Comments on: Gary

By: D. Yaros

D. Yaros — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 18:28:07 +0000

To MJHankel, and others brave enough to “stand up and be counted” when it comes to Gary, I say BRAVO! I also encourage you to read my open letter to Mayor Rudy Clay on my web site, and comment. Better yet, let Rudy know what you think, too!

The letter may be found at The Rudy Report. You will also find tons of info on the “Steel City” on the site.

By: El Quimico

El Quimico — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 06:40:09 +0000

Eh, for anybody to make Gary out to be all good or all bad is just not really accurate. Gary’s more “dead” than it is dangerous at this point. Yes, if you’re a drug dealer or gang-banger, you might get shot. If you’re in an abusive relationship, you might get shot, but as an average person who grew up in Miller and hung out in Marshalltown, 5th Ave, Cleveland St, and went to Emerson, it’s just whatever you make of it.

By: D. Yaros

D. Yaros — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 06:24:38 +0000

I hail form the “Steel City” and am proud of it! While I am no longer there, I do still have relatives in the area. It saddens me to see how low Gary has sunk; far lower than Gilroy Stadium. I seriously doubt if a turnaround is possible, but one can always hope.

For a trip though the Gary that was, check out my web site (Dave’s Den). It has a ton of info on the development, history, politics, economics, melting pot aspect and of course the mills. The web site url is

Dave’s Den

By: Glenparker

Glenparker — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 10:29:01 +0000

Typo–3700 block of washington street

By: Tom Tuerff

Tom Tuerff — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 20:20:56 +0000

I was born in Gary in 1957 and lived there until 1965. My parents were born and raised there, and they and their siblings all settled, sometimes literally across the street from each other, in the 1950s.

Our house was on Montgomery Street, a straight line direct to the beach, about a mile or two away. I have very few memories of going downtown as a kid, but I certainly remember that Gary was a very bustling town back then. HUGE movie theatres and old-style shopping establishments.

I remember only after leaving there did I find out that not everybody lived in such an idyllic situation as the predominantly white neighborhood where I lived. We would go back to visit and I’d hear my cousins talk about how the whole city was going down the tubes, etc. But oddly, most of them stayed there anyway. My Grandparents both died in Gary; my dad’s older brother inherited their house and kept it until health issues forced him to sell it. While I’m sure Gary can be scary I’m sure there are still parts of the neighborhood where I lived where you’d probably not realize that anything was wrong. Hopefully that city can turn itself around again.

By: "Big Daddy" Tarver

"Big Daddy" Tarver — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 17:14:47 +0000

Gary, Indiana—-WOW
Gary is what yall made it. I grew up in CONCORD, a neighborhood on the west side. We handled things as they presented themselves and that was the way of the streets. if you created strife, it came. The love for neighborhoods and families was tremendous. Due to the lack of city officials to offer options for the youth, we only had the streets and each other. There was a time when the future didn’t matter, and i visit regularly, and those times haven’t changed. The youth in Gary are crying out for help and Mayor Clay is as phony as they come. Fuck talking– do something!! The only concern they leaders have is if there are enough room in the jails to house the youth. Pray For Gary and its residents.

By: StopTalkNTrash

StopTalkNTrash — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 16:32:35 +0000

“Susan” is a GREAT EXAMPLE OF IGNORANCE. BET SHE IS FROM “PO-TAGE” no doubt.

By: StopTalkNTrash

StopTalkNTrash — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 16:29:36 +0000

All I can say is this:
I AGREE WITH “MJHankel” 1000%. I have lived in Gary all my 40 something years, & YES I AM WHITE TOO, And I have never had a problem walking through downtown Gary at any hour of the day,Night, Or anytime. It’s the idiots that pass through Gary, Then run here to post some ignorant ass comment because they drove down Broadway & seen vacant buildings, So they come here & talk trash on this page. Funny thing is that most that are talking trash are from some ignorant country town like Portage. DUH, Country folk (And known racists)….Stay the hell out & stay in “PO-Tage”.

By: Frank

Frank — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 18:26:55 +0000

I too was born and raised in Gary in 1954. In 1966 there was a parade downtown celebrating Gary as “The City of the Century”. That was probably the high point of my experience in Gary. There were so many wonderful things in that town; the Gary Music Theater, a great library, the Palace Theater, Buffington Park, and more. But as I grew up things started to go bad. Gangs became emboldened. Crime rates skyrocketed. I left in 1972 to go to IU. When I ran out of money my father offered to get me a job at the mill. I thanked him and said I would rather join the Army. So I did. My last visit to Gary was in 1984 for my baby sister’s wedding. As I drove into Gary and was going south on Broadway I stopped at a light at 15th Ave. There, “plying her trade”, was one of my classmates from Horace Mann High School. It was then I realized, as Edgar Lee Masters had written, “That once having left you can never return.” I wish Gary nothing but good fortune and success but for me there is absolutely no desire to return.

By: Martin

Martin — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 08:05:07 +0000

I was born at Mercy Hospital (1976), I spent my summers walking (about 8 blocks) from my house on 6th and Fillmore, down Broadway to the Boys club. Yes, I heard about crime but I did not grow up in a house were alcohol or drugs were used. I grew up with family, and Sunday dinners, and the memories of a coveted 45 record that contained the lyrics to the “Superbowl Shuffle.”

In my house eductation and integrity was non-negotiable, my family, like most blacks, migrated from the south to work in the productive steel mills. Beginning with my dad, whom drove a limo for Mayor Hatcher, after being fed up with working for the man.

Honestly, as a kid, you knew about the crime and trouble, but we were to busy having fun and learning to navigate a world new to us (from a child’s perspective).

Sure my house was broken into several times, and it’s something you never get used to however, my love for Gary was never diminished.

I dodged fights, utilized gunshots at gleason park as a sign to go home, and heard about friends going to jail, or dying, yet, I never blamed it on the city of Gary.

I love my hometown and it really depends on you!
If you want to live on the side of the tracks-selling dope, running with gangs…Gary will bring it to your ass, but at the same time, I am who I am because of the people of Gary. Teachers: Ms. Cooperwood, Ms. Montgomery, Ms. Ford, Ms. Leadbetter, Ms. Robinson-Preachers: Rev. Lowery, The Preacher man, aka the Pizza man, my PoPs-Neighbors: The Ballards, The Browns, The Adamsons, The Veals, etc.

Gary is the Polish Sausage stand in front of Beckman; Screamin Wheels, In-Effect, Gleason Park in 92, Miller Beach, Lincolns, The Village, God’s Fantastique Fish N’ Chips-by Lew Wallce, Football O’ Rama, The Holiday Tournament at Westside, The Drill Team Competition, The Sweet heart ball, The Kudos Ball and Xinos, Rays Shrimp House, Champs Liqour’s (my elementary P.E. teacher), Playboys barber shop, The Lark, The Career Center, Miller Beach, Glenn Robinson, Jesse Powell, and the Jackson 5…