In 2008 I was on an East Coast road trip. For part of the journey, I was with a friend. And we were trying to remember what the "deadliest city in America" was. Never could remember. Then, later on the trip I was rolling solo through Philadelphia and low on gas looking for a gas station. Well, ended up making a right turn where I shouldn't have. Sent me across the Benjamin Franklin bridge and into Camden. It was at that moment when I remembered the answer my question. Well, great. So I end up in the middle of the ghetto out of gas. I call AAA and am told it'll be an hour. I told them the situation and that I can't wait an hour. They asked for me to describe the area around me and I'm like "um, just a bunch of brick buildings with graffiti and broken out windows." Not wanting to be just sitting there, I decide to start pushing the car. At that moment, a man comes out of one of those buildings with broken out windows. And another comes from the other direction on the sidewalk. Both men asked how they could help. One said he has a gas can and can drive me to the gas station. Well, I took a leap of faith. Got in his car and got gas. Wasn't murdered. Goes to show that there are good people everywhere.
There’s always those few houses in the ghetto that look like they try really hard to make it look like they don’t live in a ghetto. Nice, clean yard and a decent looking house. Those people are legends
And the amazing part is that others don’t catch on. Being poor, or uneducated doesn’t mean you can’t take pride in where you live. Just pick up your own trash, right? Gentrifying? Drop the label and just clean up.
I was born and raised in Chester, Pa..... I was very fortunate to move out. I still don’t know how I did it sometimes. I just thank God. Its a very rough and life there. But it’s also the place where I had my first kiss. Where me and my friends would climb trees and talk about WWE. Where we dreamed of being doctors and racecar drivers and football players. It’s where my mom read me bedtime stories about dragons and castles.It’s where my mom took me to church every Sunday. It’s where I blew out my birthday candles after making a wish for a new bike. It’s where I went to my first school dance..... it’s also where my friends turned to drugs when we realized we wouldn’t be doctors or lawyers because going to school was more dangerous then staying home. It’s where after getting robbed at 12 you realize you may need a gun just to get home to see your mom again. It’s where depression is considered a good day, at least you weren’t killed. It’s where your denied fair paying jobs because they see the word “Chester” on your application. Not everybody is capable to overcome great struggle. Most succumb to the environment around them. It’s no excuse because the world does not owe anyone understanding. I just hope that as you see these towns and these people please remember, before we realized we were poor and destined to great hardship, we really thought we would do great things for the world. We thought the world loved us. As a kid if I would’ve known where I was instead of wishing for a new bike, I would’ve closed my eyes and wished for my friends and family to have had a just reasonably fair chance.
Wow you about said it all. Everything. This comment should be framed. Who would have thought when we were dreaming about how it will be while up in the highest branches of the tree I could get.. never ever thought it could get so bad and at the same time always hearing from the politicians “ we live in the greatest country in the world blah blah .. I was a fool to believe that. Every year it kept getting worse while the policies made it easier for the wealthy and much much harder for the regular Joe..now what? It’s so scary..
Too true! I'm in a judgemental small town with mental health probs but the closest city Adelaide has bad homelessness issues... So I'm just letting the termites & salt damp be...lmao😅
I love how you give us silence as you roll through the towns. It lets the mind wander. So many narrators "narrate" and don't let the viewer feel or absorb. Perfect.
I agree with both of you! We are Americans! Every neighborhood should be representing us. No one should be living in poverty! I feel that these sports teams need to go and clean up the communities they are in. On the off season, athletes tend to get in trouble; give them something to do! In Las Vegas, the casinos need to be cleaning the communities they are in! Mayor Carolyn, you get a huge fail with how Vegas proper looks for those who live there! I wish every politician could stay two days in poverty, they would get it and things would be different. I know that sounds naive but if empathy can help, they all need to do it. Mandatory! Now!
You know I'm sure there's just a lot of poor people that just needs a helping hand with all the money we send to foreign countries why can't we help the poor people out it worked all their lives they're tired give a helping hand
@@midaughtry1995 so even if that's the case, why do the properties decline this much? I've heard the argument that the government deserts the area as well as in roads are not maintained, etc. But I wonder what's really the root of this?
The fact that you made it through Chester during the day is a miracle. I lived not too far from Chester and I never went there. Chester has been that way since the 80’s. If you were there during the night you definitely would not have came out.
Relax, man..😂.. it's really not that deep. I lived in eddystone, crum Lynne, and woodlyn. They are all Border chester. In fact, a tiny creek separates eddystone and Sun Village chester. You have no idea how many people go in and out of chester every day and " make it out," 😂 let me guess. Are you from the main line or something?
Detroit ghettos in Detroit seem very unique with how many of the houses are so large with huge porches. Some even have large columns and two story porches. Those must have been beautiful neighborhoods in Detroit's golden era.
That's due to the city being built for 3x the population it has now. They were so sure it was going to expand they built it for tomorrow X3. Not only did it not it's population went down
I am a Detroit native...I was born and raised in the Eastside of Detroit. The homes are beautiful or should I say what's left alot of the Detroit neighborhood has been regentrified since. most of the homes were BLACK OWNED. A home back in the 90s or early 2000s would rent between $600 to $800 a month..4 to 5 bedroom homes. I miss the nostalgia of my city.
Jesse...I was born in Detroit & lived there as a child, several family members there, too. A lot of the bigger homes with the double porches are stacked Duplexes...they are lovely homes & some have been rehabbed beautifully. There are ghetto areas there, absolutely, but overall, Detroit IS improving....its definitely NOT Camden, Philly or even Chicago these days...
Well it was a GREAT idea if your intention was to make the Wealthy even wealthier. That was the REAL intention of "Reaganomics", or trickle down Economics. Trickle Down Economics was and is a joke and its proponents knew it all along.
Don't need hindsight to see that cheaper labor abroad is bad for the US. Unemployment for cheaper labor and subpar products. Money for their pockets is all they care about. Sad.
They all were at one point. Especially in Detroit. But when people just up and move and nobody else moves in or those that do are renters who sometime lower the property value... these are the results.
@NickJohnson : Real kudos for this one. I've watched a lot of your videos, but here you really nailed it. I love the way you finally stopped including background music along your drives for the top 3, just letting the ambient sounds perfectly complement the horrid visuals. I've lived half my life in Philadelphia and surrounding parts of New Jersey. Somehow after seeing Chester and Kensington at the top of the list, I just knew that the only one that could be left was Camden.
Not surprised at all that someone told you to “Get the F out” during your trip to West Baltimore, which is in fact the worst part of Baltimore you can find yourself riding through. Ppl literally walk right out in front of you while driving which is scary because you don’t know if your about to be car jacked or not. I run a lot of red lights when I drive though Baltimore because I have no business sitting around longer than I need to. I’ve seen a few robberies, a stabbing and I’m pretty sure I saw someone ditch a gun once while driving through that part of town. Glad you made it out of Baltimore untouched. Thanks for the video.
I was in West Bmore one day and this chick jumped in my truck and told me to drive. I was in shock to say the least. She said you get out with me and get yourself some food too. I was like OoooK. I just did what she said and all was good. Not the norm of course. That was a good encounter for once. Normally, you are lucky to get out without seeing something bad.
Even in Los Angeles, about 8 months ago I had 2 guys walk out in front of me one with a pipe, I had nowhere to go, so I beeped my horn and floored the gas, the guy with the pipe I hit, as he tried to smash my car with his pipe,, he was trying to force me to stop, as he wouldn't move until I beeped the horn and floored the gas, he didn't move in time. But that's his fault !! 😃😃.
I’m 64 and grew up about 20 min from Camden and Kensington and as far back as I can remember they were horrible places. You’re right Nick, the states just gave up on them. It’s so sad because at one time they were very nice places. My Grandmother who was born in 1885 insisted on being married in Camden because it was such a beautiful wealthy city. Hard to believe that now!😢
Well keep in mind that people have to change first….you could build all new houses where those dilapidated buildings are but within a very short time MOST of those homes will be destroyed, until people can learn to appreciate & take care of what they do have then given them new homes etc is gonna be a waste of time & money.
@@frank-xp6pj It's a sad fact that many don't want to know about, but slums/ghettos are created from within. Yes, politicians and corporations are not exonerated, but the problem mostly comes from the people who call these areas home
The thing that strikes me about Detroit is that I can see how grand many of the old homes and buildings once were. It must have been a great place to grow up in the 1950’s and 1960’s. It is amazing what a little yard work, a coat of paint and picking up garbage can do to make any place quickly look so much better.
@@mattcosner8681 True, it won’t work miracles. You really need to have all or most neighbors in a neighborhood doing the same, and doing it before many houses are abandoned, or it likely won’t work. So many abandoned places have such potential to return to prior glory, but you aren’t going to put a lot of money into rehabbing one building if the rest of the neighborhood is in shambles. You might even make your rehabbed home a target, if it appears to be the only place worth robbing. On the brighter side, it is amazing how the urge to rehab is contagious, when others see that someone cares about making their home nice again. I haven’t done much rehabbing, but what little I have had done has sometimes resulted in a neighbor coming to me and asking who I hired to do the work, as they are interested in improving their home. It can happen.
This is NOTHING compared to Minneapolis and St. Paul in May of 2020. 180 buildings were looted and burned with another 1500 damaged! People harassed firemen trying to put out fires and then they would not respond to fires. Total lack of leadership from Liberal Democrat MN Governor Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Frey and St. Paul Mayor Carter!?! They along with the Lt. Gov. should be in jail for not doing their job to protect the cities!!
I'm a paramedic, and I have responded to horrific calls in some of the poorest (ghetto) parts of my state's capitol city. the people in those lower class, run down homes and struggling to feed their families on almost poverty level wages are some of the most polite, gracious and appreciative people I have ever come in contact with. in contrast, up in the hills where homeowners in their million dollar estates who spend their summers in their vacation homes in the U.S. Virgin Islands are some of the most elitist, conceited and miserable people to have to deal with.
Money stinks greed! Everyone has addictions weather it’s drink drugs money none make you happy! I’ve been to Africa where the kids are the happiest kids n they don’t have much at all just the simple things n they don’t know any different.
I can relate. I was part of a volunteer service that brought food out to homeless, addicts, mentally ill people - and the "worst" places to go (junkies, vs "just" homeless) were much nicer and more polite persons than the "better off" homeless people who actually sometimes earned better than I did as a student back then - because they had charm and were good at making passers by give them money.
I rest my case. FAMILIES IN THE GHETTO> Who decided it was a great idea to have FAMILIES in GHETTOS! STOP MAKING DAMN BABIES into poverty! Problem solves itself! You don't go making more kids when you can't fee yourself and are on drugs! We need a sterilization program! Look at third world countries! India, China, on and on. FILTHY WATER. FILTHY Conditions. Living like animals.
Those elitist, miserable people are paying the taxes, taking care of their houses and contributing something to society. Being a good person involves more than whether they have a personality which you like.
Such a blessed country of hardworking people. Your worst places look like actually not depressing places to live. I hope the locals manage to get by and thrive despite their struggles.
You hit it on the head in Montgomery: "Poverty isn't what defines them". Having grown up dirt poor didn't define me and my friends back in the day. Having complete families and getting proper education to move out of it defined us.
Soul reason I'm for free education. Give people same chances, regarding their background. A level playing field to start your life. Let not your parents define your future. Only Scandinavia understands this.
Whenever I watch these videos all I can see is what these neighborhoods would’ve been like in their prime and how proud so many of these families were to buy and live in these homes. A great reminder that life is fleeting.
Yes, me too. I see all the old cars, the kids running around, occasional leaking fire hydrant in summer...thankfully my home town is thousands of years old and still thriving.
Sad to think that at one time each of these houses were someone’s pride and joy, someone washed the windows, swept the stoop and sidewalk, raised their children, celebrated Christmas or a new birth, mourned the passing of another. All gone now.
I was thinking the same thing. If the people who had those homes built could see what has happened to that home and neighborhood, they would be, I'm sure, just devastated.
I worked in the cell phone antenna business in the '90s and I had to drive all over Chicago and the Midwest. Gary truly stood out as both depressing and frightening. The best comparison I can draw is to black-and-white films of bombed-out cities in WWII. In Chicago, they tear down the abandoned buildings. In Gary, the buildings fall down and the rubble just sits there.
You can be poor and still take pride in your home and yard. I grew up poor and lived on a dirt road in MS. We had a trashy car and an old house, but we didn't have trash in our yard and the house was maintained. I see a lot of homes where people have no pride.
Totally agree and i was just saying this to my business affiliate as we've been looking at homes to buy and invest in, economics has nothing to do with living like filthy pigs and sadly that's how many we've experienced present their property's to potential buyers while demanding outlandish prices. I won't repeat what we have encountered or run into, as it's too digusting and repulsive quite frankly but this has to do with no a financial or economic class, but the kind of class one conducts themselves with and I completely & entirely agree!!!! Just because one doesn't have loads of money, doesn't mean you can let your property go and live like dirty rats, it reflects on you and your lack of caring or effort, being mindful of a clean & sanitary environment, manners, being grateful, and these people presenting these filthy infested homes actually wonder how come they're not selling and that same pile of pitbull #2 will still be at every inch not picked up and the same wreck as it was a month ago when we inspected the property or viewed it. It take all but two minutes to sweep up the hundreds of cigarettes by the door, this is about laziness which I guess reflects their ill will & lack of ambitions but I still think rich or poor, care about what you have in life and keep it as nice as you can. Be grateful!!!! It doesn't require you be well off to do your chores!! Maybe it is all a packaged mind-set now. Which is why i am moving where it's nicer and people own their homes and take care of things, that positivity spreads just as negativity does. Seeing slums all around you is not motivating, let's face it. Or maybe it is?
It's a shame, there are so many beautiful homes literally rotting away. And on the other hand there are so many people in need of a home. A strange and cruel world we live in.
Non-resident property owners and landlords should be fined higher property taxes for dilapidated properties. Resident home owners should be offered low interest loans or grants to bring property to community standards. It's baloney cities allow blighted, depressed neighborhoods, which always encourage high crime.
I spotted the lovelt houses straight away. Even if poor can still have a standard for ones home. Stop the Govetnment from sending money to other countries and face these issues for their own people.
Having been raised in the Deep South, in areas where there was plenty of poverty, both family and religious ties are still extremely strong there. Both of those are strong defenses against despair - not enough to save people at times, but enough to give them hope.
What you own doesn't define who you are. Some of the brightest, shining faces, eyes full of love, I found in a small rural village in India, and they owned next to nothing. In my experience, if you have basic needs met, and connect yourself to God, this is the source of happiness. Everything else is superfluous.
I would have loved to see some of these neighborhoods in their primes. Alot of these abandoned homes look like they were absolutely gorgeous homes at one point in time. I actually try and imagine some of these places during their glory days and how clean and cared for those neighborhoods used to be. You're right Nick Johnson, its sad to see how these places ended up trashed instead of cherished pieces of history
I used to sell security systems in Camden and Chester. Camden was so bad I escaped getting jumped twice in one day. Everyone had guns in their back pockets (not the legal kind), and everyone kept telling me I was in the wrong neighborhood. In a nearby town someone pulled a gun on my friend. We also walked over a murder crime scene with blood still on the ground from the previous night. It's a rough neighborhood, no mistake.
@@rowdyboys951 Yes. ...joking aside the worst part was central Camden east of Church's Chicken (with bullet holes in the windows, lol) in the Whitman Park area. Louis street is like something out of a post apocalyptic movie scene, that's where I was almost jumped.
I never actually stopped in Camden for anything, I did however drive through it while driving on the highway in the opposite direction as Philadelphia, on the way to Cherry Hill, and let me tell you it looked really run down.
Thanks Nick! After 20+ military years I thought things could not get worse than the things I have seen , say: Haiti, Chad, Niger and many others! It's really depressing to see you have proved me wrong in my own country! I thank you for your adventures that I hope will open the eyes of some Americans! Losing two friends while in Desert Storm really still hurts!!!! Keep the videos coming, I need to keep my mind busy!
As I watched these derelict cities roll by, couldn't help thinking of all the military personal, the soldiers of WW2 who walked down the steps of these then beautiful homes and never came back. If they could come back now for just one day and see the communities they died for... Sad doesn't come close. What's really ironic, these cities look like the European and Japanese cities did after WW2. Look at them now, then look at this. We look like the ones who lost a war.
@@davidj.7779 unfortunately they don’t look like cities after WW2. In those areas they still supported each other and looked out and you weren’t in danger of getting shot at. These are worse. People with no self esteem ready to blame others.
@@davidj.7779 We did, sort of. We lost tens of millions of blue collar jobs starting in the 80s, mostly. Detroit and Gary, IN are prime examples of that. And all the government money in the US couldn’t put it back together again.
@@Nanakanisurra These people are renters. People who own the properties and take rents, do not do their moral duty to fix and maintain the properties. It is their responsibility, is it not?
Heck...that looked like a good day in Kensington! But yes it should definitely be up there in the worst area's in the US. If not number #1. Great video Nick as always. I love your work.
You picked the right time of year to visit these ghettos. When it warms up, the shooting starts. I appreciate the effort Nick, but stay safe out there.
I find videos on ghetto and run down cities so fascinating because they're a glimpse of old America, like old memories, faded over time. The average thriving American city is full of suburban homes, parking lots and fast food restaurants. But driving through these old run down ghettos, the average homes and businesses were built long ago. You drive past an old abandoned home, probably built before the 30s and you wonder, who lived in this home? What kind of memories were made within those walls? This is why I love videos like these so much.
I'm originally from DC, now living in Maryland. DC has an area in South East off south capital street. It's a little run down but its almost plush compared to Kensington street in Philly. Never seen so much homelessness, trash, and people sleeping on the streets. I've been to Philly about 20 years ago but I didn't see it in that kind of condition.
There's a lot of boarded up run down houses, some with collapsed roofs. Government won't tear em down, it'll cost too much and they don't have dumping grounds big enough.
Yeah no. When I watch these I think of the countless drug house trap house malnourished bums and killings robbing a etc that happened in these neighborhoods. This isn’t a rich neighborhood uphills it’s a garbage dump of a hood. Nothinh much positive happened here .
Looking at those large, decaying homes in Detroit makes me think… those homes were once people’s sanctuaries. Memories were made on those properties. Children played in those yards. They were once a part of the American dream. So sad.
@@TerryAnnOnline In the United States, more so than elsewhere, the norm is to move. My parents come from Europe and I can walk to the house where my mother was born, where my great grandparents lived, etc. You feel a connection even though new houses go up the old ones remain or are renovated. It's the same with the "city" areas. There is so much (ancient) history and little change that one feels a connection when walking the same cobblestone streets that one's ancestors walked. In the states, everything is flipped constantly. Neighborhoods change so fast one doesn't recognize them after a decade or two. Point is, in Europe, people stay where they are so even neighbors become like family after a few generations. In comparison, America is cold and impersonal. We follow the money and chase "standard of living" but never have quality of life. In America these two are thought of as the same, but they are not.
The architecture of buildings/homes up north is so astonishing lol. I've lived in North Carolina my whole life and have only been north (Baltimore specifically) once that I can remember. It was one of the scariest, most depressing things I've ever seen in my life. It wasn't even the hood because I was born and raised in the hood! It just is literally a different atmosphere. Thanks for this!
So true there’s a big difference between rural hoods in the south and the concrete ghettos of the northeast. I live in BR and I’ve lived in Baltimore as well. He said it perfectly at the beginning there’s areas in the south that have problems but the ghettos up north are eerie almost like they’re designed like a prison
I respect people who retain their sense of dignity and duty when they're down on their luck so much. A ghetto where people still smile and crime doesn't happen seems to be a rarity, sensibly.
The wealth disparity of this country is depressing. I recently started a job installing home security systems, and I find myself in some of the richest and poorest neighborhoods in the DC area. Had two jobs the other day-one in a multi-million dollar home in Cleveland Park, and the other in a run-down house in Capitol Heights. Generally, the folks in wealthier areas get these systems to protect their expensive belongings, whereas the folks in the less well-off areas get them to protect their lives. One thing I've learned from this job is that we're all the same. Most people are born into their situation, be it wealth or poverty. Stereotypes serve no purpose other than to divide us.
Amen ! I am in the eastern panhandle here in West Virginia ( born and raised in these beautiful blue ridge mountains) the rich have started their moves out here ( 50 miles from the sewer of D.C.) The homes here are now so high. We gave yes gave our oldest son our house ( we could have sold it for $300,000 ) my hubby and I said no the home will stay in the family) the crime here in Charles Town isn't bad. I sure hate all the farmland being sold, Apple and peach orchards all gone for cookie cutter houses.
@@tammywines7343 dad sold his part of the land in West Virginia moved to Florida, next to his part was my uncle's, his part went to pay for the old people's home he was put in, the man who bought my dad's property said they sold it cheap, wish he could have bought it I agreed then it would of stayed in one person's family. When I said I was going to look at my uncle's land, he told me to warn me I would be shocked , it would not be anything at all like it was, my uncle's part was a wildlife sanctuary, - they had cut down the trees, most all of them , land divided and left by my great great ( and another great?) Grandma, taxes took the land except what part my dad sold.
I'm British. When we see houses that are sizeable, we presume that it's a nice-enough area. Our roughest areas tend to be either all terraced houses or high-rise blocks of flats. It's hard for me to see detached houses and think that's a run-down area. This makes me think: someone (maybe even me) should do a British version of this.
Yeah, I’m half British and I’ve visited England several times…. trust me, brother, England and America are two different planets. America is a genuinely toxic culture. I guess we got it from those Nasty ones that set up shop here in the first place! (Capitalism +Religion Kills)
@@jamesrobert4106 As it happens, I live in Leeds now and am from Ossett originally. Up until the mid-noughties, some villages near Wakefield (e.g. Fitzwilliam, South Elmsall) had roads that were virtually all abandoned. Those houses have long since been demolished though.
Same in France, our ghettos are big deserts of concrete, few trees, no gardens, big buildings full of misery. And in the vids , even the cars I see look pretty fine too^^ seems that they are not doing this bad in USA, they are just f*cking lazzy and dumb, just have to take a little bit care of their beautifull neighborhoud. Americans ghetto look like middle class European suburbs😅( with more blcks and garbages tbh)
If the homes and businesses could talk there would be some very joyful conversations. You have to wonder, did it rot from the people, did it rot from the government, maybe a combination of both and more. Great video Nick...
I work in Gary, Indiana, at US Steel, the company that created Gary. I've been up and down every street you showed and a lot more during my urban explorations. Like many of the once great cities, the architecture and craftsmanship from the early 20th century is amazing and demonstrative of why the houses that still stand endured. I was born in Gary in 1971, and my family was part of the great white flight in 1978. My dad worked for US Steel as well, for 51 years, having started at the very tail end of its peak in 1964. 2021 had a lot of positive, visible things happen. Buildings were knocked down, removed, and turned into parks, entirely new buildings, or parking lots. If Gary can maintain the pace shown in 21 and 22, I can only hope for a nice turnaround. I've been driving there for 25 years, and it's only been in the last 2 years that clearly visible changes happened. My mom is Serbian. She and most of her family and a lot of her friends made Gary their home in the late 1960's. Gary holds a special place in my heart.
When I grew up in N. Philly, I didn't know we were poor. And some of the scary situations I was put in just seemed normal to me as a child. The thing that struck me most in this video is all the nice cars. Back when I grew up there, few had a car, and nobody who had one would park it on the street, or it would be gone by the next morning.
@Steven Darkins my son got stranded in jackson mississippi for about a week or more and he made friends with a homeless black guy who told him which areas to avoid there. They also found a couple abandoned cars in some run down empty building lol
I live in an upscale area of Austin, TX. There was a black gentleman walking my street with torn up shoes and overall looking Disheveled and out of place. He came to my front door with a clip board, and since my husband was home I felt comfortable opening my door. Upon closer examination, I saw he had a piece of his ear missing. Despite, his outward appearance he had a kind yet shy demeanor. He told me he was in a program for ex-convicts learning skills to help reintegrate into society successfully. The program he was in had him selling children’s books on this specific day. He shared with me that he grew up in Camden, NJ and felt he had no other choice but to turn to crime but was on the path to change his life. I told him I don’t have children to buy the books for but I wanted to give him some cash and get him a new wardrobe. I asked for his size and told him to come back that evening. I spent the day shopping for him and bought him enough clothes and shoes that he could throw away all the tattered clothes he was hanging onto. Never in my life have I experienced such gratitude from a human being. The look on his face was of true disbelief anyone would ever want to do this for him. He believed I was changing HIS life but he was changing MINE. He made me see different that day- that we are all the same no matter how different our lives may be. He taught me true compassion. I think of him from time to time and only wish he is achieving all he could dream of. Thank you, Xavier.
There are no legit prison rehab/ ex-con selling schemes; they are SCAMS. I hope he was bettered by this demonstration but, yeah, it’s been dangerous &/or foolish for most who fell for it.
Bless your heart. That was the best thing you could have done for him, he got some dignity back and no matter what the repubs insist I would bet that he didn't return a week or a month later asking for more did he? The repubs are the party of mean. Most of today's problems can be traced back to one person, one year, and one policy. Reagan, 1981, and trickle down economics, which never works because the wealthy who benefit from tax cuts will never let anything trickle down my God that would be socialism a hand out and that's the last thing poor people need. They need to work even if it's for slave wages and that is the problem. Most people living in poverty have jobs but the jobs don't pay enough to survive. Well they say then they need to get educated well fine but somebody still has to clean up the messes left behind by others and there's no reason those essential jobs can't pay a living wage. I'm not saying enough to support a family but certainly enough to support one person. But the owners of this country prefer to pay their labor poverty wages and let the government pick up the slack. So tell me who are the real welfare bums?
I think it's the best hope for these sorts of places. Then in many years or something, they can be completely redeveloped into something new and better.
@@JoePCool14 I've lived in Chicago for the past 37 years and Gary In . is a hell hole since than . There is no hope to idiots who run those places down . You can be poor but you can be clean .
My dad had a restaurant many years ago called Mario's Steakhouse in Camden. Sold cheesesteaks, Italian water ice and such. Somebody burnt it to the ground. Parents divorced and me and brother ended up in foster care and then back with my mom at 2105 Westminster Ave, McGuire projects in Camden. Our saving grace was both of us joining the military. Many years later I took my kids to see Camden on a visit back home. They were into gangster rap. I told them I will show you the gangster life style. After 2 minutes in Camden they beg me to leave. Walt Whitman wrote Leaves of Grass just down the road from Camden so it had to be a beautiful place at one time. God bless Camden.
Thanks for sharing. That’s a tragic and really sad story. I’m so glad for you that it’s only Part of your story you’re not done telling yet. You sound like a good dad. Have a happy life, a great purposeful life. ❤️
I grew up very poor, I lived with my grandma and all the money we had was from her widow's pension. The old house we lived in had no insulation, it was cold in the winter. But I never missed a meal and our house and yard was kept clean. There is no excuse for being dirty.
There are also no more widows’ pensions. There were no pensions for widows of color then and very little now. There are plenty of missed meals, poverty wages and kids left alone in an unsafe world. Cleaning has a low priority, especially when there are drive bys and people have to sit on the floor to avoid being shot. Your childhood was idyllic. Theirs’ causes undiagnosed PTSD and a live unworthy of living.
@@angrycannibal6625 Interesting post, Thank you. I can't relate to it personally (never experienced it), but I have seen pensions go the way of dinosaurs. Your post rings true.
I live in low income apts. I'd give anything to have one of those trashed houses. How does poverty keep ya from picking up trash or taking care of a place ? I know poverty so that's BS
I completely agree! No sense of pride! I know there are some that have just given up due to depression or mental illness or something that doesn't allow them to function on a daily basis, and then there's drugs and they just don't care! But I've always said the same thing! Instead of them rotting to the grown let someone have a chance to make something for themselves! I've always said that their are way too many abandoned houses for homelessness! Especially our veterans!! Let them have at the least a roof over their head! I'm sure there are plenty that would be willing to do the fixing on their own just to be able to have somewhere to call home! And a descent size house could provide shelter to several people at a time! I dunno it's a sad situation! America has raised a generation of entitlement or expect! And they really believe they are owed just whatever it is they want without having to work for it! Oooooh what I could do with a house of my own! I had it once, but life happens! Bad marriage and bad health have meant I had to lose alot! But I know what it is to have pride in the things I've either worked for or have been blessed to receive!!
@@chaosdemonwolf1 Your lucky then. Even when i have been down Lakes there is trash lying around its everywhere? People always go on about England being a dustbin now.
I'm a trucker. St. Louis, Gary, and Baltimore are places that I pass through regularly. Having traveled most of the country, the entire states of West Virginia and New Mexico take the cake for being the most devastating places that I have visited.
Yes, southern Albuquerque is really really dangerous and full of ghettos. It is one of the highest ranking areas in the country for car theft and its murder rate is climbing. Some parts of southern Albuquerque look worse than like 70% of the ghettos on here.
Australian here. Damn shame to see those beautiful big home falling to pieces. One thing I noticed is even in the worst neighbourhoods the roads are in really good shape. The roads in my hometown of Mackay, North Queensland are terrible. Potholes everywhere, asphalt peeling off. You Americans know how to build roads that last.
@@Michael-hy2ud whatever it was that got you out, you need to keep moving. its spreading. so if youve found a way to avoid shitholiness, use it like hell.
I just think of "if the walls could talk", and all the memories that were made in these places, lives that were lived- growing and surviving that took place, and it makes me terribly sad to think the people are gone and the building is left to rot. It's nice when someone can rehab old places, unfortunately desperation due to terrible economic climate forces poor people to take drastic measures like gutting their neighborhood for copper. It's sad, unfortunately America has been hijacked by the elites and we no longer have the strength to stand on our own.
It's true💯 ,that when people no longer inhabit them, that the house itself "dies" so to speak. It becomes a shell almost. The paint wears off quickly, floors and roofs collapse. Houses live, with lives in them ! 💯
I see these row houses and wonder what it was like in the 1950's with neighbors sitting on stoops and talking about their lives and children playing jacks or hop scotch on the sidewalks .
@@charlesjordan4933 Thats such a good observation, which is why it is really important to maintain your house. It carries a piece of history; it is also good to hang pictures of those who lived in them.
Thank you nick for having the fortitude to film these areas to spread awareness as to the state of areas of our nation. Also, to any naysayers out there, of course one is going to drive in these dangerous neighborhoods, early on a Sunday, in the middle of winter. Better visibility, and the best safety conditions.
You're right. I want to see what the worst bits are like because we've seen all sorts of stuff on TV, and would like some take on reality. I see what the nice parts are like through friends who live there. But stay safe man. My causal curiosity is not worth your health. And thank you. Good idea to go super early
Crack heads dont sleep. They troll all nite. He found an abandoned part of the city at 6a.m. and narrated him a story. This was some detroit hater-aid $hit.
Hey Phil, I wouldn't call this exploitation. The people who live in these areas are exploiting everything from minors to government programs. You could always provide us with a tour of those really dangerous areas. How about it, tough guy?
@@michaelc.682 In my experience, after a few years of walking through open air drug markets in extremely neglected and poverty stricken neighborhoods (Mostly, but not always, in Miami): Overtown, Pork n’ Beans housing projects (Liberty City), the Triangle a bit in Opa-Locka, and so on, it’s my opinion that there aren’t really any places in America anymore that are unsafe to walk through during daylight hours (provided that you dress appropriately and know how to carry yourself). The drug gangs do a very decent job making sure that their customers don’t get attacked or accosted. It can be intimidating the first several times you do it, but eventually it becomes routine. And once you’re known in the neighborhood as someone who’s just coming on a regular basis to spend a little money, everyone pretty much is fine with you. I mean, I was there often enough that people knew me and sometimes would give me extra bags for taking the trouble to come to their spot consistently without causing problems for them (asking for shorts, drawing attention, whatever). I’ve driven through them and walked through them, even hung out in them for a while making small talk with the people there. Nobody cares. It’s not like people are just there constantly shooting at each other in the streets, in broad daylight. And if they are, they’re not trying to drop some random white boy. REALLY bad for business. Maybe I’m just lucky, but it seems like if you develop even the smallest amount of street smarts, don’t make a fool of yourself out in the drug zone, and mind your own business, nobody’s going to hassle you. Except the police- I had more trouble with them than any of the residents. They know why you’re there, too... All that being said, I quit doing dope about 4 years ago, and I’m very happy that I don’t have to visit these places on a semi-daily basis anymore.
Hi Nick. I followed you for the beginning of your channel. I noticed your views are great. Congratulations A lot of hard work. I remembered some of these areas. Especially the one where the guy approached you.
It would be cool for you to do side by side comparisons of these locations compared to what they looked like in the 1950’s or even 1960’s. They were probably nice back then.
They don’t know how to build anything. They kidnapped the descendants of those who built the pyramids and used them to build the houses. The only things colonizers were good for now and then we’re sucking at football and speaking in funny accents…
Once, I had a flat tire while driving through the worst drug area in Virginia and I happened to pull in an abandoned car park. All of a sudden a man in a truck stopped and I was scared at first but he help me. He changed my flat and took me to a roadside tire shop. It was one of the worst neighborhoods. People were high in the street. He stayed with me the whole time until my tire was changed. I think he was an Angel in disguise. Then he went on his way. I paid him for staying with me. God only knows what could have happened to me that day. There are good people out there.
"God only knows what could have happened to me that day. " Apparently, someone could've helped you change a flat tire, which is exactly what happened. This notion of ghetto's being totally lawless and just pure suicide to enter is frankly very misplaced. Most people in ghetto neighborhoods don't give two shits about you, and if you stay out of their business, they stay out of yours.
Wow, you must have panicked at first. I feel for you about dealing with an unexpected tire problem. I do believe that many people are good and that you encountered a person who probably felt very good about himself to help someone. This is love. Thanks for sharing.
A buddy of mine got pulled over by a cop, who asked him why the F he stopped at stoplights, and told him he needed to get the F out of the neighborhood.
I'd be curious know what would happen if the homeless actually moved in and lived side by side with those people there. I imagine the homeless wouldn't stand a chance.
Exactly what I was thinking. Tear down and hire and train the locals to build tiny homes for the homeless and affordable housing and grocery stores, pharmacy, training schools. Get the gangs out - hire massive security forces. How can we afford to waste so much money on immigration and refugees when we don't even bother with our own?
Apparently many homeless perfer to be outdoors if they can network for drugs it is a consequence of addiction and there are even more drugs coming over the southern border as we sit here watching this. 99% due to alcoholism and drug addiciton just as it has for a long time with alcoholism.
Timothy MacDonnell: I mentioned in another comment that Camden NJ won the award for Most Beautiful City In America in 1948. By the time I was growing up in the 1970s it had already become what it looks like now. It was a combination of two huge employers (RCA and Campbell's Soup) closing down, and the race riots of the 1960s.
Obv. I also find it sad but it's fascinating how over the decades some cities become wealthy and the centre of their states but then move to other areas and so on and so forth. In my province we had areas that were poor and others wealthy and now its the other way around.
@@Rob-qs3xx Nah. I don't think so... People are not in control of what governments and huge corporations do. Industry moves out, people move with it or they get poor fast. It's hard to navigate when you're unprepared to pay shit loads of money and your house is suddenly worth way less so you can't even move somewhere better. I'm all for personal responsibility, but not for blaming victims of a system that never gave a shit for them.
I think what you are doing is fascinating Nick. You are in many cases documenting the decline of America. Places that would have been alive in the 1950s or even 1970s reduced to haunted American Gothic shells. Stunning stuff.
Having lived and worked in Northeastern cities for almost 80 years I can testify that all these places were indeed alive and I can detail to everyone exactly how they were destroyed. But since they are all now destroyed what does it matter? Nobody wants to hear my story anyway.
Being an Argentinian, one thing that surpises me is that most of the cars are pretty much brand new and all the streets are paved. The ''villas'' here (that's what we call ghettos) make these places look actually decent.
I know. Americans do not have a realistic perspective on true poverty. The homeless in America are still wealthier than the most impoverished of some other countries around the world. I think the expectations are a bit too high. We all need to be very grateful for what we do have. The entitlement mentality of our culture is a big problem.
It surprised me that the first comment I see is a fellow Argentinian. Also remember that the houses in our villas are mostly improvised with scrap metal, wire and wood planks, in the US you get houses of 1 or even 2 stories that are just deteriorated. I'm talking about the NON homeless of course.
Philly. This was 1993 and hubby drove over the road trucking. I rode with him for a year and one place we had to go (and trucking takes you to some shady places) was ghetto Philadelphia. We had a delivery at some place that was a nightmare to get to: burned-out tenements lined the street; cars up on blocks, barely room to drive the truck through at times. Get to the business and it was surrounded by a high fence topped with concertina wire. It looked like a prison, but this place was like that to keep criminals OUT. Hubby was exhausted, and innocently asked if he could park in their lot for a few hours to get a nap after unloading. The supervisor narrowed his eyes and said, "You don't want to be here after dark." So we left. Back to threading through the dystopian streets slowly working our way at maybe a 5 mph crawl. Then some guy came angling out of an alley toward us. Hubby saw this and started cursing. Of course being a company driver he had nothing to defend himself with but a tire checker. This guy intended to jump up between the tractor and the trailer and pull the air hoses which would lock the brakes. His accomplices would then hijack the truck and steal its contents at their leisure. The female passenger would have been an unexpected bonus prize. The driver would have just been in the way and ventilated most likely. We were on our way to being screwed. Just as the guy had closed the distance by half, a cop car nosed around the corner, and the guy changed direction and ducked back into some other alley. We kept going of course and soon found the main road out to the interstate. I told hubby that I would never set foot in Philly again, and he agreed that we were lucky to be alive. TL;DR Nearly got hijacked in Philly ghetto.
@@absolutely5376 Yeah. He was not allowed by his company to pack. This was when he was new to truck driving and scared to death that he'd be unemployable if they fired him "for cause". Things are a lot different now.
@@absolutely5376 Reminded me of when I worked in behavioral health. Everyone in the office had some type of self defense item in case a client came at us. It was against the company policy but at the end of the day, no job is worth dying for.
My father was from Camden, over on Howell St. When he was doing refrigeration repair back in the late 1940s two guys jumped him and robbed him. He caught up with one of them and was beating the guy in the head with a wrench when a cop came running over and grabbed him. He thought for sure he was going to jail with the thief laying on the ground covered in blood. The cop told him to move his refrigeration repair truck, he was blocking traffic.
@@someguy1865 look dude these are just bad neighborhoods but does not reflect all of America most cities have crime but it’s not like every city the majority are criminals living here the majority are actually not criminals
My family is from Eastern/North-Eastern Ohio (Canton/Youngstown Area) and it all looks just like that. The people who still live there are depressed and hopeless. It's very sad. Thank God they left.
Its the same in Dallas all of the old neighborhoods used to be all white middle class ppl. Its kind of crazy seeing school yr book pictures of a notoriously bad highschool because of its location in the hood. Then in the 50s,60's and 70's they all moved further north. These places are all now considerd as the hood. But now they are trying to Gentrify the whole city around the Downtown area. Parts of West Dallas have always been run down. This was the hood for even white folks back in the day. It was where Bonnie and Clyde met. Now all those houses are gone and high rise apts replaced them. People will pay big money to have a good view of the skyline apparently. The city is trying to push the poor further south.
Some rual places too like Appalachia, Every White Trailer Park Of The South. Many Backwoods Communities Too. *The Cities Are Examples Of Prosperity!* This is how a large majority of our cities and towns looks. *The Jobs Are In China!* A Person Took Note Of THE CARS. How is it the areas looks so bad, but the people have up to date vehicles? *Kind of tell you something about their incomes, And Who Owns What!*
I’m a mail carrier, 25 years , I’ve delivered in the finest neighborhoods to the ghettos , public housing complex to college campuses , rural and city . I’m in the south so I haven’t dealt with some of the bitter winters the north has just the suffocating blazing heat . I salute my fellow carrier’s that deal with the extremes of these areas .
I was a letter carrier and for 11 years worked in inner-city Milwaukee. It's not so bad, actually because they know the feds come down on folks who mess with gov. employees, and most people dont' mess with carriers because we brought the checks...not pleasant, tho, for sure
From my experience these people generally don't harm anybody that might benefit them, cable TV installer, mailman bringing the welfare check, gas delivery, etc, but come to turn off the elec, turn off the cable, tow the car behind on payments, that's another story.
I missed the exit I needed once. Got off on the next exit and I ended up in ,Camden ...that was 40 years ago it was scary then. There are only two other places I have been scared, Alligator Alley when I watched my gas needle drop to near zero... And the time I decided maybe a nice break for lunch would be a look see at Baltimore...Now that was pretty awful... Lock the truck doors scary, and that too was many years ago. I now live in the rural Midwest. Very nice non-scary here regardless of what dementia Joe says.
My daughter lost her life as a result of Camden. It was such a nightmare to see. I myself had been there to see if she was Ok , and pick her up. I was in some bad and scary situations just to try and help my little girl. I tried not to be scared to try and protect the thing in my life that I loved most, My daughter. It’s like an ugly monster just eating up the people and calling for more. Kensington was her demise also. What couldn’t be found in CAMDEN ,would be in kensington . I’m a year and a half without her now and I fell dead inside myself without her. We tried everything to get her help. She was clean for 3 years, but so often there is a calling from there to retrieve some of those people back.GOD PLEASE SAVE THESES PEOPLE FROM THIS HELL.
My mother's friend lost her son in a similar manner. She is destroyed. There is not a day that she doesn't think about her son. The pain is unbearable and I can't imagine what it must be like.
The people I feel bad for are those who are genuine good people just trying to get by but are stuck in neighbourhoods like Camden I wish those people the best of luck
So almost ALL of the people. Even the ones who commit petty crimes are often doing so just to get by. And people with poor mental health live in these areas too. People forget that not everyone with anxiety or depression is some middle class white kid.
@@tybooskie I hear you Ty. I am sure that many of those people and young kids may have poor mental health and depression that in another situation would not be as difficult to deal with. However, when you add the stresses of high crime, not so pleasnant surroundings to look at, and povery, I am sure the anxiety and depression are not helped at all.
My hubby and I were just talking about Gary, Indiana earlier today. Back when he was driving trucks he had to deliver to Gary but he absolutely refused to go there after dark! One day he seen a cop sitting close to his delivery stop. He was in the truck while they were unloading his trailer. Suddenly he heard 3 shots being fired close by so he hunkered down in his seat. When he looked out the window the first thing he seen was the cop speed off in the opposite direction!..LoL Once he got unloaded and made it to the nearest truck stop he discovered the shots he heard was another trucker being robbed a couple streets down. It’s scary and it’s sad because you know there are some really good people that have to be lumped in with the bad ones.
I was born and raised there. I even had a few of my kids in Gary, but I know exactly what you mean. I remember being at a gas station and all of a sudden a few guys was like there he go right there and they start shooting. I mean I know Gary is really bad, it was the murder capital for most of my life. But I knew I could raised my kids there. I left and moved to Las Vegas. Don't get me wrong Gary will always have a place in my heart it help me be the woman I am today, but to raised my kids there i just was to scared.
Yep born and raised in Gary, and yes there are a lot of good people lumped in with the bad there! So sad! Praying for EVERY ghetto, in this country and around the world!
I'm new in trucking business and every trucker I talked to always say don't go to the east coast if you value your life. Stay in the west half of the country.
I was born in Gary Indiana as well in 1976, and in high school in the 90's it was so frickin scary!!! The projects were Ivanhoe, Delaney, Concords, and Oak Knoll, and were the worse in the nation!!! Gary was murder capital of the country for 2 years running at the time!!!
Some of the homes, such as the ones in the Detroit area, were once really nice, large homes. It was easy to imagine what these neighborhoods were like 50 yrs ago. Folks sitting on the ftont porches, families visiting, kids riding their bikes. The architecture was nice, too. These were nice homes with families growing up in them. Sad to see whats become of them. Auto industry let them down. Then the water situation happened. Alcoa let my hometown down. Abandoned the plant property and all the employees to rebuild another to replace it in South America. Greed.
Some of these houses in East St Louis and other places look okay, like they are well cared for. Imagine some guy filming your home that you’re proud to have, that you’ve most likely worked for all your life, and then he calls it a run down slum. True that the area they are in might not look that nice, but I think people should at least be given credit for trying to keep their property as nice as they can.
@@tammybray5008 Yes, it's sad.. There are proud people there in all that chaos and misery that keep up their homes and what little they have. Many are older with nowhere to go. It's sad for them.
@@martiwaterman1437 at one time it used to be a thriving city . last time I was there , tires all over the city . it was early morning , well shall we say there were working ladies . I took a wrong exit I was trying to get to rt 203 exit . Madison is just as bad right along with venice and Brooklyn , Granite city was getting just as bad . been while since ive been in that area .
Film the hoods in west virginia where the folks are methheads and heroin filth with rotting teeth are doped up all the time walking around like zombies. Film those areas..Put that description on THOSE folks
I find an eerie beauty in scenes of decrepitude, dilapidation and abandonment, and I know I am not the only one! I have felt this way since I was a small child. Loved the video!
@@luckyotter623 there seems to be a part of the human psyche that resonates with such images. The Germans have even a word for it, “Ruinenlust” (ruin lust). Maybe it’s the reason why we love sad songs or movies that make us cry?
Got lost in Chester, cops pulled me over cuz of my Jersey plates and knew I was not from around there. He told me never to stop at the signs or red lights. He told me to follow him to the bridge so I could get back home.
@@kanejakejimmy Yes, car jackings and robberies he said because there is a casino right there. People get followed home from the casino and robbed so he told me not to fully stop.
I’m from Chester and when I was younger, it was a great place to grow up. Political corruption, bad business decisions has turned the city into what it is today. The street you drove down, 3rd St, used to be filled with churches, beautiful homes and children playing in the streets. The three viable businesses that could provide income for the city are considered as Philadelphia businesses and do not hire the residents that live there nor do they provide income to the city. All monies go to Philadelphia.
I can appreciate all the beauty and architecture and all of those homes. As you drive by, I tried to envision what it would’ve looked like when brand new and children were playing in the lawn and streets.
I was in Detroit in 2013 that was quite an eye opener, looked like war zone. Count your blessings if you don't live in a place like this. Could be any one of us except for circumstances. It's a crime that these cities are left like this. Meanwhile their representatives make millions upon millions doing nothing.
Oh and who are those representatives who run these ghettos, why they are Dumbocrats, wall to wall promising to end all of this and after 50 years kind of failed.
It's just so heartbreaking. All of these houses were once built for families that were full of hope. Children would play on the front porch, and mom or dad would be in the kitchen, making a nice cup of coffee. They would discuss prom night or a new baby born into the family. People would go to work and school and decorate the Christmas tree. Until eventually, all was lost. So very sad...
Heartbreaking, indeed. But, what I've found is that it is the sadly predictable outcome of a late game version of Market Capitalism run by the entire world economy where scarcity and poverty are absolute guarantees along with massive income inequality. Ownership class (1%) vs the rest of us. The so-called 'economy' isn't an economy of any sort of efficiency. Yet people everywhere still want to live a good life. My hope is that people will look to build a new system for themselves because this one really doesn't work. I recommend the reading of books like The New Human Rights Movement by Peter Joseph or Moneyless Society by Matthew Holten as well as the project of One Small Town by Michael Tellinger. Giving the power back to the people of the community to make it better.
@@carmenl163 I appreciate you! Best to you and yours. I feel a shift is coming and it’s going to be powered by Community Unity and take down third wretched monetary-market system run by a slim minority of elites and turn to the people who really make everything we enjoy possible.
@@coolioso808 I would be so happy if this were to happen! I think we live in a world that is ruled by sociopaths. Unfortunately, it will take an enormous amount of unhappiness to turn normal, polite, social people into forces that can destroy the leeches that make up the 1%. But I appreciate seeing a fellow HUMAN being that has sound ideas.
@@carmenl163 The world is a huge place but in many ways we are all connected. We cannot do everything to help it change course to the right (sustainable and healthy) direction but we can do something, even a little bit each day, from sharing knowledge to sharing resources and building something better. As the late great Jacque Fresco said "The problems of today cannot be solved with the same level of thinking that created them." - System change is needed and it takes time. i unfortunately do see a lot of suffering taking place until a potential overhaul happens. But I also see a lot of ways out of this mess that people, in their local communities can take. One Small Town with Michael Tellinger, is a resource I recommend people check out as well as the great work by Peter Joseph of TZM. Knowledge is power and collective knowledge is even more powerful through cooperation. Let's take steps down the right road, even if we stumble, and we will, we are at least trying to head in a better direction and a new social system.
You even bothering to stop at a stop sign in Atlanta made me chuckle. The SUV behind you just goes right thru. I got lost in Baltimore city on my way to a family event and ran every stop sign and red light because ever second I was there, my safety level dropped. Great video! It's sad to see all of this but it is possible to change.
@@pyrexmaniacstatistics scare people, those who don’t come from areas like this assume they’ll be attacked unprovoked immediately upon visiting. The reality is that a lot of violent crime is gang related, so if you’re not hindering a gang’s plans or repping a set you mainly only have to worry about robbery. Which happens everywhere. Keep your guard up and be nice, and you’ll have no issues 95% of the time.
To answer your opening comments: Amongst the many reasons why people click more often on the bad neighborhoods is the fact that they can travel with impunity through the well-kept middle class and working-class neighborhoods. Someone who travels through these rundown blighted areas does it at their personal peril. Thanks for allowing to vicariously visit these wastelands.
I like watching these bad neighborhood videos to remind me of where I came from. I was born and raised in a horrible neighborhood in Cleveland Ohio and got myself out.
@@rhondabee467 so did I. Lived on 73rd and Clark about 3 doors down from the corner store , and I moved to 41st and Clark right down the street from Libby's bar.
I was a North Olmsted kid, relocated from W Va. Being back here in W Va, I can say with some authority that ghettos exist in rural America, too. The ONLY thing I miss of Cleveland is the awesome pizza, from many one-off restaurants and parlors, family owned, all. We have little to no truly good pizza here. Oh yeah, and decent paying jobs, for most people, are a fantasy, not a reality. I had friends who lived in the Lorain/Denison, and 25th, Ohio City areas. I am thankful, all the time, that I left that life behind. NEVER going back, not even to visit.
Wake up, America. If you think that you would only find conditions like this in third world countries, think again. Don't put these neighborhoods and their people down, come up with solutions. There is only one worse situation: homelessness.
The solution is, and has always been to turn to God. A nation that both loves and fears God doesn't fall apart. He promises to heal their land. You look old enough to remember when God was in the hearts and homes of most Americans. It didn't take very long to bring America from a Norman Rockwell painting into Dystopia did it?
No judgements here. This is decades and decades of oppression that has be passed down generation after generation. It is up to THOSE ppl to break the cycle. It's also survival of the fitness. As the narrator said, Detroit is at only 60% what it was.
This video. That you did. I thank you very dearly. I live in Georgia right now. And been here for about like 10 years. And because of this video I have got a chance to not only see the house. I grew up in but I have the pleasure of seeing my grandmother's house. So I th😢ank you, and this also made me cry. She's been gone 6 years now and I miss her so Thank you And it's just Chester, Pennsylvania
I noticed the old brick street in the beginning of the video. Those old streets were once laid by hardworking men. No machines, back breaking work. Looking at these old neighborhoods reminds me of where my grandparents once lived in Toledo, Ohio. Many people from that time period took pride in keeping their homes neat and clean.
Toledo has a freaking Apple Store in its nicer suburbs. No different than Cbus or Cincy. Doesn't qualify for the list. Gotta look at a blighted city like Youngstown or Mentor for that.
In 2008 I was on an East Coast road trip. For part of the journey, I was with a friend. And we were trying to remember what the "deadliest city in America" was. Never could remember. Then, later on the trip I was rolling solo through Philadelphia and low on gas looking for a gas station. Well, ended up making a right turn where I shouldn't have. Sent me across the Benjamin Franklin bridge and into Camden. It was at that moment when I remembered the answer my question. Well, great. So I end up in the middle of the ghetto out of gas. I call AAA and am told it'll be an hour. I told them the situation and that I can't wait an hour. They asked for me to describe the area around me and I'm like "um, just a bunch of brick buildings with graffiti and broken out windows." Not wanting to be just sitting there, I decide to start pushing the car. At that moment, a man comes out of one of those buildings with broken out windows. And another comes from the other direction on the sidewalk. Both men asked how they could help. One said he has a gas can and can drive me to the gas station. Well, I took a leap of faith. Got in his car and got gas. Wasn't murdered. Goes to show that there are good people everywhere.
THAT'S A BEAUTIFUL STORY. THANKS FOR SHARING. WE NEED TO HEAR MORE OF THESE KINDS OF STORIES. 😊
You're lucky man, perhaps.
Amen!
Yep, can’t judge. Just because you live in a poor area doesn’t mean you’re bad.
That's great! I'm about to travel solo through Philly soon and I'm pretty nervous. This makes me feel better : )
There’s always those few houses in the ghetto that look like they try really hard to make it look like they don’t live in a ghetto. Nice, clean yard and a decent looking house. Those people are legends
My house
And the amazing part is that others don’t catch on. Being poor, or uneducated doesn’t mean you can’t take pride in where you live. Just pick up your own trash, right? Gentrifying? Drop the label and just clean up.
@@rjlovell1 💯
@@rjlovell1very true
@@rjlovell1 I'll never understand the litter. Hell, get the a burn barrel and a bottle of Thunderbird if that us what it takes.
I was born and raised in Chester, Pa..... I was very fortunate to move out. I still don’t know how I did it sometimes. I just thank God.
Its a very rough and life there. But it’s also the place where I had my first kiss. Where me and my friends would climb trees and talk about WWE. Where we dreamed of being doctors and racecar drivers and football players. It’s where my mom read me bedtime stories about dragons and castles.It’s where my mom took me to church every Sunday. It’s where I blew out my birthday candles after making a wish for a new bike. It’s where I went to my first school dance..... it’s also where my friends turned to drugs when we realized we wouldn’t be doctors or lawyers because going to school was more dangerous then staying home. It’s where after getting robbed at 12 you realize you may need a gun just to get home to see your mom again. It’s where depression is considered a good day, at least you weren’t killed. It’s where your denied fair paying jobs because they see the word “Chester” on your application. Not everybody is capable to overcome great struggle. Most succumb to the environment around them.
It’s no excuse because the world does not owe anyone understanding. I just hope that as you see these towns and these people please remember, before we realized we were poor and destined to great hardship, we really thought we would do great things for the world. We thought the world loved us.
As a kid if I would’ve known where I was instead of wishing for a new bike, I would’ve closed my eyes and wished for my friends and family to have had a just reasonably fair chance.
Aww ❤️❤️❤️❤️
@@NickJohnson Comment is condescending and in poor taste
Respect bro ✊
Thank you for sharing your perspective to help others better understand. You changed my view.
Wow you about said it all. Everything. This comment should be framed. Who would have thought when we were dreaming about how it will be while up in the highest branches of the tree I could get.. never ever thought it could get so bad and at the same time always hearing from the politicians “ we live in the greatest country in the world blah blah .. I was a fool to believe that. Every year it kept getting worse while the policies made it easier for the wealthy and much much harder for the regular Joe..now what? It’s so scary..
This makes me realize that however humble my home is I am so blessed.
Please never forget it. It builds integrity.
Too true! I'm in a judgemental small town with mental health probs but the closest city Adelaide has bad homelessness issues... So I'm just letting the termites & salt damp be...lmao😅
I love how you give us silence as you roll through the towns. It lets the mind wander. So many narrators "narrate" and don't let the viewer feel or absorb. Perfect.
Funny I see no one walking along the road. Gives me the Cream of a place that's dying
I agree with both of you! We are Americans! Every neighborhood should be representing us. No one should be living in poverty! I feel that these sports teams need to go and clean up the communities they are in. On the off season, athletes tend to get in trouble; give them something to do! In Las Vegas, the casinos need to be cleaning the communities they are in! Mayor Carolyn, you get a huge fail with how Vegas proper looks for those who live there! I wish every politician could stay two days in poverty, they would get it and things would be different. I know that sounds naive but if empathy can help, they all need to do it. Mandatory! Now!
You know I'm sure there's just a lot of poor people that just needs a helping hand with all the money we send to foreign countries why can't we help the poor people out it worked all their lives they're tired give a helping hand
@@sdpickens33 the poor will be always with us. Those are the words of Jesus
yeah tough place
The thing that's always the saddest to me is you can mentally peel back all the decay and imagine just how beautiful these places once were...
Yea, at one point probably back in the 50's they were nice family neighborhoods i bet.
Yes. Some of these homes appear to be huge too. I can definitely imagine them in their heyday.
@@lcam9241 exactly
Before white flight
@@midaughtry1995 so even if that's the case, why do the properties decline this much? I've heard the argument that the government deserts the area as well as in roads are not maintained, etc. But I wonder what's really the root of this?
The fact that you made it through Chester during the day is a miracle. I lived not too far from Chester and I never went there. Chester has been that way since the 80’s. If you were there during the night you definitely would not have came out.
"I'll have those n[$$€£s voting democrat for 200 years." -LBJ
lol
Relax, man..😂.. it's really not that deep. I lived in eddystone, crum Lynne, and woodlyn. They are all Border chester. In fact, a tiny creek separates eddystone and Sun Village chester. You have no idea how many people go in and out of chester every day and " make it out," 😂 let me guess. Are you from the main line or something?
Bull shit I’m white and go into Chester all the time sometimes at night. It’s bad but it’s not a war zone like everyone says.
Detroit ghettos in Detroit seem very unique with how many of the houses are so large with huge porches. Some even have large columns and two story porches. Those must have been beautiful neighborhoods in Detroit's golden era.
That's due to the city being built for 3x the population it has now. They were so sure it was going to expand they built it for tomorrow X3. Not only did it not it's population went down
I am a Detroit native...I was born and raised in the Eastside of Detroit. The homes are beautiful or should I say what's left alot of the Detroit neighborhood has been regentrified since. most of the homes were BLACK OWNED. A home back in the 90s or early 2000s would rent between $600 to $800 a month..4 to 5 bedroom homes. I miss the nostalgia of my city.
They were! I've seen and was born in Michigan. Beautiful in the day.
Jesse...I was born in Detroit & lived there as a child, several family members there, too. A lot of the bigger homes with the double porches are stacked Duplexes...they are lovely homes & some have been rehabbed beautifully. There are ghetto areas there, absolutely, but overall, Detroit IS improving....its definitely NOT Camden, Philly or even Chicago these days...
9
Giving tax breaks for factories to move overseas and then keep wages down back home for 4 decades was probably a bad idea in hindsight.
not to mention state funded homewrecking where they punish you for being married rather than a single parent
Itll trickle down I hear. Us poor people just gotta wait our turn and cut our corporate overlords some slack.
Well it was a GREAT idea if your intention was to make the Wealthy even wealthier. That was the REAL intention of "Reaganomics", or trickle down Economics. Trickle Down Economics was and is a joke and its proponents knew it all along.
Don't need hindsight to see that cheaper labor abroad is bad for the US. Unemployment for cheaper labor and subpar products. Money for their pockets is all they care about. Sad.
"What do you mean? It worked out great" - CEOs and Hedge fund managers.
What actually breaks my heart is that a lot of those abandoned and run down areas could potentially be quite beautiful.
They all were at one point. Especially in Detroit. But when people just up and move and nobody else moves in or those that do are renters who sometime lower the property value... these are the results.
Actually its the results of ur people moving in, no offense
@Brenden Davis well if you are a boot starp theorists, this may be your answer. But it's deeper than that, much deeper.
My family from North said it used to be where all the rich people lived.....over on state street
That's because they all WERE at one point in time.
@NickJohnson : Real kudos for this one. I've watched a lot of your videos, but here you really nailed it. I love the way you finally stopped including background music along your drives for the top 3, just letting the ambient sounds perfectly complement the horrid visuals. I've lived half my life in Philadelphia and surrounding parts of New Jersey. Somehow after seeing Chester and Kensington at the top of the list, I just knew that the only one that could be left was Camden.
So true
Not surprised at all that someone told you to “Get the F out” during your trip to West Baltimore, which is in fact the worst part of Baltimore you can find yourself riding through. Ppl literally walk right out in front of you while driving which is scary because you don’t know if your about to be car jacked or not. I run a lot of red lights when I drive though Baltimore because I have no business sitting around longer than I need to. I’ve seen a few robberies, a stabbing and I’m pretty sure I saw someone ditch a gun once while driving through that part of town. Glad you made it out of Baltimore untouched. Thanks for the video.
I was in West Bmore one day and this chick jumped in my truck and told me to drive. I was in shock to say the least. She said you get out with me and get yourself some food too. I was like OoooK. I just did what she said and all was good. Not the norm of course. That was a good encounter for once. Normally, you are lucky to get out without seeing something bad.
Isn't Baltimore where someone tried to car jack him? (It's in another video)
Even in Los Angeles, about 8 months ago I had 2 guys walk out in front of me one with a pipe, I had nowhere to go, so I beeped my horn and floored the gas, the guy with the pipe I hit, as he tried to smash my car with his pipe,, he was trying to force me to stop, as he wouldn't move until I beeped the horn and floored the gas, he didn't move in time. But that's his fault !! 😃😃.
I’m 64 and grew up about 20 min from Camden and Kensington and as far back as I can remember they were horrible places. You’re right Nick, the states just gave up on them. It’s so sad because at one time they were very nice places. My Grandmother who was born in 1885 insisted on being married in Camden because it was such a beautiful wealthy city. Hard to believe that now!😢
Well keep in mind that people have to change first….you could build all new houses where those dilapidated buildings are but within a very short time MOST of those homes will be destroyed, until people can learn to appreciate & take care of what they do have then given them new homes etc is gonna be a waste of time & money.
@@frank-xp6pj It's a sad fact that many don't want to know about, but slums/ghettos are created from within. Yes, politicians and corporations are not exonerated, but the problem mostly comes from the people who call these areas home
@@frank-xp6pj Agree.
@@brianew True. Do normal people leave old tires and garbage piled high in their front yards?
Did a lot of blacks live in Camden in 1885? Just curious.
The thing that strikes me about Detroit is that I can see how grand many of the old homes and buildings once were. It must have been a great place to grow up in the 1950’s and 1960’s.
It is amazing what a little yard work, a coat of paint and picking up garbage can do to make any place quickly look so much better.
Detroit's corrupt government and the bailouts really screwed them
Or stopping scum living in them. Look at the demographic between 50s / 60s and current.
We know why it has turned into a festering third world dump.
Paint your house all you want. That won't change the fact that it's in Detroit.
@@mattcosner8681 True, it won’t work miracles. You really need to have all or most neighbors in a neighborhood doing the same, and doing it before many houses are abandoned, or it likely won’t work. So many abandoned places have such potential to return to prior glory, but you aren’t going to put a lot of money into rehabbing one building if the rest of the neighborhood is in shambles. You might even make your rehabbed home a target, if it appears to be the only place worth robbing. On the brighter side, it is amazing how the urge to rehab is contagious, when others see that someone cares about making their home nice again. I haven’t done much rehabbing, but what little I have had done has sometimes resulted in a neighbor coming to me and asking who I hired to do the work, as they are interested in improving their home. It can happen.
This is NOTHING compared to Minneapolis and St. Paul in May of 2020. 180 buildings were looted and burned with another 1500 damaged! People harassed firemen trying to put out fires and then they would not respond to fires. Total lack of leadership from Liberal Democrat MN Governor Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Frey and St. Paul Mayor Carter!?! They along with the Lt. Gov. should be in jail for not doing their job to protect the cities!!
I'm a paramedic, and I have responded to horrific calls in some of the poorest (ghetto) parts of my state's capitol city. the people in those lower class, run down homes and struggling to feed their families on almost poverty level wages are some of the most polite, gracious and appreciative people I have ever come in contact with. in contrast, up in the hills where homeowners in their million dollar estates who spend their summers in their vacation homes in the U.S. Virgin Islands are some of the most elitist, conceited and miserable people to have to deal with.
Money stinks greed! Everyone has addictions weather it’s drink drugs money none make you happy! I’ve been to Africa where the kids are the happiest kids n they don’t have much at all just the simple things n they don’t know any different.
This world is unfair...
I can relate. I was part of a volunteer service that brought food out to homeless, addicts, mentally ill people - and the "worst" places to go (junkies, vs "just" homeless) were much nicer and more polite persons than the "better off" homeless people who actually sometimes earned better than I did as a student back then - because they had charm and were good at making passers by give them money.
I rest my case. FAMILIES IN THE GHETTO> Who decided it was a great idea to have FAMILIES in GHETTOS! STOP MAKING DAMN BABIES into poverty! Problem solves itself! You don't go making more kids when you can't fee yourself and are on drugs! We need a sterilization program! Look at third world countries! India, China, on and on. FILTHY WATER. FILTHY Conditions. Living like animals.
Those elitist, miserable people are paying the taxes, taking care of their houses and contributing something to society. Being a good person involves more than whether they have a personality which you like.
Such a blessed country of hardworking people. Your worst places look like actually not depressing places to live. I hope the locals manage to get by and thrive despite their struggles.
You hit it on the head in Montgomery: "Poverty isn't what defines them". Having grown up dirt poor didn't define me and my friends back in the day. Having complete families and getting proper education to move out of it defined us.
Socially speaking, poverty does define them. Is just that sometimes people get to a place where they just accepted as it is and learn to live with it.
The poorest places are in the red states. The entire state.
Soul reason I'm for free education. Give people same chances, regarding their background. A level playing field to start your life. Let not your parents define your future. Only Scandinavia understands this.
"Them?" WTF.
"Poverty" has become a euphemism for certain things we're not allowed to talk about. I've been broke in my life, but I've never been like that.
Whenever I watch these videos all I can see is what these neighborhoods would’ve been like in their prime and how proud so many of these families were to buy and live in these homes. A great reminder that life is fleeting.
I know Sarah!!
That's exactly what I wrote these old neighborhoods have rich history.
Newly built neighborhoods will look old after 100 year's or less.
Yes, me too. I see all the old cars, the kids running around, occasional leaking fire hydrant in summer...thankfully my home town is thousands of years old and still thriving.
I do that too
I saw it the same way as Sarah.
Sad to think that at one time each of these houses were someone’s pride and joy, someone washed the windows, swept the stoop and sidewalk, raised their children, celebrated Christmas or a new birth, mourned the passing of another. All gone now.
Very well said. You drew both a beautiful and sad picture.
That were just my thoughts on some of the homes shown. You could see they were once loved and well kept 😢
truth
Yeah it’s so easy to forget ❤️
I was thinking the same thing.
If the people who had those homes built could see what has happened to that home and neighborhood, they would be, I'm sure, just devastated.
I worked in the cell phone antenna business in the '90s and I had to drive all over Chicago and the Midwest.
Gary truly stood out as both depressing and frightening.
The best comparison I can draw is to black-and-white films of bombed-out cities in WWII. In Chicago, they tear down the abandoned buildings. In Gary, the buildings fall down and the rubble just sits there.
You can be poor and still take pride in your home and yard. I grew up poor and lived on a dirt road in MS. We had a trashy car and an old house, but we didn't have trash in our yard and the house was maintained. I see a lot of homes where people have no pride.
Right.. Ten times right
Exactly. One my friends grandad use to always tell us even if you don’t have a lot treat your stuff right.
Totally agree and i was just saying this to my business affiliate as we've been looking at homes to buy and invest in, economics has nothing to do with living like filthy pigs and sadly that's how many we've experienced present their property's to potential buyers while demanding outlandish prices. I won't repeat what we have encountered or run into, as it's too digusting and repulsive quite frankly but this has to do with no a financial or economic class, but the kind of class one conducts themselves with and I completely & entirely agree!!!! Just because one doesn't have loads of money, doesn't mean you can let your property go and live like dirty rats, it reflects on you and your lack of caring or effort, being mindful of a clean & sanitary environment, manners, being grateful, and these people presenting these filthy infested homes actually wonder how come they're not selling and that same pile of pitbull #2 will still be at every inch not picked up and the same wreck as it was a month ago when we inspected the property or viewed it. It take all but two minutes to sweep up the hundreds of cigarettes by the door, this is about laziness which I guess reflects their ill will & lack of ambitions but I still think rich or poor, care about what you have in life and keep it as nice as you can. Be grateful!!!! It doesn't require you be well off to do your chores!! Maybe it is all a packaged mind-set now. Which is why i am moving where it's nicer and people own their homes and take care of things, that positivity spreads just as negativity does. Seeing slums all around you is not motivating, let's face it. Or maybe it is?
Its the condition of the heart. No community spirit. No respect. No love. Love comes from something to believe in. Like Jesus. No hope
@Puppy Lover Yep. Me too
It's a shame, there are so many beautiful homes literally rotting away. And on the other hand there are so many people in need of a home. A strange and cruel world we live in.
Non-resident property owners and landlords should be fined higher property taxes for dilapidated properties. Resident home owners should be offered low interest loans or grants to bring property to community standards. It's baloney cities allow blighted, depressed neighborhoods, which always encourage high crime.
That’s what I was so shocked by! A lot of those houses were phenomenal!
@@shaybelle8495 absolutely. I couldn't believe some of the homes shown were abandoned.
some of the houses just look so sad. I cried along with them.
Man on our legs man, we rob some dummies like you we make from them some stacks on the table like this 💸💸💸💸💸💸
“Poverty isn’t what defines them.” For some reason I like that statement. Thanks for seeing the positive in some of these sad places.
I spotted the lovelt houses straight away. Even if poor can still have a standard for ones home. Stop the Govetnment from sending money to other countries and face these issues for their own people.
I noticed that comment also , maybe they are just poor in spirit ,
Having been raised in the Deep South, in areas where there was plenty of poverty, both family and religious ties are still extremely strong there. Both of those are strong defenses against despair - not enough to save people at times, but enough to give them hope.
@@dannyc.jewell8788 ?
What you own doesn't define who you are. Some of the brightest, shining faces, eyes full of love, I found in a small rural village in India, and they owned next to nothing.
In my experience, if you have basic needs met, and connect yourself to God, this is the source of happiness. Everything else is superfluous.
Hello! You are doing great with these videos. I teach sociology, and I think you are doing the public a great service! God Bless.
Kind of sad that the United States is more interested in giving money to other countries when we have places that look like this.
So true.
Tu Pac lyrics stated best “ got money for war can’t feed the poor “
Exactly
It's kind of obvious now that the government wants people to be poor, sad, and unhealthy
The UK is the same.
I would have loved to see some of these neighborhoods in their primes. Alot of these abandoned homes look like they were absolutely gorgeous homes at one point in time. I actually try and imagine some of these places during their glory days and how clean and cared for those neighborhoods used to be. You're right Nick Johnson, its sad to see how these places ended up trashed instead of cherished pieces of history
The home owners certainly weren't the poor people.
You can. Just need to vote every democrat out of office there.
I totally agree! My own hometown is only a shadow of what it once was. I'm just glad I was raised there as a child before it all went south!
@@michaeljwarren neither party actually cares about the poorer people, they say they care but they're just lying to get our votes.
Just add the black man and the end result is guaranteed
I used to sell security systems in Camden and Chester. Camden was so bad I escaped getting jumped twice in one day. Everyone had guns in their back pockets (not the legal kind), and everyone kept telling me I was in the wrong neighborhood. In a nearby town someone pulled a gun on my friend. We also walked over a murder crime scene with blood still on the ground from the previous night. It's a rough neighborhood, no mistake.
@Autism Family what part of Camden?
@@rowdyboys951 Yes. ...joking aside the worst part was central Camden east of Church's Chicken (with bullet holes in the windows, lol) in the Whitman Park area. Louis street is like something out of a post apocalyptic movie scene, that's where I was almost jumped.
I never actually stopped in Camden for anything, I did however drive through it while driving on the highway in the opposite direction as Philadelphia, on the way to Cherry Hill, and let me tell you it looked really run down.
What state is this in?
@Anthony Coz I wish I had a magic wand.😔
The fact that you go to all these places on rainy days makes it much more enjoyable. That must take good planning to go on cloudy/rainy days
Thanks Nick! After 20+ military years I thought things could not get worse than the things I have seen , say: Haiti, Chad, Niger and many others! It's really depressing to see you have proved me wrong in my own country! I thank you for your adventures that I hope will open the eyes of some Americans! Losing two friends while in Desert Storm really still hurts!!!! Keep the videos coming, I need to keep my mind busy!
James ❤️🇺🇸
As I watched these derelict cities roll by, couldn't help thinking of all the military personal, the soldiers of WW2 who walked down the steps of these then beautiful homes and never came back.
If they could come back now for just one day and see the communities they died for...
Sad doesn't come close.
What's really ironic, these cities look like the European and Japanese cities did after WW2. Look at them now, then look at this. We look like the ones who lost a war.
@@davidj.7779 unfortunately they don’t look like cities after WW2. In those areas they still supported each other and looked out and you weren’t in danger of getting shot at. These are worse. People with no self esteem ready to blame others.
@@davidj.7779
We did, sort of. We lost tens of millions of blue collar jobs starting in the 80s, mostly. Detroit and Gary, IN are prime examples of that.
And all the government money in the US couldn’t put it back together again.
@@davidj.7779 best comment on this video. You're 100 percent correct.
I find solace in watching your videos. It makes me appreciate what i have and feel content about it.
Man, I bet those houses used to be really nice back in the day. I know nothing lasts forever, but this deterioration is still depressing to watch.
No, Nanakanisurra. These neighborhoods have been like this since the 1950's.
@@muthah3013 Wow, that's even more depressing.
@@Nanakanisurra These people are renters. People who own the properties and take rents, do not do their moral duty to fix and maintain the properties. It is their responsibility, is it not?
@@muthah3013 Good point.
You ought to see Germantown Pennsylvania beautiful stone work done Years Ago by German immigrants you couldn't pay me to go there now
Heck...that looked like a good day in Kensington! But yes it should definitely be up there in the worst area's in the US. If not number #1. Great video Nick as always. I love your work.
You picked the right time of year to visit these ghettos. When it warms up, the shooting starts. I appreciate the effort Nick, but stay safe out there.
I find videos on ghetto and run down cities so fascinating because they're a glimpse of old America, like old memories, faded over time.
The average thriving American city is full of suburban homes, parking lots and fast food restaurants.
But driving through these old run down ghettos, the average homes and businesses were built long ago. You drive past an old abandoned home, probably built before the 30s and you wonder, who lived in this home? What kind of memories were made within those walls?
This is why I love videos like these so much.
My house from 1935 it doesn’t look like that it just them not keeping it not fixing the roof
I'm originally from DC, now living in Maryland. DC has an area in South East off south capital street. It's a little run down but its almost plush compared to Kensington street in Philly. Never seen so much homelessness, trash, and people sleeping on the streets. I've been to Philly about 20 years ago but I didn't see it in that kind of condition.
There's a lot of boarded up run down houses, some with collapsed roofs. Government won't tear em down, it'll cost too much and they don't have dumping grounds big enough.
Dead mall videos are also interesting for similar reasons
Yeah no. When I watch these I think of the countless drug house trap house malnourished bums and killings robbing a etc that happened in these neighborhoods. This isn’t a rich neighborhood uphills it’s a garbage dump of a hood. Nothinh much positive happened here .
Looking at those large, decaying homes in Detroit makes me think… those homes were once people’s sanctuaries. Memories were made on those properties. Children played in those yards. They were once a part of the American dream. So sad.
Your very right..
I thought the same thing
Sad in some aspects. But moving is part of human history. People go where the opportunities are.
Lots of banging after kiddos went to sleep...
@@TerryAnnOnline
In the United States, more so than elsewhere, the norm is to move. My parents come from Europe and I can walk to the house where my mother was born, where my great grandparents lived, etc. You feel a connection even though new houses go up the old ones remain or are renovated. It's the same with the "city" areas. There is so much (ancient) history and little change that one feels a connection when walking the same cobblestone streets that one's ancestors walked. In the states, everything is flipped constantly. Neighborhoods change so fast one doesn't recognize them after a decade or two. Point is, in Europe, people stay where they are so even neighbors become like family after a few generations.
In comparison, America is cold and impersonal. We follow the money and chase "standard of living" but never have quality of life. In America these two are thought of as the same, but they are not.
I was a ghetto cop in West Baltimore from the mid-90s to the early 2000’s. I saw things there that people would never believe.
could you name a few sir?
I'm not from there, and I've seen some wild shit
The architecture of buildings/homes up north is so astonishing lol. I've lived in North Carolina my whole life and have only been north (Baltimore specifically) once that I can remember. It was one of the scariest, most depressing things I've ever seen in my life. It wasn't even the hood because I was born and raised in the hood! It just is literally a different atmosphere. Thanks for this!
So true there’s a big difference between rural hoods in the south and the concrete ghettos of the northeast. I live in BR and I’ve lived in Baltimore as well. He said it perfectly at the beginning there’s areas in the south that have problems but the ghettos up north are eerie almost like they’re designed like a prison
@@tatiannatownsend1531 My thoughts exactly. Eerie is the perfect word to describe it!
I wonder how American hood girls ride. 🤔
@@GratitudeAboveAll They ride in CocKs.. "Tey see me rolling.. they hatiin.."
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂🤧🤧🤧🤧🤧 you tell a Mf u from Baltimore they be like awwww are you good
I respect people who retain their sense of dignity and duty when they're down on their luck so much. A ghetto where people still smile and crime doesn't happen seems to be a rarity, sensibly.
The wealth disparity of this country is depressing. I recently started a job installing home security systems, and I find myself in some of the richest and poorest neighborhoods in the DC area. Had two jobs the other day-one in a multi-million dollar home in Cleveland Park, and the other in a run-down house in Capitol Heights. Generally, the folks in wealthier areas get these systems to protect their expensive belongings, whereas the folks in the less well-off areas get them to protect their lives.
One thing I've learned from this job is that we're all the same. Most people are born into their situation, be it wealth or poverty. Stereotypes serve no purpose other than to divide us.
Amen ! I am in the eastern panhandle here in West Virginia ( born and raised in these beautiful blue ridge mountains) the rich have started their moves out here ( 50 miles from the sewer of D.C.) The homes here are now so high. We gave yes gave our oldest son our house ( we could have sold it for $300,000 ) my hubby and I said no the home will stay in the family) the crime here in Charles Town isn't bad. I sure hate all the farmland being sold, Apple and peach orchards all gone for cookie cutter houses.
@@tammywines7343 dad sold his part of the land in West Virginia moved to Florida, next to his part was my uncle's, his part went to pay for the old people's home he was put in, the man who bought my dad's property said they sold it cheap, wish he could have bought it I agreed then it would of stayed in one person's family. When I said I was going to look at my uncle's land, he told me to warn me I would be shocked , it would not be anything at all like it was, my uncle's part was a wildlife sanctuary, - they had cut down the trees, most all of them , land divided and left by my great great ( and another great?) Grandma, taxes took the land except what part my dad sold.
Thank you. What an astute and very true statement. Can't judge a man without walking a mile in his shoes.
l like the way you said that,truth is !
I always wondered,what do they get out of that! I guess we are short on hate,in their eyes!
Sad my home town of Canton Ohio has lost 50 thousand population over last several years.I drove through my old neighborhood and actually cried.
I just hate seeing those beautiful old houses in that condition.
I think the same thing!
@Sightless Sniper yup, 100% correct here..sad..
@red diamond71 I guess that you are the only one that doesn't know.
@@stephensjurset6832 He is mad his neighborhood was one featured in the video so he tries to play"bully"
@Sightless Sniper People made them that way.
I'm British. When we see houses that are sizeable, we presume that it's a nice-enough area. Our roughest areas tend to be either all terraced houses or high-rise blocks of flats. It's hard for me to see detached houses and think that's a run-down area.
This makes me think: someone (maybe even me) should do a British version of this.
Yeah, I’m half British and I’ve visited England several times…. trust me, brother, England and America are two different planets. America is a genuinely toxic culture. I guess we got it from those Nasty ones that set up shop here in the first place! (Capitalism +Religion Kills)
As an American I’d love to see that. That sounds miserable tbh 🥲
Start in Bradford.
@@jamesrobert4106 As it happens, I live in Leeds now and am from Ossett originally. Up until the mid-noughties, some villages near Wakefield (e.g. Fitzwilliam, South Elmsall) had roads that were virtually all abandoned. Those houses have long since been demolished though.
Same in France, our ghettos are big deserts of concrete, few trees, no gardens, big buildings full of misery. And in the vids , even the cars I see look pretty fine too^^ seems that they are not doing this bad in USA, they are just f*cking lazzy and dumb, just have to take a little bit care of their beautifull neighborhoud.
Americans ghetto look like middle class European suburbs😅( with more blcks and garbages tbh)
This needs to be played on the mainstream media so Americans can see the betrayal of congress and business
The Federal Reserve is the main culprit behind this.
Plandemic
😂 msm is is a huge arm of criminal politicians and corrupted government.
That's what them pos democrat liberal do 💯💯💯
Democrats social engineering thumbs
If the homes and businesses could talk there would be some very joyful conversations. You have to wonder, did it rot from the people, did it rot from the government, maybe a combination of both and more. Great video Nick...
I work in Gary, Indiana, at US Steel, the company that created Gary. I've been up and down every street you showed and a lot more during my urban explorations. Like many of the once great cities, the architecture and craftsmanship from the early 20th century is amazing and demonstrative of why the houses that still stand endured. I was born in Gary in 1971, and my family was part of the great white flight in 1978. My dad worked for US Steel as well, for 51 years, having started at the very tail end of its peak in 1964.
2021 had a lot of positive, visible things happen. Buildings were knocked down, removed, and turned into parks, entirely new buildings, or parking lots. If Gary can maintain the pace shown in 21 and 22, I can only hope for a nice turnaround. I've been driving there for 25 years, and it's only been in the last 2 years that clearly visible changes happened.
My mom is Serbian. She and most of her family and a lot of her friends made Gary their home in the late 1960's. Gary holds a special place in my heart.
I have an american feale friend who lived gary, she moved to dakota
@@lorrainegriffiths554 South Dakota you mean❓❓
@@fastkarr8256 no clue lol
@@lorrainegriffiths554 well why did you say Dakota 🤔🤔
@@fastkarr8256 i have nearly 100 4th cousins in usa got mixed is all
the craziest thing is some of us are scared to go there or would never want too. Then there is the kid who calls it home.
That’s deep!
When I grew up in N. Philly, I didn't know we were poor. And some of the scary situations I was put in just seemed normal to me as a child. The thing that struck me most in this video is all the nice cars. Back when I grew up there, few had a car, and nobody who had one would park it on the street, or it would be gone by the next morning.
I’m Close to philly and yeah it’s just the norm when your from this
I am so blessed
When you grow up in it not only are you accepted, it's normal.
When other drivers aren't stopping at stop signs. You know you're in a bad hood
haha, so true
I wondered if that was why that happened! I would have floored it and got the heck out of Dodge!
Sactown all way
i wonder if he flagged the other car to go around. then again, these places are basically the wild west, so who knows.
@Steven Darkins my son got stranded in jackson mississippi for about a week or more and he made friends with a homeless black guy who told him which areas to avoid there. They also found a couple abandoned cars in some run down empty building lol
_"why do you want to see run-down neighborhoods?"_
*Because we don't want to risk **_our_** safety to see it ourselves.*
It's reality.
I live in an upscale area of Austin, TX. There was a black gentleman walking my street with torn up shoes and overall looking Disheveled and out of place. He came to my front door with a clip board, and since my husband was home I felt comfortable opening my door. Upon closer examination, I saw he had a piece of his ear missing. Despite, his outward appearance he had a kind yet shy demeanor. He told me he was in a program for ex-convicts learning skills to help reintegrate into society successfully. The program he was in had him selling children’s books on this specific day. He shared with me that he grew up in Camden, NJ and felt he had no other choice but to turn to crime but was on the path to change his life. I told him I don’t have children to buy the books for but I wanted to give him some cash and get him a new wardrobe. I asked for his size and told him to come back that evening. I spent the day shopping for him and bought him enough clothes and shoes that he could throw away all the tattered clothes he was hanging onto. Never in my life have I experienced such gratitude from a human being. The look on his face was of true disbelief anyone would ever want to do this for him. He believed I was changing HIS life but he was changing MINE. He made me see different that day- that we are all the same no matter how different our lives may be. He taught me true compassion. I think of him from time to time and only wish he is achieving all he could dream of. Thank you, Xavier.
There are no legit prison rehab/ ex-con selling schemes; they are SCAMS. I hope he was bettered by this demonstration but, yeah, it’s been dangerous &/or foolish for most who fell for it.
You are an Angel .❤😊❤❤❤
And now you are a mark... gratz
Yr comment made me think. Thank you. Bless you and the gentlemen you helped.
Bless your heart. That was the best thing you could have done for him, he got some dignity back and no matter what the repubs insist I would bet that he didn't return a week or a month later asking for more did he? The repubs are the party of mean. Most of today's problems can be traced back to one person, one year, and one policy. Reagan, 1981, and trickle down economics, which never works because the wealthy who benefit from tax cuts will never let anything trickle down my God that would be socialism a hand out and that's the last thing poor people need. They need to work even if it's for slave wages and that is the problem. Most people living in poverty have jobs but the jobs don't pay enough to survive. Well they say then they need to get educated well fine but somebody still has to clean up the messes left behind by others and there's no reason those essential jobs can't pay a living wage. I'm not saying enough to support a family but certainly enough to support one person. But the owners of this country prefer to pay their labor poverty wages and let the government pick up the slack. So tell me who are the real welfare bums?
The way nature is taking back Detroit is kinda beautiful, in a postapocalyptic kind of way
I think it's the best hope for these sorts of places. Then in many years or something, they can be completely redeveloped into something new and better.
@@JoePCool14 I've lived in Chicago for the past 37 years and Gary In . is a hell hole since than . There is no hope to idiots who run those places down . You can be poor but you can be clean .
@@WS-zs1ss I thought they were making a revival in places like Chicago and Detroit…?
@@tannerthepanman9202 Gary is not in Chicago . It's a hillbilly hellhole in Indiana .
@@JoePCool14 No! The people had to change or lt'll be the same thing!
My dad had a restaurant many years ago called Mario's Steakhouse in Camden. Sold cheesesteaks, Italian water ice and such. Somebody burnt it to the ground. Parents divorced and me and brother ended up in foster care and then back with my mom at 2105 Westminster Ave, McGuire projects in Camden. Our saving grace was both of us joining the military. Many years later I took my kids to see Camden on a visit back home. They were into gangster rap. I told them I will show you the gangster life style. After 2 minutes in Camden they beg me to leave. Walt Whitman wrote Leaves of Grass just down the road from Camden so it had to be a beautiful place at one time. God bless Camden.
lol. that is funny.
Thanks for sharing. That’s a tragic and really sad story. I’m so glad for you that it’s only Part of your story you’re not done telling yet. You sound like a good dad. Have a happy life, a great purposeful life. ❤️
The military give us underprivileged kids a way out of bad situations. Glad all went well for you. Sad story but inspiring at the same time. 💪🏽😎
I went and stayed there for an entire week, for a school service trip
"My brother and I ended up in foster care".
I grew up very poor, I lived with my grandma and all the money we had was from her widow's pension. The old house we lived in had no insulation, it was cold in the winter. But I never missed a meal and our house and yard was kept clean. There is no excuse for being dirty.
agreed
There are also no more widows’ pensions. There were no pensions for widows of color then and very little now. There are plenty of missed meals, poverty wages and kids left alone in an unsafe world. Cleaning has a low priority, especially when there are drive bys and people have to sit on the floor to avoid being shot. Your childhood was idyllic. Theirs’ causes undiagnosed PTSD and a live unworthy of living.
addiction
@@aGradeDubstep exactly. When you are an addict you don't care about anything else.
@@angrycannibal6625 Interesting post, Thank you. I can't relate to it personally (never experienced it), but I have seen pensions go the way of dinosaurs. Your post rings true.
I live in low income apts. I'd give anything to have one of those trashed houses. How does poverty keep ya from picking up trash or taking care of a place ? I know poverty so that's BS
Would you really move into one of those places? I don’t recall seeing bars on the windows. What state do you live?
Yes agree all poor areas have trash lying around and old furniture dumped! Its same in UK
I completely agree! No sense of pride! I know there are some that have just given up due to depression or mental illness or something that doesn't allow them to function on a daily basis, and then there's drugs and they just don't care! But I've always said the same thing! Instead of them rotting to the grown let someone have a chance to make something for themselves! I've always said that their are way too many abandoned houses for homelessness! Especially our veterans!! Let them have at the least a roof over their head! I'm sure there are plenty that would be willing to do the fixing on their own just to be able to have somewhere to call home! And a descent size house could provide shelter to several people at a time! I dunno it's a sad situation! America has raised a generation of entitlement or expect! And they really believe they are owed just whatever it is they want without having to work for it! Oooooh what I could do with a house of my own! I had it once, but life happens! Bad marriage and bad health have meant I had to lose alot! But I know what it is to have pride in the things I've either worked for or have been blessed to receive!!
@@pam164 Really? I live in Maidstone near the River Len and there's nothing like that here.
@@chaosdemonwolf1 Your lucky then. Even when i have been down Lakes there is trash lying around its everywhere? People always go on about England being a dustbin now.
I'm a trucker. St. Louis, Gary, and Baltimore are places that I pass through regularly. Having traveled most of the country, the entire states of West Virginia and New Mexico take the cake for being the most devastating places that I have visited.
Yes, southern Albuquerque is really really dangerous and full of ghettos. It is one of the highest ranking areas in the country for car theft and its murder rate is climbing. Some parts of southern Albuquerque look worse than like 70% of the ghettos on here.
Not surprised about New Mexico. West Virginia… eh… not surprised either…
You need to visit the Black Belt and Wiregrass of Alabama. Awful. Deserted. Horrible schools.
West Virginia is one big ghetto on a mountain
Yeah
Australian here. Damn shame to see those beautiful big home falling to pieces. One thing I noticed is even in the worst neighbourhoods the roads are in really good shape. The roads in my hometown of Mackay, North Queensland are terrible. Potholes everywhere, asphalt peeling off. You Americans know how to build roads that last.
Some watch to realize how fortunate they are, others to realize they're not alone in the struggle.
I grew up in Cincinnati and it is horrible. I am blessed to have left the shithole.
Some also watch to gloat.
Very fortunate
So true.
@@Michael-hy2ud whatever it was that got you out, you need to keep moving. its spreading. so if youve found a way to avoid shitholiness, use it like hell.
I just think of "if the walls could talk", and all the memories that were made in these places, lives that were lived- growing and surviving that took place, and it makes me terribly sad to think the people are gone and the building is left to rot. It's nice when someone can rehab old places, unfortunately desperation due to terrible economic climate forces poor people to take drastic measures like gutting their neighborhood for copper. It's sad, unfortunately America has been hijacked by the elites and we no longer have the strength to stand on our own.
When we are happy, we don't imagine that everything can end.
It's true💯 ,that when people no longer inhabit them, that the house itself "dies" so to speak. It becomes a shell almost. The paint wears off quickly, floors and roofs collapse. Houses live, with lives in them ! 💯
@@charlesjordan4933 true 🤔
I see these row houses and wonder what it was like in the 1950's with neighbors sitting on stoops and talking about their lives and children playing jacks or hop scotch on the sidewalks .
@@charlesjordan4933
Thats such a good observation, which is why it is really important to maintain your house. It carries a piece of history; it is also good to hang pictures of those who lived in them.
Thank you nick for having the fortitude to film these areas to spread awareness as to the state of areas of our nation. Also, to any naysayers out there, of course one is going to drive in these dangerous neighborhoods, early on a Sunday, in the middle of winter. Better visibility, and the best safety conditions.
🧂🧂
You're right. I want to see what the worst bits are like because we've seen all sorts of stuff on TV, and would like some take on reality.
I see what the nice parts are like through friends who live there.
But stay safe man. My causal curiosity is not worth your health.
And thank you.
Good idea to go super early
exploring at dawn before they “all got up” 😂🤣😂😂😂
yeah criminals aren't typically early risers.
Crack heads dont sleep. They troll all nite. He found an abandoned part of the city at 6a.m. and narrated him a story. This was some detroit hater-aid $hit.
More like they just went to bed!
Import the 3rd world you get the 3rd world
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🙅♀️
Some housing projects are even worse than these places, he's just smart enough not to go to them.
No he exploits places where there's no people out and about so he doesn't get hurt 😒😒😒
Hey Phil, I wouldn't call this exploitation. The people who live in these areas are exploiting everything from minors to government programs. You could always provide us with a tour of those really dangerous areas. How about it, tough guy?
@@michaelc.682 In my experience, after a few years of walking through open air drug markets in extremely neglected and poverty stricken neighborhoods (Mostly, but not always, in Miami): Overtown, Pork n’ Beans housing projects (Liberty City), the Triangle a bit in Opa-Locka, and so on, it’s my opinion that there aren’t really any places in America anymore that are unsafe to walk through during daylight hours (provided that you dress appropriately and know how to carry yourself).
The drug gangs do a very decent job making sure that their customers don’t get attacked or accosted. It can be intimidating the first several times you do it, but eventually it becomes routine.
And once you’re known in the neighborhood as someone who’s just coming on a regular basis to spend a little money, everyone pretty much is fine with you. I mean, I was there often enough that people knew me and sometimes would give me extra bags for taking the trouble to come to their spot consistently without causing problems for them (asking for shorts, drawing attention, whatever). I’ve driven through them and walked through them, even hung out in them for a while making small talk with the people there. Nobody cares. It’s not like people are just there constantly shooting at each other in the streets, in broad daylight. And if they are, they’re not trying to drop some random white boy. REALLY bad for business.
Maybe I’m just lucky, but it seems like if you develop even the smallest amount of street smarts, don’t make a fool of yourself out in the drug zone, and mind your own business, nobody’s going to hassle you. Except the police- I had more trouble with them than any of the residents. They know why you’re there, too...
All that being said, I quit doing dope about 4 years ago, and I’m very happy that I don’t have to visit these places on a semi-daily basis anymore.
For sure. If he goes down a road with a culdesac he wont post anymore videos he will be the video.
@@Yourmomgoestocolledge and I don't blame him. That's smart on his part.
When the liquor store is boarded up all hope is lost.
Did the Buddha said that ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????
@@tungsongkhai4880what the hell are you on about ?
Too right 🤣
No that’s good, we need less liquor stores in the hood.
Lmao 🤣
Hi Nick. I followed you for the beginning of your channel. I noticed your views are great. Congratulations A lot of hard work. I remembered some of these areas. Especially the one where the guy approached you.
It would be cool for you to do side by side comparisons of these locations compared to what they looked like in the 1950’s or even 1960’s. They were probably nice back then.
Yeah back when Europeans built everything up and kept it clean.
@@RusskiyMed You're going a "little" too far back, lol.
They don’t know how to build anything. They kidnapped the descendants of those who built the pyramids and used them to build the houses. The only things colonizers were good for now and then we’re sucking at football and speaking in funny accents…
No Kensington has always been crap. Settled by Irish immigrants it has always been a place of dispair.
I guarantee they were nice. Then they gave the uncivilised civil rights.
Welcome to the result.
As a carpenter for 38 years I just want to fix these homes
I would say 80% are beyond repair do to water damage.The framing and sub floors are just rotten to the core.
As a sometimes junker I wanted to haul stuff away to fix up 👩🔧🇺🇲🇷🇺
So they can be destroyed again the next day.... cool
I feel your desire but thats not going to change the systemic reasons why these and other areas have fell into this level. Of chaos and poverty.
Family breakdown plays it’s role.
Once, I had a flat tire while driving through the worst drug area in Virginia and I happened to pull in an abandoned car park. All of a sudden a man in a truck stopped and I was scared at first but he help me. He changed my flat and took me to a roadside tire shop. It was one of the worst neighborhoods. People were high in the street. He stayed with me the whole time until my tire was changed. I think he was an Angel in disguise. Then he went on his way. I paid him for staying with me. God only knows what could have happened to me that day. There are good people out there.
"God only knows what could have happened to me that day. "
Apparently, someone could've helped you change a flat tire, which is exactly what happened.
This notion of ghetto's being totally lawless and just pure suicide to enter is frankly very misplaced. Most people in ghetto neighborhoods don't give two shits about you, and if you stay out of their business, they stay out of yours.
Wow, you must have panicked at first. I feel for you about dealing with an unexpected tire problem. I do believe that many people are good and that you encountered a person who probably felt very good about himself to help someone. This is love. Thanks for sharing.
You must be an attractive woman, am I wrong? Those are always helped. If you were a guy then totally a different story.
wait, were you babysitting at the time and had to drive into the city to rescue your friend. Are you in fact Elizabeth Shue?
For every good story you guys tell, there’s two dozen that don’t get told, where things turned out exactly how you might expect
Thanks for risking your life for this footage.
the fastest way to be noticed as an outsider is stopping at stop signs in the hood.
Dirty south: Keep it movin chester! We watching you.
Yep. Don't stop at stop lights either
Yes I noticed he did that and the other car just went around him
A buddy of mine got pulled over by a cop, who asked him why the F he stopped at stoplights, and told him he needed to get the F out of the neighborhood.
@@RCAvhstape Same thing happened to my dad in the 70's. Cop pulled him over and told him to scoot if he didn't have any business being there.
Its messed up that all these houses are abandoned, given the homeless problems we have.
I'd be curious know what would happen if the homeless actually moved in and lived side by side with those people there. I imagine the homeless wouldn't stand a chance.
That’s funny, the homeless would say thanx but no thanx, I’ll stay at the underpass, lot safer.
Exactly what I was thinking. Tear down and hire and train the locals to build tiny homes for the homeless and affordable housing and grocery stores, pharmacy, training schools. Get the gangs out - hire massive security forces. How can we afford to waste so much money on immigration and refugees when we don't even bother with our own?
Apparently many homeless perfer to be outdoors if they can network for drugs it is a consequence of addiction and there are even more drugs coming over the southern border as we sit here watching this. 99% due to alcoholism and drug addiciton just as it has for a long time with alcoholism.
@@valfletcher9285 Drop the border crossers off there and they will beg for a bus back to Mexico.
It’s amazing that one of the worst ghettos has beautiful brick streets that you can’t find anywhere.
Timothy MacDonnell: I mentioned in another comment that Camden NJ won the award for Most Beautiful City In America in 1948. By the time I was growing up in the 1970s it had already become what it looks like now. It was a combination of two huge employers (RCA and Campbell's Soup) closing down, and the race riots of the 1960s.
This is the worst example of media depiction I have ever seen. But so expected by a Millennial
ya u talking about b more tim?
Signs of better times
@@ralzvy That's what I thought. Those are streets only seen in Europe.
I think that I have gotten my dose of sadness and depression for the night. Thank you.
The music was perfect. I watched it like meditation and fell asleep. So sad but peaceful somehow. Good one sir.
Yeah, it's like watching post-apocalyptic wasteland...
Such an overwhelming sense of sadness for the people who lived, loved and died from these empty homes. And for the cities who have lost them.
Obv. I also find it sad but it's fascinating how over the decades some cities become wealthy and the centre of their states but then move to other areas and so on and so forth. In my province we had areas that were poor and others wealthy and now its the other way around.
They did it to themselves
@@Rob-qs3xx Nah. I don't think so... People are not in control of what governments and huge corporations do. Industry moves out, people move with it or they get poor fast. It's hard to navigate when you're unprepared to pay shit loads of money and your house is suddenly worth way less so you can't even move somewhere better.
I'm all for personal responsibility, but not for blaming victims of a system that never gave a shit for them.
It's half the cities fault in the first place.
I think what you are doing is fascinating Nick. You are in many cases documenting the decline of America. Places that would have been alive in the 1950s or even 1970s reduced to haunted American Gothic shells. Stunning stuff.
There's bunches more
Having lived and worked in Northeastern cities for almost 80 years I can testify that all these places were indeed alive and I can detail to everyone exactly how they were destroyed. But since they are all now destroyed what does it matter? Nobody wants to hear my story anyway.
@@joestewart8914 i do, Sir.
@@joestewart8914The problem seems obvious.
The poorest people in this country STILL live better than many other countries. It's an eye opener but still absolutely insane.
Being an Argentinian, one thing that surpises me is that most of the cars are pretty much brand new and all the streets are paved. The ''villas'' here (that's what we call ghettos) make these places look actually decent.
good luck to ya'll 🖤
I know. Americans do not have a realistic perspective on true poverty. The homeless in America are still wealthier than the most impoverished of some other countries around the world. I think the expectations are a bit too high. We all need to be very grateful for what we do have. The entitlement mentality of our culture is a big problem.
Guess I better move to Argentina then. 😄
@@williammunson2508 not sure you got the point...
It surprised me that the first comment I see is a fellow Argentinian. Also remember that the houses in our villas are mostly improvised with scrap metal, wire and wood planks, in the US you get houses of 1 or even 2 stories that are just deteriorated.
I'm talking about the NON homeless of course.
Philly.
This was 1993 and hubby drove over the road trucking. I rode with him for a year and one place we had to go (and trucking takes you to some shady places) was ghetto Philadelphia. We had a delivery at some place that was a nightmare to get to: burned-out tenements lined the street; cars up on blocks, barely room to drive the truck through at times. Get to the business and it was surrounded by a high fence topped with concertina wire. It looked like a prison, but this place was like that to keep criminals OUT. Hubby was exhausted, and innocently asked if he could park in their lot for a few hours to get a nap after unloading.
The supervisor narrowed his eyes and said, "You don't want to be here after dark." So we left. Back to threading through the dystopian streets slowly working our way at maybe a 5 mph crawl. Then some guy came angling out of an alley toward us. Hubby saw this and started cursing. Of course being a company driver he had nothing to defend himself with but a tire checker.
This guy intended to jump up between the tractor and the trailer and pull the air hoses which would lock the brakes. His accomplices would then hijack the truck and steal its contents at their leisure. The female passenger would have been an unexpected bonus prize. The driver would have just been in the way and ventilated most likely. We were on our way to being screwed.
Just as the guy had closed the distance by half, a cop car nosed around the corner, and the guy changed direction and ducked back into some other alley.
We kept going of course and soon found the main road out to the interstate. I told hubby that I would never set foot in Philly again, and he agreed that we were lucky to be alive.
TL;DR Nearly got hijacked in Philly ghetto.
Always pack. Better to be tried by 12 than carried by six. After 3,000,000 miles in a truck, they are words you will LIVE by.
Man o man
@@absolutely5376 Yeah. He was not allowed by his company to pack. This was when he was new to truck driving and scared to death that he'd be unemployable if they fired him "for cause". Things are a lot different now.
@@idagirl814 Thank you kindly.
@@absolutely5376 Reminded me of when I worked in behavioral health. Everyone in the office had some type of self defense item in case a client came at us.
It was against the company policy but at the end of the day, no job is worth dying for.
My father was from Camden, over on Howell St. When he was doing refrigeration repair back in the late 1940s two guys jumped him and robbed him. He caught up with one of them and was beating the guy in the head with a wrench when a cop came running over and grabbed him. He thought for sure he was going to jail with the thief laying on the ground covered in blood. The cop told him to move his refrigeration repair truck, he was blocking traffic.
Damm Ed. My guess is the cop knew the guy your Dad was beating and would of thanked your Dad if he wasn't blocking traffic.
In the 1940s? Wow. Sounds like Camden went downhill a long time ago.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@romaskincare9138
Camden used to be an economic powerhouse back in the day.
OMG. That took me out.
Excellent video tour of the worst hoods and ghettos of America, true no-go areas at night !
"Once a great place" sounds like almost every American city
Tianamen Square Massacre - June 1989
@@MrFuggleGuggle Yea a tragic massacre that took place in China, and?
@@someguy1865 look dude these are just bad neighborhoods but does not reflect all of America most cities have crime but it’s not like every city the majority are criminals living here the majority are actually not criminals
@@miracleman8022 Exactly, that's why I inserted the word "almost". But overall most cities in fact used to be great places.
Yes because, especially in the North East, rich people would live in cities.
The allure of looking at old homes, that once held thriving neighborhoods are most interesting. For example, some hilly areas of Pittsburgh.
I lived in Pittsburgh for 10 years and I completely agree with you
My family is from Eastern/North-Eastern Ohio (Canton/Youngstown Area) and it all looks just like that. The people who still live there are depressed and hopeless. It's very sad. Thank God they left.
Its the same in Dallas all of the old neighborhoods used to be all white middle class ppl. Its kind of crazy seeing school yr book pictures of a notoriously bad highschool because of its location in the hood. Then in the 50s,60's and 70's they all moved further north. These places are all now considerd as the hood. But now they are trying to Gentrify the whole city around the Downtown area. Parts of West Dallas have always been run down. This was the hood for even white folks back in the day. It was where Bonnie and Clyde met. Now all those houses are gone and high rise apts replaced them. People will pay big money to have a good view of the skyline apparently. The city is trying to push the poor further south.
Some rual places too like Appalachia, Every White Trailer Park Of The South.
Many Backwoods Communities Too.
*The Cities Are Examples Of Prosperity!*
This is how a large majority of our cities and towns looks.
*The Jobs Are In China!*
A Person Took Note Of THE CARS.
How is it the areas looks so bad, but the people have up to date vehicles?
*Kind of tell you something about their incomes, And Who Owns What!*
Just imagine being a mailman/woman having to deliver mail every day in these areas. That could be a RUclips channel in itself, POVing the routes.
I’m a mail carrier, 25 years , I’ve delivered in the finest neighborhoods to the ghettos , public housing complex to college campuses , rural and city . I’m in the south so I haven’t dealt with some of the bitter winters the north has just the suffocating blazing heat . I salute my fellow carrier’s that deal with the extremes of these areas .
I was a letter carrier and for 11 years worked in inner-city Milwaukee. It's not so bad, actually because they know the feds come down on folks who mess with gov. employees, and most people dont' mess with carriers because we brought the checks...not pleasant, tho, for sure
Most are wise enough to know a federal felony and want nothing to do with that. Postal carriers really have zero issues in these areas.
From my experience these people generally don't harm anybody that might benefit them, cable TV installer, mailman bringing the welfare check, gas delivery, etc, but come to turn off the elec, turn off the cable, tow the car behind on payments, that's another story.
They want their mail though, I'm sure he's left a lone.
I missed the exit I needed once. Got off on the next exit and I ended up in ,Camden ...that was 40 years ago it was scary then. There are only two other places I have been scared, Alligator Alley when I watched my gas needle drop to near zero... And the time I decided maybe a nice break for lunch would be a look see at Baltimore...Now that was pretty awful... Lock the truck doors scary, and that too was many years ago. I now live in the rural Midwest. Very nice non-scary here regardless of what dementia Joe says.
My daughter lost her life as a result of Camden. It was such a nightmare to see. I myself had been there to see if she was
Ok , and pick her up. I was in some bad and scary situations just to try and help my little girl. I tried not to be scared to try and protect the thing in my life that I loved most, My daughter. It’s like an ugly monster just eating up the people and calling for more. Kensington was her demise also. What couldn’t be found in CAMDEN ,would be in kensington . I’m a year and a half without her now and I fell dead inside myself without her. We tried everything to get her help. She was clean for 3 years, but so often there is a calling from there to retrieve some of those people back.GOD PLEASE SAVE THESES PEOPLE FROM THIS HELL.
I’m sorry for your loss.
@@XIJaakeIX Thank you Jake. There is no loss like your child. I wish that I had at least five minutes with her again.
Sad to hear
That's awful. I'm sorry.
My mother's friend lost her son in a similar manner. She is destroyed. There is not a day that she doesn't think about her son. The pain is unbearable and I can't imagine what it must be like.
The people I feel bad for are those who are genuine good people just trying to get by but are stuck in neighbourhoods like Camden I wish those people the best of luck
Me too
I'm from there hopefully I can get out to one day
@@georgenunez6765 just keep saving that money and keep to yourself best you can.
So almost ALL of the people. Even the ones who commit petty crimes are often doing so just to get by. And people with poor mental health live in these areas too. People forget that not everyone with anxiety or depression is some middle class white kid.
@@tybooskie I hear you Ty. I am sure that many of those people and young kids may have poor mental health and depression that in another situation would not be as difficult to deal with. However, when you add the stresses of high crime, not so pleasnant surroundings to look at, and povery, I am sure the anxiety and depression are not helped at all.
My hubby and I were just talking about Gary, Indiana earlier today. Back when he was driving trucks he had to deliver to Gary but he absolutely refused to go there after dark! One day he seen a cop sitting close to his delivery stop. He was in the truck while they were unloading his trailer. Suddenly he heard 3 shots being fired close by so he hunkered down in his seat. When he looked out the window the first thing he seen was the cop speed off in the opposite direction!..LoL Once he got unloaded and made it to the nearest truck stop he discovered the shots he heard was another trucker being robbed a couple streets down. It’s scary and it’s sad because you know there are some really good people that have to be lumped in with the bad ones.
Yes, there are lots of good folks that have to live among the bad ones, sadly.
I was born and raised there. I even had a few of my kids in Gary, but I know exactly what you mean. I remember being at a gas station and all of a sudden a few guys was like there he go right there and they start shooting. I mean I know Gary is really bad, it was the murder capital for most of my life. But I knew I could raised my kids there. I left and moved to Las Vegas. Don't get me wrong Gary will always have a place in my heart it help me be the woman I am today, but to raised my kids there i just was to scared.
Yep born and raised in Gary, and yes there are a lot of good people lumped in with the bad there! So sad! Praying for EVERY ghetto, in this country and around the world!
I'm new in trucking business and every trucker I talked to always say don't go to the east coast if you value your life. Stay in the west half of the country.
I was born in Gary Indiana as well in 1976, and in high school in the 90's it was so frickin scary!!! The projects were Ivanhoe, Delaney, Concords, and Oak Knoll, and were the worse in the nation!!! Gary was murder capital of the country for 2 years running at the time!!!
Some of the homes, such as the ones in the Detroit area, were once really nice, large homes. It was easy to imagine what these neighborhoods were like 50 yrs ago. Folks sitting on the ftont porches, families visiting, kids riding their bikes. The architecture was nice, too. These were nice homes with families growing up in them. Sad to see whats become of them. Auto industry let them down. Then the water situation happened. Alcoa let my hometown down. Abandoned the plant property and all the employees to rebuild another to replace it in South America. Greed.
Some of these houses in East St Louis and other places look okay, like they are well cared for. Imagine some guy filming your home that you’re proud to have, that you’ve most likely worked for all your life, and then he calls it a run down slum. True that the area they are in might not look that nice, but I think people should at least be given credit for trying to keep their property as nice as they can.
@@treeguyable Didn't see a so-called "ghetto" house in East St. Louis, for example.
@@martiwaterman1437 ive been in the ghetto of east st Louis , it quite sad really .
@@tammybray5008 Yes, it's sad.. There are proud people there in all that chaos and misery that keep up their homes and what little they have. Many are older with nowhere to go. It's sad for them.
@@martiwaterman1437 at one time it used to be a thriving city . last time I was there , tires all over the city . it was early morning , well shall we say there were working ladies . I took a wrong exit I was trying to get to rt 203 exit . Madison is just as bad right along with venice and Brooklyn , Granite city was getting just as bad . been while since ive been in that area .
Film the hoods in west virginia where the folks are methheads and heroin filth with rotting teeth are doped up all the time walking around like zombies. Film those areas..Put that description on THOSE folks
I find an eerie beauty in scenes of decrepitude, dilapidation and abandonment, and I know I am not the only one! I have felt this way since I was a small child. Loved the video!
Me too. What does it MEAN though
Same. I’ve watched this one about 5 times.
@@luckyotter623 there seems to be a part of the human psyche that resonates with such images. The Germans have even a word for it, “Ruinenlust” (ruin lust). Maybe it’s the reason why we love sad songs or movies that make us cry?
I like your vocabulary.
@@schallrd1 thank you 😊!
Got lost in Chester, cops pulled me over cuz of my Jersey plates and knew I was not from around there. He told me never to stop at the signs or red lights. He told me to follow him to the bridge so I could get back home.
Good Lord! A cop told you not to stop at red lights!? I would have messed my pants right there!
@@kanejakejimmy Yes, car jackings and robberies he said because there is a casino right there. People get followed home from the casino and robbed so he told me not to fully stop.
Are you white?
@@Irodmel are you?
I’m from Chester and when I was younger, it was a great place to grow up. Political corruption, bad business decisions has turned the city into what it is today. The street you drove down, 3rd St, used to be filled with churches, beautiful homes and children playing in the streets. The three viable businesses that could provide income for the city are considered as Philadelphia businesses and do not hire the residents that live there nor do they provide income to the city. All monies go to Philadelphia.
I can appreciate all the beauty and architecture and all of those homes. As you drive by, I tried to envision what it would’ve looked like when brand new and children were playing in the lawn and streets.
I was in Detroit in 2013 that was quite an eye opener, looked like war zone. Count your blessings if you don't live in a place like this. Could be any one of us except for circumstances. It's a crime that these cities are left like this. Meanwhile their representatives make millions upon millions doing nothing.
Oh and who are those representatives who run these ghettos, why they are Dumbocrats, wall to wall promising to end all of this and after 50 years kind of failed.
@@happydogg312 That’s something I’ve noticed in the Midwest. Overgrowth comes so fast, especially during the rainy season.
You Ain't Seen nothing Yet Wait till the Great Reset and depopulation agenda kick in.. Everywhere will look like these places ..
Detroit is making a huge comeback tho. Have you seen downtown Detroit now? It looks really good now
I lived there before worse than anything I seen in this vid
It's just so heartbreaking. All of these houses were once built for families that were full of hope. Children would play on the front porch, and mom or dad would be in the kitchen, making a nice cup of coffee. They would discuss prom night or a new baby born into the family. People would go to work and school and decorate the Christmas tree. Until eventually, all was lost. So very sad...
Heartbreaking, indeed. But, what I've found is that it is the sadly predictable outcome of a late game version of Market Capitalism run by the entire world economy where scarcity and poverty are absolute guarantees along with massive income inequality. Ownership class (1%) vs the rest of us. The so-called 'economy' isn't an economy of any sort of efficiency.
Yet people everywhere still want to live a good life. My hope is that people will look to build a new system for themselves because this one really doesn't work. I recommend the reading of books like The New Human Rights Movement by Peter Joseph or Moneyless Society by Matthew Holten as well as the project of One Small Town by Michael Tellinger. Giving the power back to the people of the community to make it better.
@@coolioso808 I couldn't agree more!
@@carmenl163 I appreciate you! Best to you and yours. I feel a shift is coming and it’s going to be powered by Community Unity and take down third wretched monetary-market system run by a slim minority of elites and turn to the people who really make everything we enjoy possible.
@@coolioso808 I would be so happy if this were to happen! I think we live in a world that is ruled by sociopaths. Unfortunately, it will take an enormous amount of unhappiness to turn normal, polite, social people into forces that can destroy the leeches that make up the 1%.
But I appreciate seeing a fellow HUMAN being that has sound ideas.
@@carmenl163 The world is a huge place but in many ways we are all connected. We cannot do everything to help it change course to the right (sustainable and healthy) direction but we can do something, even a little bit each day, from sharing knowledge to sharing resources and building something better.
As the late great Jacque Fresco said "The problems of today cannot be solved with the same level of thinking that created them." - System change is needed and it takes time. i unfortunately do see a lot of suffering taking place until a potential overhaul happens. But I also see a lot of ways out of this mess that people, in their local communities can take.
One Small Town with Michael Tellinger, is a resource I recommend people check out as well as the great work by Peter Joseph of TZM. Knowledge is power and collective knowledge is even more powerful through cooperation. Let's take steps down the right road, even if we stumble, and we will, we are at least trying to head in a better direction and a new social system.
You even bothering to stop at a stop sign in Atlanta made me chuckle. The SUV behind you just goes right thru. I got lost in Baltimore city on my way to a family event and ran every stop sign and red light because ever second I was there, my safety level dropped. Great video! It's sad to see all of this but it is possible to change.
What made it unsafe? Did you witness crimes?
@@pyrexmaniacstatistics scare people, those who don’t come from areas like this assume they’ll be attacked unprovoked immediately upon visiting. The reality is that a lot of violent crime is gang related, so if you’re not hindering a gang’s plans or repping a set you mainly only have to worry about robbery. Which happens everywhere. Keep your guard up and be nice, and you’ll have no issues 95% of the time.
You’re a very safe driver sir 👍
To answer your opening comments: Amongst the many reasons why people click more often on the bad neighborhoods is the fact that they can travel with impunity through the well-kept middle class and working-class neighborhoods. Someone who travels through these rundown blighted areas does it at their personal peril. Thanks for allowing to vicariously visit these wastelands.
Also because ruins have their own type of beauty. As long as you don't have to live there.
I like watching these bad neighborhood videos to remind me of where I came from. I was born and raised in a horrible neighborhood in Cleveland Ohio and got myself out.
East side of Cleveland? Straight trash over there
I moved to a little town. It's boring but I don't have to wo
I lived off Clark Ave Cleveland's ghetto.
@@rhondabee467 so did I. Lived on 73rd and Clark about 3 doors down from the corner store , and I moved to 41st and Clark right down the street from Libby's bar.
I was a North Olmsted kid, relocated from W Va. Being back here in W Va, I can say with some authority that ghettos exist in rural America, too. The ONLY thing I miss of Cleveland is the awesome pizza, from many one-off restaurants and parlors, family owned, all. We have little to no truly good pizza here. Oh yeah, and decent paying jobs, for most people, are a fantasy, not a reality. I had friends who lived in the Lorain/Denison, and 25th, Ohio City areas. I am thankful, all the time, that I left that life behind. NEVER going back, not even to visit.
Wake up, America. If you think that you would only find conditions like this in third world countries, think again. Don't put these neighborhoods and their people down, come up with solutions. There is only one worse situation: homelessness.
The solution is, and has always been to turn to God. A nation that both loves and fears God doesn't fall apart. He promises to heal their land.
You look old enough to remember when God was in the hearts and homes of most Americans. It didn't take very long to bring America from a Norman Rockwell painting into Dystopia did it?
No judgements here. This is decades and decades of oppression that has be passed down generation after generation. It is up to THOSE ppl to break the cycle. It's also survival of the fitness. As the narrator said, Detroit is at only 60% what it was.
We are woke..don't vote DEM. 777
@@EQOAnostalgia God Bless! 777
They put themselves down. Nobody came in and wrecked their homes, neighborhoods or cities. Its the fruits of their own doing.
This video.
That you did. I thank you very dearly. I live in Georgia right now. And been here for about like 10 years. And because of this video I have got a chance to not only see the house. I grew up in but I have the pleasure of seeing my grandmother's house. So I th😢ank you, and this also made me cry.
She's been gone 6 years now and I miss her so Thank you And it's just Chester, Pennsylvania
I noticed the old brick street in the beginning of the video. Those old streets were once laid by hardworking men. No machines, back breaking work. Looking at these old neighborhoods reminds me of where my grandparents once lived in Toledo, Ohio. Many people from that time period took pride in keeping their homes neat and clean.
Hey, I live very close to Toledo. Mind telling me about what it's like? I've only ever driven through part of the hoods there.
Toledo has a freaking Apple Store in its nicer suburbs. No different than Cbus or Cincy. Doesn't qualify for the list. Gotta look at a blighted city like Youngstown or Mentor for that.
Values have gone to crap over the decades. We must admit.
@@MrR3e really? You can't just drive through Toledo? Lol. It's a cool town. Check it out.
The brick road is a sign of pride that once was apparently a be place respected by many people.