The brutal reality of life in America’s ‘most MISERABLE’ city: Residents of Gary, Indiana – former ‘murder capital of US’ – lay bare horrifying tales of poverty and crime, admitting they’re scared to walk in the street over fears of being robbed or SHOT

• Peter Santenello, 45, a popular YouTuber who is based in the US, visited the city
• He lifted a lid on its harrowing descend from booming to poverty-stricken
• Residents described being terrified to walk alone out of fear of being shot

A travel blogger has captured the stark realities of what it’s really like to live in Gary, Indiana – a city that has the country’s lowest life expectancy and one of the highest homicide rates.

Peter Santenello, 45, a popular YouTuber who is based in the US, recently took a trip to the infamous area – which flourished in the ’50s after it became home to the biggest steel mill in the world, but slowly transformed into a hotbed of crime and poverty, even being branded as the ‘murder capital of the US’ during the ’90s.

He laid bare the area’s quick rise to a booming town that produced iron ore for buildings all across America – as well as its harrowing descent to one of the most dangerous places to live after the industrial revolution stripped it of its importance.

He spoke to residents who described being terrified to walk down the streets at night out of fear of being robbed – or even shot – and showcased an array of decaying buildings and abandoned homes, raising the question of how the once-bustling city that was the home to over 200,000 people turned into a vessel of drugs, violence, and murder, which now has a population of a mere 69,000.

A travel blogger has captured the stark realities of what it’s really like to live in Gary, Indiana – a city that has the country’s lowest life expectancy and one of the highest homicide rates

Peter Santenello, 45, a popular YouTuber who is based in the US, recently took a trip to the infamous area and documented it on his YouTube channel

He explained how it flourished in the ’50s after it became home to the biggest steel mill in the world, but transformed into a place of crime and poverty during the ’90s

He spoke to residents who described being terrified to walk down the streets out of fear of being robbed – or shot – and showcased an array of decaying buildings and abandoned homes

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Y2Kh1njdXJU%3Frel%3D0

The city – located along the Southern shore of Lake Michigan, about 45 minutes from Chicago – first came into existence in 1906, when the Gary Works Steel Mill was opened, which was the ‘biggest steel mill in the world’ at the time.

The factory ‘pumped in’ money for the area and created tens of thousands of jobs – but everything changed in the ’70s when the country started importing steel from overseas instead.

‘In 1970, there were 30,000 workers at the plant, the biggest in the world at one time. But by 1990, there were only 6,000 workers, and now I believe there are even less,’ Peter explained in a video shared to his YouTube account earlier this month.

‘You’d think by its proximity to Chicago, being near the lake, that it probably has a strong future.

‘But Gary is now the city with the lowest life expectancy in the United States. It also has one of the highest homicide rates.

‘Gary’s life expectancy is on average 71.4 years. The top in the country is 84.7 years, that being in Newtown, Massachusetts. 

‘A lot of that has to do with economics, environment, gun violence. Gary’s not doing so good in that department unfortunately.’

One unnamed man who grew up in Gary reflected on how much it has changed to Peter, explaining that ‘it was really good back in the day.’

The city – located along the Southern shore of Lake Michigan , about 45 minutes from Chicago – first came into existence in 1906, when the Gary Works Steel Mill was opened

Peter lifted a lid on the area’s quick rise – as well as its harrowing descend to one of the most dangerous places to live. An abandoned church in the town is seen

One unnamed man who grew up in Gary reflected on how much it has changed, explaining that ‘it was really good back in the day’

‘The mill was the biggest money maker here. The industrial revolution hit and everything changed after that,’ he explained. ‘Things went down, crime came in’

‘It was middle class. There were working facilities. People working, white collar, blue collar, you know, status quo,’ he recalled. 

‘It was a good environment, but as time went on and things decayed, people moved out, businesses [closed], the whole menagerie. 

‘The mill was the biggest money maker here – oil, coal, steel, it changed the world. The industrial revolution hit and everything changed after that.

‘Things went down. And like with any other place, crime comes in – you always got something to fill the void of what goes out.’

A woman who owns a local clothing boutique in Gary warned Peter to ‘be careful’ about who he approached.

‘Some people… Be careful. There’s some people that are crazy out here. They could have a gun,’ she said.

When asked if people openly carry guns there, she added, ‘Yeah, kids even walk in stores with them.’ 

One woman who used to own a grocery store named Beverly, 65, said she was often terrified that the local kids ‘might pull out a gun’ if she said the wrong thing, and advised against walk the streets alone at night.

‘When I moved here in 1982 there was no drugs. The [community members] slept with their doors open. The violence was here but it wasn’t like it is now,’ she added.

A woman who owns a local clothing boutique in Gary warned Peter to ‘be careful’ about who he approached. She said, ‘There’s some people that are crazy out here. They could have a gun’

One woman who used to own a grocery store named Beverly, 65, said she was often terrified that the local kids ‘might pull out a gun’ if she said the wrong thing

‘In Gary, you gotta watch your back,’ another resident warned. ‘When you go into a store, you gotta watch your purse. Pick pocketers, they stole from me I don’t know how many times’

‘In Gary, you gotta watch your back,’ another resident warned. ‘When you go into a store, you gotta watch your purse. 

‘They’ll follow you around the store to see what you got. Pick pocketers, stuff like that. They stole from me I don’t know how many times.’

Back in 1993, the Chicago Tribune reported that Gary had become the ‘murder capital of the nation.’

It had a record 110 killings that year, which gave it a murder rate of 91 per 100,000 residents – the highest in the country at the time. 

As of 2019, the murder rate had dropped to 76.3 per 100,000 people, which is still extremely high compared to the national murder rate of five per 100,000 people.

The city is famous for being the birthplace of the late singer Michael Jackson and his siblings – something the residents are extremely proud of.

His dad, Joe Jackson, worked in the steel mill and while the school he attended is no longer open due to a boiler problem, it’s become a historical landmark.

While much of the city is filled with deterioration, Peter was stunned to find that there’s one area on the outskirts along the lake that’s filled with multi-million dollar homes and even a Hard Rock hotel and casino.

Back in 1993, the Chicago Tribune reported that Gary had become the ‘murder capital of the nation.’ It’s seen recently in Peter’s video

It had a record 110 killings that year, which gave it a murder rate of 91 per 100,000 residents – the highest in the country at the time. As of 2019, the it dropped to 76.3 per 100,000 people

The city is famous for being the birthplace of the late singer Michael Jackson and his siblings – something the residents are extremely proud of. The school he attended as a child is seen

While much of the city is deteriorating, Peter was stunned to find that there’s one area on the outskirts along the lake that’s filled with multi-million dollar homes and a Hard Rock casino

In addition, he noted that Gary Works Steel Mill (seen behind Peter) is still operating and is currently the biggest steel factory in North America

‘There’s so much life next to so much decay. Maybe that’s the story of Gary,’ he said. ‘It feels like it’s in a time standstill. I don’t think there’s anything like this, this is a very unique town’

‘There’s so much life next to so much decay. Maybe that’s the story of Gary,’ he said.

In addition, he noted that Gary Works Steel Mill is still operating and is currently the biggest steel factory in North America. 

‘Gary has got a lot of different feelings. It’s got the feeling of decay but also old world charm,’ Peter reflected after his visit. 

‘There’s a depth and energy here. It feels like it’s in a time standstill. I don’t think there’s anything like this, this is a very unique town.

‘Gary, you can’t really put a label on it. It has a lot of old world feel, time seemed to slow down there. It felt like it was removed from everything else.’

He also noted that everyone he interviewed was ‘open-armed and easy to talk to,’ despite its terrible ‘reputation.’ 

‘It has a bad reputation but look at my day today, just going up and talking to people, everyone’s been cool,’ he concluded.

‘There’s definitely edge here, I’m not gonna deny that, there’s some roughness to the place, but even in one of the top three cities of homicide, you can still come in here and talk to the people and they open up. 

‘The vast majority of people here in Gary are great, hardworking people getting through life. 

‘There are definitely some bad apples, I got some looks that said, like, don’t even try to bring that camera around me.

‘The main story of Gary is a town that’s lost a lot of its population and a lot of its jobs. Is it at rock bottom or has it already rebounded a little? Does it have more down to go? I don’t know.’

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