what's the latest on Gary? Haven't been back in years (East Chicago: neighborhoods, school)

[Drover]

Originally Posted by tycobb2522

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...

Uhm... the Steelyard is not a mill, smart guy.

It's hard to sound pithy when it's obvious you don't know what you're talking about.

[tycobb2522]

Originally Posted by Drover

Uhm... the Steelyard is not a mill, smart guy.

It's hard to sound pithy when it's obvious you don't know what you're talking about.

You apparently missed the sarcasm...

[Chuckity]

Originally Posted by tycobb2522

You apparently missed the sarcasm...

And you missed the fact that the Steelyard is not a steel mill.

[autumngal]

Hey NW Indiana, I am just stopping in to remind everyone to please play nice. http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x149/autumngal_photo/treeswing.gif (broken link) And lets keep the thread going
by staying on topic.

[domergurl]

Yea guys!!! Man, I can't take my kids out to play without you guys getting nasty ... thanks autumn.

Alright .. DG's back.

[domergurl]

And can we all now settle on the fact that the Steelyard is a baseball stadium located in Gary then?

[Capt. Dan]

Any body on this thread old enough to remember the SNOWSTORM of 1967 in Gary?

[RAZZEL]

Yes. The blizzard was awesome. The city was shut down. People joined together and took care of each other. Worried about the older neighbors and made sure they were taken care of. We brought our pets inside and we took care of them. The snow was incredibly beautiful. The streets were plowed and resembled mazes after a few short days. Yeah. I was part of that!!!!!


I was born and raised in Gary.Near Lew Wallace High School. While growing up I had a great time being a kid, going to school, playing safely outside and i have fond memories of my childhood. We use to ride our bikes to Miller beach. It was great.
It did start to change in the 80's. I left Gary and moved out west in 1982. I went back for a high school reunion in 2006 and could NOT BELIEVE the difference. It looked like a WAR ZONE!!!! Literally!!!!!!
Broadway was no more. Buildings broken,shattered, boarded up, broken glass everywhere, and extremely dirty. Trash everywhere. It looked like a dump.

There was no PRIDE!!!!!!
It was a very rude awakening!!!!!
I would not go back. There is nothing to go back for.
I will remember my childhood with the fond memories that I have growing up in Gary Indiana.

[Capt. Dan]

Originally Posted by mhouse2001

I lived in Glen Park until 1970 and in Morningside in 1980-1981. I felt very safe and have fond memories of Halloweens and summer thunderstorms, of playing hide and seek in every neighbor's yard, of 'going downtown' (think: Petula Clark). It felt like a happening place. My memories will never change. I always thought Broadway was an endless street until 1988 when I discovered, much to my horror, that Broadway (IN-53) ended near Crown Point! My entire family lived there. But post-1970, many urban Americans decided to abandon their cities. In Gary, the flight was precipitated mostly by the desire to be away from African-Americans and the perception that they were undesirable as neighbors and dangerous to property values. This happened in Detroit to a much larger degree. People fled to California, Texas, Florida, the Sun Belt. Those who didn't want to completely pick up and leave moved to areas adjacent to Gary: Merrillville and Valparaiso where my family still remains.

I think that Gary won't have much of a future because, frankly, if you could live in sunshine and palm trees for the same price, why wouldn't you? What's to keep people there? Even Chicago has lost almost a million residents since 1960. My point is that it's not just 'white flight'. My Mom had to dust every DAY when we lived blocks at 4th and Delaware, in the shadow of the mills and now where the new ballpark is. That's not healthy for children or adults.

Gary's greatest asset is its proximity to Chicago. If the steel mill wasn't there and Gary had a view to the Lake and Chicago's skyline instead of rusting smokestacks, it would be an expensive enclave. I know it's far-fetched but if the mills were destroyed and the land reclaimed, the lakefront and adjacent properties would be worthy of million-dollar homes. But, alas, this will never pass. The land is too toxic.

I feel sorry for my birthplace. I will never return and, in fact, I won't live near my family because I'd have to pass through Gary every time I want to go into Chicago. I simply refuse to be reminded of such horror. In 1999 shortly before the 'millennium party', I did return to my home at 36th and Delaware. It was boarded up. The houses on each side were abandoned and six homes across the street were also empty.

My memories drift to summer afternoons, to earlier times of joy and safety and happiness, to the Gary that was a nice town to live in, to neighbors who watched out for others' children, to walking along Broadway and eating at Dairy Queen, to movies at the Y&W, and those long walks to Grant St. to go shopping with friends. I now live 2000 miles away and my memories seem just as far.

When you walked to Grant Street, would that have been to "the village" shopping center? we used to take that walk too. All the way from 40th and Indiana St. East Glen Park. I bet they dont do that anymore.

[bernie]

Have you been to the Westside of Chicago? Would you even pull your wallet out at any gas station on the southside? Chicago is not that great just look at the news buddy.