COMMENT BY
Abhd from Phoenix, AZ
COMMENT ABOUT PLACE
Phoenix, AZ
COMMENT
One of the Lowest Places to Live
I grew up here in the 60s and it was a pleasant community. Of course, I lived on the right side of the tracks (actually the interstate). We felt safe trick or treating and the neighborhood had a variety of ethnicities. My entire family was here. Going downtown was always a thrill even though there had been decline for a number of years (before I was born). With the underprivileged blacks and the decline of the steel mills employment, the town changed dramatically. With jobs leaving, businesses closing and houses standing empty, crime and poverty were all that remained. Whites fled to surrounding towns and when the blacks followed, the whites moved even further away. There is absolutely no reason to live here now. Why 99,000 still bother amazes me unless they are trapped. The town offers nothing to its residents but ugly brick buildings, boarded up neighborhoods, and the dying dreams of those who once enjoyed living in a thriving economy and a safe small city that had Chicago in its backyard. Today, there is no place that occupies the bottom like Gary does--of course there are some pretty unfortunate places in Pennsylvania and Ohio, but I only have experience in Gary.