America's Collapse: The Slums Of Michigan

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  • Опубликовано: 20 ноя 2024

Комментарии • 3,8 тыс.

  • @NickJohnson
    @NickJohnson  6 месяцев назад +56

    Here's my entire Great Lakes Road Trip playlist: ruclips.net/p/PLq-_cmf3H6ypYq3snF04oSnlx1Nz_paCO&si=qFOJWC5lwy95Pu7b

    • @bayersbluebayoubioweapon8477
      @bayersbluebayoubioweapon8477 6 месяцев назад +4

      Why do you ignore segregation?

    • @CBPunisher1900
      @CBPunisher1900 6 месяцев назад +6

      @@bayersbluebayoubioweapon8477 cuz it was 75 years ago lol

    • @Blivot
      @Blivot 6 месяцев назад

      Check any MAGA-NUT, gang member, policeman, prison guard in any city and you will find 30 to 200 weapons of various types with thousands of rounds of ammo waiting for the moment to go crazy! Our USA has been lost to these gun-nuts and will never be the same again. OMG!
      Military weapons in a city is not fair to the unarmed everyday citizen going to work or school. England, Australia, Japan and Canada made them illegal. You can still have a real hunting rifle and or shotgun in these countries but no high capacity rapid firing military weapons! Common Sense!

    • @bayersbluebayoubioweapon8477
      @bayersbluebayoubioweapon8477 6 месяцев назад +2

      @@CBPunisher1900 yet it’s still America’s most segregated city next to Detroit. 60 years, not 75. I have plenty of neighbors who remember segregation. You don’t, in your trailer park

    • @Mr.40.Hours.
      @Mr.40.Hours. 6 месяцев назад

      You can't fix a problem. If you don't first call out the problems. { Blacks. }

  • @Lilcurious1
    @Lilcurious1 6 месяцев назад +970

    Oh and by the way, they weren't up early my friend... they just hadn't gone to bed yet.

    • @turtleanton6539
      @turtleanton6539 6 месяцев назад +17

      Yeh😅😅

    • @pauloconnor2980
      @pauloconnor2980 6 месяцев назад +22

      Most of 'em had nowhere to go!!!!!

    • @Lilcurious1
      @Lilcurious1 6 месяцев назад +69

      @@pauloconnor2980 Unfortunately, they're just comfortable remaining in their situation, whereby they resist any change and will threaten anyone who comes in from outside as well. Therefore, the ignorance that persist in that community recycles over and over each year/decade with no hope for a brighter future. In short, they're waiting for someone to do something for them, because they lack the initiative on any level to do that for themselves... and that is a total shame. At some point, human beings have to take accountability for their own actions if they want things to get better.

    • @brynnmorriganpollard8757
      @brynnmorriganpollard8757 6 месяцев назад +10

      And in the case of The Speed-Freaks, both states are true...

    • @geod3589
      @geod3589 6 месяцев назад +36

      I was literally going to make the exact same post. They've been up all night, jacked up on drugs, hanging out. No need to go to bed, they don't need to get up to go to work.

  • @maryclebeau
    @maryclebeau Месяц назад +7

    You show what is happening to our country that no one wants to acknowledge. You show us what is our reality and it’s shocking, and unbelievable that’s why we are looking at these videos! 😮

  • @Michelle-zz7no
    @Michelle-zz7no 5 месяцев назад +75

    I did home healthcare in those neighborhoods for 10 years. I specifically worked with pregnant women and infants. I have been inside those homes and public housing/apartments a thousand times at least. I miss that job. Hands down the most rewarding and interesting jobs I ever had. I wore scrubs and clearly worked for our local health center. I only felt truly scared about 6 times. People knew I was there to help.

    • @patjones5723
      @patjones5723 4 месяца назад +8

      You're a special breed lady ❤
      God bless you 🙏 ❤️ 😊

    • @Johnnie-d9b
      @Johnnie-d9b 4 месяца назад +6

      Help your family and people; don’t be a naive fool.

    • @Michelle-zz7no
      @Michelle-zz7no 4 месяца назад +7

      @@Johnnie-d9b your comment makes no sense.

    • @bryanprice2800
      @bryanprice2800 4 месяца назад +3

      you cant walk around scared anywhere in this country.doesn't matter if it fort worth la or hamtramx . they can smell the fear on you. don't be a punk you wont get punked. most violence is beef between people who know each other most isn't stranger on danger stranger

    • @Michelle-zz7no
      @Michelle-zz7no 2 месяца назад +3

      @@bryanprice2800 I wouldn’t have done that job if I was in constant fear but the truth is that area is very very dangerous. Most of what happens there never makes even the local news. Rapes and shootings happen weekly if not more.

  • @thepepperlanders
    @thepepperlanders 2 месяца назад +34

    Benton Harbor was known as "Little Detroit". I hitchhiked out of there during a blizzard in the 70s and it was dangerous then. The blacks thought I was so nuts they were nice to me. Jesus was with me that night.

    • @blackcat6356
      @blackcat6356 Месяц назад

      Funny how that work. White people always have horror stories to tell but they always live to tell them. SMH.

    • @alycooper1932
      @alycooper1932 5 дней назад

      Why so many blacks up north

  • @robinmiller7958
    @robinmiller7958 6 месяцев назад +250

    Man you are crazy driving around solo without a police escort. Even more hilarious commentary than usual. I was very depressed after seeing how destroyed my former hometowns in Illinois and Pennsylvania had become and that was ten years ago. Your videos make it clear that much of America is in a death spiral.

    • @crazychase98
      @crazychase98 6 месяцев назад +8

      All of america is

    • @USA-CANADA1480
      @USA-CANADA1480 6 месяцев назад +7

      lol. Police escort? Funded by who???

    • @foodforthots29
      @foodforthots29 6 месяцев назад +6

      I always think the same thing when I see these. Blows my mind to creep so slow like that. I thought it was universally known you don't do that.
      It's asking for it.

    • @Macattack11639
      @Macattack11639 6 месяцев назад +6

      ⁠@@foodforthots29exactly. You dont do that. It it was a crowded street on the West side of Detroit hed be carjacked in 30 seconds

    • @denice300
      @denice300 6 месяцев назад

      He's not driving around with one because he doesn't need one. Yall will believe anything especially if it fuels your racists beliefs.This video is so biased its ridiculous. My hometown and never not once have I ever heard of anyone visiting being hurt...now the same can't be said for our sister city St Joe that's predominantly white, but keep believing what makes you feel superior.

  • @knightclassic1
    @knightclassic1 6 месяцев назад +42

    I'm a Rideshare Driver from Chicago and occasionally around Midwest. And been driving around Chicago for last 6 years, never gotten physical assaulted from riders until I got one incident at Benton Harbor at 2021 where I got followed and threatened, feared for my life that I had to get Berrien County Sheriff involved and filed police report, DO NOT Drive Rideshare or do deliveries at Benton Harbor.

    • @uuuultra
      @uuuultra 5 месяцев назад +2

      needed to see this comment

    • @JrueThrondsen
      @JrueThrondsen 4 месяца назад +3

      Nobody deserves anything in the place until the people in the area steps up. That will never happen.

    • @stevenwahl3440
      @stevenwahl3440 2 месяца назад

      You mean Benton Harlem

    • @davidvankainen6711
      @davidvankainen6711 2 месяца назад

      Ya go to Lark's BBQ?

    • @edwardmiller9611
      @edwardmiller9611 2 месяца назад

      Worse than Detroit and Flint.

  • @vernonrtodd1322
    @vernonrtodd1322 6 месяцев назад +631

    It’s a Shame to say but this is the future of America…

    • @damonmelendez856
      @damonmelendez856 6 месяцев назад +77

      A dark future indeed

    • @michaelbrinks8089
      @michaelbrinks8089 6 месяцев назад

      More & more of USA will look like this. Especially if Biden gets his way. Who literally said on video that he wants an unrelenting stream of mass migration.

    • @TomG-f4r
      @TomG-f4r 6 месяцев назад +19

      This is late to flourish , heavy industry's..fancy stuff , flexible fabricating , now rust belt , many areas are fine , lean ...some are too remote and often too specialized , ..nothings replaced manufacturing , ...jobs , housing foodstamps ,beer stamps , medical....it's ripe for socialism ..like Sweden perhaps...you found a .. pirate s camp ..lawless ...hopeless ...ready for risk. Double or nuttin

    • @HenrikFredriksson-oi4lz
      @HenrikFredriksson-oi4lz 6 месяцев назад +27

      I'm very sad to say yes, but it all depends on Wwho you wote for. Stay Strong - Hello from Sweden👍

    • @postintheocean
      @postintheocean 6 месяцев назад +29

      The future ??
      More like reality, the now !
      The future is gunna be a whole lot worse . These towns are gunna be bypassed eventually... well imho

  • @TheDann65
    @TheDann65 6 месяцев назад +153

    I grew up in The Harbor!, Graduated HS went to the Army and never went back! Horrible place to live and grow up in!

    • @uk-martin4905
      @uk-martin4905 6 месяцев назад +14

      Glad to hear you've done well for yourself.For whatever reason, some of the people here lack that kind of determination. It must be difficult to feel incentivised in a community like that; it would probably be frowned upon by others anyway.

    • @TravelatorH8r
      @TravelatorH8r 5 месяцев назад +2

      What year was it when you went to the Army? Just curious how long this town has been like this. Thank you for your service

    • @patjones5723
      @patjones5723 4 месяца назад

      God bless you 🙏 ❤️
      WTG 😊

    • @TradBarbie
      @TradBarbie 4 месяца назад +1

      I'm from Detroit. Thank God my dad got me out

    • @vanillainfusion
      @vanillainfusion 4 месяца назад +2

      I was born and raised here too, left asap lol. I live in Texas now.

  • @happygrandma4ruthP
    @happygrandma4ruthP 6 месяцев назад +36

    Michigan was hit hard when they moved the factory jobs to Mexico and China.

    • @patjones5723
      @patjones5723 4 месяца назад +1

      Bingo 💯 💯 💯 😢

    • @mikeg9554
      @mikeg9554 4 месяца назад +3

      It's uncontrolled capitalism at work! Give the rich more money, and they will hord most of it! It's right in front of us and plain to see if you choose to see it.

    • @suemoreno5217
      @suemoreno5217 2 месяца назад +3

      Trumps already going deal that once he takes office Lord willing.

    • @ElmerSolis-wn7js
      @ElmerSolis-wn7js Месяц назад

      they scam in china china is behind of all the poverty in the world

    • @johnlynch9921
      @johnlynch9921 28 дней назад

      @@suemoreno5217 He won't do squat. Count on it.

  • @davidboaz5600
    @davidboaz5600 6 месяцев назад +540

    Nothing is built, nothing is back, nothing is better.

  • @TriggerTravels
    @TriggerTravels 6 месяцев назад +685

    No work boots were harmed during the making of this video

    • @ricksmith4736
      @ricksmith4736 6 месяцев назад +64

      And no Job Applications were filled out..

    • @TriggerTravels
      @TriggerTravels 6 месяцев назад +19

      @@ricksmith4736 that too

    • @blacksilverchair3315
      @blacksilverchair3315 6 месяцев назад +37

      But a lot of Jordans were harmed though 😂😂😂

    • @alexg9727
      @alexg9727 6 месяцев назад +10

      @@ricksmith4736 there are no jobs now

    • @blacksilverchair3315
      @blacksilverchair3315 6 месяцев назад

      ​@@alexg9727there were jobs. Nick showed us a plant that was in that town. They don't want to work. We need more Venezuelans in this country to work. Americans have become lazy and decadent.

  • @funkmasternick
    @funkmasternick 3 месяца назад +13

    You need to invest in a dashcam man! That would save you from having to point cameras at people

  • @ver2cal2010
    @ver2cal2010 6 месяцев назад +290

    You never come to a complete stop in a hood like that and certainly never ever get out the car. Holy hell man be safer.

    • @edlee2336
      @edlee2336 6 месяцев назад +22

      Right. Like it’s an abandoned house we’ve seen them before keep going 😂

    • @ishastrega6851
      @ishastrega6851 6 месяцев назад +21

      Windows up. Doors locked. Certain neighborhoods never even enter.

    • @metalmike570
      @metalmike570 6 месяцев назад +6

      Meth fire houses! Yeah stay in the vehicle minimum.

    • @suckitgoogle7756
      @suckitgoogle7756 6 месяцев назад

      He should stop and ask for directions to Popeye's Chicken

    • @davidjanson7982
      @davidjanson7982 6 месяцев назад +1

      @@metalmike570 LoL

  • @kristinasativa
    @kristinasativa 6 месяцев назад +149

    Even the trees are depressed...

  • @Jaded57
    @Jaded57 3 месяца назад +8

    Thank you Nick for all you do and showing us the TRUTH…. You don’t need to talk politics-it shows what state they vote by the condition it’s in… you are brutally honest and that’s hard to find now…Be safe out there … 🇺🇸🇺🇸TRUMP 2024

  • @jjackson4754
    @jjackson4754 6 месяцев назад +474

    I just sent this video to Benton Harbor city council.

    • @damonmelendez856
      @damonmelendez856 6 месяцев назад +93

      Lmao hope they read the comments

    • @facediaper09
      @facediaper09 6 месяцев назад

      They can't read😂​@@damonmelendez856

    • @reubenj.cogburn8546
      @reubenj.cogburn8546 6 месяцев назад +87

      I am all but certain a place like this has nothing but top-notch administrators and several plausible plans of action.
      I am just a sure that your actions were not only warranted but will certainly have a measurable positive effect...
      Oh wait, never mind.

    • @damonmelendez856
      @damonmelendez856 6 месяцев назад

      @@reubenj.cogburn8546 lmao

    • @WildManActual
      @WildManActual 6 месяцев назад

      @@reubenj.cogburn8546 Top notch *democrat administrators

  • @tinamartinez1940
    @tinamartinez1940 6 месяцев назад +89

    For me, watching this type of content, helps me not envy those that post their perfect life on social media, it helps put in perspective and to appreciate what I have since there are others that are less fortunate or have nothing.

    • @tam6148
      @tam6148 6 месяцев назад

      This is America. The minority’s are provided all the opportunities and help that they need to be successful… Much more so than the the tax payers who support them. They chose to live in squalor. Historically ruining every place they live

    • @peterbelanger4094
      @peterbelanger4094 6 месяцев назад +4

      Stuff like this just feels more real, more familiar.
      It's also interesting to see how nature reclaims what we abandon.

    • @TEXASLOYAL
      @TEXASLOYAL 6 месяцев назад +6

      If a person is in that poor situation, it’s sheer will and determination to get away from that, yes, it can be done

  • @3mexhuas
    @3mexhuas 5 месяцев назад +7

    Nick, I love your videos. Every night I fall asleep to one as they bring me great calm and take me away from this chaotic, violent world. I used to listen to Christian music and meditation videos, but they never calmed me like yours do. Keep up the good work!!

  • @kristinamikkelsoncasanova6287
    @kristinamikkelsoncasanova6287 6 месяцев назад +170

    You can tell that this town was a nice place to live once upon a time

    • @ES-mc3cc
      @ES-mc3cc 6 месяцев назад +6

      The shopping mall (Orchards Mall) opened in 1979, the first year I lived in St. Joe. It was a nice mall and provided decent shopping for the area. It's been closed for a few years now.

    • @kristinamikkelsoncasanova6287
      @kristinamikkelsoncasanova6287 6 месяцев назад +4

      @@ES-mc3cc So sad...makes my heart break...but St. Joe is beautiful

    • @malwads1836
      @malwads1836 6 месяцев назад +3

      A lot of places in 🇺🇸 are like that now😮‍💨.

    • @StephenMartinez-ve1ey
      @StephenMartinez-ve1ey 6 месяцев назад +3

      Like Detroit Michigan to East side where I was born and raised. It was beautiful an epic. Beautiful libraries beautiful businesses and buildings architect. A lot of great things in Detroit in the 60s that no longer stands. I had two huge families that grew up with me over on the east side of Detroit Michigan most of our houses are gone it's back to farmland. I live in a 1950 house in the suburbs very safe middle-class neighborhood beautiful homes beautiful landscaping with a lot of curb appeal. The house I grew up in in Detroit was built in the 50s but after we left crack came to town. Our house down there was built in 1942 it was completely destroyed and demolished in 1971 and when we left it it was still a nice house intact. Street I grew up on East lawn Street Jay geils made their first record beautiful movie theater the next block over the Cinderella ballroom. 2600 seats. With balconies. Jay geils first record full House. The movie theater the Cinderella ballroom that I attended when I was a small kid 50 cent Saturday matinees. Is long gone. It was at coplin and Jefferson Eastside Detroit. That movie theater was beautiful. Like the Fox theater in downtown Detroit. As well as my elementary school what's humongous two city blocks big. 2800 kids attended at school which is long gone now. I'm a licensed gun carrier. And when I travel to Detroit now I carry two guns for my own protection.

    • @StephenMartinez-ve1ey
      @StephenMartinez-ve1ey 6 месяцев назад

      ​@@kristinamikkelsoncasanova6287this is what happens are you allow crooked Democrat politicians to take over such a great city as Detroit Michigan corruption from the top all the way down. They were even stealing the kids schools supplies to maintain Detroit schools from the warehouse. They built two prisons in Detroit behind one of the prisons was a crack house selling crack 24/7 any other one had a drive-thru service. You would think the prison was in front of it this could never happen but it did. In the Michigan department of corrections prison bureau didn't help closing that crack house down being so close to the prison you could throw a tennis ball over the fence full of drugs as well as cell phones

  • @tomnohmy1273
    @tomnohmy1273 6 месяцев назад +28

    I think Nick, in my opinion has the best YT channel of this genre

  • @janeashley1638
    @janeashley1638 3 месяца назад +6

    Nick, I really enjoy your videos and your personality. I like to see the good, bad and ugly because it is the whole story. Reality is the most interesting thing. Thanks for all you do!

  • @williambush7971
    @williambush7971 6 месяцев назад +265

    I'm getting old but I remember when the black side of town had families with a mom and dad and kids. They always went to church on Sunday and looked after themselves and their neighborhood. Dad worked and mom took care of the kids. Look at what we have today.

    • @AcuraLvR82
      @AcuraLvR82 6 месяцев назад

      In the 80s Reagan got most those black parents addicted to crack and sent away to prisons. The CIA contra affair along with the proliferation of private prisons and penal harm ideology was similar in nature to the Holocaust. But without the gas chamber of course. They just let men murder each other in overcrowded prisons instead.

    • @mcmanwich
      @mcmanwich 6 месяцев назад +73

      Seems like all these towns have the same story. Some company becomes the city's dominant employer, then eventually decides to move out in search of cheaper labor or bigger tax breaks. Jobs disappear, tax base dwindles, services diminish and it's tough to stop the rot. Long ago, this country decided corporations should be allowed to chase profits with no consideration given to community or societal well-being.

    • @AlvinBoreo
      @AlvinBoreo 6 месяцев назад

      Not anymore they are spreading like crazy they are all ghetto with no respect

    • @olafharoldsonnii4713
      @olafharoldsonnii4713 6 месяцев назад

      @@mcmanwichLBJ WELFARE

    • @9852323
      @9852323 6 месяцев назад

      Black neighborhoods are dangerous now.

  • @who7056
    @who7056 6 месяцев назад +35

    Nick, I know you want to give RUclips viewers what they want, but what we want most of all is for you to be safe.
    I was hoping you’d get the heck out of there.
    Be safe first, Nick.
    We want you around more than your content, so if it means risking your life, forget it! Get out!

  • @chucknv5482
    @chucknv5482 6 месяцев назад +40

    Something I have noticed over my years is that there are two areas where people are outside: the projects/ghettos/poor areas and then strangely enough, the wealthy high end neighborhoods. The wealthy run in sports bras, walk their boujee dogs on super nice walking paths, and lots of people outside. Then in poor areas (personal experience lol)it’s mostly people hustling, getting into something, and just waiting for something to happen.
    There’s a huge in between those where people aren’t outside as much.

    • @jeremyhodges7956
      @jeremyhodges7956 6 месяцев назад +14

      The rest of use are at work😂

    • @miguelrosario7302
      @miguelrosario7302 6 месяцев назад +3

      I think your observation is spot-on (people out and about). “Boujee” isn’t a word. Try “bourgeois” on for size. It’s the right sentiment, just a ghetto version of the word.

    • @kevinfinnegan310
      @kevinfinnegan310 5 месяцев назад

      Try to experience some nature if you're not outside that much

    • @cupsoflove1245
      @cupsoflove1245 5 месяцев назад +5

      All wage slaves get to do is work ..I mean we wish we could enjoy being outside having free time .

  • @thebigguy5590
    @thebigguy5590 6 месяцев назад +218

    A while back, my wife and I went to a wedding in St. Joes and decided to stay in Benton Harbor to save money. We thought: how bad can it be? Well, a lot worse than we thought. We were supposed to stick around and do things the next day, but we left at 4am and got as far away as possible.

    • @johnokumu9069
      @johnokumu9069 6 месяцев назад +7

      🤣🤣day made imagining you convincing your wife people like to exagerrate🤣🤣 What exactly happened and how much more expensive was the next place you stayed at? sounds like you were waiting for 4am than waking up at that time.

    • @thebigguy5590
      @thebigguy5590 6 месяцев назад +40

      @@johnokumu9069 we skipped the events next day and just went home. We were both up at 4am because we didn’t sleep very good and said: “you want to get outta here?” We left because we heard non stop police sirens, people were just hanging around the hotel and parking lot, the elevator smelled like urine, and we didn’t feel safe.

    • @quincyrawls2841
      @quincyrawls2841 6 месяцев назад

      Wasn't nothing going to happen to u trust me we only harm our own here blk on blk crime that's the way it is and always have been sad to say 😢

    • @samndisya1922
      @samndisya1922 6 месяцев назад

      ​@@thebigguy5590Which hotel, I'm curious?

    • @dirkcook1912
      @dirkcook1912 6 месяцев назад +10

      Bro it ain’t that bad. I’ve lived in BH/StJoe my whole life other than the 15 years I was active duty. It’s not as bad as you are making it. Especially all the hotels in BH. They are all brand new over by the theater.

  • @bdleo300
    @bdleo300 6 месяцев назад +80

    Perfect setting for a horror movie

    • @stlawstlaw7585
      @stlawstlaw7585 6 месяцев назад +10

      Post-apocalyptic zombie movie...

    • @bdleo300
      @bdleo300 6 месяцев назад +2

      @@stlawstlaw7585 Fallout 5: Michigan

    • @a105-t5m
      @a105-t5m 6 месяцев назад +1

      it already is one, if you have to spend your life watching it.

    • @alexdavidson7785
      @alexdavidson7785 6 месяцев назад +3

      Called AFRICA

    • @StephenMartinez-ve1ey
      @StephenMartinez-ve1ey 6 месяцев назад +2

      That's an excellent idea which they do here in Detroit Michigan especially on the east side it looks like something out of a mad Max movie. You should see some of these houses that people live in no running water electricity being stolen with the jumper cables using jumper cables as the wiring bypassing the electric meter. Detroit water authority shuts off the water going to the residence but these guys you would think straight out of a MacGyver weekly program. They have water keys to turn the water back on and they charge you. That's why Detroit water authority in the governor here wants everybody in the surrounding communities to be hooked up do the Detroit water authority and everybody they're asking to pay $2 more on their water bills so detroiters that say they can't pay their water bills we are forced to pay them for them. Being born and raised in Detroit Michigan I still say FH*K DETROIT. EVERYTHING IS DISPOSABLE DOWN THERE. A man can they tear up a house in a matter of a few weeks. As well as they'll just moved themselves right in and take over a rental house like it's theirs.that's why the Detroit Land Bank sells houses in Detroit and property on the internet and most of the property owners don't even live in this country. They send property Management companies come in and higher outside independent contractors to do them houses but as fast as you're redoing the house you leave for the night the next day they done stole the hot water tank the furnace the toilet even the kitchen sink. I've seen people Park their cars in front of their houses in Detroit with a big tree in front by the porch and they actually chain their vehicles to the tree in front of their homes 2 ft from the porch. And these guys that are professional car thieves they can use a laptop and reprogram a key in a matter of minutes and steal your brand new car or truck. Downtown Detroit area is beautiful in certain neighborhoods in Detroit are nice they have private security. 24/7 but mostly through the night. As well as you have gated condos security guards at the gate. The majority of Detroit is still highly dangerous. I guess it's true when the black old wise man told me not long ago killing is their business business is good. So many unclaimed bodies in the Detroit morgue they have now three huge semi-trailer refrigerator trucks to store the overflow of dead bodies.

  • @ilirlluka6789
    @ilirlluka6789 6 месяцев назад +36

    Even the trees are in full depression mode.

    • @Dreamer-3689
      @Dreamer-3689 3 месяца назад

      You are definitely not the brightest crayon in the box 🤡😂

  • @georgemallory797
    @georgemallory797 6 месяцев назад +138

    This city's been crap for decades. 40 years ago, when I was a teen, my dad and uncles called it "Benton Harlem."

    • @danielowen5889
      @danielowen5889 6 месяцев назад +5

      Yes I remember it being called that as well.. must be a great source of pride for them..

    • @NegativeYoutube
      @NegativeYoutube 6 месяцев назад +22

      Benton Harbor has been given multi-millions in support to grow and succeed over the years. I'm not allowed to tell you why nothing has changed on youtube, but you can figure it out.

    • @brianv1981
      @brianv1981 6 месяцев назад

      @@NegativeRUclips Pre-welfare, black families were intact, and black communities, as opposed to ghettos, were a thing...

    • @9chilidog
      @9chilidog 6 месяцев назад

      @@NegativeRUclipssame reason they dump billions over the years into Cleveland, Detroit, Milwaukee...

    • @SBCBears
      @SBCBears 6 месяцев назад +9

      Yup. Sixty years ago, when I was a teen, it was common knowledge that Benton Harbor was demographically-challenged.

  • @delwhylie4748
    @delwhylie4748 6 месяцев назад +46

    Can you imagine if all of our soldiers that died for this Country. Could only see us now!

  • @Stacie45
    @Stacie45 5 месяцев назад +15

    I think I watch these because it reminds me that I really have it pretty good. I am not under any illusions that I could help fix the kind of dystopian disaster so many people live in, I just need to be reminded from time to time that I am fortunate to be in a place where things are better.

  • @jakerirenef7034
    @jakerirenef7034 6 месяцев назад +49

    I live in MI. I know Benton Harbor. Ranks up there with Detroit and Flint.

    • @BastardX13
      @BastardX13 6 месяцев назад +4

      Benton Harbor is as dangerous as anywhere here in Michigan.

    • @DavidSaltsman-qs2pe
      @DavidSaltsman-qs2pe 5 месяцев назад +6

      Pontiac and Flint feels more accurate - Detroit has a lot of nice pockets now a days. I personally see a ton of economy in the tri county area, been a Michigander my whole life, wouldn’t trade it for the world. If we can play a game of politics that actually makes sense and inspire people to be better and honest and have morals, thats really the only hope I see. Too much evil going round

    • @jakerirenef7034
      @jakerirenef7034 5 месяцев назад +6

      @@DavidSaltsman-qs2pe I agree. I love MI. Beautiful Great Lakes, 4 seasons, we have a nice state.

    • @uvhciM
      @uvhciM 5 месяцев назад +2

      Detroit has been seriously improving for over 10 years now (many would argue the improvements started around 2006). The city still has no debt, and has at least nine neighborhoods that were previously awful like this, but are now beautiful, thriving with new business, well-policed, and seeing college kids moving in. Beyond that, Detroit ended 2023 with its least homicides in 57 years AND is officially growing in population at the same time. Are the changes slow? - sure. You try improving a city that's 3x the size of Boston, San Francisco, and Manhattan yet lacks the tax base of even one of those cities to pay for policing and improvements. But it's getting done, and Detroiters have the right attitude this time around.
      In contrast, Benton Harbor seems like it's just spinning its wheels, going nowhere but down. And I'm not hearing many good things about Flint either.

  • @goodson77784
    @goodson77784 6 месяцев назад +203

    If there's time to lean there's time to clean.

    • @soarornor
      @soarornor 6 месяцев назад +16

      That should be a rally cry.

    • @vadermasktruth
      @vadermasktruth 6 месяцев назад +25

      I learned this when I was 13 year old working in my first restaurant at $3.35 an hour. I'm almost 53 now and it was a small, but important lesson I learned early on.

    • @facediaper09
      @facediaper09 6 месяцев назад +3

      Phoenix avatar ❤

    • @loboblue5441
      @loboblue5441 6 месяцев назад

      You are, or were once, a waitress. I was too

    • @tammybriggs1271
      @tammybriggs1271 6 месяцев назад

      ❤❤❤

  • @azdrifter3968
    @azdrifter3968 6 месяцев назад +7

    I live in one of the fastest growing areas of one of the fastest growing cities in America here in far north Phoenix. It's a trip to see these places. Empty, falling apart, everything gone job wise. Everything I see is brand new, whole neighborhoods and plazas popping up everywhere, people everywhere, with every place around hiring. I don't care if all I had was a mountain bike, a big backpack full of supplies, and a foodstamp card, I would be riding to the next town or city with jobs and opportunities, regardless how far it is. I left a small town with high poverty and little opportunities at 19 to come here with just my car and some clothes and a few hundred bucks. I'm 42 now.

  • @damonmelendez856
    @damonmelendez856 6 месяцев назад +139

    Stay strapped Nick! And make sure your life insurance premiums are paid up.

    • @daniel-nw5iq
      @daniel-nw5iq 6 месяцев назад

      Yessir little dicky I mean little Nicky stay strapped.also please put me on your life insurance 😂

    • @truthteller4442
      @truthteller4442 6 месяцев назад +5

      And health insurance.

    • @ashaliyahaguilar3875
      @ashaliyahaguilar3875 6 месяцев назад

      So be a part of the problem lol and BH is “ghetto” 🤣

  • @Chris.P-rd6bf
    @Chris.P-rd6bf 6 месяцев назад +39

    So much wonderful architecture just falling apart. That stained glass window in that church. What a shame.

  • @handkmommy
    @handkmommy 6 месяцев назад +16

    I live on the outskirts of the city. I was a mail carrier here. It’s as horrible as you think and more. I’ve seen shell casings, domestic violence, drug abuse and drug dealers everywhere. Most of the people are unemployable. They are felons, drug addicts, young single moms and handicapped.

  • @Elska2
    @Elska2 6 месяцев назад +49

    Driving a fancy White Jeep Grand Wagoneer through a place where people make 10k a year and prone to violence is a great way to get attention! 😂

    • @bigburtha3471
      @bigburtha3471 5 месяцев назад +2

      I was thinking the same thing. Everyone looks at him cuz he's driving a shiny chrome trimmed Jeep Grand Cherokee. A car brand that's known for breaking down randomly. Bros epic but reckless

    • @MikeCzenkMD
      @MikeCzenkMD 4 месяца назад +1

      ​@bigburtha3471 it's worse. Not a Cherokee it's a Grand Wagoneer. 100k vehicle

    • @TomikaKelly
      @TomikaKelly 2 месяца назад

      There is nothing fancy about a Wagoneer

    • @bangrojai
      @bangrojai Месяц назад

      These people that can get 10k a year should be grateful. In globalization era, there are millions people in South East Asia living with a quarter of that money. Be grateful guys, be grateful.

  • @Gracekgs2002
    @Gracekgs2002 6 месяцев назад +34

    Hi Nick! I absolutely love Hawaii. Just a few blocks away from Waikiki beach there is poverty. Poverty is everywhere.

    • @SAMOTUBER
      @SAMOTUBER 6 месяцев назад

      I've traveled quite a bit and out of my own bubble and yes, you can find the bad part of almost every mid sized American city. Bottom feeders like this guy know they can get hits by pointing out "ruin porn". I can tell he also supports politicians who vote a certain way, and create these conditions because they don't really serve voters, they serve the monied interests that fund their campaigns.

  • @MrTeuf66
    @MrTeuf66 5 месяцев назад +4

    Thank you for your perseverance, Nick. I travel vicariously through you, and see the world through your eyes. Having traveled the world, I have seen more third world places, and shit-holes than you could believe. Seeing some of the places you visit here in the US just makes me feel the cancer is spreading. Watching your content makes me feel better about my own situation. Keep the faith, brother!

  • @bobowrathsovine.
    @bobowrathsovine. 6 месяцев назад +126

    How can a kid make it past elementary school without knowing how to read? Let alone nearly every kid in the town

    • @damonmelendez856
      @damonmelendez856 6 месяцев назад +15

      A ‘keeeeed’ or a kid

    • @reubenj.cogburn8546
      @reubenj.cogburn8546 6 месяцев назад +1

      Because you can't get 15-year-old black males to go back to second grade.
      And second grade wouldn't want them either.

    • @TheBizziniss
      @TheBizziniss 6 месяцев назад +15

      You actually have to work at not learning to read in this country.

    • @Mel-ce2ry
      @Mel-ce2ry 6 месяцев назад

      Teachers, schools get reprimanded for failure so everything is falsified

    • @slee2819
      @slee2819 6 месяцев назад

      Reading is ray-cist, according to democrats.

  • @lindatonkin3802
    @lindatonkin3802 6 месяцев назад +29

    I live about 20 miles from Benton harbor and all that you said is very true. About 50 years ago it wasn't to bad but I never go over there. St. Joe is a really nice place to go. The Mall was really nice and we used to shopping there. Yes Benton harbor they call little Detroit. You're lucky you made it out alive.

    • @NickJohnson
      @NickJohnson  6 месяцев назад +13

      Not lucky it's skill

    • @googleuser868
      @googleuser868 6 месяцев назад

      All this upbeat news is making me think even St Joseph might not be our usual sunset stop on the return trip to Indiana after Lake Michigan beach hoping.

    • @burtvincent1278
      @burtvincent1278 5 месяцев назад +1

      Go a little north to South Haven to get your eyes accustomed to beauty again.

    • @TradBarbie
      @TradBarbie Месяц назад

      I was in Detroit Friday to watch the Tigers Clinch. People don't understand most of the crym is people who know each other. Rouge and Ecourse are WAY wurse than Detroit. Adrian Michigan is wurse.

  • @heidistanton4583
    @heidistanton4583 3 месяца назад +8

    Putting a golf course in when people are hurting, shows how diconnected the corporate scum are. ❤

    • @Saeglopur89
      @Saeglopur89 Месяц назад +3

      Who is hurting? They run down whole neighborhood. It's their way of life. From my european perspective this looks exactly how they are turning places in western/southern europe now too.
      Awful that decades ago people lived there and had houses but at some point could sell only for fraction. Here this problem exists only when war starts somewhere.

  • @larrybuckner8619
    @larrybuckner8619 6 месяцев назад +112

    People get things confused. It’s not that we like watching these videos it’s that we can’t believe how many different places in the United States are like this. It’s really unbelievable how bad America really is but people want to put a good spin on it because there’s one or two places that are OK.

    • @Emmy-J
      @Emmy-J 6 месяцев назад +31

      But we have billions to send to other countries every frickin year while so many of us here live in squalor

    • @navyvet05
      @navyvet05 6 месяцев назад

      Not every place in the US is like this. I would say most of the US is doing just fine, but like everywhere else, its got its underdeveloped places. You’re just seeing all the bad and none of the good so it seems like most of the US is trash.

    • @larrybuckner8619
      @larrybuckner8619 6 месяцев назад +9

      @@Emmy-J EXACTLY!!!!

    • @loboblue5441
      @loboblue5441 6 месяцев назад +7

      Yes, you're right. It's shocking

    • @survivingthetimes
      @survivingthetimes 6 месяцев назад +5

      Yep. Even the once prosperous small city that I live in is slowly crumbling to the ground.

  • @kybruce1
    @kybruce1 6 месяцев назад +52

    A few years ago on vacation we were driving to South Haven and took a wrong turn so thought we would check out BH. After driving a ways into town and past the abandoned schools and hospital. Was too scary so left right away. We grew up in Battle Creek and moved away from there in the mid 70's. We thought BC was bad, but today BC is so much better off than BH. You're pretty brave

    • @SwiftyMcVeigh851
      @SwiftyMcVeigh851 6 месяцев назад

      I'm still here, went to pennfield HS I don't run on the north side or anywhere around Battle Creek Central . I haven't looked up crime statistics, but the homeless population is growing. The City police and the County Sheriff's are not playing around here.

  • @annavoss2919
    @annavoss2919 6 месяцев назад +46

    I used to live in Benton Harbor and it was a thriving place to live. We had some big corporations and one of the most beautiful and thriving city and then, Martin Luther King was as sainted and the black people went berserk and started the riots and you were unsafe to be white and they took over the city and began to destroy everything and then the white flight and the businesses would not stay and began to move out. Many beautiful homes were abandoned, businesses destroyed and if you were white, you could not be out. Hate killed Bend on Harbor, and now we see what happens when people give in to hate.

    • @NatureScapesStudio
      @NatureScapesStudio 5 месяцев назад +4

      Agree.

    • @JrueThrondsen
      @JrueThrondsen 4 месяца назад +3

      Yup

    • @lynx8664
      @lynx8664 4 месяца назад

      They ruin every city they’re in.

    • @FatoushSalad
      @FatoushSalad 2 месяца назад

      It’s sad that white people are considered “privileged” and nobody in modern day politics would ever admit that there was a time when it wasn’t safe to be white because blacks are considered to be at a disadvantage yet they actively have ruined communities by rioting

    • @Saeglopur89
      @Saeglopur89 Месяц назад +3

      As European I was thinking about that - decades ago people had to sell their houses for fraction of value and leave, nightmare how that had to ruin finances, many people felt forced to move I guess :/ Normally only war changes things in that way.
      Now we also have places which are taken over and turned into that - without any logical reason many european countries import those people here now in millions.

  • @mellowmoods8393
    @mellowmoods8393 6 месяцев назад +79

    Dude, Nick. The danger you put yourself in to bring us first class content cannot be overstated!

    • @MrDevinp74
      @MrDevinp74 6 месяцев назад +8

      He didn’t put hisself in danger he just scary as hell stop falling for his agenda to make city look bad with showing the whole city it’s good and parts to every city

    • @Knarkfist
      @Knarkfist 6 месяцев назад +5

      Hisself 😂😂😂

    • @mellowmoods8393
      @mellowmoods8393 6 месяцев назад +11

      @@MrDevinp74 Yeah, I'm sure Benton Harbor and all those black dudes throwing gang signs and riding around on bikes staring at him driving by are REALLY just misunderstood, and that it's really a beautiful town. ;)

    • @dirkcook1912
      @dirkcook1912 6 месяцев назад

      First class content? You gotta be joking. More like the crappiest video ever of a dude with nothing better to do than be a POS and sh$$ talk a city he’s been to once.

    • @AMoneyVideo
      @AMoneyVideo 6 месяцев назад +2

      ​@@mellowmoods8393What planet are you on that people minding their business riding bicycles are dangerous lol 😂😂😂

  • @LovelyBreakingWaves-gu2cv
    @LovelyBreakingWaves-gu2cv 6 месяцев назад +37

    Nick Johnson is my favorite ! He cracks me up !😃

  • @smalltownhomesteadAC
    @smalltownhomesteadAC 2 месяца назад +2

    I watch it because it teaches truth, and helps me to feel grateful. It;s also a lesson.

    • @blackcat6356
      @blackcat6356 Месяц назад

      Yeah privileged has its privileges huh. Good for you. Let God be the judge in the end. Oh I forgot……You don’t believe in him😮

  • @jrlove1815
    @jrlove1815 6 месяцев назад +99

    This is the saddest thing I've seen in a while. We the people have been destroyed by the very people that we put in office to make things good for the entire country. Half, or near half is cool with it, because they believe that "The Party" cares.

    • @helloimclaudio
      @helloimclaudio 6 месяцев назад +24

      Agreed, it’s even more troublesome when the people elected to be president aren’t the ones truly running things. Who knows what goes on behind closed doors.

    • @313barrygmail
      @313barrygmail 6 месяцев назад

      No, these people do it to themselves

    • @jrlove1815
      @jrlove1815 6 месяцев назад +2

      @@helloimclaudio You are right

    • @bigscores7237
      @bigscores7237 6 месяцев назад +2

      This is the kind of confusion that results from near total ignorance of "genetic ancestry groups".

    • @bigscores7237
      @bigscores7237 6 месяцев назад

      Zhutube censorship is on full steam. Yes, you're right. Except all of these Benton Harlem residents seem to share common traits that seem to correlate strongly with poor outcomes.

  • @golfinghuntingtonbeach4493
    @golfinghuntingtonbeach4493 6 месяцев назад +20

    Your awesome / We love these videos and your comment "don't pretend this isn't the crap you people like to look at for 30 minutes" Was spot on exactly the reason we watch , we can't believe that these places exist.
    TY Great Job!

    • @leonardpearlman4017
      @leonardpearlman4017 4 месяца назад

      Yeah, it's disaster porn to some extent. It's also important news that doesn't get much coverage! Nick is providing an important social service, and then making a dumb joke about it! There are a couple of channels along these lines, and I notice that they don't seem to run out of content! That's important right there. My own very limited experience is like this, but I don't get to travel much, and never have! Now with RUclips I have a better idea of what America is like. My own very limited experience of personal road trips show me a mostly poor and depopulated America! Sometimes I find a little town that's hanging on, maybe is trying to get people to move there! Talk up the town to you, tell you about their lives, suggest things to check out. Then after that town, you can drive for hours and not see a person or anything that looks functional. But that's just my experience!

  • @OkPp-fh2lk
    @OkPp-fh2lk 5 месяцев назад +17

    Rest In Peace America !
    Rest in Peace Western Civilization !
    🥲🥲🥲

    • @StaySqueezy12
      @StaySqueezy12 4 месяца назад

      Why can’t things get better?

    • @patjones5723
      @patjones5723 4 месяца назад

      ​@@StaySqueezy12Politicians 😢😢😢

  • @pallbearer1212
    @pallbearer1212 6 месяцев назад +20

    Sad to see every town and every city falling apart☹R.I.P.

    • @kathy8032
      @kathy8032 4 месяца назад

      When I watch videos of real estate they look fabulous. So maybe there are only suburbs that are not as nice as before

  • @gregryder9605
    @gregryder9605 6 месяцев назад +71

    We used to travel there to play football when I was in high school. Their fans vandalized our bus, threw rocks at our cheerleaders, and started a fire in the stands.

    • @damonmelendez856
      @damonmelendez856 6 месяцев назад +17

      Lmao good grief. At least you learned a lesson early in life.

    • @Truth_Spoken
      @Truth_Spoken 6 месяцев назад +3

      We had the same thing happen when we played in Beecher, which is just outside of Flint.

    • @gregryder9605
      @gregryder9605 6 месяцев назад +1

      @@Truth_Spoken yeah Flint ugh. I live near Muskegon Heights now. Another dumpster fire.

    • @TomikaKelly
      @TomikaKelly 2 месяца назад

      Ah, so they were basically Northern/Northeastern Stanley Cup/hockey fans, but for football?

  • @sirgalahad3574
    @sirgalahad3574 6 месяцев назад +7

    I used to commute and work at the Whirlpool headquarters. The St. Joseph river between Benton Harbor and St. Joseph may as well be a portal between 2 worlds. Very similar to 8 Mile Rd. in Detroit.

  • @DoomieGruntVentures
    @DoomieGruntVentures 6 месяцев назад +71

    I did a video on that mall, and I got a long winded textwall about how I was a horrible person for calling Benton Harbor grim, how there are great people in Benton Harbor, and how I should do better.
    If there are great people there, they got a lot of work to do. Benton Harbor looks like the set of Hobo With a Shotgun.

  • @artlife6210
    @artlife6210 6 месяцев назад +149

    once they figure out the cops dont patrol in the morning they come out like gnats from a sweat soaked towel

    • @TomG-f4r
      @TomG-f4r 6 месяцев назад +2

      Perhaps no heat...warm in the sun...walk round all night ,sleep in the warm daze

    • @artlife6210
      @artlife6210 6 месяцев назад

      @@TomG-f4r could be

    • @petergrewe6923
      @petergrewe6923 6 месяцев назад +1

      Sounds about right actually

    • @Tyhbcc56
      @Tyhbcc56 6 месяцев назад +1

      Uggh!

    • @richardalvarez2390
      @richardalvarez2390 6 месяцев назад +4

      Forbes just called Omaha as the best city to move to in 2024, Omaha got #1 with a perfect 100 score. The second city is Raleigh ,NC with a distant score Of 83. Omaha is run by a MAGA Mayor Jean Stothert since 2013 and the Nebraska Gov is MAGA too. Our mayor backs the blue and has increased the pay of police. Trust me, we are not moved in the wrong people to move into Omaha, Omaha has plenty of filters to only let family oriented people in.

  • @detroitlady7201
    @detroitlady7201 5 месяцев назад +18

    As someone born and raised in Detroit, had to leave 40 years ago because it was getting so bad. Was beautiful safe city when I was growing up. Breaks my heart to see this. Such a waste!

    • @Lightningbug122
      @Lightningbug122 Месяц назад

      I can relate to that, it happened to me too

  • @TheGuitologist
    @TheGuitologist 6 месяцев назад +15

    Hahaha…sanctuary city. Brilliant idea. That’ll turn things around.

  • @hotstankygarbage788
    @hotstankygarbage788 6 месяцев назад +37

    Benton Harbor I can't describe unless you've been there. One street could be on par with Gary and the next could be a quiet suburb, and another in the country. Downtown is a mix of ghetto and places bought by people from Chicago who turned it into a boomers paradise. Downtown also has the PGA golf course which is crazy to see when the tour comes through. Also, when you cross the bridge into St Joe it's night and day. St Joe is mostly white and wealthy beach loving boomers.
    Benton Harbor is spaced out like a checkerboard. You'll get a block of projects, then multi million dollar houses, then a few more blocks middle of nowhere country roads.
    Definitely bad, but not as bad as Gary or Chicago. To all who are ever in SW Michigan, just go to St Joe, they've got Silver Beach. You're not missing out on much.

  • @FloridaBoatRamps-88
    @FloridaBoatRamps-88 3 месяца назад +2

    I grew up in Flint, MI it was a nice place back then, but now it is a shame. I live in Florida since 9/2023 and I love it.

  • @Islandboy1900
    @Islandboy1900 6 месяцев назад +42

    They probably think you're an undercover cop patrolling their neighborhood LOL!!

  • @facediaper09
    @facediaper09 6 месяцев назад +56

    Nick managed to remain unharmed in this video.
    He wrapped his car in JOB Applications 🎉❤

    • @NickJohnson
      @NickJohnson  6 месяцев назад +3

      Omg

    • @3mexhuas
      @3mexhuas 5 месяцев назад

      I'll bet those job applications were ripped off fast, filled out, and sent in.

  • @Rozes301
    @Rozes301 4 месяца назад +1

    Brave man. Much appreciation for showing us the REAL.🏆

  • @KendraAndTheLaw
    @KendraAndTheLaw 6 месяцев назад +28

    They're not up early. They're up late.

    • @h2w25
      @h2w25 5 месяцев назад

      10:52 kinda sounded like a gun shot huh?

  • @1776mikew
    @1776mikew 6 месяцев назад +63

    Your driving around in a Grand Wagoner in the hood and your wondering while people are looking at you? You might as well be driving a Lamborghini. Those Jeeps are expensive .

    • @1776mikew
      @1776mikew 6 месяцев назад +4

      Grand Wagoneer L, it will set you back $94,445. At the top of the Grand Wagoneer's six trim levels is the Grand Wagoneer L Series III Obsidian at $115,640

    • @kirbyourenthusiasm
      @kirbyourenthusiasm 6 месяцев назад +8

      That is EXACTLY what I said. You don’t drive a $90,000+ car as a white man in a majority black neighborhood in one of the poorest places in the state. That’s just foolish.
      I live on the East side of Flint so I know bad neighborhoods.

    • @alexdavidson7785
      @alexdavidson7785 6 месяцев назад +4

      Jeeps SUCK

    • @AMoneyVideo
      @AMoneyVideo 6 месяцев назад +2

      This stellantis fiat is nowhere close to a Lambo lol. Unless you mean they are now both not American 😂

    • @snickersberet4792
      @snickersberet4792 6 месяцев назад

      Hell take a closer look they live like sewer rats but they b driving 300s and land rovers...

  • @Mr.PhatsVarietyVibesShow
    @Mr.PhatsVarietyVibesShow 5 месяцев назад +5

    i like watching the bad stuff cause it makes my life feel a little less crappy that I don't live there...

  • @danadowning2065
    @danadowning2065 6 месяцев назад +37

    I've watched A LOT of NJ's videos. I don't think I've ever heard Nick sound this concerned for his safety..
    Wow...

    • @ressljs
      @ressljs 6 месяцев назад +4

      I've never seen any of his videos where he was somewhere so awful. I couldn't believe how bad this place is!

    • @noneyabeeswax3200
      @noneyabeeswax3200 6 месяцев назад +3

      I saw him wander into a homeless camp that was sketchy ah and he had no safety concerns BH must be real bad

    • @alexkirchoff621
      @alexkirchoff621 6 месяцев назад +3

      He is just spreading ignorance. I live here and it's not that bad and the people don't bother anyone.

    • @twizzy585ots
      @twizzy585ots 6 месяцев назад

      ​@@alexkirchoff621agreed he plays into his audience....just read the comment section it tells all

  • @damerochelle4014
    @damerochelle4014 6 месяцев назад +10

    Greetings Nick, Amazing raw footage! Your journeys give me insight into the real America that we live in. It makes me appreciate where I live. I just hope that the states have a plan for urban renewal and future plans to rebuild and revitalize the bad areas that we see. Thank you for doing these vlogs, stay safe and have fun too.

  • @lugnut839
    @lugnut839 4 месяца назад +2

    Thanks for finding my new home. Currently live in Algonac, Michigan, but I think I’m moving to Benton Harbor. I think I can buy a whole block pretty cheap y’all take care.

    • @kathy8032
      @kathy8032 4 месяца назад

      Better come to Russia if you are not a russ ophob

    • @kathy8032
      @kathy8032 4 месяца назад

      Come to Mos cow

  • @decacards5250
    @decacards5250 6 месяцев назад +69

    One of my favorite comedians Sinbad is from Benton Harbor, he is recovering from a stroke, prayers for him.

    • @nancymead2879
      @nancymead2879 6 месяцев назад +4

      Say Lot's Prayers for our Friend Sinbad he's in a bad way right now🥰💙🙏🏻🙏🏻🫶

    • @funnyface2727
      @funnyface2727 6 месяцев назад +3

      Earnie Hudson is also from Benton Harbor.

    • @rjf.49047
      @rjf.49047 6 месяцев назад

      Met him once at the old Walgreens on Napier and pipestone late one Christmas morning.

    • @savvyroca
      @savvyroca 6 месяцев назад +1

      Both Earnie and Sinbad made it out! Also both served in the military.

    • @sjohnson65456
      @sjohnson65456 5 месяцев назад

      Oh wow I didn't know that! So many legends from Michigan.

  • @ES-mc3cc
    @ES-mc3cc 6 месяцев назад +17

    Benton Harbor has been a mess for decades. I lived in St. Joseph (across the bridge) for about four years. St. Joe is beautiful. Then you cross the bridge.

    • @timothykeith1367
      @timothykeith1367 4 месяца назад +1

      Did Benton Harbor use to be similar to St. Joseph?

  • @stevenrichardson6153
    @stevenrichardson6153 Месяц назад

    You showed tremendous heart and courage nick appreciate you and love the channel 👍

  • @richpuller1348
    @richpuller1348 6 месяцев назад +11

    I work 10 miles from Gary Indiana. I live 10 miles from Benton Harbor. Nick your vids and commentary is spot on. Mappy is spot on. Im 65 yrs old and have lived here my entire life and I know these places well.
    I remember 40 yrs ago Benton Harbor could not get anyone local to be a cop so they would hire people out of state to be a cop at $8.50hr. to move there. Young people took that job because they thought it would help them to get on a police department somewhere else.

  • @liamlynch2115
    @liamlynch2115 6 месяцев назад +84

    I’m a middle class white guy at the edge of Philly. We have two incomes, and both of us work an extra PT job. It’s hard to maintain a mortgage, utilities, repairs, upgrades, kids, vehicles etc. I get it. I can only imagine the reality of a person who grows up with an unstable family, bad education, lack of support and role models etc.

    • @malwads1836
      @malwads1836 6 месяцев назад +7

      What's spooky is a lot more young people are growing up like that nowadays even in the 🤍 community, it's no longer just a "🤎/🖤 thing".I'm a young 🤍 person in my early 30's & I was raised by a loving homemaker from birth to 18...So I 👀 a lot more social issues in our gen vs the older gens through my own lense, it makes it kinda hard to find healthy folks to know from my own gen😮‍💨.

    • @checkmaify
      @checkmaify 6 месяцев назад +8

      two incomes, both
      work, and both have extra PT job?? You are not middle-class, you are an exploited wage laborer. And this is the problem of Americans, they are hopelessly blinded by the American dream while they toil day and night

    • @liamlynch2115
      @liamlynch2115 6 месяцев назад

      @@checkmaify Well I don’t disagree. We have to work a lot to maintain a good life for our kids (live in a good neighborhood, have good vehicles, pay for good school, clothes, pay for expensive groceries, pay for all the sports the kids do, pay for anything we do for fun, trips etc). Inflation/prices have been high the last few years because of all the “free” money the federal government sent out during Covid. Middle class compared to all the people we know in our lives, but if you really base it on the richest people in America vs the guy living on the street, we are not in the middle. No one is exploiting us though. We both have good jobs that we chose, where we work from home. The PT shifts are at a family pizzeria business.

    • @liamlynch2115
      @liamlynch2115 6 месяцев назад +3

      @@checkmaify It takes a lot to keep up with a good life for 3 kids. Inflation/prices are high the last few years thanks to the “free” money sent out during Covid. We aren’t exploited though. We were intentional in choosing our current employers, like what we do, and both work from home. The PT shifts are at our family’s pizzeria business. We choose to do a lot of extra stuff like pay for sports, preschool, new SUV lease every 3 years, memberships at gyms/zoo/Sesame Place/swim club, renovate our house etc. Edit: wife taking 3 kids to trampoline park today is $48 plus any games and drinks/snacks. Everything is expensive.

    • @liamlynch2115
      @liamlynch2115 6 месяцев назад

      @@checkmaify I don’t disagree with your sentiment though. How do the non-Americans who are doing it better live?

  • @nutmeg5
    @nutmeg5 4 месяца назад +5

    There’s also the issue of “food deserts” where a neighborhood has no grocery stores but a liquor store on every block. How optimistic would you be about your future if you lived there?

  • @WildManActual
    @WildManActual 6 месяцев назад +71

    That hood is ACTIVE.

    • @DanTrustsTheFathersPlan
      @DanTrustsTheFathersPlan 6 месяцев назад +7

      No doubt, that's the scary part

    • @alexp8455
      @alexp8455 6 месяцев назад +3

      Yea I’m from there I moved 6 years ago.

  • @sheridowsett9929
    @sheridowsett9929 6 месяцев назад +14

    So many beautiful houses left to waste. So sad. 😢

    • @Klapauzius-369
      @Klapauzius-369 5 месяцев назад

      ...Und so viele Leute sind obdachlos, auf der anderen Seite.

  • @lorddeathspit1124
    @lorddeathspit1124 3 месяца назад +2

    Used to be a truck driver here in Michigan and Saginaw scared me more than Flint or Detroit because you’d be surrounded by a cornfield, go into gas station and there’s bulletproof glass up. The line of safe and not safe isn’t well defined there.

  • @12wingwfetech
    @12wingwfetech 6 месяцев назад +45

    Mercedes sitting in the driveway of a dump

    • @spencercorby4571
      @spencercorby4571 6 месяцев назад +5

      Probably the dealer

    • @twizzy585ots
      @twizzy585ots 6 месяцев назад +7

      No different than hellcats in trash mobile parks

    • @spencercorby4571
      @spencercorby4571 6 месяцев назад +6

      @@twizzy585ots and the only thing higher than the drug user is the APR on the hellcat lol

    • @kirbyourenthusiasm
      @kirbyourenthusiasm 6 месяцев назад +1

      That’s super common. They drive a really expensive car and live in a $2000 house. Bet they wash their car every Saturday night too.

    • @andyvega5584
      @andyvega5584 6 месяцев назад +4

      Priorities 😂😂 are the rims spinning

  • @haweater1555
    @haweater1555 6 месяцев назад +25

    To me, from the magazines i read in the 70s 80s, Benton Harbor was synomous with Heathkit, maker of electronics hobbyist kits for HAM radio, computers, etc. They shut down in the 90s but the revived company is now based in North Dakota.

    • @jerrymiller8313
      @jerrymiller8313 6 месяцев назад +4

      main Heathkit factory was in St Joe

    • @haweater1555
      @haweater1555 6 месяцев назад +1

      @@jerrymiller8313 Since the location of Heath was the only thing I knew about BH, this video was shockingly different from what I had in mind. No talented engineer would want to live here.

    • @PeterRabbit70
      @PeterRabbit70 6 месяцев назад +4

      I built two stereos from Heathkit in 1967-69. Great products. Quality sound. The manuals taught you all you needed. I'm in TN. I still have the catalogs.

    • @kevineich5029
      @kevineich5029 5 месяцев назад +2

      @@jerrymiller8313 That is true - the factory was in St. Joe. They had a Benton Harbor post office substation inside the plant. That is why the manuals, packing boxes had "Heath Company, Benton Harbor, Michigan" printed on them.

    • @timothykeith1367
      @timothykeith1367 4 месяца назад +1

      I'll need to lookup Heathkit. I loved that hobby era

  • @elainevankat5353
    @elainevankat5353 5 месяцев назад +1

    Love your channel! You’re the best…

  • @johndorenski4127
    @johndorenski4127 6 месяцев назад +38

    Hi Nick, have you ever broken down anywhere where you really didn't want to break down 🌟🎊🤩🥳

    • @NickJohnson
      @NickJohnson  6 месяцев назад +6

      Nope

    • @Macattack11639
      @Macattack11639 6 месяцев назад +2

      Cars don’t really “break down “ anymore. But yes you make sure your car is discreet and running

    • @AndreHeadspeth
      @AndreHeadspeth 6 месяцев назад +1

      Better not could prove fatal with this kind of content

    • @keithinaz9769
      @keithinaz9769 2 месяца назад +1

      And turn down the base < bass > in the vehicle.

  • @bonesandbells
    @bonesandbells 6 месяцев назад +19

    Don't think I've seen proficiencies under 5% even in the bad schools in Texas. The local Pflugerville ISD middle school is terrible and has really high property taxes, but it's at 14%. Leander and Round Rock have schools with 70%+.

  • @patriciatimmons2736
    @patriciatimmons2736 6 месяцев назад +3

    I enjoyed watching your segment on Benton Harbor MI. I live in Michigan but not anywhere near this town and was shocked at how bad it is. You're a good narrator and made it much more interesting. It really made me sad that there's towns like that not far away from where I live. Thanks again

  • @RustyGo1d
    @RustyGo1d 6 месяцев назад +20

    Please be safe! That town makes me glad I live in NC. That is how much of America looks unfortunately. We collectively need to do better.

    • @heidisalaka6938
      @heidisalaka6938 6 месяцев назад +2

      There are many beautiful and nice towns in Michigan, as well. Benton Harbor was the disastrous product of the failed rust belt.

    • @hoppes9658
      @hoppes9658 6 месяцев назад +2

      @@heidisalaka6938Yep. One drive in Antrim county they would shit gold cufflinks.

    • @heidisalaka6938
      @heidisalaka6938 6 месяцев назад +1

      @@hoppes9658 😂

  • @AnnC....
    @AnnC.... 6 месяцев назад +82

    What does Mappy think of all that crappy?😮

    • @rvk8991
      @rvk8991 6 месяцев назад +20

      we need ghetto mappy to chime in.

    • @MasterMalrubius
      @MasterMalrubius 6 месяцев назад +15

      @@rvk8991Nappy

    • @JoelUldrych-kh2sc
      @JoelUldrych-kh2sc 6 месяцев назад +11

      Mappy is the man, err I mean the map! Lol😂

    • @damonmelendez856
      @damonmelendez856 6 месяцев назад +5

      @@MasterMalrubius lmao I see what you did there

    • @heathwest3718
      @heathwest3718 6 месяцев назад +6

      Mappy with a big gold M pendant on a chain!

  • @sschirmer22
    @sschirmer22 6 месяцев назад +4

    19:34 he says, "screw this stop sign!" LOL.

  • @daniel385
    @daniel385 6 месяцев назад +21

    I'm crossing this off my list of potential retirement places.

    • @riikka6125
      @riikka6125 6 месяцев назад +1

      Perhaps Dearborn?

  • @danielj3010
    @danielj3010 6 месяцев назад +36

    "Noone is learning here anymore!"

  • @conniekondrat1104
    @conniekondrat1104 Месяц назад

    Your videos help me get through the night

  • @KeshiaK39
    @KeshiaK39 6 месяцев назад +72

    At least one guy waved hello lol

  • @michaelnedwetzky9694
    @michaelnedwetzky9694 6 месяцев назад +14

    I like watching your videos because it gives me an idea what's going on in this country you're very informative about what's going on in most States it's like getting an education.

  • @Kindmelllie1
    @Kindmelllie1 5 месяцев назад +2

    I watch you nick because im never gonna be able to travel and see all you show me. I live on the west coast and will never see these places. And yeah it does make me feel better i live where i live..i also watch because i like your narrative.

  • @AlexJacksonTempleSounds
    @AlexJacksonTempleSounds 6 месяцев назад +29

    It's gone beyond politics. I didn't realise literacy levels could be so low in a 1st world country. This town looks post apocalyptic.

  • @btetschner
    @btetschner 6 месяцев назад +15

    x 0:01 Be careful of group of people that try to stand in the middle of the street to stop you!
    x 5:45 Madonna was raised in the Detriot suburbs of Pontiac and Avon Township.
    x 16:08 That is one wild-looking tree in front of that house!
    x 24:11 That's a cool building.
    Neat that Whirlpool headquarters is there!

  • @MrStuartcox1964
    @MrStuartcox1964 3 месяца назад

    I ❤ your road trips Nick, and don't mind where you are going. I'm from Australia and find your videos fascinating! Thanks!++

  • @johnnyboyvan
    @johnnyboyvan 6 месяцев назад +20

    Tragic 😥 what is happening to the USA 🇺🇸. I wouldn't step one inch into such a place...you are daring, Nick.

  • @tylies5525
    @tylies5525 6 месяцев назад +7

    Been to Benton Harbor many times but usually just to drive to St.Joseph(which always makes me feel out of place when I visit but it's so beautiful) but haven't seen many of these parts😞
    Personally when you show all the broken people and places it breaks my heart and I wish I could help in some way. Many of us don't realize how blessed we are even if we work our asses off to have what we do it takes others to lift each other up, nobody can do it alone but some people have no one.
    Always appreciate your perspective and willingness to capture it all for us✨

  • @planojag595
    @planojag595 6 месяцев назад +4

    Glad you made it out unscathed Nick. Keep yourself safe Bro!