On 3/8/14 07:25 : , Dean Hansen wrote:
> Every time I see an old home decaying, and a neighborhood decaying, I get
> sad. We have lived in our 1873 home in Stillwater, MN, since 1974, and,
> while it has taken several thousand man-hours of work, it's not decaying.
> Nor is the neighborhood. I'll occasionally drive by the home in south
> Minneapolis where I grew up in the 1940s and 1950s. Built in 1923, it is
> still a fine home and is obviously being well cared-for. Wish I had some
> easy answers for "neighborhood decay." I don't .
> Dean
It all depends on the town. In the case of Gary, IN, the town grew up
around the steel industry. People flocked there from Tennessee and
Kentucky when jobs were plentiful and paid well. When the steel
industry started to decline, so did the job market. Lots of little
industries had been built up around supporting the mills, and they also
went under.
When that happens, crime starts to grow, and the neighborhoods become
unpleasant to live in. And then there's a mass exodus.
Back in the day, Gary was a happening city. People from Chicago would
all come out to Gary on the weekends for dinner and dancing, to see
movies and watch bands.
Charlie O. Finley, the former owner of the Oakland A's, was raised in
Gary and lived there for years before he bought the ranch in nearby
LaPorte, IN. (As a side note, he made his money in insurance, owning his
own company in Chicago and being one of the first to sell medical
insurance to doctors. My mom was working in the secretarial pool and
Dad was a salesman for Finley's company when they met.)
Finley's old neighborhood in Gary still has mansions, some have been
cared for, some are rotting. The house he grew up in, however, is still
there. I've been through it, since my wife also grew up in the Gary
area and knew Charlie's kids from school. There were also two Frank
Lloyd Wright-designed "System-built" houses in that area as well. (These
were "catalog" houses for average families. You picked a design from a
catalog, and a Wright-approved builder would build your home). While
that particular neighborhood seems to be fairly well-cared-for, the
neighborhoods you have to drive through to get there are most certainly
scary.
Another related side note - my first job out of college was managing a
Wendy's franchise restaurant. The franchise was owned by Charlie
Finley, Jr. Had no idea about my parents' history with the Finley
family until they found out who I was working for. And then after we
were married my wife told me about growing up around the Finley kids.
Small, small world.....
--
Paul Braun
Certified Music Junkie
Valparaiso, IN
"It's such a fine line between stupid, and clever." - David St. Hubbins
"Music washes from the soul the dust of everyday life" - Harlan Howard
--
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