Terre Haute... A "Cut" Above? (Bloomington, Greencastle: transfer, university)

[Seaharbour]

I wish someone would elborate for me in detail in what areas this goes on...I have to move there and it would be nice to hear "more details" the good and the bad actually.

[domergurl]

I don't know what else anyone can tell you, seriously. Are you coming for a visit? No matter what we say here, your experience may be completely different. Sorry nobody is able to give you the exact information you are requesting.

[Seaharbour]

I guess no one on here lives in TH perhaps? oh well, yes we are going for a week to house shop, but it would of been great to have more info..oh well, thanks to those who did help me here, best reguards.

I don't know what else anyone can tell you, seriously.

Um..don't expect you to tell me something you can't here, but thanks just the same.

[Seaharbour]

BTW..what in the world is "Fling?"

[PB12Pointz]

I know I'm late but I just had to add in on this. I grew up in Terre Haute till I was 19, I got into trouble I have boys who did meth who got locked up I know all the ins and outs on terre haute. But lets be honest here no matter where you stay at your kids will go to South or North with the bad kids from the other neighborhood. And dont move to West Terre Haute thats just like Terre Haute but no black people. As far as neighborhoods X out the north unless you moving up more towards rosedale or up by the cemetary north terre haute is white trash. As you creep into 12 points from ft. harrison-to around 8th ave is poverty minus collett park and really thats just 2 minutes from poverty. I stayed in 12 points and its infested with drugs and gangs. Lets move to the avenues this is your outskirts of where it get real hood. Stay away from there also. Then you got let me think around from chestnut naw its the street chauncey rose it on with 13th well thats the real hood from there all the way to I'd have to say right around lockport projects is where most of the action drugs, gangs, prostitutes are. After that is more like the hood outskirts so stay away from there as well. Your best bet in terre haute is anything apast Terre Haute South I mean I always looked at south as getting the worst group of kids they got lockport and margaret kids but they also got all the rich kids so its kind of like you cant win. Terre Haute North is definetly a better school but its hard to find a nice neighborhood in terre haute unless you go apast mill damn or just take 13th st till you get to the country. If I ever had to move back knowing what I know I'd move to Farmersburg, Rosedale, somewhere outside of terre haute.

Another way to look at it is 4 project in a city of 50,000 I mean do the math... and I'm not talking about science projects low income housing additions and that doesn't include section 8...

[breer23]

I'm not sure what school zone you'll be in, but I used to live between TH & Riley, and quite enjoyed it out there. Granted, I was a grad student at ISU at the time (10 yrs ago) but at least you will be close to town - ISU campus was a 15-20 minute drive at most - and still enjoy the outdoors a bit...hope that hasn't changed too much.

[ShoharJoon]

I lived in Terre Haute for almost a decade. I wouldn't recommend moving to Terre Haute if you have kids. A lot of the kids I went to school with are on drugs now or have some other major issues, even the rich kids.

I agree with the "bad vibe" thing. I don't know how to describe it. I'm not saying it's boring or that it's slow-paced because I'm a home body anyway. It's just something about it that sucks you in and makes you depressed and miserable. You don't realize how bad it is until you leave Terre Haute.

[ShoharJoon]

if you have to move there for whatever reason and you have kids, home school your kids and don't let them hang out with any other kids from Terre Haute.

[Dowdy_Pants]

Lived in Terrible Haute for 4 years. Dad worked at Hulman Field there for decades.

What an awful awful city. Absolutely nothing going for it.

[knomadlyrics]

I was born in Terre Haute and still have family there. I didn't live in Terre Haute for much of my childhood, and lived in the southwest for about 5 years. During that time I became a member of a Mexican Gang known as 14 Street in Albuquerque, NM affiliated with Nuestra Familia in Northern California. When I moved back to Terre Haute in the summer of 1988, I was excited to finally live around family again and be back in Terre Haute. I had grown up around mostly hispanics in the past 5 years and knew very few black people in my childhood, and prior to leaving the Terre Haute area I lived in Rosedale and knew mostly white people. When I moved to Terre Haute, my aunt registered me to play for a youth football team known as the Black Cats. On the team I quickly realized that I was one of about five white kids on the team, and the rest of the 30 players on the team were black. In my young age I had heard alot of negative stuff about blacks and was weary of my association with blacks. However, upon beginning the school year at Chaucey Rose, it became apparent to me that many of the white kids didn't like me because I dressed in a west coast fashion they weren't used to. The black kids however, were very friendly to me and welcomed me. My friendship with my black cats team members gave me a since of belonging during that time. Initially, I didn't display my gang affiliation with 14 street and accepted my new environment with no gangs in Terre Haute. In 1989 the movie colors came out and much racial tension blew up in my school. People from school were immulating many of the things they observed in the movie, but actually had it all wrong. Most of the blacks claimed to be Crips and many whites claimed Bloods, two gangs none of them knew anything about, turning red and blue into a race war. I continued to affiliate with my black friends and did not get mixed up in the new found so called gang tension. It blew over within about a year, however many people from other cities and states moved into the Terre Haute area over the next couple of years.
While I was in High School at Terre Haute North Vigo, I noticed new gangs beginning to pop up such as: Vice Lords, Ganster Deciples, Bloods, Crips, Hell Raisers, 21, Latin Kings, and many other local clics and gangs like The Avenues, Southside Posse, The Family, and the Deuces. I maintained my position of not affiliating with any gangs for about three years upon moving to Terre Haute, until a local gang attempted to jump me and continued to hurrass me and some of my friends at a local hang out on Wabash avenue. Around that same time two of my cousins and fellow gang members moved to Terre Haute from Albuquerque. We immediately seen it as our personal mission to recruit 14 street members in Terre Haute to protect ourselves from other gangs as well as to show locals what real gangs were all about. We began recruiting common friends and family members, with the intent to be able to defend ourselves. Although, 14 street is a primarily hispanic gang, the majority of our members in Terre Haute were white. We began by protecting ourselves, but as other gangs became more aggresive we became more aggressive in our retaliation. At one point a friend's brother got jumped by members of the Gangster Deciples, in retaliation he, his brother, and some friends retaliated by doing a drive bye on a GD party near the location of the attack. The party patrons reacted by screaming " its 14 street" while seeking cover, however no 14 street members were involved. It was at this moment that we knew that we had gained recognition for our no non-sense approach and retaliation to other gangs.
For many years I had been the ambassador of 14 street, keeping the peace between us and black gangs around the city, but this was a position that found me in many odd predictament with friends and family, as I had many close black rival gang members, but had obligations to my family in 14 street. After a few years of feuding with local gangs, I decided to join the military after High School.
Upon joining the military I missed the gang lifestyle and would find myself mixed up in gang activities upon every visit home. At one point in 1994, a disagreement between a GD and myself resulted in him bringing over 100 gang members and spectators to fight me at another 14 streeters house. 14 street has never been known for our numbers, but more for our fearlessness. On that night myself and approximately 15-20 other 14 streeters and associated fought off over 100 GDs and associates. I chased this particular person into the back of parked truck where I began to beat the kid, but as the fight got out of control the vehicle pulled away and 5 other opposing gang members jumped in the vehicle. As I noticed I was out numbered I attempted to jump out of the moving truck, but someone grabbed my leg and the truck began to drag me down the street. After being dragged several blocks I was finally let go. I immediately ran back to my friends house, and rallied my friends to go find the other gang members for retaliation. Upon riding in a friends vehicle, one fellow gang member noticed that the seat was wet. He immediately said, " Dude, You are bleeding". I refused to believe it, but was startled when proved to be wrong once the lights were turned on. I ended up suffering a stab wound that resulted in 15 staples in my thigh to heal the wound. The same night of the incedent, I hid out a friends house to avoid police investigation. On that same night rival gang members attacked a fellow gang members home, by shooting several shot into the house barely missing my friend and his family members. 14 street immediately got word of who had performed the attack and retaliated by several drive byes. I ended up returning to the military days later. After my return several retaliations occurred among both gangs.
Upon my return to town about a year later, I got drunk and decided to go out tagging with other gang members at which time I was caught and arrested with other friends. Between my absence several gang members were arrested for various other gang activities and I was incarcerated with them. Upon my release I was jumped by members of a rival gang, and within a few days I was alerted that there was a hit on myself and other 14 street gang members. Within a few days I was informed about the murder of a local woman whom was car jacked by members of the 21 gang and GD gang. I was later informed that the rival gang members had intended to kill myself and two of my cousins, but settled for the innocent woman after being unable to locate us on the night of the murder. This was the deciding poing for me to abandon all ties with the gang.
Looking back at my days in the gang, I notice that most of my friends did not make it out of the lifestyle. My cousin after years of dealing Meth became an addict, my other cousin spent several years in prison for owning a meth lab, I had another friend do time for selling meth, another for burglary and returned for grand theft auto, many members fell out of site and weren't ever heard from again. I had several other associated and friends end up dead, in prison, or both. After about 10 years another good friend from the gang finally received his GED and was able to join the Army Reserves, transforming his life and moving on from the gang life. I do not totally regret my life, because I did learn some growing experiences, but I know that it definitetly took a toll on my life and is something I don't want my children to experience. I use my experiences as warnings for my children and to help recognize the signs when dealing with my children. I am currently still in the military and volunteer as a football coach in central texas. My step-son has been recently recognized as a promising footall prospect and was the only sixth grader in the nation to be selected for Football University's select only football camp, which caters to mostly high school stand outs. I have since turned my life around, but do not blame my past for my short-comings, but embrace it as a learning point in my life. I seen Terre Haute Gangs as wanna be gangs initially, but look back today and see that some gangs were much more than that, and am thankful that 14 street ended after only one generation.