what's the latest on Gary? Haven't been back in years (Merrillville: houses, movies)

[ECLUB1]

The name Jihad Muhammad means to Spiritually strive to be Worthy of Praise. The rest of Mohammed's History and that of Islam relative to Africa is well documented and available.

Peace

[nobleman4]

Gary,IN needs solid leadership and direction. This will come in time. The city has several natural resources that have not been tapped and still lie undeveloped. It has many proud people who remember the days when AA flourished in the early 70's. I enjoyed growing up there. Outsiders look at this regions and throw out the idea of recovery. Smart investors will realize that the city rebirth will come from the economical development of Chicago. Others will see the housing as a good compromise to IL. Lake Michigan is there. Whenever there is real estate.... growth is possible. I hope the negative eye people keep turning their nose in the air. The rebirth will happen...some old heads must move aside and fresh educated blood needs to enter.

[ljoious]

Actually the latest is Gary's tenth on the Crime and Murder list. I think thats awesome.

[USArmySoldier]

Sad to see a city go to the point that Gary is now. Unfortunately you're fooling yourselves if you think its going to get any better. I'm not saying that to make anyone upset, its just mere fact. I'm sure there are a handful of nice wonderful people living there, but lets face it, its filled with poverty, and its totally bombed out.

I was deeply affected when I first went to Gary. Me, being a younger white guy who just got back from a war in Iraq, I had no idea an area like Gary was in the US. I've seen run down and crime areas in my time, but never anything quite like Gary. I thought I was back in a third world country. I cruised through the downtown area, admiring the only highrise building, which was bombed out, looked like a fire occured, with windows all busted out...Passed the bus station, and drove down going west.....

The few people I saw on the streets obviously had no where to go but cruise the streets, and go into abandoned buildings, and scary restaurants that had menus written on the front doors with a cardboard box taped to the wall and written in black magic marker (this was one of very few places that seemed to at least be open at 11am) the rest were boarded up, or totally abandoned, bombed out, or crumbling. There were no reputable stores, anywhere, no shopping, nothing but miles of bombed out buildings. I found myself driving the wrong way down a one way street for 2 miles, which since there was no traffic, or street signs, or road signs anywhere, I hadn't noticed.

I tuned south, and went into the 'residential' area of Gary, and one after another bombed out - degrading, crumbling house after another. Then, vacant lots, and trash, and crumbling. Maybe in each block a few houses may be occupied, one home in particular seemed to be quite popular, as people came out to greet me to see what it was I was 'looking to score.' I saw derelicts on every block, on every corner of every street. A group of squatters in a busted out factory smoking crack, you could see from the street!

I continued driving around, and all I could feel was pity for whoever had to call this area home. This was several months ago, and I am still affected by my tour through the city.

The way to fix Gary is simple, have some civic pride in where you live, and clean it up. Stop being lazy, stop the excuses. Build a community. Do it block by block, neighbor by neighbor. Start a community policing team. Gary police won't do it, Gary Police department has the WORST retention rate of officers of any police force in the country. Start a volunteer group to start cleaning up the trash and filth on the streets. (I live in a nice neighborhood, but its close to a crummy one, and it takes work to keep the crap out, but it is very possible)

It would be nice to see something good come from Gary, and have the good people of the area take back the town, and prove to the world that a BLACK community can come together and build a town, and take it back from complete utter disrepair. Lets face it, its a rarity because of the economics and education, maybe its time, maybe its not. It's simply up to the residents.

If not, it will continue to be the worst place on the planet.

[JoeyBLS]

Yep, Gary is still nasty. The Steelyard is nice, but everything else is run down. The streets and sidewalks are crumbling, half the buildings are boarded up, most have bars on the windows. Miller has pretty houses and the beach is still nice. Gary isn't as bad as it was in the 80's and 90's, but it's still not very nice yet.

[Coffee Mate]

Sadly I have to agree with several of the posts here re: Gary......it is in ruins...
Detroit and other cities are much the same....
I have never been so stunned by the destruction of a good city [amazingly enough by it's OWN residents] as by the destruction of Gary and Detroit....The woods are taking over...and perhaps that is the best thing for those places....let them become hidden ruins of a great civilization...to be unearthed centuries from now by archaeologists of the future...
The race based politics of the residents......lack of skills...lack of education and lack of any real interest in getting and using an education....and absolutely ZERO interest in self improvement all are primary causes for the destruction of those once great cities....No one else is to blame....

Sad....

[RAZZEL]

S S D D !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[LIS123]

Gary is absolutely horrible, but I would disagree with the statement that fixing it is simple. It maybe simple in theory, but getting the money, getting the citizens and politicians to change and the many other aspects of this turnaround are very difficult tasks that are unlikely to happen. It's almost like suggesting that the solution to teenage pregnancy and out-of-wedlock childbirth is for people to abstain until the time is right. This is, theoretically, true, but what are the chances it'll happen? It's hard to change a culture and mindset.

I don't see too many declining places (Gary, Flint, etc) turning around. They're more likely to continue to deteriorate than improve.

[Capt. Dan]

Since the Gary police are apparently unwilling to reclaim the streets, it is up to the citizens of Gary to do it. Please understand that the following suggestions are what I would do. Everyone should think for themselves. You are the ones who have to live there.
<mod edit ... sorry, Dan, I can't allow anyone to advocate murder>
2-Lower the property tax rates. people who own thier homes are more likely to take care of them.
3- 100-200 people can pool thier money and start a community bank to offer VERY low interest loans to attract home buyers and small business developement.
There are more things that people can do on thier own to start Gary on the road to recovery. it will recover quicker if you do it yourselves rather than waiting for Uncle Sam. For those of you who think that i am just another person who wants to comment on Gary without ever having been there; Born at Mercy Hospital 1956. went to Riley, Bailey and Lew Wallace. class of 74. Grew up at 4036 Indiana St. East Glen Park. I watched a thriving, vibrant city deteriorate into what it is now. So i think i have the right to comment on this page. And unlike others who have posted here, i have also offered some starting solutions. Agree or disagree with me. But at least we are discussing it. Right?

[tycobb2522]

Originally Posted by JoeyBLS

Yep, Gary is still nasty. The Steelyard is nice, but everything else is run down. The streets and sidewalks are crumbling, half the buildings are boarded up, most have bars on the windows. Miller has pretty houses and the beach is still nice. Gary isn't as bad as it was in the 80's and 90's, but it's still not very nice yet.

How bad is your town when you have to resort to saying "The Steelyard is nice"...? When the crown jewel of your habitat is a steel mill, well, well... you just can't be anywhere too nice.

And how can you feel really good about having a lakehouse, when your lakehouse is in Gary, Indiana????? That's kind of like telling people you have multiple degrees, and just not telling them the degrees are from DeVry...