Poor Mc Keesport, my brother and I were homeless back in the late 80s, even though we weren't from there they took us in. The old YMCA had a shelter program and they took care of us. We ate at a soup kitchen called The Intersection, wonderful people. We also were fed at the Salvation Army. I want to thank the awesome people in Mc Keesport for all they did for us. This video breaks my heart to see it this way. God bless you Mc Keesport. ❤❤❤🌹
I'm a senior citizen and I was born in McKeesport. My folks moved to the Midwest when I was 8 years old. The steel and coal mining industries were booming. The people worked hard but they were very proud and they enjoyed good times too. It was a true American spirit back then. Now it is heartbreake America. Thanks for the video. It is so surreal looking.
I too was born in McKeesport as were my 5 older brothers and sisters. After moving to Calif in '57 we would take trips as I still had family there. This just brings tears to my eyes. Why, after steel and coal left did the state not try and help. It is truly a tragedy
Aunt Dot and Uncle Roy lived in Vandergrift, Pa. They owned their own nice home, and bought a brand new car every two years, Roy a big man, a union member worked for the steel mill there. Dorothy stayed home and took care of the garden that occupied the entire back yard, canning the produce every fall. Dot and Roy were happy it was their American dream fun-filled, Roy retired with a pention and he and Dorthy were able to travel visit relatives wayout in California, There both gone now, but they lived a good life they were happy married over 50 years, owned their own home on an 8th grade education, The lived their American dream, It's obviously over now.
Paul Harvey warned about back when he was on the radio. Any country that gives up manufacturing will slowly lose it’s wealth. Money flowing out, not in
US Steele, which was the main production in this area, has plants all over the U.S. It's strange, they didn't keep one manufacturing plant in this area, but headquarters are in Pittsburgh. Nothing in this country makes sense.
My ex hometown has fallen into ruins. This is sad for McKeesport but the entire Mon Valley into West Virginia and Ohio. Once so proud to make the world steel and pipe coal mines railroads barges and tons of small business down to nothing. What's even worse it will never come back and a generation won't even know it ever existed.
@bbernard1981 It's just how capitalism works. Mainly it's about you want the cheaper product, so they shut down in the US and get the stuff made overseas
@ICE STATION ZEBRA ASSOCIATES why does everything have to be the job of the government ? Those people have arms and legs its their responsibility to do something for themselves.
Back in the days of the steel mills and Westinghouse, this town was bustling and it was the place to go shopping. After the 1970’s and the collapse of the mills, that was the beginning of the end for McKeesport along with several other towns. It’s actually a shame.
These crumbling cities/neighborhoods surround Pittsburgh in every direction. Braddock, Ambridge, Homewood, Clairton, East Pittsburgh, Swissvale, most of Penn Hills, Alliquippa…. It’s crazy how there was a real opportunity to save and renovate these homes decades ago for affordable housing, but that would have made ethical sense and not money…
I, am going to RaisE, my own Chickens, SOON!!, just got home from store, with dozen eggs! , put a heat lamp on them, , any week now,,,, 3:14 - I can fix that right post, & have a great home to love!!🥰🥰 3:48 - Upside DWN world , I, currently live in a desert City !, we have a *-zero-* water future! YET! , none of that HERE, but IT should be! ZERO water,,
Sad. My father grew up there. If these houses had been maintained they would be fine places to live because a lot of care and pride went into building them. The wood craftsmanship was quite good when they were built in the 1910s and 1920s.
Thank you for posting! I spent a decade in Pittsburgh and loved driving through these neighborhoods (McKeesport, Braddock, Ambridge)…thinking about how life was simpler, people had jobs and owning a home was an attainable reality if you were willing to work. My wife’s grandmother was the lead nurse at McKeesport hospital several decades ago. So many buildings and homes are just past the point of any return in these towns dotted all around Pittsburgh.
Thanks for sharing this video. I was born in McKeesport. Sorry to see this happened. I remember when the steel mills shut down. Many people lost everything.
What a shame. Some of those houses are huge, and I can only imagine how beautiful there were back 100 years ago. All the fine craftmanship, and many are different and unique. Unlike the cookie cutter developments they build now days.
I remember McKeesport was the place to go in the 70s, it was a nice town. I was even born @ McKeesport hospital and delivered the “Daily News” as a boy. Used to be able to ride the train to downtown Pittsburgh. We moved to a farm in WV about 25 years ago but was there a cpl months ago for my father in laws passing. Man things have really changed☹️ They are still working on that hospital parking garage though lol🤷♂️
It’s the shadows of what use to be. It looks like at one time it was a Norman Rockwell painting kind of town and now it looks apocalyptic. Too sad, people can’t even go back home to reminisce and visit favorite spots or restaurants. It’s all gone!
Very true. Used to go down with my dad or uncles, and they would give me a buck to go get a "Skyscraper cone" from Isley's and buy some comic books. They went off to the barber, butcher or wherever (also the tavern for a 'shot-n-beer' of course!). You were told to meet them at the car at # time. Otherwise, you were free as a kid, wandering around the city of McKeesport. Almost zero crime, upkept and clean (except for the smoke and smells from the mills). It went from a paradise to a pit.
@@matthewhudson5685 people had work and they all knew each other… if a kid did something bad, the neighborhood would be the eyes of the parents… the churches and police were part of the community.
I was born and raised here, left 45 years ago, haven't been back in 15 years after burying my dad. Seemed to begin going downhill just after the railroad was rerouted from the center of town. Thanks for the video.
This is a microcosm of the whole Mon(Monongahela)Valley. I live in Homestead where we were told the Waterfront shopping complex which was built on the site of the old US Steel plant would revitalize the town. All I can say is ....NO. The Waterfront supplies some low wage retail jobs which allows those workers to barely make their rent, but it didn't revitalize anything. Dying neighborhoods in a dying country.
@@benthomas4080 Nail and wig shops, a payday loan joint, second hand furniture stores, beer distributor, and a convenience store/gas station are not signs of revitalization. They are a symptom of decay. There were 3 or 4 nail and wig stores all of which probably received government small business loans/grants. Most are now closed and the government money went who knows where. Most of the remodeled buildings were done the same way, government money, not individuals making an honest investment in the community. Either tax write offs, government grant schemes, or outright fraud is involved with most of the so-called revitalization.
@@manchesterexplorer8519 Probably not. If you youtube barber shops they are or can be some good barbers in them places who are like artist who cut hair. People like to hang out and see whats going on in them places
In the 1950's and 1960's, Mckeesport came very close to rivaling downtown Pittsburgh as a great place to shop for just about everything. It was the downtown of the Mon-Valley that stretched for miles. Jobs were plentiful and it's population was primarily middle class with a very strong work ethic and personal pride. Our government, national and local, has failed in it's efforts and interests to keep towns like this afloat, as these towns were the backbone of the American culture. We can't turn the clock backwards, but we can turn it forward to make certain that it gets adequate funding to rebuild. Instead of funding depleted areas of our country with free government benefits and medical care, why not use that money and more to provide jobs for the citizens of these forgotten towns to rebuild their own city ? There's plenty of work and plenty of talent in these areas to get the work done, and it would most certainly create a strong bond and comradery with it's people. I have many friends and relatives in McKeesport and I know they would welcome a proposal as such with open arms and hearts !
Who is to pay for that? Warsaw, Virginia?, West Lafayette, Indiana?, Lorton, Oklahoma? What happened in Mckeesport was US Steel split town. Now you need a new way to maintain. Something of value. Think about what Mckeesport can do to generate millions a week.
It's the same story with just about every american city . Started to go downhill around mid 1980's and slowly getting worse to the point to where were at . Imagine what's in store in just another 10 short years .
A city is nothing if it doesn't produce anything people and the world is willing to buy. This is what happens when you send your factories overseas and rely on the petrodollar printing press to fund imports and consumption. What America has been lacking is a sense of nationalism, allowing corporations to escape to low-wage areas of the world instead of maintaining the idea that the purpose of the economy is fundamentally to serve the American people. Greetings from Europe!
It was a much different place in the 60s. I grew up in 10th ward...it was the 2nd largest city In Allegheny County after Pittsburgh. A once thriving downtown is no longer. I pray for it to be restored and saved for future generations...
It's sad to see what has become of this beautiful looking town. And so much work was put into the building of the infrastructure, houses and buildings. What a waste. I feel sorry for the people that live there.
Every first world nation needs a very stong heavy and medium manufacturing tax base. Fast food jobs/retail menial jobs were never to be a career and support a family.
Wow. A few years back on a road trip we got lost close to that area and stopped to ask for directions (this was before gps directions were common). The person we asked told us "whatever you do, don't go to McKeesport " and sounded so ominous we heeded his warning. Now i see why. Sad place.
Modern day ghost mining town. Just like when ore is mined out, the town dies. Just like when the jobs die out, the town dies. The wealth this community raised all went offshore. Sad. In my lifetime. Sadder yet.
so what people do there? like i see some nice looking cars near some houses, is there like some local factory nearby where everyone works or ? i cant imagine a successful like bar or anything there with so little people and even then how many people can work there..
It was a few years ago that my job moved me to PA and I drove through here. Man was it odd. Parts of it looked like it was decent at one time but I couldn’t believe the amount of crime associated with that area.
All of my people on my mom's side are from McKeesport and across the river in Dravosburg. These areas were hit hard when the mills closed down, but I remember back in the 70's when we'd visit my grandmother there with the familiar smells of burning coal and steel in the air. Most all moved away, my family moved furthest, first to the East Coast in Boston, and finally to Colorado. Each time we returned for a visit, the ongoing decay was just heartbreaking. My mom told me of trolleys that used to run, that you could go almost anywhere in the Pittsburgh area for just a nickel. Some of the tracks are still there, so long as they and the cobblestone roads around them weren't simply paved over. She grew up in a more hopeful time, a time of growth and wonder. Although the decay and waste came to this area first, it is certainly moving apace in other cities around the country now. The glory days, if there ever were those, are certainly over.
It's crazy seeing those buildings consumed by the kudzu. It seems between the crime, the lack of work, and the kudzu, that town's greatness is lost and nothing but a memory.
Probably what happened to.my hometown of Johnstown. Steel mills closed with the mines. No jobs and a great little city went down hill. Breaks my heart to see it now. .
Johnstowne PA used to be a great place back in the day no crime mills are gone talk to a young person from Darnestown just the other day 19 years old and he told me section 8 took over in the thugs from Philadelphia moved in and took the city over and run it I also was American Polish dissent and it definitely was the place to be to have a good time back in the day I wanted to Slovak club into the Polish Falcons up on the West End for that ain’t no more like it used to be
I was born there in the late fifties and my Father told me many stories of how nice it was. He’s 86 now and I still enjoy hearing his stories of Johnstown. My Grandmother died in the flood of 1977.
@@r.pres.4121 Niagara will turn around in my opinion though. Just as buffalo has made pretty good strides. I went to Niagara university , and Niagara Falls was super interesting to me.
One of my college house-mates in the 1980s was from McKeesport. He said it was a blue-collar town that was getting run-down at the heels. This is what happens when wood-frame houses get older and need repairs but the people that live there can't afford it. Also, landlords don't fix them because they won't bring in high enough rents even when fixed up. Adding to the problem is that the PIttsburgh area isn't growing.
This whole town is run down, but you can bet there are far more many towns in PA that are in that state as well. Some of them either need to be restored or just tear down what's left of it like they did in Centralia in 1990. It's going to take much more than the local governments to clean up and restore McKeesport, it's going to take the community in general to bring it back.
ive always wanted to see that full rowhome in the beginning thanks, also the burnt building burnt down recently, and the area known as the 3rd ward had alot of dilapidated homes, which got demolished.
Sadly, this film could be from any of thousands of communities in the USA. There is a lot of blame to spread around. Partly our system of private education has failed. Colleges now teach MBAs that an efficient well-run company doesn’t exist, rather each quarter profits must always increase. Too many corporations have been wrecked by this philosophy. Low property taxes permit the wealthy to buy real estate and hold the property unused for decades as an investment, rather than it being sold at an affordable price to a working family who’d live in the house. High crime forces families to flee bad neighborhoods. The current drug epidemic is a huge problem.
I live in Australia, and don't know the U S, but looking at this city, there's a lot of greenspace; Nice trees along the streets. It must have been really nice place before it became so derelict and deserted. The homes look like they were very well built, and probably worth a lot of money.
I was born at Allegheny general and lived in Bellevue till we moved to Butler .My Dad took on Sunday drives thru all of Pittsburgh.Some of my best memories .He had stories of his childhood on almost every other street . This is awful .God help this city .
Used to be Bethlehem and US Steel along the Monongahela River there. The plant workers could walk to work in 10 minutes. Stop at the tavern on the way home. Get home hours later. Repeat.
Nah. It's easier to wash the only way you have to get to work (see any bus stops or route signs?) than it is to rehab a house you're renting on the cheap.
Born at Mckeesport General Hospital in 1947. Used to go down town and had to watch for the trains that went through center of town. Went to Balsimoes (spelling?) to shop. Spent a lot of time at Renziehausen park as a kid. All the big steel worker picnics and had to go the night before , gather the picnic tables and actually sleep on them so the tables would still be in the same place the next day. Steel mills closed, hard working taxpayers...Germans, English, Welsh and all the ethnic groups from Western Europe moved out and the welfare queens, Section 8 losers moved in. What did you expect?
This is so ironical. We have california exodus and miami homes are now unaffordable. Whereas we got areas like this along the rust belt... So sad. Seems like time and nature just reclaimed everything. Hopefully manufacturing industries will once again thrive... but actually it won't.
Infrastructure (underground utilities) is relatively cheap to install in new housing. When the infrastructure is old, it costs a fortune to dig up and replace or repair. Utilities delivered by autonomous vehicle will allow the option of staying almost anywhere, with less need to live near work, school, or other people in general.
I am sorry to say , its going to get worse . there is no money in Mckeesport any more . this was one of the Finest Cities in Western Pennsylvania . Believe me ! It is very sad to see it in this way . They say history and time repeat themselves .
At one time, McKeesport was considered a competitor to Pittsburgh. It had everything and anything. From cinemas, restaurants, tailors, bakers, etc., etc. You could go there and get anything you needed in one day. And all within a few blocks of walking. It was a hub of activity. Now, nothing is left, and you risk your life going there
Visited McKeesport for a funeral (dad grew up there) in 1990 and after a few minutes of driving through it, I turned to my dad and told him he was lucky his dad moved their family out of that place in the late 60's.
Apparently, McKeesport does not have the money for a bulldozer and demolition crew - and maybe the city bylaws have no legal process for dealing with abandoned properties that are magnets for crime. My own little town is on a decades long slide from a peak population of ~ 7,500 to our current population of ~ 5,800. Every year our city budget has a provision for the demolition and removal of maybe 6 to 8 abandoned properties. The problem is that there is still close to 270 unoccupied homes, so it is a slow process.
theres an alleyway called tube works alley and theres a purple house on it and if you go to the side of it you an see that a large chunk of the house is collapsed, i have photos of it
In the 60s, every Saturday without fail the entire family went to McKeesport to shop. Both sides of the street downtown hardly had room to walk on for all the shoppers. Isaly’s had the best chipped ham. Skapik’s, Jaison’s , GC Murphy and on and on. Porky Chedwick on WAMO radio station, Terry Lee on WMCK. The Palisades had Studio wrestling on TV(remember Bruno Sammartino, Crusher Lasoski, etc?). The town jumped.
I have Wilkinsburg up right now on the channel. The other ones I will be doing very soon plus some others in that area in the near future. Thanks for watching!
In the 90s, imported things were promised to be cheaper. They were for a while. These days, its not uncommon to see major brands making, for example, shoes in Indonesia and charging more than American made. Crazy times we live in.
What the hell happened - Big Steel vacated. My father's oldest brother lived in McK's and worked for US Steel beginning in the 1940's at peak population, now down 60+%. Pictures of his house on the hill show that it was neat and trim, the downtown streets were bustling and the mills went on for a mile. But that was a couple of life times ago. 🤠
Politicians ruined Pittsburgh and the Mills could not compete with cheap foreign steel my family lived in West Mifflin and my Grandfather and uncles worked at the Homestead plant also had family in Braddock plant they all retired before the plants closed
I did a Bicycle trip a few years ago.On the Great Allegheny Passage Bike trail. Rode my Bike from Mckeesport to Washinton D.C. great ride. I live in NJ. I took the train to Pittsburgh, got off the train at 12pm. Stayed in a hotel overnight. I couldn't wait to get started. All by myself . I found my way down to Mckeesport , found the start of the trail. let the journey begin.
Some of those little block buildings with big doors manufactured war materiel, mostly small steel parts such as bootlace eyes, belt parts, M1 clips, grenade handles, mess kits, jeep door hinges, you name it.
They ran the industry out of McKeesport, out of Pittsburgh and out of America. I witnessed them doing just that. I saw the labor union thugs murdering plant managers who tried crossing the picket lines. There is still a US Steel plant in nearby Clairton and they are trying to run that one out, too, claiming that it is harming air quality.
I was in diapers then and we lived in Munhall but my grandfather that worked at JL Steel on Second Avenue said it was the greedy unions always wanting more that killed the steel industry in Pittsburgh and the surrounding area.
My last name is McKee and I heard all the stories about how the family founded McKeesport back in the day. Having been raised in the Midwest, I had never been there. In 2008 my wife and children and I were going to visit one of the wife's family members that had moved to a smallish PA town about an hour and a half out of McKeesport. I was finally getting to go see McKeesport for myself. It was fairly sad to see the houses rotting away. I could tell that some of the old structures would've been grand estates back in their day. Pretty sure I drove down some of those streets in this video.
I’m a McKee also. Would love to know more history on the namesake in PA. I’ve also heard that my family established Buck county..wanting to find out more.
Poor Mc Keesport, my brother and I were homeless back in the late 80s, even though we weren't from there they took us in. The old YMCA had a shelter program and they took care of us. We ate at a soup kitchen called The Intersection, wonderful people. We also were fed at the Salvation Army. I want to thank the awesome people in Mc Keesport for all they did for us. This video breaks my heart to see it this way. God bless you Mc Keesport. ❤❤❤🌹
God bless you Misha!
That was really nice of you to share that. I wish u & your the best.
Wow really
That is so wonderful thank you for sharing that story. And I’m hoping you and your brother recovered quickly and got on your feet
Are there programs like that now? Are there still many homeless people? More or fewer since then???
I'm a senior citizen and I was born in McKeesport. My folks moved to the Midwest when I was 8 years old. The steel and coal mining industries were booming. The people worked hard but they were very proud and they enjoyed good times too. It was a true American spirit back then. Now it is heartbreake America. Thanks for the video. It is so surreal looking.
I too was born in McKeesport as were my 5 older brothers and sisters. After moving to Calif in '57 we would take trips as I still had family there. This just brings tears to my eyes. Why, after steel and coal left did the state not try and help. It is truly a tragedy
Aunt Dot and Uncle Roy lived in Vandergrift, Pa. They owned their own nice home, and bought a brand new car every two years, Roy a big man, a union member worked for the steel mill there. Dorothy stayed home and took care of the garden that occupied the entire back yard, canning the produce every fall. Dot and Roy were happy it was their American dream fun-filled, Roy retired with a pention and he and Dorthy were able to travel visit relatives wayout in California, There both gone now, but they lived a good life they were happy married over 50 years, owned their own home on an 8th grade education, The lived their American dream, It's obviously over now.
Yeah that breaks my heart that’s the way it used to be work hard and enjoy later. Now people are lucky to retire with enough to rent a closet sadly
La thuis están rota
@@DarhaLB sounds like somebody l KNOW.
People will believe anything. I also have an Aunt Dot and Uncle Roy. What a small world.
I lived out in Vandergrift for a few years. The people I knew out there didn't have much, but they were able to get by and were happy.
Paul Harvey warned about back when he was on the radio. Any country that gives up manufacturing will slowly lose it’s wealth. Money flowing out, not in
Ross Perot said similar
It wasn't the country,it was greedy corporations.
I remember that.
"...and the name of the town, McKeesport Pennsylvania. Now you know the rest of the story."
Except that the us has the highest gdp by far. I know what you are saying though.
When will our country open it's eyes. We have sold our manufacturing souls to other countries. Now we are so dependent😞....
Correct!
Once upon a time just about everything was made in Philadelphia: from shoes, tools to locomotives.
Same thing with these sad dead towns.
US Steele, which was the main production in this area, has plants all over the U.S. It's strange, they didn't keep one manufacturing plant in this area, but headquarters are in Pittsburgh. Nothing in this country makes sense.
Looking 4 cheap labour
@@theirmom4723 nothing make sense yet visa r hard 2 get
It’s all being done deliberately, it’s all by design for the great reset.
My ex hometown has fallen into ruins. This is sad for McKeesport but the entire Mon Valley into West Virginia and Ohio. Once so proud to make the world steel and pipe coal mines railroads barges and tons of small business down to nothing. What's even worse it will never come back and a generation won't even know it ever existed.
Oh well lol
this is what happens in a town where manufacturing is sent overseas.
@bbernard1981 It's just how capitalism works. Mainly it's about you want the cheaper product, so they shut down in the US and get the stuff made overseas
All the idleness sitting around on the porches, they should get together and clean up their neighborhood. No pride amongst those people.
@ICE STATION ZEBRA ASSOCIATES why does everything have to be the job of the government ? Those people have arms and legs its their responsibility to do something for themselves.
Así hicieron todos los países latinoamericanos
Same mess in the UK as in the US , people need to start putting their foot down and only buy own country goods and make their countries great again ✊🏻
I was born there and lost my job when USS National Tube works closed. That city used to have everything.
Sounds like Butler PA. Pullman Standard closed way back and Butler just got super poor.
Back in the days of the steel mills and Westinghouse, this town was bustling and it was the place to go shopping. After the 1970’s and the collapse of the mills, that was the beginning of the end for McKeesport along with several other towns. It’s actually a shame.
A once thriving community reduced to rubble. That is heartbreaking. This video was hard to watch.
Very hard to watch
These crumbling cities/neighborhoods surround Pittsburgh in every direction. Braddock, Ambridge, Homewood, Clairton, East Pittsburgh, Swissvale, most of Penn Hills, Alliquippa…. It’s crazy how there was a real opportunity to save and renovate these homes decades ago for affordable housing, but that would have made ethical sense and not money…
I, am going to RaisE, my own Chickens, SOON!!, just got home from store, with dozen eggs! , put a heat lamp on them, , any week now,,,,
3:14 - I can fix that right post, & have a great home to love!!🥰🥰
3:48 - Upside DWN world , I, currently live in a desert City !, we have a *-zero-* water future! YET! , none of that HERE, but IT should be! ZERO water,,
Thank God! I finally found a channel without ridiculous, annoying music and no talking! Thank you Hoods N Hollers.
Thanks so much for the comment, best one of the day!
Sad. My father grew up there. If these houses had been maintained they would be fine places to live because a lot of care and pride went into building them. The wood craftsmanship was quite good when they were built in the 1910s and 1920s.
Yes sir that was when they really cared about their work and those are the houses that would’ve lasted with a little upkeep. Soo so sad
Thank you for posting! I spent a decade in Pittsburgh and loved driving through these neighborhoods (McKeesport, Braddock, Ambridge)…thinking about how life was simpler, people had jobs and owning a home was an attainable reality if you were willing to work. My wife’s grandmother was the lead nurse at McKeesport hospital several decades ago. So many buildings and homes are just past the point of any return in these towns dotted all around Pittsburgh.
Thanks for sharing this video. I was born in McKeesport. Sorry to see this happened. I remember when the steel mills shut down. Many people lost everything.
Me too, I'm up here right now for Christmas and I love my city but I'm glad I got out too.
What a shame. Some of those houses are huge, and I can only imagine how beautiful there were back 100 years ago. All the fine craftmanship, and many are different and unique. Unlike the cookie cutter developments they build now days.
I remember McKeesport was the place to go in the 70s, it was a nice town. I was even born @ McKeesport hospital and delivered the “Daily News” as a boy. Used to be able to ride the train to downtown Pittsburgh. We moved to a farm in WV about 25 years ago but was there a cpl months ago for my father in laws passing. Man things have really changed☹️ They are still working on that hospital parking garage though lol🤷♂️
It’s the shadows of what use to be. It looks like at one time it was a Norman Rockwell painting kind of town and now it looks apocalyptic. Too sad, people can’t even go back home to reminisce and visit favorite spots or restaurants. It’s all gone!
LOVE the Norman Rockwell reference...Freaking ROMANTIC for me now 🇨🇦❤🇨🇦
Very true.
Used to go down with my dad or uncles, and they would give me a buck to go get a "Skyscraper cone" from Isley's and buy some comic books.
They went off to the barber, butcher or wherever (also the tavern for a 'shot-n-beer' of course!). You were told to meet them at the car at # time. Otherwise, you were free as a kid, wandering around the city of McKeesport. Almost zero crime, upkept and clean (except for the smoke and smells from the mills).
It went from a paradise to a pit.
@@matthewhudson5685 people had work and they all knew each other… if a kid did something bad, the neighborhood would be the eyes of the parents… the churches and police were part of the community.
@@matthewhudson5685 Your childhood sounds so cool.
😢
I would have really loved to have seen this city town when it was vibrant and full of life
It was decent in the 1970s.
I was born and raised here, left 45 years ago, haven't been back in 15 years after burying my dad. Seemed to begin going downhill just after the railroad was rerouted from the center of town. Thanks for the video.
I live in Pittsburgh PA. A lot of steel plants closed in PGH, maybe that's why
This is a microcosm of the whole Mon(Monongahela)Valley. I live in Homestead where we were told the Waterfront shopping complex which was built on the site of the old US Steel plant would revitalize the town. All I can say is ....NO. The Waterfront supplies some low wage retail jobs which allows those workers to barely make their rent, but it didn't revitalize anything. Dying neighborhoods in a dying country.
Homestead is way better than it was 20 years ago. Almost every building is occupied on the main drag now. Not all boarded up like it used to be
@@benthomas4080 Nail and wig shops, a payday loan joint, second hand furniture stores, beer distributor, and a convenience store/gas station are not signs of revitalization. They are a symptom of decay. There were 3 or 4 nail and wig stores all of which probably received government small business loans/grants. Most are now closed and the government money went who knows where. Most of the remodeled buildings were done the same way, government money, not individuals making an honest investment in the community. Either tax write offs, government grant schemes, or outright fraud is involved with most of the so-called revitalization.
Dying?…
Dead.
@@manchesterexplorer8519 Probably not. If you youtube barber shops they are or can be some good barbers in them places who are like artist who cut hair. People like to hang out and see whats going on in them places
The only thing the shopping complex revitalized was likely the politicians and developers. Shameful.
It is so incredibly sad to think of the many families business owners that lost everything empty shells of what were their lives
Town appears more "car proud" than home proud. You tell me. 😒
I noticed a lot of expensive cars. They have money for that.
Fantastic, share this everywhere so people know whats happening to our country. Thank you so much for this. Cheers.
In the 1950's and 1960's, Mckeesport came very close to rivaling downtown Pittsburgh as a great place to shop for just about everything. It was the downtown of the Mon-Valley that stretched for miles. Jobs were plentiful and it's population was primarily middle class with a very strong work ethic and personal pride. Our government, national and local, has failed in it's efforts and interests to keep towns like this afloat, as these towns were the backbone of the American culture. We can't turn the clock backwards, but we can turn it forward to make certain that it gets adequate funding to rebuild. Instead of funding depleted areas of our country with free government benefits and medical care, why not use that money and more to provide jobs for the citizens of these forgotten towns to rebuild their own city ? There's plenty of work and plenty of talent in these areas to get the work done, and it would most certainly create a strong bond and comradery with it's people. I have many friends and relatives in McKeesport and I know they would welcome a proposal as such with open arms and hearts !
Who is to pay for that? Warsaw, Virginia?, West Lafayette, Indiana?, Lorton, Oklahoma? What happened in Mckeesport was US Steel split town. Now you need a new way to maintain. Something of value. Think about what Mckeesport can do to generate millions a week.
It's the same story with just about every american city . Started to go downhill around mid 1980's and slowly getting worse to the point to where were at . Imagine what's in store in just another 10 short years .
Now how's that working for you.
Thanks the corporate greed for sending jobs to other countries.
A city is nothing if it doesn't produce anything people and the world is willing to buy. This is what happens when you send your factories overseas and rely on the petrodollar printing press to fund imports and consumption. What America has been lacking is a sense of nationalism, allowing corporations to escape to low-wage areas of the world instead of maintaining the idea that the purpose of the economy is fundamentally to serve the American people. Greetings from Europe!
Makes me feel sad seeing all those once beautiful housees just rotting away ... why is this happening to so many towns and city's in the u.s.
It was a much different place in the 60s. I grew up in 10th ward...it was the 2nd largest city In Allegheny County after Pittsburgh. A once thriving downtown is no longer. I pray for it to be restored and saved for future generations...
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I grew up in East McKeesport in the 50s and 60s and always thought McKeesport and the surrounding towns were depressing. But, not this bad!
It's sad to see what has become of this beautiful looking town. And so much work was put into the building of the infrastructure, houses and buildings. What a waste. I feel sorry for the people that live there.
Every first world nation needs a very stong heavy and medium manufacturing tax base. Fast food jobs/retail menial jobs were never to be a career and support a family.
Sad to see these once beautiful homes in such decay. But when the manufacturing moved overseas so many lost their jobs and had to move elsewhere
Same in the uk.
Not in Atlanta, GA
@@amysands8925 no, there is nothing like this in the UK
Wow.
A few years back on a road trip we got lost close to that area and stopped to ask for directions (this was before gps directions were common). The person we asked told us "whatever you do, don't go to McKeesport " and sounded so ominous we heeded his warning. Now i see why.
Sad place.
Modern day ghost mining town. Just like when ore is mined out, the town dies. Just like when the jobs die out, the town dies. The wealth this community raised all went offshore. Sad. In my lifetime. Sadder yet.
Anyone who thinks this town has a chance to come back is delusional! And I grew up there!
There are thousands places like that in Russia
So what happened? It seemed like a nice, quiet, laidback community then..
All they need is a good business to move in that has 500 or more employees in the area would start to thrive again
so what people do there? like i see some nice looking cars near some houses, is there like some local factory nearby where everyone works or ? i cant imagine a successful like bar or anything there with so little people and even then how many people can work there..
@@danasmith1899 Agree but PA has to become a "right to work state in order to incite a large company to come here.
That could be such an awesome place, if people would restore the homes and buildings. The landscape is absolutely gorgeous! ❤️
It's too late. . . Almost all of the homes and buildings are beyond restoration.
It was a few years ago that my job moved me to PA and I drove through here. Man was it odd. Parts of it looked like it was decent at one time but I couldn’t believe the amount of crime associated with that area.
All of my people on my mom's side are from McKeesport and across the river in Dravosburg. These areas were hit hard when the mills closed down, but I remember back in the 70's when we'd visit my grandmother there with the familiar smells of burning coal and steel in the air. Most all moved away, my family moved furthest, first to the East Coast in Boston, and finally to Colorado. Each time we returned for a visit, the ongoing decay was just heartbreaking. My mom told me of trolleys that used to run, that you could go almost anywhere in the Pittsburgh area for just a nickel. Some of the tracks are still there, so long as they and the cobblestone roads around them weren't simply paved over.
She grew up in a more hopeful time, a time of growth and wonder. Although the decay and waste came to this area first, it is certainly moving apace in other cities around the country now. The glory days, if there ever were those, are certainly over.
i feel bad for the few really nice houses among the rest. you can tell someone is working hard to have a decent place to live.
It's crazy seeing those buildings consumed by the kudzu. It seems between the crime, the lack of work, and the kudzu, that town's greatness is lost and nothing but a memory.
Probably what happened to.my hometown of Johnstown. Steel mills closed with the mines. No jobs and a great little city went down hill. Breaks my heart to see it now.
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The exact same thing happened to Niagara Falls NY. The mills and factories closed down and the city decayed and died.
rip johnstown man
Johnstowne PA used to be a great place back in the day no crime mills are gone talk to a young person from Darnestown just the other day 19 years old and he told me section 8 took over in the thugs from Philadelphia moved in and took the city over and run it I also was American Polish dissent and it definitely was the place to be to have a good time back in the day I wanted to Slovak club into the Polish Falcons up on the West End for that ain’t no more like it used to be
I was born there in the late fifties and my Father told me many stories of how nice it was. He’s 86 now and I still enjoy hearing his stories of Johnstown. My Grandmother died in the flood of 1977.
@@r.pres.4121 Niagara will turn around in my opinion though. Just as buffalo has made pretty good strides. I went to Niagara university , and Niagara Falls was super interesting to me.
One of my college house-mates in the 1980s was from McKeesport. He said it was a blue-collar town that was getting run-down at the heels. This is what happens when wood-frame houses get older and need repairs but the people that live there can't afford it. Also, landlords don't fix them because they won't bring in high enough rents even when fixed up. Adding to the problem is that the PIttsburgh area isn't growing.
This whole town is run down, but you can bet there are far more many towns in PA that are in that state as well. Some of them either need to be restored or just tear down what's left of it like they did in Centralia in 1990. It's going to take much more than the local governments to clean up and restore McKeesport, it's going to take the community in general to bring it back.
Sadly, there are towns and cities all over the US like this all due to lost industry.
this is what's happening to almost every city in the USA ... SAD!!!!!
Prayers...
Monopoly
Not in Atlanta, GA
I can't help but to wonder what this area looked like 50, 60, 70 years ago.
ive always wanted to see that full rowhome in the beginning thanks, also the burnt building burnt down recently, and the area known as the 3rd ward had alot of dilapidated homes, which got demolished.
Born in Homestead, my sister born in McKeesport..Grandad worked at Irwin Works..Dad at Westinghouse.
Sad to see.
Sorry for ur loss...
@@pegbundy2874 Well there's still a Kennywood and Steeler team for now.
Sadly, this film could be from any of thousands of communities in the USA. There is a lot of blame to spread around. Partly our system of private education has failed. Colleges now teach MBAs that an efficient well-run company doesn’t exist, rather each quarter profits must always increase. Too many corporations have been wrecked by this philosophy. Low property taxes permit the wealthy to buy real estate and hold the property unused for decades as an investment, rather than it being sold at an affordable price to a working family who’d live in the house. High crime forces families to flee bad neighborhoods. The current drug epidemic is a huge problem.
Sad, coal and steel jobs went away, this is the result.
I live in Australia, and don't know the U S, but looking at this city, there's a lot of greenspace; Nice trees along the streets. It must have been really nice place before it became so derelict and deserted. The homes look like they were very well built, and probably worth a lot of money.
I was born at Allegheny general and lived in Bellevue till we moved to Butler .My Dad took on Sunday drives thru all of Pittsburgh.Some of my best memories .He had stories of his childhood on almost every other street . This is awful .God help this city .
Used to be Bethlehem and US Steel along the Monongahela River there. The plant workers could walk to work in 10 minutes. Stop at the tavern on the way home. Get home hours later. Repeat.
I remember comedian Donna Jean Young who was on the Merv Griffin show in the 60s....the running gag was that she was from East McKeesport, PA.
This is tragic and eerie at the same time.. the history and stories these towns hold.. but what was blurred out in the windows at 12:31 ?
Wow, It was the place every one wanted to live at one time. All I can say is WOW.
Simple, the steel mills closed.
Yup, same thing happened to Gary, Indiana.
wow !! heavy !! MCKeesport is totally demolished !! Any intact houses there ??
I grew up in MCK. when I left there were 55k people and a great place to be. Not so much now. Once steel left, it died. Sorry to see it.
Looks like a mini Detroit
Remarkable how everyone has a shiny car.
Nah. It's easier to wash the only way you have to get to work (see any bus stops or route signs?) than it is to rehab a house you're renting on the cheap.
@@HobDobson I noticed that too. Some expensive pickup trucks too.
Apocalyptic. There are many places like this throughout Pennsylvania. It's surreal how just a few decades ago these towns were booming.
Born at Mckeesport General Hospital in 1947. Used to go down town and had to watch for the trains that went through center of town. Went to Balsimoes (spelling?) to shop. Spent a lot of time at Renziehausen park as a kid. All the big steel worker picnics and had to go the night before , gather the picnic tables and actually sleep on them so the tables would still be in the same place the next day. Steel mills closed, hard working taxpayers...Germans, English, Welsh and all the ethnic groups from Western Europe moved out and the welfare queens, Section 8 losers moved in. What did you expect?
Sad
Exactly!
The Western Europeans could have stayed
Watching before sleep... great video but while I watch the houses I can imagine the happy moments was lived in each one. So, sad too... 🎄
So sad that these once beautiful homes are so damaged. It also amazes me that there are nice cats parked in front of these wrecks.
In uk all trade went overseas. so many people cant get work here now. looks like the same in US sad .
*cars.
i live here its really not that bad some rude people here and there but nothing bad happened to my family in 7 years and schools are really good
This is so ironical. We have california exodus and miami homes are now unaffordable. Whereas we got areas like this along the rust belt... So sad. Seems like time and nature just reclaimed everything. Hopefully manufacturing industries will once again thrive... but actually it won't.
Atlanta and metroatlanta prices went up insanely high too. Cant afford it
The decline of industry is the cause and this town is never coming back.
Do a video on Johnstown, Pa.
Infrastructure (underground utilities) is relatively cheap to install in new housing. When the infrastructure is old, it costs a fortune to dig up and replace or repair. Utilities delivered by autonomous vehicle will allow the option of staying almost anywhere, with less need to live near work, school, or other people in general.
You should do one in my town across the bridge from McKeesport in my town Clairton
People are going to have to start coming together. Brothers and Sisters... we are the solution. Prayers to All in my beloved USA.
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United WE stand, divided WE fall…
You are so right! We must save OUR Country from ourselves. So much hate… ❤️ 🙏🏻 🇺🇸
I am sorry to say , its going to get worse . there is no money in Mckeesport any more . this was one of the Finest Cities in Western Pennsylvania . Believe me ! It is very sad to see it in this way . They say history and time repeat themselves .
I lived at the Auberle home for boys in the 70's , And I enjoyed going downtown to see a show . I used to take the PAT Train to Pittsburgh .
I was born in McKeesport,it's actually a nice place.I love the Foodland and the area .I grew up in Elizabeth twp.a few miles away.
I can just imagine them in their glory.....The pround Elders that built these for their families
At one time, McKeesport was considered a competitor to Pittsburgh. It had everything and anything. From cinemas, restaurants, tailors, bakers, etc., etc.
You could go there and get anything you needed in one day. And all within a few blocks of walking. It was a hub of activity.
Now, nothing is left, and you risk your life going there
I noticed on a lot of the doors of houses red and white signage. Were they notices of a condemned building?
Yes that’s what they are.
@@hoodsnhollers so sad, those houses would have been so beautiful back in the day. Now just hollow shells.
The opening shot looks like a bomb went off!
What a sad town!
Visited McKeesport for a funeral (dad grew up there) in 1990 and after a few minutes of driving through it, I turned to my dad and told him he was lucky his dad moved their family out of that place in the late 60's.
Apparently, McKeesport does not have the money for a bulldozer and demolition crew - and maybe the city bylaws have no legal process for dealing with abandoned properties that are magnets for crime. My own little town is on a decades long slide from a peak population of ~ 7,500 to our current population of ~ 5,800. Every year our city budget has a provision for the demolition and removal of maybe 6 to 8 abandoned properties. The problem is that there is still close to 270 unoccupied homes, so it is a slow process.
My mind can't comprehend what I just saw. This is the most terrifying waking nightmare I've ever been haunted by.
I'm stunned.
Check out Naples, Santa belle island. Ft Myers’s beach, Cape Coral, and more all along sw Florida coast. Destroyed.
Some of those houses look really old, lovely wilderness areas. Great place for a tiny house, sections are probably a good price. 😊🌻
Yes but it's dangerous.
theres an alleyway called tube works alley and theres a purple house on it and if you go to the side of it you an see that a large chunk of the house is collapsed, i have photos of it
In the 60s, every Saturday without fail the entire family went to McKeesport to shop. Both sides of the street downtown hardly had room to walk on for all the shoppers. Isaly’s had the best chipped ham. Skapik’s, Jaison’s , GC Murphy and on and on. Porky Chedwick on WAMO radio station, Terry Lee on WMCK. The Palisades had Studio wrestling on TV(remember Bruno Sammartino, Crusher Lasoski, etc?). The town jumped.
Try doing one on New Kensington or Lower Burrell or Vandergrift or Wilkinsburg or Holiday Park
I have Wilkinsburg up right now on the channel. The other ones I will be doing very soon plus some others in that area in the near future. Thanks for watching!
My grandparents lived in 1858 McNary Boulevard their house was up on a hill some of the best memories of my life there
@@hoodsnhollers Thank you for Wilkinsburg! My husband's family was there for 3 generations. It used to be a wonderful place
I would have loved to see it back then!
In the 90s, imported things were promised to be cheaper. They were for a while. These days, its not uncommon to see major brands making, for example, shoes in Indonesia and charging more than American made. Crazy times we live in.
What the hell happened - Big Steel vacated.
My father's oldest brother lived in McK's and worked for US Steel beginning in the 1940's at peak population, now down 60+%.
Pictures of his house on the hill show that it was neat and trim, the downtown streets were bustling and the mills went on for a mile.
But that was a couple of life times ago. 🤠
What was the name of the Buick dealership in McKeesport Pennsylvania back in the 50s and 60s Jerry Mcdonogh
It is very sad to see what has happened to this suburb. It looks terrible.
I remember when I live there, I was happy.But I am happier that my parents return to NY.What happen to McKee sport is unforgiveable.
I used to work at the Dish Network call center in McKeesport back in 2005. Even then the town gave me the creeps.
Politicians ruined Pittsburgh and the Mills could not compete with cheap foreign steel my family lived in West Mifflin and my Grandfather and uncles worked at the Homestead plant also had family in Braddock plant they all retired before the plants closed
The Edgar Thompson plant in Braddock is still there and working.
What a shame! I had a distant family lived there on 33rd street. He was a guard at the steel mill.
I did a Bicycle trip a few years ago.On the Great Allegheny Passage Bike trail. Rode my Bike from Mckeesport to Washinton D.C. great ride. I live in NJ. I took the train to Pittsburgh, got off the train at 12pm. Stayed in a hotel overnight. I couldn't wait to get started. All by myself . I found my way down to Mckeesport , found the start of the trail. let the journey begin.
My mother was born in MKP and I visited last year. Yep, Pretty dire.
I grew up in McKeesport. 72-85 .1210 maple st off of Versailles Ave across from the cemetery .
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Some of those little block buildings with big doors manufactured war materiel, mostly small steel parts such as bootlace eyes, belt parts, M1 clips, grenade handles, mess kits, jeep door hinges, you name it.
I live in a town that is going to.The houses are so old people cannot keep the upkeep them.
They ran the industry out of McKeesport, out of Pittsburgh and out of America. I witnessed them doing just that. I saw the labor union thugs murdering plant managers who tried crossing the picket lines. There is still a US Steel plant in nearby Clairton and they are trying to run that one out, too, claiming that it is harming air quality.
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I was in diapers then and we lived in Munhall but my grandfather that worked at JL Steel on Second Avenue said it was the greedy unions always wanting more that killed the steel industry in Pittsburgh and the surrounding area.
My last name is McKee and I heard all the stories about how the family founded McKeesport back in the day. Having been raised in the Midwest, I had never been there. In 2008 my wife and children and I were going to visit one of the wife's family members that had moved to a smallish PA town about an hour and a half out of McKeesport. I was finally getting to go see McKeesport for myself. It was fairly sad to see the houses rotting away. I could tell that some of the old structures would've been grand estates back in their day. Pretty sure I drove down some of those streets in this video.
I’m a McKee also. Would love to know more history on the namesake in PA. I’ve also heard that my family established Buck county..wanting to find out more.
Dang, That's a rough looking area. Oh gosh the buildings are so worn down that it is hard to watch almost.
A friend of mine grew up here. Crazy to see the reality of it.
My mother was born in McKeesport in 1915 she would tell us about how nice it was, her family moved to Michigan when she was about 15 .
Great content as usual. What was that first block you were on?