Why has Cairo, IL lost so many people? (Thebes, Magnolia: to move, train)

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by treemoni

There's a place down there called Future City. Maybe the urban planners know something we don't.

Future City is in even worse shape.

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by Suesbal

Cairo may be in Illinois, but it is closer to Memphis than Chicago. It is also culturally a Southern town.

Cairo is closer to Nashville than it is to Chicago.

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by dcisive

Threads on Cairo seem to get resurrected from time to time. Ironically the area has been pretty much dead since the early 70's after it endured some significant racial upheavals. The whites pretty much took off closing stores and homes. The area in general is one of significant blight overall. There is nearly NO industry whatsoever as there once was. No way to support anyone and mostly welfare folks hanging on. I've watched many a documentary on the area which has quite a history and indeed was once a tremendously active area and town. But so much has changed since it's heyday of the late 1800's through the 1930's. Kind of reminds me a bit of Gary Indiana's history. I would imagine in the next 50 years we'll end up seeing the place as nothing but a large weed patch at the rate it's going.

Based on what I've read, southern Illinois has a history of racial upheaval. Cairo had it to an extreme level.

Cairo has been losing population since the 1920s. Barges made stopping at Cairo redundant. Highways would bypass Cairo. Railroads reduced the steamboat traffic. The racial upheaval of the 1960s proved to be the death kneel for Cairo.

[treemoni]

Originally Posted by green_mariner

Future City is in even worse shape.

You don't see what I see.

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by treemoni

You don't see what I see.

Based on what I've read, this is what I see. An unincorporated area where very few people live. Lack of central sewage. A lacking police presence. A very high crime rate. What do you see?

[treemoni]

That area has been around for a long time. Things get renewed.

[Suesbal]

Originally Posted by green_mariner

Future City is in even worse shape.

Its future is grim.

[treemoni]

Originally Posted by Suesbal

Its future is grim.

Whatever happens, the land is getting much-needed rest after the stress people put it through. There are many lessons to be gained from Cairo. Maybe one day people who bring hell to lands won't just be able to abandon them and freely move on to do it somewhere else. There's a word (or two) for that type of behavior...

[BLS2753]

Originally Posted by treemoni

Whatever happens, the land is getting much-needed rest after the stress people put it through. There are many lessons to be gained from Cairo. Maybe one day people who bring hell to lands won't just be able to abandon them and freely move on to do it somewhere else. There's a word (or two) for that type of behavior...

The entire region is encumbered by the Shawnee National Forest. So I guess I don't see your point. If anything, the environmental movement has hindered economic growth in the region.

[treemoni]

I guess I don't have a point, then.