In America's abandoned steel town 'Scary Gary' – where 10,000 buildings stand abandoned after HALF the population fled – as it turns to foreign investors to save the dying factory that built the country's bridges, tunnels and skyscrapers
An Indiana border town is undergoing a makeover after six decades of decline, earning it the nickname “Scary Gary.”
The now crime-ridden metropolis is named after attorney Elbert Henry Gary, who founded US Steel and built what remains the conglomerate's largest factory there in the summer of 1908.
Gary grew into a prosperous industrial powerhouse that provided the raw materials for many of America's bridges, tunnels and skyscrapers in the first half of the 20th century.
It is also known as the birthplace of Michael Jackson in 1958, and where he grew up with his brothers before they became the Jackson Five.
But the once booming city collapsed into chaos following the decline of the US steel industry in the 1970s, when foreign steel imports exceeded domestic production.
The Indiana border town of Gary is undergoing a makeover after six decades of decline, earning it the nickname “Scary Gary.” (Image: US Steel's Gary Works, still the largest integrated plant in North America)
When the steel industry began to shrink in the 1970s as foreign imports outpaced the domestic steel economy, Gary began to descend into chaos. (Pictured: a street in Gary, IN)
Despite decades of decline, the Rust Belt city of Gary has “the recipe for success” thanks to its strong infrastructure, according to new Democratic Mayor Eddie Melton. (Image: Michael Jackson's childhood home in Gary)
The total population fell from 180,000 people in 1960 to less than half that number today – and around 10,000 buildings now lie abandoned.
although Gary has long been a diverse city; the exodus also dramatically changed racial dynamics.
Much of the steelworkers who left were white, meaning the black and Hispanic share of the population rose from 21 percent in 1930 to about 87 percent in 2020.
The lack of local industry also led to rising poverty rates and violent crime, as recently chronicled by YouTube blogger Peter Santanello.
According to Neighborhood Scout, an average of 49 crimes per square kilometer are recorded there every year.
This dwarfs the national average of 27 crimes per square mile – and it is also a whopping 149 percent higher than the Indiana average of 20 crimes per square mile.
Residents told Santanello they are terrified to walk the streets at night for fear of being robbed – or even shot – amid a proliferation of dilapidated buildings and abandoned homes.
But the Rust Belt city has “the recipe for success” thanks to its strong infrastructure, according to new Democratic Mayor Eddie Melton.
“We need to change the narrative and make it clear to the world that Gary is open for business,” Melton told the newspaper New York Times.
Located on the shores of Lake Michigan, just across the Illinois border from Chicago, Gary has easy access to the arterial roads it once helped build.
It also borders a shipping port to the north and the Indiana Dunes National Park to the east, which attracts nearly three million tourists annually.
Melton's government has begun demolishing old buildings to make way for new developments, with plans to build a casino and a minor league baseball field.
'We need to change the narrative and make it clear to the world that Gary is open for business,' says new Gary Mayor Eddie Melton (pictured)
Gary's total population fell from 180,000 people in 1960 to less than half that number today due to job losses. (Image: An American steel mill in the city in 2007)
A fallen sign sits on the sidewalk as a couple walks down Broadway in Gary, Indiana Thursday, April 20, 2006
Officials hope Gary will grow into an urban hub that will provide a cheaper alternative to neighboring Chicago, where rents have skyrocketed in recent years.
According to Zillow, the average home in the city currently costs just $69,725, a price that pales in comparison to the Chicago average of $279,118.
It's also much lower than the cost of buying a home in the nearby city of Fort Wayne, Indiana, which averages $215,237 per Zillow.
Nearby transportation systems are also getting a boost, including a $127 million grant for Interstates 80 and 94, which cross Gary.
Meanwhile, the South Shore Line, a commuter rail link that connects Chicago to cities in northwestern Indiana, will open a second set of tracks between Gary and Michigan City.
The Gary/Chicago International Airport also received a $6 million grant from the federal government, allowing it to add more cargo capacity, with the goal of becoming a logistics hub for the United Parcel Service.
However, officials who want to see improvements from within the city itself will also have to deal with Gary's status as a political outlier and border town, which has also historically held the city back.
As a smaller, predominantly Democratic city within a large conservative county within a Republican stronghold state, Gary officials were often stymied by more powerful lawmakers.
Gary has elected a string of Democratic mayors since 1943, while the Indiana Senate currently has 39 Republican members and 10 Democrats.
Officials hope Gary will grow into an urban hub that will provide a cheaper alternative to neighboring Chicago, where rents have skyrocketed in recent years
The smokestacks of US Steel – the source of Gary, Indiana's meteoric rise at the turn of the century and its collapse in the 1970s – are seen on November 2, 2011
The Assembly has blocked several initiatives that would have allowed the city to expand its tax base — while also providing scarce funding due to corruption concerns, according to the NYT.
“Gary was held captive by what the other cities in his county wanted to do,” Paul Helmke, the former Republican mayor of Fort Wayne, told the newspaper.
The much-contested takeover of US Steel by Japan's Nippon Steel could also impact even more American jobs.
US Steel's largest plant, Gary Works, employs about 3,700 people – down from more than 30,000 at its peak.
Previous plans to transform Gary have also been shelved, including a multibillion-dollar plan to build a theme park based on the city's reputation as the birthplace of the Jackson Five.
“We certainly missed an opportunity to make it a Dollywood, a Graceland,” Chuck Hughes, president of the Gary Chamber of Commerce, told the NYT.