, the Farmers Market that takes place all year now, the community clean up days, the habitat volunteers, the parades, community picnics. There are celebrations all over this whole town! So many coming together! Why tear all of that down?!
myannec I was born in Danville and my family moved to central FL when I was six. Every time I visit I can’t quit thinking THANK FUCKING GOD. Custard cup is the city’s only redeeming quality. My dad lives there half the year and there was a shootout in front of his house on the “good” side of town a couple months ago.
Well, being from Danville, I can say you're pretty spot on. The town is depressing. You drove past the High School, if you would've went down North Jackson the street on the left, you would've seen a few more houses that are abandoned or overgrown and decaying slowly.
It gets worse the farther south in Illinois you go. If you want to show a place that is REALLY depressing, check out Cairo, Illinois, at the extreme southern end of the state. Most of the town looks like an excerpt of a Fallout video game.
I live in Illinios and Danville isn’t what it used to be. A huge factory that employed many people left right after that horrible NAFTA bill was signed. Illinois is a dying state. Chicago destroyed it long ago. Like many people, I plan on leaving.
you are so correct eric. i lived in danville for a good part of my life . im 64 now and its sad to see it destroyed like it is . i grew up down the street from fairoaks and it wasnt bad back then but now i wouldnt live there again for nothing.
@@NickJohnson agreed. There are three airports in North America, I do not fly in to. Chicago O'Hare is one of them. I'm at loss for any suggestions for Illinois. Perhaps change the name of Illinois to something new. The crime and violence in Chicago is unreal and even unspeakable. Illinois does have the word " ill " in it. A name change could help.
How incredibly rude to come into our hometown, and purposely highlight only the negative. Our town has its downfalls but it’s not definitely not “dying”. If you would have driven a couple minutes north you would have seen beautiful homes. If you would have talked to the people here you would heard a different story than you told. Every town has a “bad” part but it doesn’t mean the whole town is that way.
I have lived in Danville my entire life, 23 years, you made it look like a terrible town. You only went to the bad parts of Danville. What about Vermillion street? With all the shops and businesses? Walmart? Meijer? Kohls? Tj maxx? The houses on the North end of town? How about all the farms that are on the outer parts of the city? You’re not showing the truth, you’re not showing all the good. You’re showing the bad because it gets you views and likes. If Danville is so violent, how come you didn’t experience any fights, shootings, or a robbery? All towns have good parts and bad parts. Try and see the good sometime.
Tera_bear I feel you. They also made a point to show it in the dead buttcrack of winter which can make any Illinois town look hideous and in a state of despair.
Those stores are the highlight of the town lmao omg set your standards higher lol I left there 20 years ago best decision I made wake up people you live in a garbage can
Tommy Pettigrew glad you left. I hope that you’re life was made better by it . But do not say the entire town is garbage . Also those are not the highlight those stores were just a few . You have to remember it’s a small town .
i grew up in danville been there most my life . im 64 yrs old and its terrible now . use to be a boomimg town till they brought the prison in . it destroyed danville .yes vermillion street has shops and so on but the rest of the town has gone down hill .i came home in march 2019 for my dads funeral and i about had a baby looking and seeing danville like it is now .sad sad sad to see that once beautiful booming town ran down like it is .
Jeannine Keller my entire point was that he only showed the worst parts of Danville . He knows nothing of the good . Sounds like not many of you do either .
Hi Nick, just recently subscribed to your wonderful channel after seeing your video on the city where I was born and grew up, Toronto. I have checked out other videos that you have done and love them. Keep up the fantastic and intriguing work!
@@NickJohnson Thanks for your reply Nick, much appreciated. I am a fan of free thinkers, logic, common sense, open minded discussion, competence, hard work, and not a person who gets their feelings hurt by facts, and most of all, I don't have a problem admitting if I am wrong about something and taking ownership of it. Therefore, I would not be considered a die hard liberal lol There are a more than a few of us still here in Canada believe it or not. :) I guess you could also say that I didn't vote for our current Prime Minister either. But I digress...
Ooohhhh my home town Danville Illinois I was born and raise in Danville it was not like that when i was there and i be gone almost 20 year and somebody tell me my home town got worst damn.
That’s what he failed to show. Also, disregard the comment above. Danville High School ranks in both academics and athletics. If he would have drove down Jackson street, you would be able to see the high school and newly developed Track stadium.
I lived in Danville for 32 years of my life. It used to be a great place to call home, but as stated in the video the town has steadily declined and drugs, gangs, and unemployment has driven people out. There are some good parts of Danville it's not all bad, its who you chose to surround yourself with and your life choice. I left in 2010 to give my kids a chance at a better life and it was the best decision I ever made. Even tho Danville has it's good parts the bad out way it. Once you are able to leave and look from the outside in tou will see truly how bad Danville has gotten.
I hit your inside fastball to the basketball courts at Garfield 25 years ago n u got me chasing a curve. I adjusted next AB n hit that curve down the first base line and barely called safe at third for a triple... But I missed 2nd base n u appealed to 2nd n ump called me out. Still to this day I wish I would have just tried to steal home just to see how it would have played out instead of just waiting on 3rd wandering if anybody saw me miss 2nd. Good play dude
I live here now and I want to escape this trap of just overwhelming pressure but that'll still be a while because of our situation but it's not forever I hope
Very sad, and the poignant music suits it well. Glad you didn't get stuck in some of those ice patches, Nick! The community reminds me of several in New York state
You don’t know anything about this town. That’s why you had to do the interview in the winter when everything looks dead. Don’t try and speak on a town that you only know a little about.
Can you check out Oswego, Illinois. It's about 2 hours and 47 minutes from Dansville. Used to live in Oswego the 80's. Population back then was about 3,100 people.
Thank you so much for your recent tours of Danville and East St. Louis. 2 things I can now check off my bucket list. It is very sad to see once prosperous towns become total bleep holes.
East St. Louis has been a $#*! hole for decades. The kind of place you drove past on the interstate and prayed your car didn't break down, because if it did, you'd be a goner.
@@DoubleDogDare54 it's funny you say that. Our alternator went out on our minivan as we crossed the bridge into St. Louis. I still get chills thinking what if it broke down 2-3 miles earlier.
GM closed in 1996. That is over 20 years ago, its time to MOVE ON. Danville has over 10 factories/distribution centers. Half of them are UNION So stop acting like GM was be-all end-all.
I grew up in a small town 20 minutes away from Danville, IL. In the early 90's it was a nice city to visit and enjoy. I can't even imagine living there now. Such a shame!
Early 90s they still had big GM plant supplying jobs and decent way of life. After GM closed circa 95/96 Like Indianapolis town nosedived crime came in and really still has not recovered
You stayed on one side of town. Didn’t bother heading up north at all. And it’s winter. Everything already looks cold and depressing. Most of those houses are fine it’s just snow
ToOblivion&Beyond I thought the same thing. Any town in Illinois can look like utter crap if you videotape it in the dead of winter. Come back in the summer and put a happy music track on the vid & over half of the viewers wouldn’t understand why they are even showing the video.
The Title states that “I drove through a sad depressing small town in IL and this is it” When in fact it isn’t it. You drove through the bad side of town. The best way to accurately analyze things is by looking at the complete picture. The bad part of anything can be easily found. A video like this could be formulated anywhere. Drive through LA and skip Beverly Hills and ride straight through a bad neighborhood and let that be your assessment of that area. Drive through New York and skip Fifth Avenue and drive through yet another bad neighborhood and let that be your assessment of that area. Do you get my point? Assess the whole thing, not just one part of it.
There is no nice part of Danville, unless you count the areas where the violent crime rate is only 3 times higher than the state average instead of 4 times higher.
To everyone saying he stayed on the east end you are wrong because at 2:31 he drives past where my old plug used to live lol and that's on the west north west side of town on other side of Gilbert north of main Street. And no there isn't any actual "good side" of Danville all the big time plugs live on the north side which is what people try to claim the "good side" when it's actually not it's just that the "OG's" don't allow the violence in their area so it gets taken to the east end or to the oaks to be delt with. The cops and judges are in the pockets of the gangs and so is the mayor. I'm glad I was able to get out of this shit excuse of a town before it got to bad
I’m from Danville as well as my entire family. I always remember Danville as a crime And drug infested Community. What’s not mentioned in the video is the multiple housing project closed in Chicago and the residents were bussed to Danville skyrocketing the crime, violence and drugs. It was already a small struggling economy that got worse by this tactic. Then the majority of people worked in factories that pumped toxins into the the air causing many people to get cancer and die leaving many families left without the income brought in from those family members. It’s sad to see demise to that degree. Danville was in the top 5 most dangerous cities in America in recent years. So sad!
Basically all the wealth of the country is being drained into a small number of metropolitan areas like NYC, Washington, LA, Bay Area, Houston, Austin, Seattle and Boston.
The low wage workers that are stuck in those cities struggle insanely just to get by sometimes working three jobs to stay afloat. Middle class people there are dying to get away. Me personally I live north of NYC and can't wait to move away. The NYC metro is a hellhole and the rest of NY cities are dying slow deaths
Hi Nick, I lived in Danville from age 3-22. This is a decent video of many hard facts about the community. Jokes on you about my terrible childhood home not being on the video because it caught fire, though! But in all seriousness, I want to make mention that it has aspects to it that are uniquely beautiful. A drive down Vermilion St. showcases century-old mansions that are kept nicely. It also has a close proximity to county and state parks and there's a lake it sits next to. I'd say Danville is about half bad, and half good. There's a large swath of the community that's really unsafe. It's certainly worth a look when on the topic of depressed communities. I'll concede that. But it's got a lot of beauty, and I want others to know about it. :D
I agree about the beauty of the area. But people can't live on beauty. If this place could be what it was, I would not mind living there in retirement. I think the city reached it's peak just before they cut out the concrete that use to cover what is now road on Vermillion from main a few blocks in with just one cross road. Can't remember the names now.
Wow I'm surprised you went there. I live in Champaign which is just west on I-74 from Danville. I've met many people from Danville and it's true most of them say it sucks. I've only been to Danville a handful of times and in the spring and summer it looks a bit better. Anyways, great video!!
looks worse because its wintertime...but a town like danville has so much potential. give tenants a year's notice and then start with demolishing fair oaks.
This was the last year I drove through Danville, but it was during the summer of 2019. I have driven through there every year for the last 40 years. A good friend of mine from my teen years used to live there. I have bicycled through there a few times when I was cross-country cycling in the 70s. I breaks my heart to see what has happened to Danville. You try to make things nice for people and they don't care. They don't appreciate it and don't take care of what is provided to them. Many smaller towns in Illinois have fallen to this demise.
I grew up around Danville. It’s declined so much in the past few years, and it’s sad. The amount of crime is disturbing. So many young lives are taken through violence here and I wish there was hope for this town, but I seriously doubt it. I truly pray for the residence who live here still.
Yea u grew up around danville but did u live in Danville ..... Danville is not that bad i promise yea violence and drugs are here but they are everywhere
I live in Metropolis, IL and it looks like this but im from Kingsport, TN where population is growing and new buidings and shoppings centers are built all the time. If a building is old they tear it down and build something new. I have been in Metropolis for 2 years and it seems all the towns are the product of the 70's and 80's run down and people have moved away like a ghost town and it does make you depressed. I had to move here because im disabled and working on that here, so when i get my disability im moving
a worldwide pandemic courtesy of chyna and political corruptuon as far as the eye can see oh yeah and the ushering in of socialism and government takeover and a stolen election it was fantastic 😳
I grew up in Danville in the 70/80s. It was a nice place to live. Lots of things to do. Now, I can't even stand to drive through there anymore on my way to see family. It's so depressing.
Thanks for the presentation: I lived in Danville from '02 to '09. I lived on North Gilbert St and worked at the VA Med Ctr. I moved on to northern IL in '09 where I grew up however, because of mismanaged funding of IL State Legislators, I headed for TX in 2014 and haven't looked back. The circle of poverty and crime is everywhere. Thanks again and be blessed, Ms. P! (Army Strong)
BRIGGS I am sorry to tell you this but the fact that you are correlating printing money to industries going away and a basic change in the economy is absurd. Get out of this bitcoin racket and stop risking your money on a phony market. Danville and almost every other small town will continue to fail because there are not enough jobs to go around and the fact that most Americans have no employable skill.
This town had the opportunity to grab the new Honda facility that's now in Greensburg, Indiana. Approximately 2300 jobs that could have benefited the Danville area, but the state officials, or whoever, couldn't make the deal happen. The whole state is sadly becoming what you see here. I'm glad I left when I did. Breaks my heart to see this.....
I used to live in Lafayette,Indiana right over the border,before I joined the Navy. Went to Danville or through it a good amount. Was always amazed at how much nicer all the towns and cities were then Danville on the Indiana side.
Yea, when you take the highway along the middle area just past the border, there are some small communities that are just rundown. Kind of depressing but people still live there somehow
I just moved out of Danville. I didn’t like it too much, but it really isn’t as bad as this video seems. He is just going through the bad parts of the town. Granted, I moved out for a reason and could not see myself living here for the rest of my life. But it will always be my home, and they are really trying to build it up better.
"External depreciation" is considered permanent in real estate. You might not live long enough to see it get better, if it ever does. And if the governor said it's OK for crackheads to hang out on your lawn, it's only going to get worse, unless you get a Rottweiler.
Hey Nick, I liked how you rolled through the stop sign while driving behind the projects! You what to see a really sad city checkout Kankakee, Illinois. A store in their “bad mall” sold items with the “logos” of street organizations already printed on them. 😮
My house is in this. That neighborhood isn't even that bad and part of those houses you filmed are set for demolition anyway. You completely didn't even film the wonderful parts of Danville. Every city has its bad parts
You should have drove through my hometown, westville, which is right outside of Danville. Now THAT is a tiny run down community. We have been known to have the most bars per square foot in the US, definitely an interesting drive through as well as Danville
KawaiiRudraChan OwO - To answer my own question, Alexander County (the southernmost of Illinois’ 102 counties) had a population drop of 26% from 2010 through 2018. It only had 8,238 people in 2010; that fell to 6,060 people in 2018.
I was born and raised in Danville. It used to be ok but as I got older the threats were greater and we ended up moving to a smaller town about 15 mins away called Catlin. We still ventured to Danville but stayed in the better areas. I agree that it used to be good but I also saw the unfortunate decline in the town. It’s sad.
@Nick Johnson I love how your talking stuff about my town when you can't tell the different from the south and the east I have lived here my whole life and I cant believe you make a video just trying to show the bad and nothing about the good you never show the north or talk about all the business you show up when its winter how about you show up during summer cause any town looks bad during the winter we have wonderful buildings in this town
I travel for business quite a bit and Danville is one of the more depressing towns I've ever been in. The GM plant closing back in 1996 really hurt the town and it's never really recovered since then. On a positive note, weed is now legal in Illinois and the town was just given a license for a casino. Decatur is another town you should check out as it's pretty much just a bigger version of Danville.
I replied to another, I sure thought the GM plant closed in the 80s. Maybe they just cut production so much that most of the people I knew that worked there got laid off. That was the beginning of the end.
@@williamhermann6635 Alcohol causes way more damage. Do you know anyone dead from pot? I don't. It's easier to take it or leave it. Besides, do you remember what they tried in 1920-1933? Google it and how that worked out. I don't drink btw, and I'll take mellow weed smokers over angry destructive drunks any day.
i grew up in danville and it was a booming city full of hope love and factories but now its sad place to be. i wish it would grow back again .i see my moms home its down from fairoaks . i grew up in this neighbor hood .fairoaks use to be housing for the military years ago .my heart just breaks too see this . i came home to danville in march an i was in a state of shock to see it .
Wow umm. This is horrible. Danville isn’t great, but you fail to mention a single good thing about it. Also, it’s a beautiful place in the summer, but of course it looks bad in the winter. What place in Illinois doesn’t look sad without leaves covered in spotty snow? First off, there’s a facebook page called This Is Danville Too, that shows all the beauty you failed to point out. I highly recommend people go check that out. Also, there’s still beautiful parades on Main Street, there’s a recently renovated theatre space downtown, there’s a very beautiful park on the north side that hosts kids soccer in the warmer months. Lincoln park holds a county wide Art festival the goes on for a couple days in the summer, and it has an outdoor theatre that you can go see a show for free once a year. It’s not a great place but there are people out there trying to help, including the mayor, and this video puts the town in such an awful light.
this is basically what every town in Illinois looks like. i lived a little bit north of Danville for the majority of my life and everywhere has gone down hill in central Illinois. there are a few niche stores downtown but for the most part there's nothing but dilapidated houses everywhere.
I live here. 😭 it’s so saddening to see what this place has come to. Whether it’s the drugs, guns, etc, some people are scared to go outside due to the fear of dying. It’s really depressing living here, it really does take a tole on your mental health. “The worst part of town” is literally where I live..
Hi, I am from Aurora, Illinois YEARS ago, both of my mom and dad's family are from Aurora, IL. Today, no one in my family lives in Aurora, IL anymore. Hi from Tennessee.
This does look like Middletown. We have horrible roads here. Seems like all surrounding areas are doing better(Westchester,Monroe,Centreville). There are new homes being built just on the outskirts though.
I was born there lived within 20 miles of it my first 20 years. A large contributing factor is that the civic leadership in the city has always been short sighted and the city has suffered for it.
I live in this town, born and raised in Danville. I wish that you would of went into the deeper areas of crime and poverty, most of the areas you went were rough but weren’t what makes Danville one of the worst places to live. That being said thank you for showcasing our city and hopefully this helps grow and develop it into the city we all want. Thank you
Nick Johnson There are hundreds of people motivated to enact change in Danville way before this little negative video!!! The amount of community outreach programs, projects, and volunteerism are a testament to just that. Some of those include Community Action, Peer Court, CASA, Habitat for Humanity, Project Success, DACC tutor training in the Correctional Center, Soul Garden Recovery Center, Crosspoint, AMBUCS, Laura Lee Fellowship, the Rape Crisis Center, Salvation Army, Red Cross, Keep Vermillion County Beautiful, food drives and soup kitchens, the Boys and Girls club, United Way, YFRC, Danville Rescue Mission, programs for children at the public library, all the outreach Danville Area Community College does for students AND the public, the list goes on and on!!!!! It’s pretty big of you to come here and make assumptions about the people in an entire city as though we don’t see or acknowledge the problems that we have, which are problems for many cities across the country. We certainly understand the issues we face, but do you as an outsider that was just driving through a couple areas understand our entire city?
@@gloriasermersheim6259 Why the hell do you allow the projects in your town at $25/month rent???????? You're basically saying that these occupants are such inept losers that they can't keep up with normal people. Is that the message you want to send to them? The poor people need to be scattered, not clustered. Stop the handouts. Get rid of your nasty mob boss governor. Start a non-profit that offers handguns and classes so the law abiding citizens can shoot and kill the robbers/criminals,. Shoot to kill so the taxpayers don't have to pay for them to live in prison. Obviously what you're doing is NOT WORKING!
When I clicked on this link the video for "Cemetery Gates" by Pantera and I was about to call you a GENIUS Nick Johnson bc that's a GREAT intro song than I realized that u had nothing to do with that but you're right about Danville, Illinois though.
I came from Danville and we have a lot of families out there that go to work each day and take care of their family... We've lost a lot of loved ones and there is large amount of senseless crime however the Danville people that have had enough have tried countless times to stop the violence and pull our city up ! But no one of official figures step in to help us. Danville has had mothers and fathers and sibling join together in Standing up for our community and violence struck us so before you laugh at our city get to know the struggle provide a solution because there's nothing sadder than someone from the outside enjoying others oain!!!!
When are you going to do a feature on Mt. Vernon? It is ranked the most dangerous city in Illinois for 2020 by Roadsnacks.com. My house was burglarised and vandalized 3 times in less than 3 weeks and I live on the good side of town. The South side looks like a war zone.
So many towns like this... I remember seeing the beginnings of those problems not far from a rural county I lived in decades ago. Anyone who thinks the US is not in decline is either oblivious or delusional at this point.
I dont live in Danville I love in one of the smaller towns surrounding it, and I'll admit that it is bad. The mall has like 3 open stores, compared to when I was little and youd have trouble finding a closed space, kiosks everywhere, but now your lucky if you find anywhere open. It's even sadder in places like westville and georgetown, where what used to be thriving local businesses have shriveled up and turned into empty shells along route 1. The worst part is nothing can really be done. There are nice things yes, but to be 100% honest things are pretty bad. Hell it's so bad most of the people I know have atleast at one point turned to drugs just as something to entertain themselves. We need something to happen because my god is everything so dried up and depressing here. Once I save some money and no for sure i can get out of here, I'm out. Theres nothing waiting for me. Only thing holding me back is my family and friends, and most my friends agree that leaving this place is probably for the best to. It sucks because it hurts to see a place you hold so dearly and lived in and had so much fun in slowly die and decay. Your hard pressed to find a thriving local business. Most people seem miserable going about they're day. It just sucks so much. I hate it, but it's better for me to get out before something latches to me and makes me stay. Sorry for waiting your guys time eith meaningless rant, even though most of you wont read it
Here's my entire Unboxing America Series: ruclips.net/p/PLq-_cmf3H6yqgM1vGG305six5T7dqGURF
Danville Realtor here:
If you were trying to prove our entire town is full of blight, I believe you failed. 95% of the houses shown in this video are actually pretty well maintained. Yes, we have some abandoned factories left over from the local economy transitioning from manufacturing to service businesses, but what town in the rust belt doesn’t?
You also found our one housing project, Fair Oaks, that is located on the east (not south) side of town. But you failed to mention that the city just demolished several buildings in that complex and has applied to HUD to raze more in an attempt to reduce the amount of high density subsidized housing. Danville also has been aggressively demolishing condemned houses at a rate of about 100 per year, keeping our housing quality from deteriorating further.
Recent good news for Danville that you failed to mention is the $80 million Carle Hospital development just announced, of course the $250 million casino that will be started within the year, the new hotels, restaurants, and retail stores that will soon follow, in addition to numerous other big box retail stores already added recently such as Kohl’s, Meijer, etc.
The one area you nailed is that Danville is one of the cheapest housing markets in the country, in fact, you can achieve 12-15% cash on cash rates of return on rental property in Danville. The smart money is rotating out of highly appreciated markets with low cap rates, and into markets such as Danville with low prices and high cap rates. Sell high buy low!
Where is the casino tax revenue supposed to go? And where will it realistically go? I don't mean that in a snarky way- I grew up near Danville and now live near a town like Danville (rust belt) that has a casino. The casino was struggling and the community in Anderson, Indiana continues to struggle, too. I pray it helps in Danville-it would be nice to see it back to the nice town it was.
Rebecca Hollingsworth The tax revenue it goes to the state, county, and city. I heard it is projected to increase Danville’s revenue by about $9,000,000 the first year I believe, and grow in subsequent years.
To the state, Jesus . So it's going to fund some politicians new summer home or yacht is what your saying?
Danville is a shithole now. And it will never come back alive. I grew up in danville and all me and my family seen was nothing but declining in jobs and high crime. Danville was great when i was a kid. We use to be able to play when the street lights were on and neighbors we actually neighbors sitting outside watching kids play and chatting with other neighbors. Now people are scared to come out side.
Look at school funding they get ZERO DOLLARS FROM TAX ON LOTTO yet there are BILLION dollar payouts.
I'm from the midwest and it kinda just looks like a normal town to me. Nothing really different than tons of other medium sized midwest towns
Agreed
That's how desensitized we've become to the country's problems.... depressed towns are now considered "normal" to us.
Not the same as it was when I was growing up.
If only you knew. Danville is terrible
I live in Danville..he’s spot on with the crime..Illinois is the state of high taxes and high crime ran by corrupt fraudulent politicians for decades...and the schools..forget about it!
I can't believe people think this is the "ghetto", haha.. This is NOTHING compared to the ghettos of Flint and Detroit.. I can take you places in Detroit that police haven't been in 25 years because they're too scared..
Which on itself is sad, because people like that are not civilized. They are not worthy of the freedom they abuse.
So why not take me?? NickJohnsonNC18@gmail
Well you’re comparing crap with poo really.
Cool ?
@@nibbles2589 More like a healthy turd compared to explosive diarrhea.. xD
We can’t all live in Beverly Hills or Manhattan. Looks like the “real America” to me.
Buddy. I'm from Hoopeston. Danville is a shithole through and through, period.
There are tens of thousands of these areas in USA man
Yeah
Real America is a shithole then. Little middle of nowhere hick towns need to catch up.
@Ryan B Whos "us?"
Danville has really gone downhill since Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated left.
Who is that???
Who is that?
Phineas and Ferb was from Danville. Hence his joke.
Stalking Horse good joke but they’re from danville, va LOL
this isn't funny this isn't funny this isn't fun- 🤣
Property taxes are a headache everywhere in the State of Illinois
ripoff
They really are too high. But even states like TX are seeing property taxes rise rapidly.
Atkeast Texas doesn't have state income taxes
Man these were the streets I grew up on for a lot of my life. He actually drove past a house I once lived in. There’s actually rougher areas than where he went. Some of those places use to be so great and really good for families. He ain’t lying tho. It’s crazy to go back to and see the steady decline. Praying for my peoples out that way.
@Birdman710 Don’t send me anymore pictures of your “unit.” I hope you aren’t proud of that wrinkly thing.
i am still here living my life in danville at the high school
@@sludge4125 , ya nobody out committing crimes!
This also my hometown. Things went downhill once people from Chicago moved there. I lived on Jackson. My brother still lives in the house we grew up in.
I live there now its gona be hard there are shooters near the park drugs everywhere I've seen it myself drugs murder well gunshots but Danville is a hopeless city the city council is bad the people are bad not all but many and the amount of garbage like
Chicago was bad but Danville is bad for a small town it sucks the taxes keep getting higher and it's hard living in Danville with just drugs and shooters everywhere there was an armed robbery at the walmart Danville is hopeless...😭 I wana move...
All towns are depressing in the dead of winter.
Word.
Not really.
take it from someone who grew up there, it's no better any other season
when I tried living up in these areas, it sure felt depressing. I thought it just got some getting used to. Plus, much less daylight & grey overcast skys,
Nope winter is awesome
I lived on the east end of Danville for years and because of the shootings my children and I spent a lot of nights sleeping on the floor, praying the stray bullets would not hit us. I patched too many bullet holes in my house to count. You said something in this video I've been saying for years...Do a crime in Chicago, run to Danville. Do a crime in Danville, run to Chicago. Now I live on the south side of town and the shootings are starting to move this direction. The casino they are going to put in might "help" the economy, but the crime is only gonna get worse.
Move out of the state at this point 😢 Sorry to hear
Some of those houses are beautiful, too bad it's so run down now. I'll bet it was thriving in the 70's and before!
Sadly, many jobs went to cheaper labor abroad and instead of re-training those who lost their manufacturing jobs, they are left holding the bag.
@@crazeyjoeIt's always been that way in this country. Adapt or fail. It is up to you. When automobiles became the norm nobody cried over the guys who made horse harnesses and horse shoes and said, gee, someone needs to retrain them, Henry Ford cost them their jobs. They learned a different skill and the world moved on. Those with gumption make it. Those who sit and complain and want others to make things right for them will not.
@@DoubleDogDare54 ::HIGH 5:: Exactly
@@DoubleDogDare54 coal mining shutdown just move to China and get a job making solar panels *right*
@@DoubleDogDare54 one of the reasons I ended my career in The Culinary world is because they undercut and are willing to work for next to nothing, I'm not going to turn myself inside out for a few bucks.. Talking about moving I know retirees who are move out of the US so they can afford to live.. This is country has been sold out! less industry and less innovation with higher and higher taxes.
Why did you only show the poverty stricken areas? Danville also has mansions and beautiful neighborhoods. Nature preserves. A big beautiful lake. Yes we have our struggles here but we also have our beauty.
Lake is questionable lol
Prefer to go to mingo to sportsman myself. Too many drunken idiots on the water in the peak times.
How about delving into it rich history which was glanced over for like 2 seconds in the beginning? Our monuments and museums?
I hope everyone here who is bitching about the way I portrayed their community actually is doing their part to change things in Danville. Are you? Cause there's a lot of armchair quarterbacks in this comment section.
These arguements about the upsides of the city hold no weight. When the foundation is cracked no amount of pretty exterior is going to make it worth more. I live in an even smaller town in the same state and we have a "rich person area" with mansions and nice parks, great sprawling forests and hills, some nice bluffs with a great view, a few national landmarks, but no one cares at all for any of that because the town is littered with bars and crime. Ignoring the downsides of your city is just going to choke it out faster, it is like putting make-up on top of skin cancer. You may be able to ignore it and not notice it, but eventually it will get so bad it will be impossible to ignore, and too deep seeded to remove, and by then it is far to late and death is assured.
Thanks Nick. Much appreciated!
Thumbs up if you’re from the Danville area 👍🏻
More like thumbs "down" if you live in the Danville area.
He only drove through the bad parts. This is dumb asl
@@gracelynnhedgecock6926 where are the good parts of Danville lol
He couldnt find any good parts lol
@@gracelynnhedgecock6926 It seems like he mostly stayed near the East end of town and didn't touch the Northern part of town or even much of Downtown. He pretty much just showed the worst of it. What's not shown is the booming Businesses like Thyssenkrupp, McLane, Sigma, Watchfire, Etc. This video is pretty biased and focuses on the crap to get views and attention, which is obviously working.
Danville is my hometown and we are all very sad that it has continued downhill for many years. You accurately showed the run down, crime ridden areas, however, you missed the beautiful old homes, still well taken care of, around Lincoln Park. You also missed the areas in North Danville where there are amazing, safe, family friendly neighborhoods. Also, let’s not forget, part of why small town Illinois has gone down hill.....the corrupt politics. Everyone go visit Custard Cup, Royal Donut and Mad Goat Coffee!!
Mad goat coffee lol 🤣.... Should have said grossburger
Yes mad goat we love it
so what is the primary commerce in D.Ville? is it farming or factories. what factory is still there? what industry feeds into the system besides Chicago coke?
M. Illinois
I remember Danville used to be vibrant. Now you drive down route 1 and the mall barely has any stores and a lot of businesses are closed
@@mwatts-riley2688 IDOC! Lots of people work at Danville correctional center. Prob the best paying job. And when they closed down Cabrini green housing in Chi-Raq that’s where most came to, to Danville and fuc$ed it up ever since
Man, I respect your work and effort to show people how life is for the one's who struggle. I've lived in Illinois for over 40yrs and it's become really hard to stomach living in this state. It's pretty bad when the Governor of the state you live in doesn't even wanna live in it
i know poor illinois towns very well.
Do you though? You didn't talk to anyone. You didn't interview anyone. @@NickJohnson
Born/raised in Danville, IL. Left the town after high school graduation.
This is what happens when Chicago politicians suck all of the jobs and investment spending from the state. The rest of the state suffers. Very sad.
I knew a Meeker. You know Charlie?
@@ChismosaJones nope.
Chicago liberal area are disgusting. Have you seen Elgin and Cicero and Carpentersville Illinois? Yuck !
@@dannydan1931 What part of Elgin is bad?... I would go to the Grand Victory casino is that near the bad part of Elgin?...usually casinos are in bad areas to suck the money from the poor.
Chicago is the only thing that keeps Illinois alive.
the crime is bad but the town is not this depressing. the melting snow makes it look bad but in the summer, the grass is bright green and there’s brightly colored flowers and trees lining the streets, there’s kids laughing and walking home from school. Danville is filled with kind people that don’t get the attention the crime does. Yeah it needs some work but it’s not the worst place to live. I live in a small town outside of danville and i’m in love with it.
Good!!
This comment was three years ago, but in my area there are no kids laughing, it is as depressing as it seems. Nice houses, but ruined by all the gunfire
Without naming the town my family is from in Illinois, it is very similar to Danville. I love these small towns that brought so much happiness and joy to me growing up. The simple beauty of the area and people still offers me fond memories. Fireflies in the summer with people talking on their porches. Traditional Americana at its best. True, today may have changed in some areas but I would feel proud to call Danville my home. Small town feeling with lots of civic pride.
Ok Douglas good to hear! ❤️
Any city can be depressing if that's all you're looking for.
Paul Strain exactly. Ty
Exactly
Grew up there from 1994 to 2007, this place has nothing, stores and malls closing, factories laying people off and shutting down. Most of the people who work in Danville do not live there. There are alot of small rural towns outside of Danville that provide better schools and housing, which makes the commute worth it.
Paul Strain 💯
patrick byrd Exactly. My mom works in Danville but we would never live there. The schools are bad, and the crime is so high. Danville is the prime example of a depressing city. There’s almost an aura over Danville.
I really love how you went through the really shitty parts of this 18.11mi² town and completely ignored the state parks, 2 lakes, the high school, and nicer SIDES(being that you stayed on one side)of town. The small area you went through is the only bad area.
Also, it's cheaper to live in Clinton, Hoopeston, and Hillsboro. Do not know about the rest because I've only discussed this with 3 separate friends but I do know they're cheaper than Danville and are all in Illinois
It’s very aggravating to see him completely ignore the positives. To paint such an awful picture of someplace he doesn’t even live.
Jason exactly glad someone said it.
if u want to tour a small town in illinois for it being getto and full of drugs and filth go to watseka .il is north on rt 1 from danville . go pass bismack , hoopston rosville then go till u cant go anymore make a left into watseka .
Cheaper doesn’t mean it has the crime per capita making you 2nd most dangerous town in the state.
Hmm, there’s another small city in Illinois that is worse than Danville: East St. Louis.
What makes it bad?
Baby Hominid St Louis 😂🤣
Oh god East St. Louis was a nightmare 😳
Cairo
yep way worse lol
Should have gone through Cairo, IL as well. Was a boom town back in the day as it is right by two rivers. Now it’s mostly abandoned houses and businesses.
Unfortunately, you are correct.
Cairo ,the southern city of the midwest.
I know I've heard about Cairo.
You could have also driven through Charleston, MO while near Cairo. Charleston is the worst place to live in Missouri in one of your videos. Lol. Also where I live.
You right! I have family that live right outside of Cairo Illinois in a small town call Urbandale. Cairo used to be booming back in the 90's but now, it's just a mere shadow of it's former self. I'm from southern illinois myself as well.
This is my hometown. It’s so sad to see it like this. It was still thriving when I was a child. I’ve witnessed firsthand how badly things have gone downhill. Break my heart
What is the percentage of blacks and whites? Was it more white in the past?
@@Edgeoftown kind of a weird random question
@@Edgeoftown Dude what kind of question is this. blacks don't ruin cities. lack of management and neglect ruins cities. this city is like this because of, probably, rich politician that only care about themselves. all Americans are hurting right now. if we're going to get over we have to work together man.
@@idallison27 You sure about that? Seems to be a common theme.
@@asfasfd7772 all a smoke screen. the rich have been doing this for hundreds of years. the leaders made bad economic decisions and the poor people are paying for it. Trust me dude, the rich politicians are the problem. Heck, drugs wouldn't even be here if not for the rich politicians.
I go to Danville every other month to quilt. I’ve never had any problems in spite of being in a poorer part of town.There are some very nice Victorian homes in Danville too. I meet a group of ladies. We go everywhere in the town and have lots of fun. We have to have empathy for the people who can’t repair their houses. They are living in poverty and doing the best they can. I always feel sad when I see holes in roofs and houses in disrepair. It’s an OK town.
This looks like the city I just moved to. It's the only area I can afford and I will be starting school soon I hope
I wish you good fortune and serendipity.
I used to live in a place like this as well, affordable but relatively safe. Two streets over from me started a neighborhood that looked ghetto and scary. I would never walk there but was told that the people living there were just very poor but decent factory folks. A school was in the area, and children routinely walked home to my street from there.
Get out asap
April you'll be fine just don't let your guard down. Good luck with school!!
"Lincoln Park, known for its crime". You recorded Friendly Town, where our police teach children traffic safety and how to be better citizens. Know what's on the other side of Friendly Town? The bandstand where we put on plays and concerts every year. No, our town isn't perfect. But many of us still have pride in our town. And if you only drive through one or two neighborhoods that are rundown, in the middle of winter, of course you're gonna make us look terrible. Drive through actual downtown. See the Fischer Theatre (freshly remodeled ty) or highlight the Walldog murals. Drive north and see all the nice houses (watch out for holiday dragons on North Vermillion). Head just outside the city to one of our two parks. Lovely drives, even in the winter. Go see our community college. But hey, that might take more that 15 minutes to highlight anything good in our town.
Mary I'm glad you have pride in your city. Hopefully you put your actions where your mouth is!
@@NickJohnson already do. We had a trap house across the street two years ago. I got sick and tired of their business and kept on the cops about it. I've seen maybe one cop on my street since they moved out. The tweakers get chased off by neighbors. Now if we can get the town to remove a couple of empty dilapidated houses, we would be a nice little couple of blocks. And right next to a high school to boot!
The trick is many people don't bug their landlords in this town to fix issues until it is too late. And many of those houses you drove by were slum lords. Mine is not the greatest, but with enough pressure they will do their job. We all just need to do our part to try and make this town a better place.
@@NickJohnson What is the overall purpose of you Video? You seem very arrogant and condescending.
I remember doing friendly town as a kid and had a blast!!!!!
Absolutely!
I’m originally from Champaign- Urbana, Illinois.
Danville has always been a rough, blue- collar town. The town never recovered from losing it’s GM plant. Up until the late 1950s it had a well- known red light district. It is one of those bleak little towns that it slowly dying. Rantoul, Illinois, is very similar. Up until 1993 it had Chanute Airforce base. The town never recovered from losing the base.
I’ve lived here my whole life and what your showing here isn’t 100%..you damn near drove all of downtown which is basically all run down but didn’t drive up Vermillion near all the nice properties like basically every house starting after the YMCA....you must not of known your way around or something because I can make a video that will make it look completely opposite including the areas you covered..I agree there is a lot of stores that have been closed and the worst of it is our mall which is dead..but at the same time we’ve had a massive increase in new franchises and restaurants pop up within the past 5 years...you didn’t even drive across lake vermillion that’s where your 225k to million dollar homes are. And rent and houses aren’t as cheap as you say they are...our apartments here cost 750 to 900 a month..and for a family of 2 living here that’s quite a lot. When I seen the thumbnail and read your title I knew exactly were you were taking people..Danville like every single other city has the good side of town and the bad side....I’m just sad that this is what you think of Danville..idk why I’m so defensive maybe it’s just because I live here or what but I love this city it will always be my home.
Andy I hope you know this was supposed to motivate people to change :)
@@NickJohnson this doesn't motivate change. This motivates anger from the people of Danville! The ones that actually live here! We are the ones who motivate change, not some person who drives through the east end and thinks that 10 minutes of the worst part of a town is what we have to offer! Shame on you!
myannec Hi there. I grew up there. Graduated high school in 1980 and moved out in 1983. I would never, ever live there again. The crime is rampant and rising. Chicago has taken over and slumlords from all over, even out of state are buying up the good homes, even some Victorian homes and turning them into section 8 apartment houses. I remember what it used to be and see what it is now. It a dangerous town. The mayor and city council need too attract manufacturers and high tech companies and kick Chicago and all section 8 housing out. Then Danville would have a fighting chance. Good luck.
@@heavenlyguitar5913 the fact that you haven't lived here for 25+ years is very telling. You hear things about the town, but you don't know about the town other than that. Visiting every once in a while is one thing, but living here is completely different. My family has been here for generations, living in different areas of the town. We have always taken pride in our town of Danville. My children are being raised here. They love their town and take pride in it. Our Mayor and our city council are doing amazing things alongside of the citizens of this town! To belittle what we are all trying to do here is just wrong! Maybe you should come visit and sit in on some of the council meetings, take a drive through the old downtown area, check out Lincoln Park in the summer, take in one of the many offerings at the fully restored Fischer Theater, support our hockey team and our baseball team during their seasons, our public and private schools events. Check out what the local churches and downtown are doing. Summer sounds, the Farmers Market that takes place all year now, the community clean up days, the habitat volunteers, the parades, community picnics. There are celebrations all over this whole town! So many coming together! Why tear all of that down?!
myannec I was born in Danville and my family moved to central FL when I was six. Every time I visit I can’t quit thinking THANK FUCKING GOD. Custard cup is the city’s only redeeming quality.
My dad lives there half the year and there was a shootout in front of his house on the “good” side of town a couple months ago.
Well, being from Danville, I can say you're pretty spot on. The town is depressing. You drove past the High School, if you would've went down North Jackson the street on the left, you would've seen a few more houses that are abandoned or overgrown and decaying slowly.
It gets worse the farther south in Illinois you go. If you want to show a place that is REALLY depressing, check out Cairo, Illinois, at the extreme southern end of the state. Most of the town looks like an excerpt of a Fallout video game.
I live in Illinios and Danville isn’t what it used to be. A huge factory that employed many people left right after that horrible NAFTA bill was signed. Illinois is a dying state. Chicago destroyed it long ago. Like many people, I plan on leaving.
Lots of places like this in Illinois.
you are so correct eric. i lived in danville for a good part of my life . im 64 now and its sad to see it destroyed like it is . i grew up down the street from fairoaks and it wasnt bad back then but now i wouldnt live there again for nothing.
@@jeanninekeller5121 Why wouldn't you live there?
@@NickJohnson agreed. There are three airports in North America, I do not fly in to. Chicago O'Hare is one of them. I'm at loss for any suggestions for Illinois. Perhaps change the name of Illinois to something new. The crime and violence in Chicago is unreal and even unspeakable. Illinois does have the word " ill " in it. A name change could help.
one city , Alton is still hanging in there
At the end of the day this is Home 💯
💪🏾💪🏾💪🏾💪🏾
I still have pride in my city.
Agreed! There are some really nice areas of D'Vegas but he didn't go there. Good and bad areas are in every town.
Simple 💯
And Ya Kno Dat!! 🖤😈🤞
Very good video and you're showing TRUTH...I'm in Central IL 😔
Hi!
How incredibly rude to come into our hometown, and purposely highlight only the negative. Our town has its downfalls but it’s not definitely not “dying”.
If you would have driven a couple minutes north you would have seen beautiful homes. If you would have talked to the people here you would heard a different story than you told.
Every town has a “bad” part but it doesn’t mean the whole town is that way.
THANK YOUUUU💪🏾💪🏾❤❤❤
RIGHT !
@@nadiidag196 he tried to make us look bad like we some goofballs or sum🤦🏾♂️🤦🏾♂️🤦🏾♂️
damarion brandon right tf funky ass
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
I have lived in Danville my entire life, 23 years, you made it look like a terrible town. You only went to the bad parts of Danville. What about Vermillion street? With all the shops and businesses? Walmart? Meijer? Kohls? Tj maxx? The houses on the North end of town? How about all the farms that are on the outer parts of the city? You’re not showing the truth, you’re not showing all the good. You’re showing the bad because it gets you views and likes. If Danville is so violent, how come you didn’t experience any fights, shootings, or a robbery? All towns have good parts and bad parts. Try and see the good sometime.
Tera_bear I feel you. They also made a point to show it in the dead buttcrack of winter which can make any Illinois town look hideous and in a state of despair.
Those stores are the highlight of the town lmao omg set your standards higher lol I left there 20 years ago best decision I made wake up people you live in a garbage can
Tommy Pettigrew glad you left. I hope that you’re life was made better by it . But do not say the entire town is garbage . Also those are not the highlight those stores were just a few . You have to remember it’s a small town .
i grew up in danville been there most my life . im 64 yrs old and its terrible now . use to be a boomimg town till they brought the prison in . it destroyed danville .yes vermillion street has shops and so on but the rest of the town has gone down hill .i came home in march 2019
for my dads funeral and i about had a baby looking and seeing danville like it is now .sad sad sad to see that once beautiful booming town ran down like it is .
Jeannine Keller my entire point was that he only showed the worst parts of Danville . He knows nothing of the good . Sounds like not many of you do either .
Hi Nick, just recently subscribed to your wonderful channel after seeing your video on the city where I was born and grew up, Toronto. I have checked out other videos that you have done and love them. Keep up the fantastic and intriguing work!
Great! Well it's not all roses Dunph. Prepare to be offended especially if you're a die hard liberal
@@NickJohnson Thanks for your reply Nick, much appreciated. I am a fan of free thinkers, logic, common sense, open minded discussion, competence, hard work, and not a person who gets their feelings hurt by facts, and most of all, I don't have a problem admitting if I am wrong about something and taking ownership of it. Therefore, I would not be considered a die hard liberal lol There are a more than a few of us still here in Canada believe it or not. :) I guess you could also say that I didn't vote for our current Prime Minister either. But I digress...
Ooohhhh my home town Danville Illinois I was born and raise in Danville it was not like that when i was there and i be gone almost 20 year and somebody tell me my home town got worst damn.
How are the school's in Danville?
I passed by Danville 20 years ago. It was extremely depressing. During the summer months.
Joshua Kopenec Lol
Joshua Kopenec they’re not the greatest, but it is schooling.
That’s what he failed to show. Also, disregard the comment above. Danville High School ranks in both academics and athletics. If he would have drove down Jackson street, you would be able to see the high school and newly developed Track stadium.
I lived in Danville for 32 years of my life. It used to be a great place to call home, but as stated in the video the town has steadily declined and drugs, gangs, and unemployment has driven people out. There are some good parts of Danville it's not all bad, its who you chose to surround yourself with and your life choice. I left in 2010 to give my kids a chance at a better life and it was the best decision I ever made. Even tho Danville has it's good parts the bad out way it. Once you are able to leave and look from the outside in tou will see truly how bad Danville has gotten.
That’s exactly what I keep trying to tell my mom. You just don’t know how bad it really is until you’ve live somewhere better
I hit your inside fastball to the basketball courts at Garfield 25 years ago n u got me chasing a curve. I adjusted next AB n hit that curve down the first base line and barely called safe at third for a triple... But I missed 2nd base n u appealed to 2nd n ump called me out. Still to this day I wish I would have just tried to steal home just to see how it would have played out instead of just waiting on 3rd wandering if anybody saw me miss 2nd. Good play dude
Same but my mom moved us out in 2011
I live here now and I want to escape this trap of just overwhelming pressure but that'll still be a while because of our situation but it's not forever I hope
@@sharmasookarry408 I dunno, "External depreciation" is considered permanent.
Very sad, and the poignant music suits it well. Glad you didn't get stuck in some of those ice patches, Nick! The community reminds me of several in New York state
Ah, Danville. Home sweet home!!!
💪🏾💪🏾💪🏾💪🏾
True
You don’t know anything about this town. That’s why you had to do the interview in the winter when everything looks dead. Don’t try and speak on a town that you only know a little about.
King Angel RIGHT !
But tell me how can we avoid Winter ?
False...Danville is terrible all over ..and statistics prove it
Very high crime rate for a small town.
Can you check out Oswego, Illinois. It's about 2 hours and 47 minutes from Dansville. Used to live in Oswego the 80's. Population back then was about 3,100 people.
Ok
Thank you so much for your recent tours of Danville and East St. Louis. 2 things I can now check off my bucket list. It is very sad to see once prosperous towns become total bleep holes.
East St. Louis has been a $#*! hole for decades. The kind of place you drove past on the interstate and prayed your car didn't break down, because if it did, you'd be a goner.
make sure Gary is on that bucket list 😂
@@DoubleDogDare54 it's funny you say that. Our alternator went out on our minivan as we crossed the bridge into St. Louis. I still get chills thinking what if it broke down 2-3 miles earlier.
Maybe it's a conversation starter!
GM closed in 1996. That is over 20 years ago, its time to MOVE ON.
Danville has over 10 factories/distribution centers. Half of them are UNION
So stop acting like GM was be-all end-all.
I grew up in a small town 20 minutes away from Danville, IL. In the early 90's it was a nice city to visit and enjoy. I can't even imagine living there now. Such a shame!
Early 90s they still had big GM plant supplying jobs and decent way of life.
After GM closed circa 95/96
Like Indianapolis town nosedived crime came in and really still has not recovered
What town? I pretty much grew up around Danville, but left the area years ago
@@leogetz3570 Alvin-Rossville
You stayed on one side of town. Didn’t bother heading up north at all. And it’s winter. Everything already looks cold and depressing. Most of those houses are fine it’s just snow
ToOblivion&Beyond I thought the same thing. Any town in Illinois can look like utter crap if you videotape it in the dead of winter. Come back in the summer and put a happy music track on the vid & over half of the viewers wouldn’t understand why they are even showing the video.
Wait. You thought those houses were fine? Are you from Detroit or Youngstown? Lol.
The Title states that “I drove through a sad depressing small town in IL and this is it” When in fact it isn’t it. You drove through the bad side of town. The best way to accurately analyze things is by looking at the complete picture. The bad part of anything can be easily found. A video like this could be formulated anywhere. Drive through LA and skip Beverly Hills and ride straight through a bad neighborhood and let that be your assessment of that area. Drive through New York and skip Fifth Avenue and drive through yet another bad neighborhood and let that be your assessment of that area. Do you get my point? Assess the whole thing, not just one part of it.
Spot on!
There is no nice part of Danville, unless you count the areas where the violent crime rate is only 3 times higher than the state average instead of 4 times higher.
@@grayd98 Bullshit. My father lived there for a few years. The whole place isn't like this.
No he did it right
Danville is a hellhole
@@en0n126 yeah it pretty much is. I lived there for years. It's a place you don't want to be in after dark.
To everyone saying he stayed on the east end you are wrong because at 2:31 he drives past where my old plug used to live lol and that's on the west north west side of town on other side of Gilbert north of main Street. And no there isn't any actual "good side" of Danville all the big time plugs live on the north side which is what people try to claim the "good side" when it's actually not it's just that the "OG's" don't allow the violence in their area so it gets taken to the east end or to the oaks to be delt with. The cops and judges are in the pockets of the gangs and so is the mayor. I'm glad I was able to get out of this shit excuse of a town before it got to bad
you move to oakwood?
I’m from Danville as well as my entire family. I always remember Danville as a crime And drug infested Community. What’s not mentioned in the video is the multiple housing project closed in Chicago and the residents were bussed to Danville skyrocketing the crime, violence and drugs. It was already a small struggling economy that got worse by this tactic. Then the majority of people worked in factories that pumped toxins into the the air causing many people to get cancer and die leaving many families left without the income brought in from those family members. It’s sad to see demise to that degree. Danville was in the top 5 most dangerous cities in America in recent years. So sad!
Basically all the wealth of the country is being drained into a small number of metropolitan areas like NYC, Washington, LA, Bay Area, Houston, Austin, Seattle and Boston.
Unfortunately, disproportionate wealth is a factor across the country. It is certainly magnified more in most of the areas mentioned.
The low wage workers that are stuck in those cities struggle insanely just to get by sometimes working three jobs to stay afloat. Middle class people there are dying to get away. Me personally I live north of NYC and can't wait to move away. The NYC metro is a hellhole and the rest of NY cities are dying slow deaths
@@r.d.9399 Sadly, only the folks that could afford to move did.
Things are changing for sure. Families can't afford to live in big cities but then small towns are challenged too!
There’s also a lot of wealth in Chicago and the suburbs.
I really enjoy your videos I live in the midwest in a small tiny town I see all around me all the dying cities it's crazy thanks for sharing
Hi Nicole! It's sad - there's fewer good places left these days.
Thanks for tours. I really enjoy them. Happy New Year! God bless you!
Hope you learned something. May all your 2020 dreams come true.
this is bullshit he did not even go up to the northside of town dont believe this its not that bad
Hi Nick, I lived in Danville from age 3-22. This is a decent video of many hard facts about the community. Jokes on you about my terrible childhood home not being on the video because it caught fire, though! But in all seriousness, I want to make mention that it has aspects to it that are uniquely beautiful. A drive down Vermilion St. showcases century-old mansions that are kept nicely. It also has a close proximity to county and state parks and there's a lake it sits next to. I'd say Danville is about half bad, and half good. There's a large swath of the community that's really unsafe. It's certainly worth a look when on the topic of depressed communities. I'll concede that. But it's got a lot of beauty, and I want others to know about it. :D
Jason I wish all the other comments were this decent
Jason that’s why I love you man! Always a truth teller! Haven’t seen you around lately! Hope the family is well!
@@jut1905 JRay! What a fun reunion video, huh? LOL
@jason for sure!
I agree about the beauty of the area. But people can't live on beauty.
If this place could be what it was, I would not mind living there in retirement.
I think the city reached it's peak just before they cut out the concrete that use to cover what is now road on Vermillion from main a few blocks in with just one cross road. Can't remember the names now.
Wow! Between the music you used and the video footage I find this very very very saddening. Nice work once again.
Wow I'm surprised you went there. I live in Champaign which is just west on I-74 from Danville. I've met many people from Danville and it's true most of them say it sucks. I've only been to Danville a handful of times and in the spring and summer it looks a bit better. Anyways, great video!!
Yes you're right. It is better looking in the summer
looks worse because its wintertime...but a town like danville has so much potential. give tenants a year's notice and then start with demolishing fair oaks.
They've already started demolishing fair oaks actually!
Other than that one burned down home, it doesn't even look bad, though
Your idea is to tear down the low-income housing, where are those tenants going to go.
Janet davenport hopefully back to Chicago. Most of our newspapers say that’s where a lot of our crime-commuters are from
They tried to start demolishing it. However they gave them free housing throughout the city, so now the crime is spreading to those areas as well
This was the last year I drove through Danville, but it was during the summer of 2019. I have driven through there every year for the last 40 years. A good friend of mine from my teen years used to live there. I have bicycled through there a few times when I was cross-country cycling in the 70s. I breaks my heart to see what has happened to Danville. You try to make things nice for people and they don't care. They don't appreciate it and don't take care of what is provided to them. Many smaller towns in Illinois have fallen to this demise.
If you went there in the spring, the trees would be leafed out in the grass would be green. It would be a beautiful, picturesque little town.
It would look nicer but no this place needs help beyond some leaves
Leaves are not a solution to poverty. Look deeper.
nah you got it all wrong buddy my town never looks good
I grew up around Danville. It’s declined so much in the past few years, and it’s sad. The amount of crime is disturbing. So many young lives are taken through violence here and I wish there was hope for this town, but I seriously doubt it. I truly pray for the residence who live here still.
Yea u grew up around danville but did u live in Danville ..... Danville is not that bad i promise yea violence and drugs are here but they are everywhere
It's called "External depreciation." Considered permanent.
Try to put your house up for sale. See how many takers. Just saying. I wouldn't buy it.
I live in Metropolis, IL and it looks like this but im from Kingsport, TN where population is growing and new buidings and shoppings centers are built all the time. If a building is old they tear it down and build something new. I have been in Metropolis for 2 years and it seems all the towns are the product of the 70's and 80's run down and people have moved away like a ghost town and it does make you depressed. I had to move here because im disabled and working on that here, so when i get my disability im moving
Happy 2020 All! 😁😁😁. Gonna be a year to watch!
Depressing...
Hmmmm, what do you think of 2020 now?
a worldwide pandemic courtesy of chyna and political corruptuon as far as the eye can see oh yeah and the ushering in of socialism and government takeover and a stolen election it was fantastic 😳
@@Nbdycares2 my thot exactly!
I grew up in Danville in the 70/80s. It was a nice place to live. Lots of things to do. Now, I can't even stand to drive through there anymore on my way to see family. It's so depressing.
Killer UT THEN DONT WTF
yo life depressing stay out of our town then tf 😭
Thanks for the presentation: I lived in Danville from '02 to '09. I lived on North Gilbert St and worked at the VA Med Ctr. I moved on to northern IL in '09 where I grew up however, because of mismanaged funding of IL State Legislators, I headed for TX in 2014 and haven't looked back. The circle of poverty and crime is everywhere.
Thanks again and be blessed,
Ms. P! (Army Strong)
Okay Mrs P!!
Thanks to the federal reserve's destructive money printing, the cost of living is far too overpriced. Expect more towns to suffer this tragedy.
BRIGGS there is no industry/jobs. Nothing to do with printing money.
Happening all ocross this nation.
@@reverendblkgrape1 i disagree completely, it's directly effected...buy bitcoin BTC
BRIGGS I am sorry to tell you this but the fact that you are correlating printing money to industries going away and a basic change in the economy is absurd. Get out of this bitcoin racket and stop risking your money on a phony market. Danville and almost every other small town will continue to fail because there are not enough jobs to go around and the fact that most Americans have no employable skill.
@@reverendblkgrape1 You are wrong, full stop. Learn what money is, and more important what 'scarcity' is. Fail to do this, at your own peril.
This town had the opportunity to grab the new Honda facility that's now in Greensburg, Indiana. Approximately 2300 jobs that could have benefited the Danville area, but the state officials, or whoever, couldn't make the deal happen. The whole state is sadly becoming what you see here. I'm glad I left when I did. Breaks my heart to see this.....
I’m jealous
I used to live in Lafayette,Indiana right over the border,before I joined the Navy. Went to Danville or through it a good amount. Was always amazed at how much nicer all the towns and cities were then Danville on the Indiana side.
Yea, when you take the highway along the middle area just past the border, there are some small communities that are just rundown. Kind of depressing but people still live there somehow
I just moved out of Danville. I didn’t like it too much, but it really isn’t as bad as this video seems. He is just going through the bad parts of the town. Granted, I moved out for a reason and could not see myself living here for the rest of my life. But it will always be my home, and they are really trying to build it up better.
"External depreciation" is considered permanent in real estate. You might not live long enough to see it get better, if it ever does. And if the governor said it's OK for crackheads to hang out on your lawn, it's only going to get worse, unless you get a Rottweiler.
There isn’t much to do here. It’s boring, unsafe, and overall just hell for people like me.
Gene Hackman's home town
Dick Van Dyke grew up there.
Chicago Tom164 And Ned Luke
Micheal Jackson
@@Prosper310 Jackson was from Gary, Indiana
Dick van Dyke was born and raised in Danville
Hey Nick, I liked how you rolled through the stop sign while driving behind the projects! You what to see a really sad city checkout Kankakee, Illinois. A store in their “bad mall” sold items with the “logos” of street organizations already printed on them. 😮
My house is in this. That neighborhood isn't even that bad and part of those houses you filmed are set for demolition anyway. You completely didn't even film the wonderful parts of Danville. Every city has its bad parts
False...all of Danville is terrible
There are cities that doesn't have bad areas
You should have drove through my hometown, westville, which is right outside of Danville. Now THAT is a tiny run down community. We have been known to have the most bars per square foot in the US, definitely an interesting drive through as well as Danville
Darn. Next time!
Correct about the bars. I believe in the day there was one on every block just about on rt 150.
You went to Danville? I'm sorry. Lived there for years and couldnt wait to get out.
Fun fact:A county in Illinois has lost 20% of its population from 2010 to 2018
Thanks to OBOMA 👹👈
Thomas hardcastle Don’t forget about agent Orange
KawaiiRudraChan OwO - Which county? There are probably about 100 counties or so in that state.
Outback Igloo in not sure what exactly I just remembered looking at map of the population changes in counties and one in Illinois had the most decline
KawaiiRudraChan OwO - To answer my own question, Alexander County (the southernmost of Illinois’ 102 counties) had a population drop of 26% from 2010 through 2018. It only had 8,238 people in 2010; that fell to 6,060 people in 2018.
I was born and raised in Danville. It used to be ok but as I got older the threats were greater and we ended up moving to a smaller town about 15 mins away called Catlin. We still ventured to Danville but stayed in the better areas. I agree that it used to be good but I also saw the unfortunate decline in the town. It’s sad.
Bro anywhere in Illinois that you drive during the winter will look depressing. Even my town westmont
@Nick Johnson I love how your talking stuff about my town when you can't tell the different from the south and the east I have lived here my whole life and I cant believe you make a video just trying to show the bad and nothing about the good you never show the north or talk about all the business you show up when its winter how about you show up during summer cause any town looks bad during the winter we have wonderful buildings in this town
False...Danville is indeed a terrible place all around 2 visit/live
I travel for business quite a bit and Danville is one of the more depressing towns I've ever been in. The GM plant closing back in 1996 really hurt the town and it's never really recovered since then.
On a positive note, weed is now legal in Illinois and the town was just given a license for a casino.
Decatur is another town you should check out as it's pretty much just a bigger version of Danville.
I've heard the 217 as a whole has challenges
You depressing tf
I replied to another, I sure thought the GM plant closed in the 80s. Maybe they just cut production so much that most of the people I knew that worked there got laid off. That was the beginning of the end.
Legalizing drugs and gambling is a positive?
@@williamhermann6635 Alcohol causes way more damage. Do you know anyone dead from pot? I don't. It's easier to take it or leave it.
Besides, do you remember what they tried in 1920-1933? Google it and how that worked out.
I don't drink btw, and I'll take mellow weed smokers over angry destructive drunks any day.
You should drive through Cairo, Il. 😦😨☠. Coming from Chicago, seeing a ghost town like this is scary.
I did it's coming up in a couple weeks
i grew up in danville and it was a booming city full of hope love and factories but now its sad place to be. i wish it would grow back again .i see my moms home its down from fairoaks . i grew up in this neighbor hood .fairoaks use to be housing for the military years ago .my heart just breaks too see this . i came home to danville in march an i was in a state of shock to see it .
So who lives in your Mom's house now?
Wow umm. This is horrible. Danville isn’t great, but you fail to mention a single good thing about it. Also, it’s a beautiful place in the summer, but of course it looks bad in the winter. What place in Illinois doesn’t look sad without leaves covered in spotty snow?
First off, there’s a facebook page called This Is Danville Too, that shows all the beauty you failed to point out. I highly recommend people go check that out.
Also, there’s still beautiful parades on Main Street, there’s a recently renovated theatre space downtown, there’s a very beautiful park on the north side that hosts kids soccer in the warmer months. Lincoln park holds a county wide Art festival the goes on for a couple days in the summer, and it has an outdoor theatre that you can go see a show for free once a year.
It’s not a great place but there are people out there trying to help, including the mayor, and this video puts the town in such an awful light.
this is basically what every town in Illinois looks like. i lived a little bit north of Danville for the majority of my life and everywhere has gone down hill in central Illinois. there are a few niche stores downtown but for the most part there's nothing but dilapidated houses everywhere.
I live here. 😭 it’s so saddening to see what this place has come to. Whether it’s the drugs, guns, etc, some people are scared to go outside due to the fear of dying. It’s really depressing living here, it really does take a tole on your mental health. “The worst part of town” is literally where I live..
Emma Olson i agree girl.
Girl my parents live so close to holiday hills where those 4-6 woman got shot 🥺
Oohh you dont go out the house you will be fineeee
Danville? So this is where Phineas and Ferb live.
James Austin no
Yes
I wish
Yes
Trust me as a 50:year old resident of Illinois who lives in Aurora, this is the worst city I’ve ever visited. It’s worse today.
Hi, I am from Aurora, Illinois YEARS ago, both of my mom and dad's family are from Aurora, IL. Today, no one in my family lives in Aurora, IL anymore. Hi from Tennessee.
Danville,IL reminds me so much of Middletown,OH except I see zero potholes compared to Middletown.....seen better days. Thanks for this video Nick.
This does look like Middletown. We have horrible roads here. Seems like all surrounding areas are doing better(Westchester,Monroe,Centreville). There are new homes being built just on the outskirts though.
Marcus Welby I live in Monroe and yes it’s a lot better!
@@davecombs5457 luckily I'm right on the edge of Middletown where it's not ghetto AF.
Been to Middletown , seems rustier with more character
I think a lot of these rural towns in the Midwest all look like this. From what I've seen.
I was born there lived within 20 miles of it my first 20 years. A large contributing factor is that the civic leadership in the city has always been short sighted and the city has suffered for it.
nah, think again, the decline has to do with profit hungry corporations outsourcing jobs.
my old neighborhood... It really looks the same to me lol I left Danville when I was 13.. Never looked back..
I live in this town, born and raised in Danville. I wish that you would of went into the deeper areas of crime and poverty, most of the areas you went were rough but weren’t what makes Danville one of the worst places to live. That being said thank you for showcasing our city and hopefully this helps grow and develop it into the city we all want. Thank you
u need to get your govener out of office . hes taxing people to death !
I hope maybe ONE person will be motivated to enact change in Danville. One.
Nick Johnson
There are hundreds of people motivated to enact change in Danville way before this little negative video!!! The amount of community outreach programs, projects, and volunteerism are a testament to just that. Some of those include Community Action, Peer Court, CASA, Habitat for Humanity, Project Success, DACC tutor training in the Correctional Center, Soul Garden Recovery Center, Crosspoint, AMBUCS, Laura Lee Fellowship, the Rape Crisis Center, Salvation Army, Red Cross, Keep Vermillion County Beautiful, food drives and soup kitchens, the Boys and Girls club, United Way, YFRC, Danville Rescue Mission, programs for children at the public library, all the outreach Danville Area Community College does for students AND the public, the list goes on and on!!!!! It’s pretty big of you to come here and make assumptions about the people in an entire city as though we don’t see or acknowledge the problems that we have, which are problems for many cities across the country. We certainly understand the issues we face, but do you as an outsider that was just driving through a couple areas understand our entire city?
@@gloriasermersheim6259 Why the hell do you allow the projects in your town at $25/month rent???????? You're basically saying that these occupants are such inept losers that they can't keep up with normal people. Is that the message you want to send to them? The poor people need to be scattered, not clustered. Stop the handouts. Get rid of your nasty mob boss governor. Start a non-profit that offers handguns and classes so the law abiding citizens can shoot and kill the robbers/criminals,. Shoot to kill so the taxpayers don't have to pay for them to live in prison. Obviously what you're doing is NOT WORKING!
Thank you for shedding light on these cities. They need our support.
@Player Hater I hope that doesn't happen to my city.
They need a strong leader to step up. Things won't change from Washington
@@NickJohnson It'll come from the community, and the people, not the politicians.
When I clicked on this link the video for "Cemetery Gates" by Pantera and I was about to call you a GENIUS Nick Johnson bc that's a GREAT intro song than I realized that u had nothing to do with that but you're right about Danville, Illinois though.
There are places like this all over the country, from the richest state to the poorest...this is nothing new or surprising...
I don't here about high crime rates in cities this size in the Dakotas, Montana, or Idaho, or most cities this size in WI. Hmmmm.
I came from Danville and we have a lot of families out there that go to work each day and take care of their family... We've lost a lot of loved ones and there is large amount of senseless crime however the Danville people that have had enough have tried countless times to stop the violence and pull our city up ! But no one of official figures step in to help us. Danville has had mothers and fathers and sibling join together in Standing up for our community and violence struck us so before you laugh at our city get to know the struggle provide a solution because there's nothing sadder than someone from the outside enjoying others oain!!!!
Hard to stop the violence when efforts to do so will be labelled as racial profiling.
This guy not from the Midwest he don't know what he talking about he don't know Illinois from indiana
When are you going to do a feature on Mt. Vernon? It is ranked the most dangerous city in Illinois for 2020 by Roadsnacks.com. My house was burglarised and vandalized 3 times in less than 3 weeks and I live on the good side of town. The South side looks like a war zone.
Wow I should read RoadSnacks more!!
This sounds a lot like Flint when GM decided to pull out of there along with other jobs.
Yes. GM left Danville too. I had a couple friends whose parents or grandparents worked at the plant who got good severance and pensions though.
@@noobusguy28 Okeedokee thanks for the info
Scooby Carr when the GM plant closed in Flint many were transferred to Danville. My stepdad worked there until they closed.
@@DeLona55 Okeedokee thanks for the info
@@noobusguy28 gm closed years ago there then slowly but surly the factories withered away.it was my home town for years .
So many towns like this... I remember seeing the beginnings of those problems not far from a rural county I lived in decades ago.
Anyone who thinks the US is not in decline is either oblivious or delusional at this point.
Yep
Small towns with no natural economy are failing, not the country as a whole. Wake up.
Market Gardening
Underground Building
What other options are there?
Thank you for sharing helpful and informative videos!
I dont live in Danville I love in one of the smaller towns surrounding it, and I'll admit that it is bad. The mall has like 3 open stores, compared to when I was little and youd have trouble finding a closed space, kiosks everywhere, but now your lucky if you find anywhere open. It's even sadder in places like westville and georgetown, where what used to be thriving local businesses have shriveled up and turned into empty shells along route 1. The worst part is nothing can really be done. There are nice things yes, but to be 100% honest things are pretty bad. Hell it's so bad most of the people I know have atleast at one point turned to drugs just as something to entertain themselves. We need something to happen because my god is everything so dried up and depressing here. Once I save some money and no for sure i can get out of here, I'm out. Theres nothing waiting for me. Only thing holding me back is my family and friends, and most my friends agree that leaving this place is probably for the best to. It sucks because it hurts to see a place you hold so dearly and lived in and had so much fun in slowly die and decay. Your hard pressed to find a thriving local business. Most people seem miserable going about they're day. It just sucks so much. I hate it, but it's better for me to get out before something latches to me and makes me stay. Sorry for waiting your guys time eith meaningless rant, even though most of you wont read it
I hope you are able to find somewhere better
You didn’t tell not one lie but that’s my home 😂. I’m happy for our recent accomplishments and can’t wait for the Danville economy to flourish.
Haven't been to Danville probably since about the year 2000, Royal Donut's are really good.