Gary Indiana - Historic Midtown
Gary is interesting. Some people are just vaguely aware of the problems in Gary, myself included. The center of the Debate often focuses on establishing who is at fault, without ever fixing the problems. Whether they are failures from within the Gary community, or from outside. I tend to recognize that there are serious problems within Gary, but that they tend to be dwarfed in comparison to the effect the external causes have had on the community. If what I have experienced in East Chicago is any measure than I can easily see what the residents of Gary are up against.
“Gary once held the promise of being the mecca of black america. In my mind, although the dream is tarished, the hope has somewhat faded and the peoples’ reslience has been tested, the promise is still there.”
- Bryan K. Bullock
I write a lot about East Chicago, because I am here. I am not originally from here. I got caught by my shock that America completely fails to operate here, and that some of America’s backbone industries (Steel & Oil) depend and manufacture that failure.
East Chicago, like many cities across the country, fueled America’s greatness. Still, the promise of America fails them. Gary, Indiana is a neighbor to East Chicago. The realities that have built its history are somewhat different but they too miss the promise of America. Although Mr. Bullock’s voice originates from past aspirations of a people denied, this failure fails all people. Gary has much promise.
There is a reason these communities are failing. You often do not need to look farther than to who benefits.
In an effort to overcome “Da Region’s” bad reputation regional leaders, mostly from the southern part of the county, have re-branded the region as the “South Shore.” From my estimation the region has a national brand in “Gary” worth at least half-billion in marketing. Granted the brand requires serious repolishing, but to abandon it is not to understand its worth.
