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That is not the Carnegie library. That library was built in the early 2000's to replace the Carnegie library that is on Stephenson st. The Carnegie library was remodeled into the current Freeport city hall around 2016. It is the building on the right side of the screen at 18:02. Also Krape Park should be part of this video.
I'm a fifth-generation Freeporter. After living in Nashville, Tennessee, for 17 years, when I resettled in Freeport 10 years ago to look after my mom, I was saying the town looked like it was dying. A downtown businessman pointed out to me that the businesses we have wouldn't be surviving if they couldn't. I know that's a circular reference, but it's true. The entrepreneurs we have are not in some kind of mercantile ministry, operating at a loss. They're making a go of it. There are businesses on every street, not just all clustered in one starving corner, and the population may be down from the old 26,000 to something around 25,000, but this is not a ghost town of 10,000. Somebody lives here. Somebody works here. After spending time away, some of us returned and chose to invest ourselves in the community. Even if everything doesn't look the same as it did 40 years ago, there has been progress in the past 10 years. We have stellar parks, dedicated educators, and engaged activists. The good things about Freeport are still better than good, as they always have been.
My family is (allegedly) one of the founding families of Freeport (or so I've read on those ancestry sites). I remember coming to visit my grandparents all of the time. I haven't been there in over a decade but I still have a lot of family there. Hell you're probably related to me somehow if you're fifth generation. 🤣
I used to live in Freeport, IL. I want to comment on people moving out of IL. Most people I know that left, including myself, left because of the government corruption that takes place in Illinois.
@@sickaisle3796 When I left, I moved to Indiana. I liked Indiana but have since moved away just to make a bigger distance between me and IL. I keep my actual location hidden for my safety
@@michigandersea3485 Freeport is likely one of the better places. Rockford, IL and Ogle would be some examples. Talk to people about Judge Bruce or Cynthia Sheehan and you will probably hear lots of stories.
I lived in Freeport back in the early seventies, my father was the Sears store manager. I went to Carl Sandburg middle school and Freeport junior high.
-That house on the left behind the stoplight at 3:32 is known as The Castle. -Aquin is set to close. -The building front and center as you're turning at 12:14 is Parkview-A Nursing Home.
left Freeport in May of 21 because of the lack of decent jobs and taxes ..we are now loving life in Alabama btw lived there for 40+ years first time I've ever left my home state we love Alabama never coming back to Pritzkerville. What date was this taken and time???
The all-to-common response when speaking with a Freeporter about the town’s decline is predictably, “We have great parks.” It has become laughable when I visit. The parks are ok. But if that is all the community’s residents can be proud of, oh well.
Thank you for sharing this video on Freeport. I lived in and around Freeport for more than 25 years and miss it. I was wanting to move back to Freeport when I retired but now that I'm retired I just can't see paying the very high property taxes there. On a $100,000 house your property tax would be over $2,700. a year, then with all the other taxes. Just to mention the building next to the Lincoln Douglas debate square park is where the new library is the old one was on Stephenson street and The water and sewer department is there now. Anyway you look at it you did a great job putting this together. Thank you for the video.
Long story short, Freeport was a small city with a decent economy until the late 80s-early 90s when the city received incentives to take in section 8s from Chicago when several of their housing projects were shut down. Crime spiked, and housing value tanked. Businesses jumped ship. Fast forward to today, someone gets shot almost weekly, and jobs pay terrible wages. But hey, rent is cheap and menthol are still under 10 bucks a pack. I had bullets come through my home on two separate occasions, and the appraisal was at 80,000 in 2000. By 2015 it had dropped to 8,000 dollars. It's a dumpster fire.
This was a nice made video but you missed going through Krape Park which is at the end of Park Blvd. Krape Park is very nice and complete with a carousel and waterfall. Freeport has gotten a little run down over the years but still better than most towns in Illinois.
I ended up google street viewing Krape Park, after seeing you and others in the comments mention it. You guys are right, that is a really gorgeous park! Too bad NT/Chris Harden didn't drive through it, for this video.
I grew up in Freeport--left quite a long time ago, but travel through from time to time . It's really gone downhill......just a shell of what it used to be. We had so much manufacturing, a huge insurance company, etc...but like so many towns here in the Midwest, it all faded away. Thanks for the video....
Bought a house for only 10 grand in Freeport back in 2015 but had nothing but bad luck in that town so I'm glad i moved out. The only thing i miss is their super awesome park.
Krape Park is the best city park I've ever seen. I grew up in Freeport , but left 12 years ago. I still go through from time to time---just to see the park and eat at Imperial Palace
@@ChrisHarden I'm glad my kids don't live there anymore. The kids in the school were horrible to my kids and that was 3rd and 5th grade they were in. That kind of behavior would be unacceptable for even high schoolers.
Nice video!! Freeport has really changed alot, but it's still home!! You should've went to Krape Park. It's beautiful out there. Thank you for sharing my hometown 💜
Highland Community College in Freeport, has been a basketball 🏀 powerhouse in the national junior college division for decades. Freeport Aquin also produced Sophie Brunner, College Star 🏀 & WNBA player.
My wife and i stopped in Freeport for the night on our way home from MI to western Iowa years ago. I had to take a picture of the 'Home of the Pretzels' sign attached to the high school at the time. Didn't seem like a bad little city.
The Rawlings warehouse is an impressive thing to see, especially in person. I've got some pictures I took of it buried somewhere on my hard drive. I can think of a lot of things I like about that town, but you are right, the flame is going out on a lot of these smaller towns/cities.
I read a study published by a moving company that shows a plurality of people and businesses are moving just across the border, not to warmer climates, so taxes are primary (of many) reasons to leave Illinois.
@@stevemalone6012 I would have to agree. Started going way down in the mid-80s. I was born and raised in this town, but i'm so glad I got out before the trash really started to pile up. From the very few friends that are still there tell me that it's not the town....but the PEOPLE in it.
Thanks for the videos. We are relocating back to Illinois and looking for a small town. Property taxes don’t affect our decision because my hub is a 100% disabled vet so our taxes are waived.
I grew up visiting my Grandparents in Monroe. Monroe was a handsome little town in the 80's, cheese factories, Huber Beer Brewery, very clean small city with lots of Swiss influence. I acquired a love for Swiss music visiting there which has lasted a lifetime. Back in the 80's, at least, Freeport, 26 miles from Monroe was known for being a little on the rough side compared to Monroe, with some crime problems. Krape Park was pretty, though, and the hilly countryside North of Freeport, along route 26, is a pretty drive. Oneco, Ill, near the WI border, is a pretty spot.
I'm very interested with what happens to Illinois and am thankful for your videos. I drive through many parts of IL every year during my summer vacation-- I am from Geneseo back in the 70s. The state just keeps going more and more down-hill due to the way it is being managed. Needless to say, I haven't lived there since 1993 and glad I left. I still visit my home town every year and wonder why anyone remains until I hit the Geneseo area. Geneseoans refuse to give up (a lot of local pride that is contagious and lacking in today's world), and I am sure there are other towns that feel the same way.
Taxes in Illinois suck, but so does everywhere else. You might move to Texas & Florida but things like car insurance & utilities bills are higher, which makes up for their no state income tax. In northern Illinois there’s plenty of $20 an hour entry level jobs requiring little to no experience. Every state has issues. The cold is horrible.... but Illinois people have that ‘Midwest Nice’ down pat. Property taxes are high, but before Covid, houses in my hometown of 100,000 + people couldn’t stay on the market. Super high demand, and still is.
@@ChrisHarden The Chicago-Land residents ( which is where most Illinoisians live ) suffer more from the high taxes & cost of living, and they make up a big % of “movers.” Then you have this phenomenon of the 2000’s called, “I’m gonna copy what other people are doing on Facebook & UA-cam.” And yes, the cold is a huge factor. Northern Illinois has better wages than most regions in the Midwest, so people actually have money to move where it’s warm.
@@ChrisHarden But also what we’re seeing is America changing. After the Civil War up into the 1950s.. you had the migration from the South looking for the industrial jobs up North. Now people from up North are moving down South because there’s a lot of jobs, the cost of living is cheaper for the most part ( except Florida & Texas ), and the people are really getting tired of the cold. When I say people, it might be more Brown skin people that’s getting tired of the cold.
I wanna move down South too, but it’s only because of the weather. I love Illinois, the people, & our history... the taxes & politicians don’t phase me. But it’s cold from October to May, and I need at least a few years break from that.
Freeport is doomed. I grew up in Freeport. I no longer live there but have family and many friends still there, and visit regularly. The good people really are good people, however they spend their entire lives complaining about how bad things are. They have a decades long history of voting down funds to work on streets, sewers, sidewalks and curbs, schools, etc., then complain how bad streets and schools are. Manufacturing and other businesses have moved away over time to cleaner, better planned cities across the US. Freeport is reaping its own self-fulfilling prophecy. It is truly sad. The town is dying, with dozens if not hundreds of abandoned homes and other buildings, left to rot and collapse. The town has no plan or monies to raze the buildings or fight the owners in court. And so it goes. Whenever some new little shop opens in a vacant building, people talk about how the town is “coming back.” Pipe dreams - all.
Very much appreciate the research and thoughtful effort in Nostalgia Tour vids. Any plans to do a vid on lil old Salem I’ll? These downstate towns seem to remain at a developmental standstill. Again, thanks for your very informative vids. Chuck in Oregon.
Did you do Rockford, IL videos? You could certainly get 2 videos out of it. I live just outside the city and the property taxes in my small city are very high. $6,000 a year for a $180,000 house. Can't wait to leave.
He did videos of all four quadrants of Rockford- northwest, southeast, southwest, and northeast as well as some neighboring cities like Belvidere, Loves and Machesney Park, as well as Roscoe and Rockton. I haven't come across any yet of New Milford, Holcomb, or the further part of Southeast Rockford closest to New Milford.
I live in Freeport and one of the things I remember the most seen on TV is commercials of other states Governors thanking our governor for the high taxes they said their population and sales increased
Going to Freeport in a month after my Rt 66 trip. Gonna cruise thru Rockport and Ottowa too. Northern IL is definitely more visually pleasing than Southern IL. Hanover IL is one of my favorite small towns. Someone should film a movie there, it has a nice layout.
Krape park is such a nice park. You should visit when you're in town. Hike the trail to the waterfall. Watch the swan paddle boats or the old timey carousel. We drive up from Peoria to have picnics there.
@@ChrisHarden Years ago when I lived in Freeport I had a girlfriend from Minnesota come down to see me and look the town over and I never had thought this until she said that Northwest Illinois reminded her of Minnesota.
Smaller towns are bad places for people in their late teens and twenties to live. People in that age group tend to think anything less than a large city is truly boring. Issues include a small dating pool, few activities, and fewer opportunities to get started in a career, plus, younger people generally have more free time and are less tired, so they don't appreciate the peace and quiet. I'm of the opinion that smaller towns are preferable for families with children up to high school age, and couples over 30.
Thank You For this Video of Freeport. I have never been to Freeport the Closest was Monroe (WI), in fact I was in Monroe two Weeks ago Thanks for the Tour of Freeport Video Chris!!! F+L, Corey
You have a style that is compelling, with social justice overtones. Keep banging the Illini tax. Pretty comfortable editing and good use of tools. Music is stimulating and thought provoking and pleasant. Interesting atmospheres. These days I continue to use these videos as "seeing-eye dogs " I admire your thinking and precision .
@@ChrisHarden you should do a video on Springfield Illinois westside of the city home of the senators cyclones and Southeast Spartans you should go to the Metro East and do all the videos over again so you can get a great video have a great weekend
Perhaps you could have a map in the corner of the screen showing important places on it with a moving dot to show your car's progress. Your camera mainly shows the road and wasn't that helpful in our quest to find out more about Freeport.
awesome Nostalgia a great catch thanks , and tell Branden not be throw bottles at Little Wayne's car when she is mad thats so uncouth LOL thanks again and stay safe :-) btw please have ice old Mountain Dew on me
Chris I watch your vids all the time and I love them, I am a subscriber and I have a request for you to include info on senior services as well as services for the disabled in the places you tour,, please do this for me
i live in central il. born here in '69, moved away, came back.yadayadayada. i've been to plenty of il. cities/towns and there are even more that i've not been to but i have never seen any reason to go to freeport. it's close to nowhere. its not in the path of anywhere i'm going and there's nothing there.
I was born in this city many decades ago. I recognized nothing in the video, probably because my family moved when I was a tyke. However, after I got out of High School, I went back as my Aunt and Uncle lived there and asked me to paint their 2 story house. Took me about 3 months to finish and during that time I thought about becoming a painter. Several cars stopped by and the people came to me asking if I did inside painting or to paint their house. :) You should checkout Morton, Illinois Population 2021 16,786. Their population has gone down slightly in the last 10 years. I grew up there, going through Grade School, Jr. High and 2 years of High school before, once again, we moved. Nice town, and a low crime rate.
Douglas lost a lot of Southern support here because he took a jab at the Dredd Scott decision, which Southerners loved but Northerners hated. He touted his own idea of "Popular Sovereignty" meaning that each new state could vote to be free or slave rather than the Feds deciding the issue.
@@ohioalphornmusicalsawman2474 Ohioans have a lot to be proud of, though. Being the home of more than 7 US presidents, and many of the most famous figures and innovators in American history such as the Wright Brothers, Neil Armstrong, Ulysses S Grant, Thomas Edison, John Glenn, etc. as well as being the birthplace of the NFL and MLB.
I grew up in Freeport and it was a pretty decent town in the 70s, but by the mid 80s the decline began, though I'm sure different people through different eyes may see the timeline differently. I remember the crowds at Lincoln Mall in the 70s when Santa would ride into town, it was anchored by JC Penney and Sears at each end with smaller shops filling the middle and it was bustling. My dad worked at Kelly Springfield and got a solid middle class union wage and, despite a couple layoffs due to the economy and petroleum, was able to raise a family on it while mom stayed at home. I drove through a few years ago and was pretty sad at what I saw.
This looks like a charming Illinois town to me with lots of house for the money. However, I see the city taxes everything from property to restaurant bills to water bills. Too bad.
That's the problem taxes are soo ridiculous and there are no companies to work at we left for Alabama got jobs the 2nd day here making the new Mazda and Toyota crossover!!
Yea I feel everyone else he missed out on krapepark, was born and raised in Freeport and was a 5th gen of the area, miss it dearly but sadly corruption and poor management allowed the town to turn into a getto. With a few “rich” streets, you went down a many streets I’ve walked or skated or biked. You missed the south side by Walmart too. Ol K-Mart’s down there along with what used to be Donuts Plus. Been there many times. Brings back memory’s so thanks, city has changed some but is the same it others 😅
If you wanna buy a half a million dollar house on stevenson. You'.re gonna pay about 230,000. Because of all the crime up and down stevenson and all of those roads surrounding it.
We're just asking you to consider all factors... not just taxes. The truth is that warmer weather, taxes, and loss of american manufacturing ALL are reasons why people move. I personally moved to a big city for a completely different reason: for a more exciting, accessible, and car-free life and didn't care at all about the taxes. Everyone is different. Also, like another commenter mentioned, your financial burden changes where you live and it's not an easy comparison. For instance, Illinois property taxes are high, but our income taxes are low. Also need to consider other factors like wages, insurance rates, and others. Just asking you to consider all of these. You only seem to mention taxes for towns in Illinois that are struggling. Why didn't you mention taxes in Galena, a town that's doing great, for example? We are not denying that taxes are a problem, but they are not the whole story. I wonder what property taxes were in the early 1900s when people were moving to illinois. Were they lower then? Knowing this would help (or refute) the tax theory. You're getting better though. You're definitely more nuanced and focus on history and other sites to see in places in your videos now, which is great.
I lived in freeport 7 years .Just moved . Don't live here ! Run for your life .. The day I moved in the downtown area. There was a drive by shooting in the house next door. Seven bullets across the front of the house.And 2 days later they shot the house on the other side of me. There is lots of dry by shootings. Lots of crime in the downtown area . The streets are horrible They've been patched up numerous times. Be careful what you say about anyone. Because everybody in this town is related to each other some way or another. If you say something to someone, it gets around. So. Mind you're in business. This is not a town you want to raise your kids in especially the downtown area lots of homeless people, drug addicts. Unless that's what you're looking for. Don't go out at night 😮 I wouldn't . Don't move here . There's not much things to do in this town and Not many good places to go out to eat. What's you like fast food restaurant. There's applebees. And a couple of mom and pop restaurants, but that's it.
Also Freeport has a pretty big problem with crack and meth. I don't live in Freeport but I've been there a handful of times and it seems like almost every other person is missing teeth from ripping on a crack pipe all day!
Well I am from here the issue isn’t crack or meth half of these people can’t afford healthcare the wages are low housing is high.... yeah there are drugs but every single town I have ever been in I can assume I seen a crack head.... open your eyes before you open your mouth 🙏💪
I don't think that's very fair, I own 2 rental homes in Freeport but I live in Treasure Island Florida,, I didn't see any ""tagging"" at all in Freeport but there's certainly a big drug problem here in Florida!!🌴🥺
Personally, I didn't see much to dislike about Freeport. Many of the factors that affect these small cities aren't local or even state. For decades the national approach has been to export jobs (nafta, China trade policies, etc) and import poor people through inconsistent immigration policies.
Douglas advocated for "popular sovereignty": let the states decide whether they should allow slavery. The Southerners didn't like that, they wanted to be able to take their slaves anywhere in the country (that's the basis of the Dred Scott Supreme Court decision). So Douglas lost the support of the South and the Democrats lost to Lincoln. The Civil War followed.
US Census actually later said they undercounted Illinois in the 2020 Census. Instead of a population loss, Illinois now clocks in a 250,000 net gain. Bringing its population up to 13 million for the first time.
I lived in Illinois for one year after undergrad before moving back to my home state of Michigan and you trashing Illinois and their property taxes always gives me a laugh and makes me glad to be gone from there.
Sorry dude, your lacking a little on this one. Didnt go to the east side all, and no parks. No mention of Kelly Springfield either, which killed this town.
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That is not the Carnegie library. That library was built in the early 2000's to replace the Carnegie library that is on Stephenson st. The Carnegie library was remodeled into the current Freeport city hall around 2016. It is the building on the right side of the screen at 18:02. Also Krape Park should be part of this video.
Correct!!! The old library is the new city hall
I'm a fifth-generation Freeporter. After living in Nashville, Tennessee, for 17 years, when I resettled in Freeport 10 years ago to look after my mom, I was saying the town looked like it was dying. A downtown businessman pointed out to me that the businesses we have wouldn't be surviving if they couldn't. I know that's a circular reference, but it's true. The entrepreneurs we have are not in some kind of mercantile ministry, operating at a loss. They're making a go of it. There are businesses on every street, not just all clustered in one starving corner, and the population may be down from the old 26,000 to something around 25,000, but this is not a ghost town of 10,000. Somebody lives here. Somebody works here. After spending time away, some of us returned and chose to invest ourselves in the community. Even if everything doesn't look the same as it did 40 years ago, there has been progress in the past 10 years. We have stellar parks, dedicated educators, and engaged activists. The good things about Freeport are still better than good, as they always have been.
My family is (allegedly) one of the founding families of Freeport (or so I've read on those ancestry sites). I remember coming to visit my grandparents all of the time. I haven't been there in over a decade but I still have a lot of family there. Hell you're probably related to me somehow if you're fifth generation. 🤣
Freeport downtown area. Is filled with homeless people, drug addicts. And drive by shootings.
I used to live in Freeport, IL. I want to comment on people moving out of IL. Most people I know that left, including myself, left because of the government corruption that takes place in Illinois.
where do you live now?
@@sickaisle3796 When I left, I moved to Indiana. I liked Indiana but have since moved away just to make a bigger distance between me and IL. I keep my actual location hidden for my safety
Can you be more specific about what corruption was the issue in Freeport?
@@michigandersea3485 Freeport is likely one of the better places. Rockford, IL and Ogle would be some examples. Talk to people about Judge Bruce or Cynthia Sheehan and you will probably hear lots of stories.
@@edwardsheehan7008 yeah I live in Chicago, so I know all about corruption. People look the other way in IL
I lived in Freeport back in the early seventies, my father was the Sears store manager. I went to Carl Sandburg middle school and Freeport junior high.
Your video quality is great!! I can't create it well. Thank you for sharing.
-That house on the left behind the stoplight at 3:32 is known as The Castle.
-Aquin is set to close.
-The building front and center as you're turning at 12:14 is Parkview-A Nursing Home.
left Freeport in May of 21 because of the lack of decent jobs and taxes ..we are now loving life in Alabama btw lived there for 40+ years first time I've ever left my home state we love Alabama never coming back to Pritzkerville. What date was this taken and time???
The all-to-common response when speaking with a Freeporter about the town’s decline is predictably, “We have great parks.” It has become laughable when I visit. The parks are ok. But if that is all the community’s residents can be proud of, oh well.
Thank you for sharing this video on Freeport. I lived in and around Freeport for more than 25 years and miss it. I was wanting to move back to Freeport when I retired but now that I'm retired I just can't see paying the very high property taxes there. On a $100,000 house your property tax would be over $2,700. a year, then with all the other taxes. Just to mention the building next to the Lincoln Douglas debate square park is where the new library is the old one was on Stephenson street and The water and sewer department is there now. Anyway you look at it you did a great job putting this together. Thank you for the video.
The old library on Stephenson is gone? Awww, that's terrible. Used to go there in the 80. I miss freeport
Long story short, Freeport was a small city with a decent economy until the late 80s-early 90s when the city received incentives to take in section 8s from Chicago when several of their housing projects were shut down. Crime spiked, and housing value tanked. Businesses jumped ship. Fast forward to today, someone gets shot almost weekly, and jobs pay terrible wages. But hey, rent is cheap and menthol are still under 10 bucks a pack. I had bullets come through my home on two separate occasions, and the appraisal was at 80,000 in 2000. By 2015 it had dropped to 8,000 dollars. It's a dumpster fire.
This was a nice made video but you missed going through Krape Park which is at the end of Park Blvd. Krape Park is very nice and complete with a carousel and waterfall. Freeport has gotten a little run down over the years but still better than most towns in Illinois.
I was thinking the same thing lol.
I ended up google street viewing Krape Park, after seeing you and others in the comments mention it. You guys are right, that is a really gorgeous park! Too bad NT/Chris Harden didn't drive through it, for this video.
I grew up in Freeport--left quite a long time ago, but travel through from time to time . It's really gone downhill......just a shell of what it used to be. We had so much manufacturing, a huge insurance company, etc...but like so many towns here in the Midwest, it all faded away. Thanks for the video....
I drive through occasionally and it's very sad how the state of Illinois is killing anything outside the Chicago area.
My father used to work for Economy. My uncle worked at the tire plant. I guess the tire plant is still there?
@@cdikkers30 Titan Tire took it over. Yes, still there, but not the great job that Kelly Springfield was.
At least Mrs. Mike's potato chips is still a thing.
@@cdikkers30 Yes. I hope forever!! No other chip even comes close.
Thanks for sharing! 😊
Bought a house for only 10 grand in Freeport back in 2015 but had nothing but bad luck in that town so I'm glad i moved out. The only thing i miss is their super awesome park.
You'll probably be able to find home prices that low in Freeport for a long time I'm guessing.
Krape Park is the best city park I've ever seen. I grew up in Freeport , but left 12 years ago. I still go through from time to time---just to see the park and eat at Imperial Palace
@@ChrisHarden I'm glad my kids don't live there anymore. The kids in the school were horrible to my kids and that was 3rd and 5th grade they were in. That kind of behavior would be unacceptable for even high schoolers.
What kind of bad luck do you mean?
@@Deliverychixx Getting my house broken into & robbed several times & getting no help from the Freeport pd.
Nice video!! Freeport has really changed alot, but it's still home!! You should've went to Krape Park. It's beautiful out there. Thank you for sharing my hometown 💜
Highland Community College in Freeport, has been a basketball 🏀 powerhouse in the national junior college division for decades. Freeport Aquin also produced Sophie Brunner, College Star 🏀 & WNBA player.
Wonderful video as always. Your production quality is amazing. Thanks for the hard work you put into these! Truly appreciated.
My wife and i stopped in Freeport for the night on our way home from MI to western Iowa years ago. I had to take a picture of the 'Home of the Pretzels' sign attached to the high school at the time.
Didn't seem like a bad little city.
There’s definitely worse out there
@@TLoaf Not by much.
The Rawlings warehouse is an impressive thing to see, especially in person. I've got some pictures I took of it buried somewhere on my hard drive. I can think of a lot of things I like about that town, but you are right, the flame is going out on a lot of these smaller towns/cities.
I read a study published by a moving company that shows a plurality of people and businesses are moving just across the border, not to warmer climates, so taxes are primary (of many) reasons to leave Illinois.
Yup. Warm weather is a draw, no doubt, but its definitely not the whole story of why people are leaving Illinois.
I'd love to read that study. Have a link?
@@emu5088 he don't need a link. I live across the border and there's a lot of movement this way. Sadly it's your trash that's most noticeable.
@@stevemalone6012 I would have to agree. Started going way down in the mid-80s. I was born and raised in this town, but i'm so glad I got out before the trash really started to pile up. From the very few friends that are still there tell me that it's not the town....but the PEOPLE in it.
Thanks for the videos. We are relocating back to Illinois and looking for a small town. Property taxes don’t affect our decision because my hub is a 100% disabled vet so our taxes are waived.
Did you know Monroe wisconsin is home to Swiss cheese and new glarus Wisconsin has more Swiss people per capita outside of Switzerland
I grew up visiting my Grandparents in Monroe. Monroe was a handsome little town in the 80's, cheese factories, Huber Beer Brewery, very clean small city with lots of Swiss influence. I acquired a love for Swiss music visiting there which has lasted a lifetime. Back in the 80's, at least, Freeport, 26 miles from Monroe was known for being a little on the rough side compared to Monroe, with some crime problems. Krape Park was pretty, though, and the hilly countryside North of Freeport, along route 26, is a pretty drive. Oneco, Ill, near the WI border, is a pretty spot.
You lying
Yep, that's Freeport.
I'm very interested with what happens to Illinois and am thankful for your videos. I drive through many parts of IL every year during my summer vacation-- I am from Geneseo back in the 70s. The state just keeps going more and more down-hill due to the way it is being managed. Needless to say, I haven't lived there since 1993 and glad I left. I still visit my home town every year and wonder why anyone remains until I hit the Geneseo area. Geneseoans refuse to give up (a lot of local pride that is contagious and lacking in today's world), and I am sure there are other towns that feel the same way.
Taxes in Illinois suck, but so does everywhere else. You might move to Texas & Florida but things like car insurance & utilities bills are higher, which makes up for their no state income tax. In northern Illinois there’s plenty of $20 an hour entry level jobs requiring little to no experience. Every state has issues. The cold is horrible.... but Illinois people have that ‘Midwest Nice’ down pat. Property taxes are high, but before Covid, houses in my hometown of 100,000 + people couldn’t stay on the market. Super high demand, and still is.
What’s your theory as to why Illinois has lost over 150,000 people since 2010?
@@ChrisHarden The Chicago-Land residents ( which is where most Illinoisians live ) suffer more from the high taxes & cost of living, and they make up a big % of “movers.” Then you have this phenomenon of the 2000’s called, “I’m gonna copy what other people are doing on Facebook & UA-cam.” And yes, the cold is a huge factor. Northern Illinois has better wages than most regions in the Midwest, so people actually have money to move where it’s warm.
@@ChrisHarden But also what we’re seeing is America changing. After the Civil War up into the 1950s.. you had the migration from the South looking for the industrial jobs up North. Now people from up North are moving down South because there’s a lot of jobs, the cost of living is cheaper for the most part ( except Florida & Texas ), and the people are really getting tired of the cold. When I say people, it might be more Brown skin people that’s getting tired of the cold.
I wanna move down South too, but it’s only because of the weather. I love Illinois, the people, & our history... the taxes & politicians don’t phase me. But it’s cold from October to May, and I need at least a few years break from that.
@Blessed Disciple Well-said!
Freeport is doomed. I grew up in Freeport. I no longer live there but have family and many friends still there, and visit regularly. The good people really are good people, however they spend their entire lives complaining about how bad things are. They have a decades long history of voting down funds to work on streets, sewers, sidewalks and curbs, schools, etc., then complain how bad streets and schools are. Manufacturing and other businesses have moved away over time to cleaner, better planned cities across the US. Freeport is reaping its own self-fulfilling prophecy. It is truly sad. The town is dying, with dozens if not hundreds of abandoned homes and other buildings, left to rot and collapse. The town has no plan or monies to raze the buildings or fight the owners in court. And so it goes. Whenever some new little shop opens in a vacant building, people talk about how the town is “coming back.” Pipe dreams - all.
Very much appreciate the research and thoughtful effort in Nostalgia Tour vids. Any plans to do a vid on lil old Salem I’ll? These downstate towns seem to remain at a developmental standstill. Again, thanks for your very informative vids. Chuck in Oregon.
Yeah I will one day, just don’t know when that’ll be exactly
Did you do Rockford, IL videos? You could certainly get 2 videos out of it. I live just outside the city and the property taxes in my small city are very high. $6,000 a year for a $180,000 house. Can't wait to leave.
Yes he did you should see the west side Rockford Illinois!!! Good stuff!!!
He did videos of all four quadrants of Rockford- northwest, southeast, southwest, and northeast as well as some neighboring cities like Belvidere, Loves and Machesney Park, as well as Roscoe and Rockton. I haven't come across any yet of New Milford, Holcomb, or the further part of Southeast Rockford closest to New Milford.
I bought a house in Freeport IL and I love it here
God the rent is cheap today really considering it😊
I live in Freeport and one of the things I remember the most seen on TV is commercials of other states Governors thanking our governor for the high taxes they said their population and sales increased
Watching here from Reading, PA, the Pretzel Capital :P
Going to Freeport in a month after my Rt 66 trip. Gonna cruise thru Rockport and Ottowa too. Northern IL is definitely more visually pleasing than Southern IL. Hanover IL is one of my favorite small towns. Someone should film a movie there, it has a nice layout.
While driving through, I actually felt like Freeport resembled more of Southern Illinois than Northern Illinois.
Jo Davies/Stephenson County remind me a lot of Alexander County.
Krape park is such a nice park. You should visit when you're in town. Hike the trail to the waterfall. Watch the swan paddle boats or the old timey carousel. We drive up from Peoria to have picnics there.
@@ChrisHarden Years ago when I lived in Freeport I had a girlfriend from Minnesota come down to see me and look the town over and I never had thought this until she said that Northwest Illinois reminded her of Minnesota.
Hey Chris 25 miles south! I lived there also!! Love how you tell the truth!!
Cool vids my dude.
Thanks!
I lived in Freeport for 18 months in my early twenties. The only way to have a good time in Freeport was to drive to Madison, WI.
Lol
Smaller towns are bad places for people in their late teens and twenties to live. People in that age group tend to think anything less than a large city is truly boring. Issues include a small dating pool, few activities, and fewer opportunities to get started in a career, plus, younger people generally have more free time and are less tired, so they don't appreciate the peace and quiet. I'm of the opinion that smaller towns are preferable for families with children up to high school age, and couples over 30.
I taught at the Jr. High. I was told that they got the mascot for the High School because the pretzel factory donated the land for it.
The land was an Army base during the Civil War. The state or government must of owned the land there already.
Thank You For this Video of Freeport. I have never been to Freeport the Closest was Monroe (WI), in fact I was in Monroe two Weeks ago Thanks for the Tour of Freeport Video Chris!!! F+L, Corey
Born and raised in freeport.
Crime has jumped, city politicians are a joke, taxes jumping again. Can't say as I move back.
You have a style that is compelling, with social justice overtones. Keep banging the Illini tax. Pretty comfortable editing and good use of tools. Music is stimulating and thought provoking and pleasant. Interesting atmospheres. These days I continue to use these videos as "seeing-eye dogs " I admire your thinking and precision .
You drove right past my house at 3:07 on the right
This is awesome content
I agree!
@@ChrisHarden you should do a video on Springfield Illinois westside of the city home of the senators cyclones and Southeast Spartans you should go to the Metro East and do all the videos over again so you can get a great video have a great weekend
Perhaps you could have a map in the corner of the screen showing important places on it with a moving dot to show your car's progress. Your camera mainly shows the road and wasn't that helpful in our quest to find out more about Freeport.
My son and I would go on vacation to Freeport! It is home to Krape Park, the finest urban park I have ever seen. Sorry you didn't include that.
awesome Nostalgia a great catch thanks , and tell Branden not be throw bottles at Little Wayne's car when she is mad thats so uncouth LOL thanks again and stay safe :-) btw please have ice old Mountain Dew on me
Chris I watch your vids all the time and I love them, I am a subscriber and I have a request for you to include info on senior services as well as services for the disabled in the places you tour,, please do this for me
Nice looking town. Lot of character and nicer older homes. Picked a great day to record it.
i live in central il. born here in '69, moved away, came back.yadayadayada. i've been to plenty of il. cities/towns and there are even more that i've not been to but i have never seen any reason to go to freeport. it's close to nowhere. its not in the path of anywhere i'm going and there's nothing there.
Even if it is the path of where you or anyone else is going, US-20 bypasses the town.
Seems like you spend half the video on Empire Street.
i only remember going through Freeport as part of our journey to Galena
Did I miss the dilapidated hotel at South St. and Galena Blvd.?
I was born in this city many decades ago. I recognized nothing in the video, probably because my family moved when I was a tyke. However, after I got out of High School, I went back as my Aunt and Uncle lived there and asked me to paint their 2 story house. Took me about 3 months to finish and during that time I thought about becoming a painter. Several cars stopped by and the people came to me asking if I did inside painting or to paint their house. :) You should checkout Morton, Illinois Population 2021
16,786. Their population has gone down slightly in the last 10 years. I grew up there, going through Grade School, Jr. High and 2 years of High school before, once again, we moved. Nice town, and a low crime rate.
I plan on going to Morton one of these days.
it would be cool to see your house if one of these videos was filmed in your town.
I saw the gas station my grandfather used to own in this one.
You take me places to which I would never (figuratively AND literally) go 😅
It would have been nice to see my neighborhood displayed. But I guess it’s not “pretty enough”. Iroquois st, Chicago street, state street, etc.
Douglas lost a lot of Southern support here because he took a jab at the Dredd Scott decision, which Southerners loved but Northerners hated. He touted his own idea of "Popular Sovereignty" meaning that each new state could vote to be free or slave rather than the Feds deciding the issue.
You talk about the high school, then drive by and the camera shows a grass berm. I didn't see the school.
Do you plan on ever making videos on cities in Ohio?
I wish he would do some Ohio videos. Ohio is full of high crime, decaying cities that anyone with any aspiration to better themselves moves out of.
@@ohioalphornmusicalsawman2474 Ohioans have a lot to be proud of, though. Being the home of more than 7 US presidents, and many of the most famous figures and innovators in American history such as the Wright Brothers, Neil Armstrong, Ulysses S Grant, Thomas Edison, John Glenn, etc. as well as being the birthplace of the NFL and MLB.
@@KingofAmerica97 Very true. Decaying cities is far more than just something in the rust belt states.
Life WILL BE Brought Back To Rockford and Other Nearby Cities!… WATCH!!!
I’m not sure where you got your crime stats? They have a lot of drive by shootings and violent crime.
i always dreamed about urbexing that old abandoned rawleigh's building
As a Freeport native it sucks watching this town slowly die.
I grew up in Freeport and it was a pretty decent town in the 70s, but by the mid 80s the decline began, though I'm sure different people through different eyes may see the timeline differently. I remember the crowds at Lincoln Mall in the 70s when Santa would ride into town, it was anchored by JC Penney and Sears at each end with smaller shops filling the middle and it was bustling. My dad worked at Kelly Springfield and got a solid middle class union wage and, despite a couple layoffs due to the economy and petroleum, was able to raise a family on it while mom stayed at home. I drove through a few years ago and was pretty sad at what I saw.
This looks like a charming Illinois town to me with lots of house for the money. However, I see the city taxes everything from property to restaurant bills to water bills. Too bad.
That's the problem taxes are soo ridiculous and there are no companies to work at we left for Alabama got jobs the 2nd day here making the new Mazda and Toyota crossover!!
Everything in life is a tradeoff. The houses are cheap because the taxes are high.
So much for living there! Damn property taxes….the beer bottle comment…. Priceless…❤️🍺🥨
Yea I feel everyone else he missed out on krapepark, was born and raised in Freeport and was a 5th gen of the area, miss it dearly but sadly corruption and poor management allowed the town to turn into a getto. With a few “rich” streets, you went down a many streets I’ve walked or skated or biked. You missed the south side by Walmart too. Ol K-Mart’s down there along with what used to be Donuts Plus. Been there many times. Brings back memory’s so thanks, city has changed some but is the same it others 😅
Love the video however you did show the east side of Freeport where I grow up at
Used to live there
If you wanna buy a half a million dollar house on stevenson. You'.re gonna pay about 230,000. Because of all the crime up and down stevenson and all of those roads surrounding it.
Grew up in sterling ill. South of freeport.
We're just asking you to consider all factors... not just taxes. The truth is that warmer weather, taxes, and loss of american manufacturing ALL are reasons why people move. I personally moved to a big city for a completely different reason: for a more exciting, accessible, and car-free life and didn't care at all about the taxes. Everyone is different.
Also, like another commenter mentioned, your financial burden changes where you live and it's not an easy comparison. For instance, Illinois property taxes are high, but our income taxes are low. Also need to consider other factors like wages, insurance rates, and others. Just asking you to consider all of these. You only seem to mention taxes for towns in Illinois that are struggling. Why didn't you mention taxes in Galena, a town that's doing great, for example? We are not denying that taxes are a problem, but they are not the whole story.
I wonder what property taxes were in the early 1900s when people were moving to illinois. Were they lower then? Knowing this would help (or refute) the tax theory.
You're getting better though. You're definitely more nuanced and focus on history and other sites to see in places in your videos now, which is great.
Your next video should be cedarville Illinois its a couple miles out of freeport
When you get a chance can you do.
Shiloh IL, Metro East of St Louis
Suburbs of Chicago
And can you do Indiana soon
I lived in freeport 7 years .Just moved . Don't live here ! Run for your life .. The day I moved in the downtown area. There was a drive by shooting in the house next door. Seven bullets across the front of the house.And 2 days later they shot the house on the other side of me. There is lots of dry by shootings. Lots of crime in the downtown area . The streets are horrible They've been patched up numerous times. Be careful what you say about anyone. Because everybody in this town is related to each other some way or another. If you say something to someone, it gets around. So.
Mind you're in business. This is not a town you want to raise your kids in especially the downtown area lots of homeless people, drug addicts. Unless that's what you're looking for. Don't go out at night 😮 I wouldn't . Don't move here . There's not much things to do in this town and Not many good places to go out to eat. What's you like fast food restaurant. There's applebees. And a couple of mom and pop restaurants, but that's it.
Also Freeport has a pretty big problem with crack and meth. I don't live in Freeport but I've been there a handful of times and it seems like almost every other person is missing teeth from ripping on a crack pipe all day!
Haha that wouldn't surprise me. So many small cities/towns have that issue.
false information lmaooooo
Well I am from here the issue isn’t crack or meth half of these people can’t afford healthcare the wages are low housing is high.... yeah there are drugs but every single town I have ever been in I can assume I seen a crack head.... open your eyes before you open your mouth 🙏💪
I don't think that's very fair, I own 2 rental homes in Freeport but I live in Treasure Island Florida,, I didn't see any ""tagging"" at all in Freeport but there's certainly a big drug problem here in Florida!!🌴🥺
I used to live in Rockford and so know Freeport as iv had relatives that used to live there. If you get a chance come to Madison Wisconsin.
Personally, I didn't see much to dislike about Freeport. Many of the factors that affect these small cities aren't local or even state. For decades the national approach has been to export jobs (nafta, China trade policies, etc) and import poor people through inconsistent immigration policies.
I live by freeport i know and recognize everything there
Chris, It's because of the damned pensions that the none profit employees receive in recognition for their less than stellar work ethic
My Dad grew there in the 20's
Drove cab here, for about 7 years. Looks like my old routes. Lol
Douglas advocated for "popular sovereignty": let the states decide whether they should allow slavery. The Southerners didn't like that, they wanted to be able to take their slaves anywhere in the country (that's the basis of the Dred Scott Supreme Court decision). So Douglas lost the support of the South and the Democrats lost to Lincoln. The Civil War followed.
It would be nice to actually see some of the buildings instead of 80% of the street. Good video other then that.
Great video. Freeport is a great town.
Winnebago County is calling out to you now ...
So is Carroll County. 😁
@@glennso47 10 million channel subs in a heartbeat if all the Illinois expats sign-up.
US Census actually later said they undercounted Illinois in the 2020 Census. Instead of a population loss, Illinois now clocks in a 250,000 net gain. Bringing its population up to 13 million for the first time.
I love freeport!!!
I lived in Illinois for one year after undergrad before moving back to my home state of Michigan and you trashing Illinois and their property taxes always gives me a laugh and makes me glad to be gone from there.
Sorry dude, your lacking a little on this one.
Didnt go to the east side all, and no parks. No mention of Kelly Springfield either, which killed this town.
They drove pass my dads house lol
Beautiful
I'm from Illinois I left 7 years ago and Freeport was looking really sad use to be a nice place to shop but nothing there anymore just sayin
They shooting like a mf in Freeport now I remember the worst was a fight out there now I know like ten people shot and killed out there