I was born in Gary 71 years ago. My parents moved to Crown Point shortly after my birth were I spent the first 6 years of my life. My memories of Gary were that of going to a large bustling bright city. Thank you for the history and I feel fortunate to know of a better time in Gary.
I appreciate you presenting Gary in a balanced way. The last thing struggling cities and their residents need is mere glorification of the decay. Too often presenters forget that there are people trying to live their lives as best they can in these places.
@@mrdave777 we do no one shows that shit because it don't get views. It's more fun to show all the abandoned buildings and talk shit. How many videos of G.I are on RUclips and ain't none of them went to miller beach
@@josephthomas8318 I Was Apart Of These Type Of Things Growing Up In The Early 2000s/10s In Gary. And It Still Goes On Now.. But Its A Process. We Dont Have Many Resources To Work With
Thank you so much for showing more than just one side of this city. My dad was born and raised in Gary. He moved away in the 60s, married my mom, finished college and started a family. I could always see the sadness in his eyes when we would return to visit family. There are still a few family members that live there. It’s so sad to see the remnants of the city. I believe it was once a beautiful place❤
Adrianne, I am not from Gary, never been there, but I am saddened by what happened to Gary. When industry moved out, seems no other industry tried to give it a go. The people were just left with nothing. 😔
My family's story is much the same. Grandpa moved out in the 60's and his family couldn't understand why. He wanted to be a teacher, but they were always telling him he could just move back to Gary and make more money as a foreman in the mill! Well, grandpa turned out to have made the right choice, but there was no victory in that.
I Was Born And Raised In Gary, Born In 96 And Moved In 2020 After My Son Was Born. My Grandparents Moved To Gary In The 40s. There Really Is Alot Of Life Still In Our City. Especially In The Neighborhood I Grew Up In On The East Side. Not The Safest Neighborhood But Not As Many Abandoned Homes And Plenty Of Families Living In Very Well Kept Properties, And About 80 Percent Of Them Own There Properties. Gary Needs A Whole Lotta Work But Its Not A Ghost Town 💯💯
I really appreciate you showing the former station. I’m in the rail industry and find these old buildings fascinating. Thank you. The decline of the city is unreal. It doesn’t seem like the 70s were that long ago.
There is a lot of capitalist countries that this happens to, all the wealth from natural resources was streamlined to just a few people and they invested elsewhere. Imagine if every worker that moved to gary actually owned a percentage of the company they worked at, the place would probably look alot like mondragon Spain now after 80 years of financially independent workers having too much money they know what to do with and opening credit unions rivalring private banking
@@lessimcdowell9897 Really… you’re really going to advocate for communism in 2022? Go be braindead somewhere else. Your ideology was tried many times last century and all it did was stack bodies.
@@lessimcdowell9897 us steel is still there operating paying the majority of the tax burden. Those of us who grew up there know what happened to Gary by you can't say it.
Gary was a corrupt city back in the 1970s. We would travel from near Peoria IL. to a Muncie IN., to visit family and this (at that time) took us right through Gary. My Dad always had a $5.00 bill paper clipped to his drivers licence during these trips. The Gary police would randomly pull cars over for no real reason other than to collect a small pay-off like that. We only got pulled over one time, the Officer didn't even give a reason, just took Dads license then gave it back to Dad, minus the $5.00 and told us we were free to go. Yep, traveling through Gary was always an adventure.
Point of reference: $5.00 in 1977 is equivalent to almost 25 dollars purchasing power today. So, a policeman pulling over let's say, 8 cars during a shift, well that's a pretty lucrative side gig.
Back in the early 70's, my father drove from New York to Montana, ahead of the rest of us - all our belongings in tow. Driving through Indiana, he spotted a HUGE cloud ahead of him. Not being from the Midwest but having read a lot about it, he feared it was some kind of dust storm or maybe a tornado. But it didn't move, and as dad drove on, he realized that it was Gary's air pollution. He was from NYC and never saw that level of pollution except in and around Pittsburgh (my mom's home town), back then.
This was common all throughout the counties connecting Dayton Ohio to Indianapolis; in the 1970s and 1980s, relatives of mine in Darke County (border of Ohio/Indiana) had regularly given cops cash or beer, in lieu of a ticket that was unwarranted. I’m not really sure what the motivation, other than corruption, would’ve been, perhaps aside from the lack of work and money from the deindustrialization of the American Midwest.
That story is insane. They definitely did things differently back then than they do now. I heard from my family that Chattanooga was that way back in the day as well
I grew up in Gary from 1959-1973 What a beautiful city it was. I hope somehow it rises from the ashes once again. Thank you for the video sir, well done!
Victor Paris, so you lived in this city in its prime. You were there, so you should have an educated view/opinion on what exactly happened to your former home town. I would honestly love to hear what you believe caused the downfall of this town.
It all looks so sad to me, a bit like the fall and decline of the Roman Empire, leaving behind buildings great and small, to decay and fall gently into ruin. I have been doing research into Romano-British culture and the entry into the Dark Ages, and the resemblance is eerie. What a great pity that, through no fault of its own, Gary has lost the industries it once depended upon. This should be a warning to us all when it comes to being seduced by cheap imports (steel, in this case) and being in the charge of a government in hock to rampant private enterprise.
I am a 69 year (young) retired man. I LOVE your videos, Chris. You tell a story so well and get your point across as if I am walking beside you. It is a PLEASURE watching and listening to you on your Mobile Instinct adventures......Thank you, Young Man !!
In the 80s, Gary adopted a slogan and emblazoned it on illuminated welcome signs: “Gary, the city on the move.” It was amended by one of its presumably former inhabitants: “Last one out, please turn off the lights.”
In 1978 major league baseball player Lyman Bostock was murdered in Gary, Indiana. He and his uncle were giving friends a ride home so they wouldn't have to walk. A jealous and estranged husband of one of the friends assumed that Lyman was a new boyfriend, so he shot him. Lyman never saw it coming. He also didn't know the woman. He was just in Gary to visit his uncle while he was playing a few games in Chicago that weekend. Great player, great man. R.I.P.
While at Roosevelt HS, you were only a block away from the child hood home of the Jackson Five. The Railcats stadium is a hidden jewel. We go to 10 games per year.
I think any story of what happened to Gary should start with the fact that it was a town built by and for the steel mill. As the company goes so does the city.
@@repairdrive Neither was Detroit, but they grew exponentially on the auto industry. Detroit is now a violent warzone, and has something else in common with Gary.... and it isn't the decline of the industry that made it big so many years ago.
I knew a couple carpenters that were doing repairs on a second story roof in Gary. When they went to leave after working half the day, they found that someone helped themselves to their ladder. But hey, that happens everywhere, right?
My family and I had a holiday in America from the U.K. My daughter was a young teenager in the 1980's. We were spending a few days in Chicago. She was a fan of Michael Jackson and she wanted£ to visit his birthplace in Gary Indiana. She had never seen so much poverty and desolation. In tears she asked me to drive back to our hotel in Chicago.
Thanks for covering Gary, Indiana. I worked at US Steel Gary Works in the 1990's. I live in La Porte, Indiana. We are on the East side of the Region. Region rats!! Gary Indiana was a beautiful City in the early 20th Century. It is known as the armpit of Indiana.
@@ShannonLH1108 I find this amusing. I’m an English Quebecer and all these French names. La Porte Terre Haut. Must be those old French explorers. Everything here is in French and I speak it too. It’s very sad though to see a town like Gary in decline. So much beautiful architecture just rotting. It is however refreshing to hear that some revitalization is occurring. It looks like a beautiful location. Cheers and never give up. From Montreal.
My former step father was a "mill rat", so we're alot of my friends dad's. In the early to mid 80s it got so bad our dad's had to accept only a 32 week for employment for awhile. The entire area has been in decline since then.
My brother plays for the South Shore Railcats and my family and I went to watch him play for about a week this summer. It was my first time to Gary and it was really cool to see how the team and stadium have made an impact on the community. One of the games we went to had all of the local elementary schools come out to watch them play and the kids were having a blast! Hopefully Gary is able to grow and thrive once again.
Sorry to say it but Gary needs industry to return from foreign countries...not a baseball field. I doubt that brings the tens of thousands of jobs needed to reinvigorate that struggling population. Isn't that just another drain on an already struggling economy?
I remember when I became a truck driver for Swift, I had to drive about an hour or so to report to the Swift the terminal in Gary, Indiana on a daily basis to meet my truck driving mentor. After I would meet my mentor in Gary we would drive to Detroit, Michigan which is no better or at least Detroit is a mirror image of Gary then to Chicago and back to Gary again. The real attraction to Gary is the Michael Jackson house but other than just keep on going and don't stop.
That was a really great break down of Gary. I have heard lots of negative stories and videos on this city. It was nice to hear about the glory years with a positive spin on things. Really cool to see the city as a whole.
Gary is one sad puppy….yet it has always tried hard despite its life course. Lived my whole life in nearby Illinois and used to go to Gary for restaurant supplies for my Dad’s business, back in the day. There was a great toy store downtown!
Your audio mixing in your videos is amazing! I love what you did with the football field and you added some subtle natural sound of a game. Really adds to the video! Your videos always impress me.
I was born at Methodist Hospital on Grant St. in Gary. My grandparents lived two blocks down on Grant Street. My childhood home was in the 300 block of Lincoln Street. I can tell you that Gary's demise did NOT stem from the decline of the steel mills. The picture you showed of the Methodist Church should tell you all you need to know. Gary was a predominantly white city from its inception and stayed that way up until around the 50s when black people started achieving enough financial success to be able to afford a home there. The white flight from Gary was swift and relentless. One black family would move onto a block and half the houses would go up for sale, which caused property values to drop like a rock. It was so bad by the 70s that the City passed an ordinance prohibiting realtor for sale signs on houses that were up for sale. The drop in property values, and the resulting drop in tac revenue, is what set Gary's fall into motion. Eventually, all the major retailers in the city left for nearby Merrillville, which, through the 70s and 80s, is where the white folks leaving Gary were moving to. Homes that weren't selling fast enough were either abandoned or set on fire for insurance money. Add to this the fact that the State legislature prevented the City from annexing nearby land to increase its constantly lowering tax revenues, and the City's demise was a foregone conclusion. Yes, there was a decline in jobs at the mills, but the City of Gary was already twenty five years into its downward spiral when that happened back in the late 70s and early 80s. It breaks my heart to drive through Gary and see all the "used to be" that exists there. I was shocked to see videos of the inside of Lew Wallace, where I went to high school for two years, not to mention Morningside, the neighborhood immediately surrounding it where my mother's lawyer and her insurance agent used to live. My grandparents house on Grant Street was abandoned by the people who bought it after Grandpa died and Grandma couldn't take care of it anymore, and now looks like so many of the other abandoned houses. My father's house in Glen Park was also abandoned by the people he sold it to when he retired from Inland Steel. The Village, where my grandmother would go shopping on the weekends, the Cave where Dad would stop for a beer on his way home from work, the church I attended as a young teenager--all in ruins now. At this point, the only real hope Gary has for truly making a comeback would be a massive investment of money, starting with the tearing down and removal of all the abandoned buildings and houses. That alone would cost hundreds of millions of dollars. I know there are pockets of Gary that are still inhabited and some nice neighborhoods can be found, but no major employers or industry is going to want to locate or build there until the blight is cleaned up. The City needs to be reimagined from the ground up, but neither the money nor the will to do what it would take to bring Gary back exists.
Maybe it’s just me, but I get a surge or hope watching all the green growth over everything. I kinda think it looks beautiful when it’s wild like this.
The Gary Airport is not small. It is capable of handling commercial jets, mostly hauling freight. It is also home to the Navy Blue Angles when they fly at the Chicago Air and Water Show.
Im from Anderson indiana....its happening there. Growing up on the west side it was always a bit rough... but now its no where near what i remember. Every time I go back to visit family, it breaks my heart.
This is a superb video. Researched, respectful, gutsy, fascinating, optimistic, empathetic, great video shots, top quality editing- the works. Probably the finest thing I've on this channel yet. Very very good. Much respect. Thank you.
Born and raised in Michigan City, IN. Would take the South Shore Line from there to Chicago and South Bend. You're right, there is always a stop in Gary. I still technically take that train when I visit my family in South Bend and want to go to Chicago. My grandfather James Thornton died in 1996 and is buried in an unmarked grave in Gary. I'm a 27 year old engineer and hope to put a grave stone where he's buried someday. Thank you for the video.
I live in South Bend, IN and it escaped a similar fate when the Studebaker plant closed down in the 60's. Population growth stopped and the housing crash hit pretty hard, but there is revitalization around the Downtown area and by the Notre Dame campus starting to slowly spread outwards. The tech industry has started to replace the old manufacturing and public/private investment in infrastructure, beautification, and development has kept things on a positive trajectory.
@@dezznutz3743 Gary iron works employed more people than notre dame ever did. These days the hospital system is the major employer in St. Joseph County
@@joe42m13 There are three major University's in south-bend alone. I lived there during my high-school days. It will never come close to what Gary has become.
Thanks for the video. Coming from the Netherlands, it is intriguing that a city can rise and fall in just over a century and that buildings like the train station and church are accessible.
I was surprised you didn't mention Micheal Jackson or drive by the old family home. The beach would be enough for me to be ok there. I'm binge watching your channel, you're very peaceful to watch and listen to.
Everytime I hear Gary, Indiana, I remember the song from, "The Music Man," and I start singing it in my head. Also, I enjoyed your informative video on Gary, Indiana. Damn, I'm singing it in my had again.
Thanks, Chris, for an interesting, if depressing history of Gary, Indiana. Did you know that Gary, Indiana was the Alma Mater of Meridith Wilson's character in the play and movie "The Music Man which was set in River City, Iowa? Just a fun tid-bit. If I remember correctly, Gary was always called "Smoke Stack City", and I used to travel through the town frequently whenever I travelled west to Illinois and other western destinations. Just an old man's rememberances. God Bless and stay safe.
When I was a kid (growing up in Buffalo, another abandoned steel town) my mom had a copy of "The Music Man" on vinyl, and one of the songs was about Gary. The lyrics went: "Gary Indiana, Gary Indiana, Gary Indiana home sweet home".
I live 20 min from Gary and I’ve only drove around and explored in the mornings but you definitely can feel the 90s frozen in time! I recommend visiting in the early morning
The city of Birmingham in Alabama was built around a steel blast furnace. It's now considered one of the most haunted locations in the south. Sloss Furnace. Birmingham's nickname is the "Steel City." Vulcan, the god of the forge over looks the city from the top of Red Mountain.
I've watched a lot of your videos lately. Love the channel, you do a good job of informing people of the place you're in. I'm English so its great to see these sides of another country that I would never usually see.
Back in 2016 I was heading to Milwaukee and my GPS took me though Gary. I was utterly shocked to see an American city look like this. It looked like something after Armageddon. A movie set. It just didn’t feel real. So heartbreaking.
Chris, I really appreciate the research you put in, the camera work, the drone, your articulation and overall pace. You bring clarity and insight to places I would not otherwise see, but have interest in learning about. Very cool. Thanks.
A lot of kids from Gary come to the YMCA in Crown Point (which is a very new super updated facility) to hang out and play basketball,, it's awesome that they're going to have a place that's brand new and right down the road instead of 25-30 mins down I-65. Love that for those kids
I was born in Gary and moved away in 1954. I was hoping you would say the name of the streets you were on. I do remember downtown, my mom and I went shopping on Broadway and the beautiful Palace Theater for movies. And yes, my dad did work at the steel mills. Enjoyed the video.
Lived on west side of Gary on 15th Avenue, attended Ivanhoe elementary school in late 40's. The school was on 9th avenue then and was kindergarten through 3rd grade. 4th grade and up attended Edison.
I visited the Jackson home back in 2005, and I was stunned by Gary, IN! I'm surprised it's not more in the news! I remember businesses would be closed at 5pm with the gates, down!!!
So If any of you are Sense 8 fans (Netflix)? This is the church featured in scenes with Daryl Hanna. My favorite of all series! It is great to find out that it was an actual place not a made to believe movie set! Thank you Chris! Please do more features like this.
I grew up in Lake Station, which is next door to Gary. When I was a kid it was called East Gary since they wanted to glom onto the success of Gary back in the day, it was 1977 when they changed it back to Lake Station because they didn't want to be associated with Gary and it's downfall. I have since moved away from the area, going on 25 years ago, this video was a great look back at the area again, nice work!
Very sad, but there are a lot of towns and cities that have dwindled down because of lack of industry. It’s the same here in the UK. Where I live we had massive companies that took on thousands of workers but through the 70s and 80s they were shutting down. All what’s left now is to find a job in a supermarket. It’s all so sad. Thanks Chris for sharing love your video’s. 👊👍🇬🇧🇺🇸
We need to bring business back to our countries and stop giving our business to China, India and Mexico. It might be cheaper labor but the products are not made as well.
Yes, very sad the industrial and manufacturing history was something the US should be proud of. Too bad to see the results of sending most of it to other countries - leaving just these relics🙁
@@xr6lad ur speaking out ur ass. No one did. For ur information, Gary has beautiful green land and the city does has potential. Negative people like you are scared 😱 of life. Stay within your shell and don't come out 😰
I’m glad your city’s train station building walls are still standing. So many buildings in this state of disrepair get knocked down. At least it’s still there waiting for the right time to return to life.
I got stuck in a bus station in Gary Indiana going from Michigan to Indianapolis I had to wait three hours the girl said to me sit right over there close to her and don't leave and walk around it was to dangerous. If they tore down all those abandoned buildings it would help.
As a child of Gary I sympathize with the plight of Flint. The rust belt built this nation into the economic juggernaut it became and then was thrown aside like yesterday's garbage. Gary has advantages Flint doesn't though. It's proximity to Lake Michigan and Chicago give it options Flint doesn't have. I wish you guys luck.
Wow Chris! You are fearless and I thank you for letting me live vicariously through you and your amazing videos💙🙏🏻 Never knew the history of Gary! An awesome city! If I was younger I’d consider exploring this city. Houses and properties must be very affordable! Oh well! On to another adventure Chris 😊Thank you 💙🙏🏻
Hey Chris; We really enjoy your videos! They take us back in time, and O the many changes! We are glad you got a drone, it sure is good views and makes a difference from the air. THANKS
Yes, sad that the mills closed but the air is so much cleaner there now. We used to drive to Chicago from LaPorte, Indiana back in the '70s and around the Skyway bridge on I -94 the smoke and smog was terrible!! I am sure anyone living around that area caught cancers and died early. Jesus! It's really a good thing pollution wise that the mills failed! Out with the old, in with the new ! ( PS There was a Frank Lloyd Wright designed mid Century house in Gary once but the city and people let it go to hell.) Sad. Enjoyed your well done video trek. Thanks!
I have lived in Gary all my life. I was baptized at City Methodist. It had the most beautiful stained glass and even a bowling alley. We are experiencing a revival though. Every house near me that was abandoned has been bought up and is being fixed up. Probably because you can't get a 3br brick home for under 10,000 anywhere else, even if it needs fixing. And we have the best church anywhere- Embassies of Christ- with over 3000 members.
@@Freeingtime Anything along side Broadway, the main street, which is what people see when they get off the Interstate. It's zoned almost entirely business, so anything boarded up adds to the bad impression.
Excellent job! I had no idea that Gary was in such a sad state of affairs. Presentations like yours could possibly interest future generations to relocate to an area with great possibilities.
Nobody moves to Gary these days. I dont know why anybody would want to raise their kids in a place so surrounded by urban decay and hopelessness. i've explored gary on street view for hours and there doesn't seem like theres any area that isn;t untouched by dereliction and abanonded buildings. It's sad to say but nobody deserves to grow up around this level of poverty. he is being overly kind in this video in my opinion.
I grew up in michigan. It's sucks. The entire upper Midwest blows because of the weather and lack of gainful employment. So, I left 30 years ago. I haven't regretted it. Florida is great.
How sad it is to see so many cities end up this way. There are a bunch of towns in my state that have lost everything over the years. All the businesses went away, then the people started moving away. So sad!
Wow my grandma used to visit my great grandma in Gary from New York. She eventually brought my great grandmother to New York to live. Wow when I think back to the pictures I saw of Gary 40-50 years ago it was a beautiful place.
You’re absolutely correct! We thank you for taking us on your journey through Gary and yes we are living vicariously through you! I cannot see to drive. 🌺
Me and my wife driven through Gary before. Definitely not a pretty place to be. However there is one notable place in Gary that I was hoping you would of checked out in this video. Michael Jackson’s childhood home. It’s in a very poverty stricken neighborhood but a lot of work was done to the house. It has a really nice fence that surrounds it a long with some neat memorials in the yard, a pretty cool place to me
@@kennethcurtis1856 Right! He was literally right there! Just go over a block from the front, turn right, and you're right there when the street ends. I've been every time I go back home (I was born in East Chicago, and moved to Houston but NWI is always home. Still have family there and go every yes to visit). I hate they removed the monument from the yard!
I was born in Gary in the 60’s. My parents grew up there as well as my cousins. We all had moved out in 70’s. My parents have good memories of growing up there before and after ww2.
@Mr. B I don't understand this coy reaction. There have been a few in the comments. If this is meant to be some sort of Republican vs. Democrat thing, the state of Indiana has had governors from both parties pretty much going back and forth for decades. During the period of biggest decline, 1969-1989, it was just Republican.
Steel industry was still functioning during Gary's already decline before the big closings . Crime , unsolved homicides , sex trafficking, lack of funding or even the will to police some areas broke Gary . The wealthy property owners moved out , property rented out or sold for cheap prices so I've always been told
I was born right outside of Gary. My Grandfather worked for United States Steel Corp in Gary and retired before most of them were shut down due to the economy downturn in the early 1980's. Nice TRD Pro 4Runner BTW. I have the same model and color.
Yes it's still there. Michael's mother bought the home and the one next to it and fixed them up beautifully. They are both fenced off with beautiful landscaping and little statues. It's a very small home, only 2 bedrooms. I heard that occasionally his mom and sisters will come back to visit it and spend a night ot two there. I believe there was a documentary, I can't remember the name of it, maybe it was a scene from his sister Latoyas show. They showed a scene with Latoya and her mom inside the actual house in the living room. The mom was reminiscing about old memories in the home. It was great.
Very interesting and sad. Gary, IN seems to be the poster child for the Rust Belt. But, cities do die, history tells us as much. On the way to Milwaukee in 1970 traveled through Gary at about 1 AM in the morning. A memory fixed in my mind is the sky of the lake glowing orange from the Steel Mills. I always thought about what it was like for the locals to breathe that air day in and day out.
I am glad you showed this video! Gary has definitely seen it’s better days and I am sure those people don’t need someone kicking them while they are down!
I went up there 4 years ago. I believe the Jackson 5 house was near that Roosevelt school you visited.. The beach area is nice, I remember the Gustave? Glider memorial there. He helped the wright brothers with his knowledge to build their airplane in 1903. He was the first person they contacted after the Kitty hawk flight.
I was born in Gary 71 years ago. My parents moved to Crown Point shortly after my birth were I spent the first 6 years of my life. My memories of Gary were that of going to a large bustling bright city. Thank you for the history and I feel fortunate to know of a better time in Gary.
It looks like it could be a nice city again💛
I appreciate you presenting Gary in a balanced way. The last thing struggling cities and their residents need is mere glorification of the decay. Too often presenters forget that there are people trying to live their lives as best they can in these places.
So why don’t the people try to clean graffiti? Pick up trash? Secure its streets? Get rid of stray dogs? Start community events. Just curious.
They do, it’s just a big process that needs a lot of people and money since it’s so bad
@@mrdave777 we do no one shows that shit because it don't get views. It's more fun to show all the abandoned buildings and talk shit.
How many videos of G.I are on RUclips and ain't none of them went to miller beach
This guy is always respectful of the places he visits. that is another reason i really like this channel.
@@josephthomas8318 I Was Apart Of These Type Of Things Growing Up In The Early 2000s/10s In Gary. And It Still Goes On Now.. But Its A Process. We Dont Have Many Resources To Work With
You know shit's bad when even Popeyes couldn't survive the hood..
😂 so true
Oh damn! 😄😂
Popeyes is expensive. We have a KFC and a Golden Chick, plus a Popeyes. KFC and G Chick are a lot cheaper than Popeyes. And I like them better.
😂😂😂Cause Popeyes is always slappin’ day and night.
its not even the hood anymore though
Thank you so much for showing more than just one side of this city. My dad was born and raised in Gary. He moved away in the 60s, married my mom, finished college and started a family. I could always see the sadness in his eyes when we would return to visit family. There are still a few family members that live there. It’s so sad to see the remnants of the city. I believe it was once a beautiful place❤
Adrianne, I am not from Gary, never been there, but I am saddened by what happened to Gary. When industry moved out, seems no other industry tried to give it a go. The people were just left with nothing. 😔
Evolution eh?!!
My family's story is much the same. Grandpa moved out in the 60's and his family couldn't understand why. He wanted to be a teacher, but they were always telling him he could just move back to Gary and make more money as a foreman in the mill! Well, grandpa turned out to have made the right choice, but there was no victory in that.
I Was Born And Raised In Gary, Born In 96 And Moved In 2020 After My Son Was Born. My Grandparents Moved To Gary In The 40s. There Really Is Alot Of Life Still In Our City. Especially In The Neighborhood I Grew Up In On The East Side. Not The Safest Neighborhood But Not As Many Abandoned Homes And Plenty Of Families Living In Very Well Kept Properties, And About 80 Percent Of Them Own There Properties. Gary Needs A Whole Lotta Work But Its Not A Ghost Town 💯💯
Blame it on democrats
I really appreciate you showing the former station. I’m in the rail industry and find these old buildings fascinating. Thank you. The decline of the city is unreal. It doesn’t seem like the 70s were that long ago.
In my old age, I say that all the time, "it doesn't seem that long ago" but 52 years is far from "not that long ago."
The 70s were 50 years ago.
@@georgepetrin1334 considering I graduated in 1970, yea it was 'that long ago.'
I lived in Gary as a kid in the 60's. My Dad retired from US steel...We left Gary to a safer place. It is so sad to go back there.
There is a lot of capitalist countries that this happens to, all the wealth from natural resources was streamlined to just a few people and they invested elsewhere. Imagine if every worker that moved to gary actually owned a percentage of the company they worked at, the place would probably look alot like mondragon Spain now after 80 years of financially independent workers having too much money they know what to do with and opening credit unions rivalring private banking
@@lessimcdowell9897 Really… you’re really going to advocate for communism in 2022? Go be braindead somewhere else. Your ideology was tried many times last century and all it did was stack bodies.
@@lessimcdowell9897 us steel is still there operating paying the majority of the tax burden. Those of us who grew up there know what happened to Gary by you can't say it.
@@jerryvan5056 say it. I’d like to,know
Same here .family moved away in 1969
Gary was a corrupt city back in the 1970s. We would travel from near Peoria IL. to a Muncie IN., to visit family and this (at that time) took us right through Gary. My Dad always had a $5.00 bill paper clipped to his drivers licence during these trips. The Gary police would randomly pull cars over for no real reason other than to collect a small pay-off like that. We only got pulled over one time, the Officer didn't even give a reason, just took Dads license then gave it back to Dad, minus the $5.00 and told us we were free to go. Yep, traveling through Gary was always an adventure.
Point of reference: $5.00 in 1977 is equivalent to almost 25 dollars purchasing power today. So, a policeman pulling over let's say, 8 cars during a shift, well that's a pretty lucrative side gig.
Worked with a guy who's dad was a police chief there. His dad did time in Florida for a dead body police found in his trunk.
Back in the early 70's, my father drove from New York to Montana, ahead of the rest of us - all our belongings in tow. Driving through Indiana, he spotted a HUGE cloud ahead of him. Not being from the Midwest but having read a lot about it, he feared it was some kind of dust storm or maybe a tornado. But it didn't move, and as dad drove on, he realized that it was Gary's air pollution. He was from NYC and never saw that level of pollution except in and around Pittsburgh (my mom's home town), back then.
This was common all throughout the counties connecting Dayton Ohio to Indianapolis; in the 1970s and 1980s, relatives of mine in Darke County (border of Ohio/Indiana) had regularly given cops cash or beer, in lieu of a ticket that was unwarranted. I’m not really sure what the motivation, other than corruption, would’ve been, perhaps aside from the lack of work and money from the deindustrialization of the American Midwest.
That story is insane. They definitely did things differently back then than they do now. I heard from my family that Chattanooga was that way back in the day as well
I grew up in Gary from 1959-1973 What a beautiful city it was. I hope somehow it rises from the ashes once again. Thank you for the video sir, well done!
How?………
Victor Paris, so you lived in this city in its prime. You were there, so you should have an educated view/opinion on what exactly happened to your former home town. I would honestly love to hear what you believe caused the downfall of this town.
“Land of lost hope, clouds of mill smoke, a community devoured by hard and soft dope”
It all looks so sad to me, a bit like the fall and decline of the Roman Empire, leaving behind buildings great and small, to decay and fall gently into ruin. I have been doing research into Romano-British culture and the entry into the Dark Ages, and the resemblance is eerie. What a great pity that, through no fault of its own, Gary has lost the industries it once depended upon. This should be a warning to us all when it comes to being seduced by cheap imports (steel, in this case) and being in the charge of a government in hock to rampant private enterprise.
@@keithbalke6352 By fighting back against this attack on American industry and the outsourcing of our jobs to places that are more profitable.
You have such a mesmerizing way of telling a story Chris. You've mastered that lost art. Thank you for all that goes into your travels.
Sorry to hurt your democratic liberal heart . But facts are facts
I am a 69 year (young) retired man. I LOVE your videos, Chris. You tell a story so well and get your point across as if I am walking beside you. It is a PLEASURE watching and listening to you on your Mobile Instinct adventures......Thank you, Young Man !!
In the 80s, Gary adopted a slogan and emblazoned it on illuminated welcome signs: “Gary, the city on the move.”
It was amended by one of its presumably former inhabitants: “Last one out, please turn off the lights.”
In 1978 major league baseball player Lyman Bostock was murdered in Gary, Indiana. He and his uncle were giving friends a ride home so they wouldn't have to walk. A jealous and estranged husband of one of the friends assumed that Lyman was a new boyfriend, so he shot him. Lyman never saw it coming. He also didn't know the woman. He was just in Gary to visit his uncle while he was playing a few games in Chicago that weekend. Great player, great man. R.I.P.
@@mikeohara1055 He would have put up big numbers had he lived.
I remember seeing that story before. Didn’t realize that was Gary.
Wow, I remember Bostock, didn't know about the story.....wow. I was very young when he died though, but still, I cannot believe I did not know that.
I was following the Twins back then. What a loss of a great player and human being!
Thanks for informing me on this story💯🙏🏾Rip to Lyman
that "we will be back" on the popeyes sign unironiclly goes so hard
While at Roosevelt HS, you were only a block away from the child hood home of the Jackson Five.
The Railcats stadium is a hidden jewel. We go to 10 games per year.
I think any story of what happened to Gary should start with the fact that it was a town built by and for the steel mill. As the company goes so does the city.
Pittsburgh was built on steel manufacturing. It's still there, and nothing like Gary, IN.
@@broeheemed32 Pittsburgh wasn't built for and by ONE company.
@@broeheemed32 Gary should have learned to not be a one industry town.
@@repairdrive Neither was Detroit, but they grew exponentially on the auto industry. Detroit is now a violent warzone, and has something else in common with Gary.... and it isn't the decline of the industry that made it big so many years ago.
@@broeheemed32 Detroit wasn't a town made only FOR and BY ONE company.
I knew a couple carpenters that were doing repairs on a second story roof in Gary. When they went to leave after working half the day, they found that someone helped themselves to their ladder. But hey, that happens everywhere, right?
Got our whole trailers boosted in Flint AND Detroit
Wouldn't have happened if the carpenters had posted a sign stating "free ladder"
My family and I had a holiday in America from the U.K. My daughter was a young teenager in the 1980's. We were spending a few days in Chicago. She was a fan of Michael Jackson and she wanted£ to visit his birthplace in Gary Indiana. She had never seen so much poverty and desolation. In tears she asked me to drive back to our hotel in Chicago.
Thank You! As Someone Who Lives In Gary I Appreciate The Positive Light You Shed On My City!
Where in Gary would you say is good ares to begin investing & revitalization? Thank you
@@Freeingtime
Nothing there worth investing in and the future doesn't look promising either.
Thanks for covering Gary, Indiana. I worked at US Steel Gary Works in the 1990's.
I live in La Porte, Indiana. We are on the East side of the Region. Region rats!!
Gary Indiana was a beautiful City in the early 20th Century.
It is known as the armpit of Indiana.
Nice city LaPorte. I'm an Indy north sider but still have a lot of "Region" friends Schererville and Lowell. Is Michigan City still pretty bad?
What about Terre Haute?
@@ShannonLH1108 I find this amusing. I’m an English Quebecer and all these
French names. La Porte Terre Haut. Must be those old French explorers. Everything here is in French and I speak it too. It’s very sad though to see a town like Gary in decline. So much beautiful architecture just rotting. It is however refreshing to hear that some revitalization is occurring. It looks like a beautiful location. Cheers and never give up. From Montreal.
Roxy music
My former step father was a "mill rat", so we're alot of my friends dad's. In the early to mid 80s it got so bad our dad's had to accept only a 32 week for employment for awhile. The entire area has been in decline since then.
The proximity to the beach moves Gary up a few spots to 1,345, on my list of places to consider moving to.
What about the potential for Popeye’s to reopen? Does that help move up your list?
@@bobbbobb4663 Absolutely!
@@werquantum Don’t leave us hanging...we need an update 😀
My brother plays for the South Shore Railcats and my family and I went to watch him play for about a week this summer. It was my first time to Gary and it was really cool to see how the team and stadium have made an impact on the community. One of the games we went to had all of the local elementary schools come out to watch them play and the kids were having a blast! Hopefully Gary is able to grow and thrive once again.
Sorry to say it but Gary needs industry to return from foreign countries...not a baseball field. I doubt that brings the tens of thousands of jobs needed to reinvigorate that struggling population. Isn't that just another drain on an already struggling economy?
They need the right kind of diversity; lots of different ways to bring in money and free enterprise instead of just one.
Baseball…a dying sport supported by old white people. A perfect fit for Gary. It won’t save them.
I remember when I became a truck driver for Swift, I had to drive about an hour or so to report to the Swift the terminal in Gary, Indiana on a daily basis to meet my truck driving mentor. After I would meet my mentor in Gary we would drive to Detroit, Michigan which is no better or at least Detroit is a mirror image of Gary then to Chicago and back to Gary again. The real attraction to Gary is the Michael Jackson house but other than just keep on going and don't stop.
That was a really great break down of Gary. I have heard lots of negative stories and videos on this city. It was nice to hear about the glory years with a positive spin on things. Really cool to see the city as a whole.
Gary is one sad puppy….yet it has always tried hard despite its life course. Lived my whole life in nearby Illinois and used to go to Gary for restaurant supplies for my Dad’s business, back in the day. There was a great toy store downtown!
Your audio mixing in your videos is amazing! I love what you did with the football field and you added some subtle natural sound of a game. Really adds to the video! Your videos always impress me.
No, he said a guy was wondering who he was.
I was born at Methodist Hospital on Grant St. in Gary. My grandparents lived two blocks down on Grant Street. My childhood home was in the 300 block of Lincoln Street. I can tell you that Gary's demise did NOT stem from the decline of the steel mills. The picture you showed of the Methodist Church should tell you all you need to know. Gary was a predominantly white city from its inception and stayed that way up until around the 50s when black people started achieving enough financial success to be able to afford a home there. The white flight from Gary was swift and relentless. One black family would move onto a block and half the houses would go up for sale, which caused property values to drop like a rock. It was so bad by the 70s that the City passed an ordinance prohibiting realtor for sale signs on houses that were up for sale. The drop in property values, and the resulting drop in tac revenue, is what set Gary's fall into motion. Eventually, all the major retailers in the city left for nearby Merrillville, which, through the 70s and 80s, is where the white folks leaving Gary were moving to. Homes that weren't selling fast enough were either abandoned or set on fire for insurance money. Add to this the fact that the State legislature prevented the City from annexing nearby land to increase its constantly lowering tax revenues, and the City's demise was a foregone conclusion. Yes, there was a decline in jobs at the mills, but the City of Gary was already twenty five years into its downward spiral when that happened back in the late 70s and early 80s.
It breaks my heart to drive through Gary and see all the "used to be" that exists there. I was shocked to see videos of the inside of Lew Wallace, where I went to high school for two years, not to mention Morningside, the neighborhood immediately surrounding it where my mother's lawyer and her insurance agent used to live. My grandparents house on Grant Street was abandoned by the people who bought it after Grandpa died and Grandma couldn't take care of it anymore, and now looks like so many of the other abandoned houses. My father's house in Glen Park was also abandoned by the people he sold it to when he retired from Inland Steel. The Village, where my grandmother would go shopping on the weekends, the Cave where Dad would stop for a beer on his way home from work, the church I attended as a young teenager--all in ruins now.
At this point, the only real hope Gary has for truly making a comeback would be a massive investment of money, starting with the tearing down and removal of all the abandoned buildings and houses. That alone would cost hundreds of millions of dollars. I know there are pockets of Gary that are still inhabited and some nice neighborhoods can be found, but no major employers or industry is going to want to locate or build there until the blight is cleaned up. The City needs to be reimagined from the ground up, but neither the money nor the will to do what it would take to bring Gary back exists.
Maybe it’s just me, but I get a surge or hope watching all the green growth over everything. I kinda think it looks beautiful when it’s wild like this.
It’s truly sad how certain places just aren’t good these days. Great video man, keep up the great work!
I thought that the capital of Mississippi, Jackson was the only town that has gone to rot.
@@lindatoten6452 gary is worse.
It's truly sad that Americans can't be honest with themselves or anyone else about WHY. I'm sure Gary was A-ok back before the civil rights movement.
@@whiteprivilegedenier7459
That was just another arrow in the heart of the already wounded giant.
Not the sole cause of the decline.
The Gary Airport is not small. It is capable of handling commercial jets, mostly hauling freight. It is also home to the Navy Blue Angles when they fly at the Chicago Air and Water Show.
Im from Anderson indiana....its happening there. Growing up on the west side it was always a bit rough... but now its no where near what i remember. Every time I go back to visit family, it breaks my heart.
This is a superb video. Researched, respectful, gutsy, fascinating, optimistic, empathetic, great video shots, top quality editing- the works. Probably the finest thing I've on this channel yet. Very very good. Much respect. Thank you.
Well stated. Chris, you are one of the very best video producers.
Born and raised in Michigan City, IN. Would take the South Shore Line from there to Chicago and South Bend. You're right, there is always a stop in Gary. I still technically take that train when I visit my family in South Bend and want to go to Chicago. My grandfather James Thornton died in 1996 and is buried in an unmarked grave in Gary. I'm a 27 year old engineer and hope to put a grave stone where he's buried someday. Thank you for the video.
I live in South Bend, IN and it escaped a similar fate when the Studebaker plant closed down in the 60's. Population growth stopped and the housing crash hit pretty hard, but there is revitalization around the Downtown area and by the Notre Dame campus starting to slowly spread outwards. The tech industry has started to replace the old manufacturing and public/private investment in infrastructure, beautification, and development has kept things on a positive trajectory.
Apples to Oranges. Just the fact Notre Dame resides in that city means it will never suffer Garys fate.
@@dezznutz3743 Gary iron works employed more people than notre dame ever did. These days the hospital system is the major employer in St. Joseph County
@@joe42m13 There are three major University's in south-bend alone. I lived there during my high-school days. It will never come close to what Gary has become.
I don't understand why you don't have a million subscribers. good work bro.
Thanks man. Maybe one day
I'm surprised you didn't mention it's the birth place of Michael Jackson and family. You went above and beyond with this video.
I visited that church 30 years ago. It was burned out like that, only 15 years after closing. We rode our bikes down from Chicago.
Thanks for the video. Coming from the Netherlands, it is intriguing that a city can rise and fall in just over a century and that buildings like the train station and church are accessible.
I was surprised you didn't mention Micheal Jackson or drive by the old family home. The beach would be enough for me to be ok there. I'm binge watching your channel, you're very peaceful to watch and listen to.
Everytime I hear Gary, Indiana, I remember the song from, "The Music Man," and I start singing it in my head. Also, I enjoyed your informative video on Gary, Indiana. Damn, I'm singing it in my had again.
I live in Gary... I love it some parts more then others but good 👍 thanks for not just beating up 😁
Thanks, Chris, for an interesting, if depressing history of Gary, Indiana. Did you know that Gary, Indiana was the Alma Mater of Meridith Wilson's character in the play and movie "The Music Man which was set in River City, Iowa? Just a fun tid-bit. If I remember correctly, Gary was always called "Smoke Stack City", and I used to travel through the town frequently whenever I travelled west to Illinois and other western destinations. Just an old man's rememberances. God Bless and stay safe.
When I was a kid (growing up in Buffalo, another abandoned steel town) my mom had a copy of "The Music Man" on vinyl, and one of the songs was about Gary. The lyrics went: "Gary Indiana, Gary Indiana, Gary Indiana home sweet home".
I live 20 min from Gary and I’ve only drove around and explored in the mornings but you definitely can feel the 90s frozen in time! I recommend visiting in the early morning
The city of Birmingham in Alabama was built around a steel blast furnace. It's now considered one of the most haunted locations in the south. Sloss Furnace. Birmingham's nickname is the "Steel City." Vulcan, the god of the forge over looks the city from the top of Red Mountain.
Lmfao
Another fascinating video Chris. It’s so cool to see the remnants of once lively communities, and to know why they became what they are now.
I've watched a lot of your videos lately. Love the channel, you do a good job of informing people of the place you're in.
I'm English so its great to see these sides of another country that I would never usually see.
Back in 2016 I was heading to Milwaukee and my GPS took me though Gary. I was utterly shocked to see an American city look like this. It looked like something after Armageddon. A movie set. It just didn’t feel real. So heartbreaking.
Hello how are you doing?
I am surprised you didn't mention the most famous person from Gary, Michael Jackson and family. Some beautiful architectures there, so sad.
I grew up next to Gary. I'm glad you made it out of there alive!!!! I went to that train station right before it closed. I liked it. Thanks
Did you live in Lake Station?
@@kimberly9129 no i lived on 61st Avenue an Liverpool. Near the I 65 ramp.
Chris, I really appreciate the research you put in, the camera work, the drone, your articulation and overall pace. You bring clarity and insight to places I would not otherwise see, but have interest in learning about. Very cool. Thanks.
A lot of kids from Gary come to the YMCA in Crown Point (which is a very new super updated facility) to hang out and play basketball,, it's awesome that they're going to have a place that's brand new and right down the road instead of 25-30 mins down I-65. Love that for those kids
I was born in Gary and moved away in 1954. I was hoping you would say the name of the streets you were on. I do remember downtown, my mom and I went shopping on Broadway and the beautiful Palace Theater for movies. And yes, my dad did work at the steel mills. Enjoyed the video.
You moved AWAY in ‘54?? Geez my dad was born in ‘50 and already passed away and my mom was born in ‘58. Keep on truckin I suppose 👍
Lived on west side of Gary on 15th Avenue, attended Ivanhoe elementary school in late 40's. The school was on 9th avenue then and was kindergarten through 3rd grade. 4th grade and up attended Edison.
I love the graffiti, especially "Acknowledge me". A very profound human statement, in a way. Everyone wants to be noticed and loved.
I like to fly under the radar
I visited the Jackson home back in 2005, and I was stunned by Gary, IN! I'm surprised it's not more in the news! I remember businesses would be closed at 5pm with the gates, down!!!
I remember driving by Gary in the late 60s on a family trip to Chicago. It looked brutal even then!
So If any of you are Sense 8 fans (Netflix)? This is the church featured in scenes with Daryl Hanna. My favorite of all series! It is great to find out that it was an actual place not a made to believe movie set! Thank you Chris! Please do more features like this.
I live vicariously through you with every video you put out. I always learn so much! I always wondered what Gary looked like.
I grew up in Lake Station, which is next door to Gary. When I was a kid it was called East Gary since they wanted to glom onto the success of Gary back in the day, it was 1977 when they changed it back to Lake Station because they didn't want to be associated with Gary and it's downfall. I have since moved away from the area, going on 25 years ago, this video was a great look back at the area again, nice work!
This was done very well!! Not gonna lie thought I was watching a documentary about Gary, Indiana on National Geographic 😳
Very sad, but there are a lot of towns and cities that have dwindled down because of lack of industry. It’s the same here in the UK. Where I live we had massive companies that took on thousands of workers but through the 70s and 80s they were shutting down. All what’s left now is to find a job in a supermarket. It’s all so sad. Thanks Chris for sharing love your video’s. 👊👍🇬🇧🇺🇸
We need to bring business back to our countries and stop giving our business to China, India and Mexico. It might be cheaper labor but the products are not made as well.
Yes, very sad the industrial and manufacturing history was something the US should be proud of. Too bad to see the results of sending most of it to other countries - leaving just these relics🙁
@@arlenbell4376 It killed this country.
True about deindustrialisation but there’s nowhere in the UK that looks remotely like this nowadays, especially so close to a major city
@@emily0071000 I think you will find that there is
I'm so excited you did this one. I live near and every trip I take there is always different. The decay is sad but beautiful!
I wish I lived close by, so many amazing looking spots
Nothing beautiful about poverty and unemployment. Let’s stop romanticizing this.
@@xr6lad ur speaking out ur ass. No one did.
For ur information, Gary has beautiful green land and the city does has potential. Negative people like you are scared 😱 of life. Stay within your shell and don't come out 😰
Where would you consider a good area to start investing and revitalizing this city?
I’m glad your city’s train station building walls are still standing. So many buildings in this state of disrepair get knocked down. At least it’s still there waiting for the right time to return to life.
I got stuck in a bus station in Gary Indiana going from Michigan to Indianapolis I had to wait three hours the girl said to me sit right over there close to her and don't leave and walk around it was to dangerous. If they tore down all those abandoned buildings it would help.
That church was beautiful. Gary, IN reminds me of my hometown of Flint, Michigan. Same deterioration.
As a child of Gary I sympathize with the plight of Flint. The rust belt built this nation into the economic juggernaut it became and then was thrown aside like yesterday's garbage. Gary has advantages Flint doesn't though. It's proximity to Lake Michigan and Chicago give it options Flint doesn't have. I wish you guys luck.
Wow Chris! You are fearless and I thank you for letting me live vicariously through you and your amazing videos💙🙏🏻
Never knew the history of Gary! An awesome city! If I was younger I’d consider exploring this city. Houses and properties must be very affordable! Oh well!
On to another adventure Chris 😊Thank you 💙🙏🏻
Hey Chris; We really enjoy your videos! They take us back in time, and O the many changes! We are glad you got a drone, it sure is good views and makes a difference from the air. THANKS
Yes, sad that the mills closed but the air is so much cleaner there now. We used to drive to Chicago from LaPorte, Indiana back in the '70s and around the Skyway bridge on I -94 the smoke and smog was terrible!! I am sure anyone living around that area caught cancers and died early. Jesus! It's really a good thing pollution wise that the mills failed! Out with the old, in with the new ! ( PS There was a Frank Lloyd Wright designed mid Century house in Gary once but the city and people let it go to hell.) Sad. Enjoyed your well done video trek. Thanks!
I have lived in Gary all my life. I was baptized at City Methodist. It had the most beautiful stained glass and even a bowling alley. We are experiencing a revival though. Every house near me that was abandoned has been bought up and is being fixed up. Probably because you can't get a 3br brick home for under 10,000 anywhere else, even if it needs fixing. And we have the best church anywhere- Embassies of Christ- with over 3000 members.
What areas or streets would you think are a good place to start revitalizing?
@@Freeingtime Anything along side Broadway, the main street, which is what people see when they get off the Interstate. It's zoned almost entirely business, so anything boarded up adds to the bad impression.
Not me watching this piece by piece at work 😅 I always knew/heard of Gary, Indiana but never knew how bad it became ☹️ Thank you, Chris!!
Glad to see you pop up on my homepage again! I don't think I have seen your videos since before the pandemic, but you were always one of my favorites!
Yep, I really do love vicariously through you! I can’t imagine the travel expenses! Thank you for all you do for these videos!
With current trends, coming to a town near all of us.
Excellent job! I had no idea that Gary was in such a sad state of affairs. Presentations like yours could possibly interest future generations to relocate to an area with great possibilities.
Nobody moves to Gary these days. I dont know why anybody would want to raise their kids in a place so surrounded by urban decay and hopelessness. i've explored gary on street view for hours and there doesn't seem like theres any area that isn;t untouched by dereliction and abanonded buildings. It's sad to say but nobody deserves to grow up around this level of poverty. he is being overly kind in this video in my opinion.
I grew up in michigan. It's sucks. The entire upper Midwest blows because of the weather and lack of gainful employment. So, I left 30 years ago. I haven't regretted it. Florida is great.
Didn’t know Gary, Indiana had a beach. I would be there most weekends. Thanks 🥰🥰
How sad it is to see so many cities end up this way. There are a bunch of towns in my state that have lost everything over the years. All the businesses went away, then the people started moving away. So sad!
Don't help the corrupt politicians, so sad.
Wow my grandma used to visit my great grandma in Gary from New York. She eventually brought my great grandmother to New York to live. Wow when I think back to the pictures I saw of Gary 40-50 years ago it was a beautiful place.
You’re absolutely correct! We thank you for taking us on your journey through Gary and yes we are living vicariously through you! I cannot see to drive. 🌺
Because of Gary's size, it is much easier to recover. Plus an interstate goes through it, which makes it very possible to recover.
Me and my wife driven through Gary before. Definitely not a pretty place to be. However there is one notable place in Gary that I was hoping you would of checked out in this video. Michael Jackson’s childhood home. It’s in a very poverty stricken neighborhood but a lot of work was done to the house. It has a really nice fence that surrounds it a long with some neat memorials in the yard, a pretty cool place to me
He was a block from his house when he was at Roosevelt HS.
I always thought the coolest thing was that the Jackson's grew up Jackson street.
@@kennethcurtis1856 Right! He was literally right there! Just go over a block from the front, turn right, and you're right there when the street ends. I've been every time I go back home (I was born in East Chicago, and moved to Houston but NWI is always home. Still have family there and go every yes to visit). I hate they removed the monument from the yard!
Michael Jacksons home wasn't that nice when he lived there.
What you see doesn't reflect reality.
Very interesting to hear the history of Gary. Thanks, Chris
Thanks for the tour. Nature always takes over when things are abandoned.
I was born in Gary in the 60’s. My parents grew up there as well as my cousins. We all had moved out in 70’s. My parents have good memories of growing up there before and after ww2.
Shame to see such lovely architecture going to waste.
Thank you from Wales for another fascinating video pal
My dream to visit Wales, London, Scotland etc. Hello to you! 🖐I used to live in Gary many years ago myself. I now live in Florida.
"What happened?...Why does it look like this now?"
HILARIOUS!
You know damn well.
Yes, he mentions it. The steel industry left. Happened to a lot of cities.
@@marks.3303 😂..mhmmm
@Mr. B I don't understand this coy reaction. There have been a few in the comments. If this is meant to be some sort of Republican vs. Democrat thing, the state of Indiana has had governors from both parties pretty much going back and forth for decades. During the period of biggest decline, 1969-1989, it was just Republican.
@@marks.3303 I don't like or trust either parties so no .. not that
Steel industry was still functioning during Gary's already decline before the big closings . Crime , unsolved homicides , sex trafficking, lack of funding or even the will to police some areas broke Gary . The wealthy property owners moved out , property rented out or sold for cheap prices so I've always been told
I have been living vicariously through you Chris for years now
Thank you for the tour and information on Gary, Indiana. Wow, an amazing place in a lot of ways, especially the beach. ❤️😊🙏
Hello how are you doing?
*Dusky ones cause mayhem, decay, death, and white flight*
🥺😦😧
I'm a nerd. Gary, Indiana always makes me think of the song from the Music Man
Hello how are you doing?
I was born right outside of Gary. My Grandfather worked for United States Steel Corp in Gary and retired before most of them were shut down due to the economy downturn in the early 1980's. Nice TRD Pro 4Runner BTW. I have the same model and color.
Respectfully done history of this city. I'm liking the drone footage.
I can't hear the words "Gary, Indiana" without wanting to sing haha
And to think that one of the greatest entertainers of all time walked those exact streets as a child. I wonder if their old house is still there.
Yes it's still there. Michael's mother bought the home and the one next to it and fixed them up beautifully. They are both fenced off with beautiful landscaping and little statues. It's a very small home, only 2 bedrooms. I heard that occasionally his mom and sisters will come back to visit it and spend a night ot two there. I believe there was a documentary, I can't remember the name of it, maybe it was a scene from his sister Latoyas show. They showed a scene with Latoya and her mom inside the actual house in the living room. The mom was reminiscing about old memories in the home. It was great.
Great video Chris. You have an excellent delivery style that keeps the viewer engaged. So sad to see such a decline of a once great small city.
I was a Lake County deputy coroner early 1980's... was in Gary most every night working homicide cases... sad place.
He forgot to mention that the old train depot was used when they filmed the movie "Original Gangsters" in the mid 90's
Very interesting and sad. Gary, IN seems to be the poster child for the Rust Belt. But, cities do die, history tells us as much. On the way to Milwaukee in 1970 traveled through Gary at about 1 AM in the morning. A memory fixed in my mind is the sky of the lake glowing orange from the Steel Mills. I always thought about what it was like for the locals to breathe that air day in and day out.
Very interesting. Thanks for producing this, Chris.
I am glad you showed this video! Gary has definitely seen it’s better days and I am sure those people don’t need someone kicking them while they are down!
I went up there 4 years ago. I believe the Jackson 5 house was near that Roosevelt school you visited.. The beach area is nice, I remember the Gustave? Glider memorial there. He helped the wright brothers with his knowledge to build their airplane in 1903. He was the first person they contacted after the Kitty hawk flight.
Yes, Roosevelt high school grounds are right behind the Jackson house.