Areas to avoid in Gary, IN (Indianapolis, Hammond: how much, home, buy)

[Capt. Dan]

Originally Posted by tb4000

^SouthLAKE Mall, man. Don't be dissin' our mall. Grrrr....

Heck! I remember when it was Southlake CORNFIELD!!!!!!!

[Ilove2swim]

My dad works there, and omg, i don't know why he is still alive and not obducted yet!!!

[tb4000]

Originally Posted by Ilove2swim

My dad works there, and omg, i don't know why he is still alive and not obducted yet!!!

He should teach you to spell before that happens.

[jc76]

Originally Posted by tb4000

He should teach you to spell before that happens.

See, this is why Indiana is NOT known as the friendliest state. So boring we have to pick on each other.

[summer22]

Originally Posted by grmasterb

Gary, as I've advocated somewhere previously, should just be demolished and returned to nature. Perhaps if we grow a forest there it will help offset some of the pollution from the mills. Hammond actually has a few decent areas -- nothing flashy, just solidly working class. Whiting is an interesting enclave.

That's actually a pretty astute comment about the Mills pollution

Flint, Michigan is doing this with some of their neighborhood, they are describing it as "shutting down whole quadrants of the city" and are paying residents to relocate to more full/vibrant neighborhoods. I heard about it from a Wall Street Journal article (4/22/2009) called "An Effort to Save Flint, Mich., by Shrinking It" on the economy and it was an in-depth article, 2-3 page spread with some photos of the homes. There's also an article online in Governing magazine Jan. 2008 about the person spearing the land bank program.

This coverage seems to have spurred other municipalities into thinking about the same thing. I just browsed Google very quickly and found a lot of new articles on muncipally-owned Land Banks, and a lot of interviews of the Flint (Genesee County) treasurer in charge of that land bank program.

Youngstown, Ohio, is planning something similar (Christian Science Monitor article 5/29/2009):

The announcement was the beginning of Youngstown 2010, a bold plan for a new mode of urban sustainability. With only 80,000 residents left in the city, Youngstown leaders hoped to redirect limited resources to parts of town that they felt had viable futures. Residents would be offered incentives to move into parts of town not yet overrun by vacant properties, reorganizing the city around the university and a long-neglected urban core. A new Youngstown, smaller but more vibrant, would grow amid the shell of the old, which would either be demolished or ignored.

[JMadison]

Umm... all of Gary should be avoided, no?

[scott0949]

It all depends on how you look at it. I rehab homes in Gary and I love that place. I can find homes for as little as $1000. I rehab them and sell them for $40,000 and more. So, I guess it's all in how you look at it.
By the way all of you Gary haters, remember this message 7-9 years from now. Why? Because you'll be shocked at what Gary will look like then. The city will do a total transformation. I guarantee it. There are over 25 rehab companies in Gary. Mark my words. if you don't invest there, you'll kick yourself in the butt for not doing it, guaranteed!
Also, I'm white and have NEVER had once incident while in Gary and have been rehabbing for 5 years. However, I do stay out of there at night!

[Drover]

Originally Posted by scott0949

By the way all of you Gary haters, remember this message 7-9 years from now. Why? Because you'll be shocked at what Gary will look like then. The city will do a total transformation. I guarantee it...

Didn't we hear this 7-9 years ago when they renovated the convention center and broke ground on the Steel Yard and that was supposed to create a chain reaction of urban renewal in Gary? How's that comin' along?

[metrocity]

Overall the crime in Gary is not as bad as it used to be. Definitely, there are areas people should avoid at night as with ANY city. Vacant buildings, distressed properties and ragged streets make any city look bad, but not necessarily crime ridden. Most of the people that didn't leave have moved to the west side of town where most of the current development is happening. It seems like Grant St is the new Broadway of the city. There are more businesses on Grant than anywhere else in the city. Pretty soon the West Side will be just as nice as Glen Park and Miller were once upon a time. So, there is some good in the city. There is just so much more work that needs to be done, and it is going to take a while to correct the problems caused by over 30 years of neglect.

As for the people who live in south part of the county that keep degrading EC, Gary, Hammond and Whiting, I guess they should not work in the north county either. Everyday Cline Ave, Kennedy Ave, Indianapolis Blvd, and Calumet Ave are gridlocked with people going south to their homes from work. These people should have a little respect for the communities that provide the jobs that feed their families and bought the south county homes they live in. What would happen if BP-Amoco, U.S. Steel, Mittal Steel, all the railroad companies, all the casinos and all the other factories that provide your jobs started shutting down plants like GM and Chrysler? Your comments are basically saying that you should shut those cities down by telling people to not live in them or to avoid them. Maybe if all these negative people moved back, these cities would be as strong as they once were. But, I know that would be to much like the right thing to do.

[artemis]

Inland laid-off my husband 25 yrs ago, that's why we left the area. I have no reason to live in Lake County ever again.

If US Steel wants to leave Gary, they'll do it. And, they won't care who they leave in the dust. That includes residents of Gary itself. It's all about the bean counters and the bottom line.