"G.I." a Gary Travel Page by sambarnett

All at once this photograph conveys a sense of nostalgia for what was, a (some would say unrealistic) hopefulness of what could be and a grim picture of what is. Even the fake window fronts, added just a few years ago, are falling off this decaying structure.

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gary at its finest

Why create a tourist-themed webpage for a city many consider to be the prime example of the worst place in the United States? Certainly not to emphasize the degradation, although there is enough of it and it should not be ignored. But in the midst of whatever is "the worst" or "bad", examples of humanity flower, often going unnoticed to the acts of violence and fear.
The past together with the present give the future its direction. You don't have to come to Gary, but it's a place worth knowing about.

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gary's finest

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"The city of Gary was conceived in the counting rooms and born in a jungle. It was nursed on faith and schooled in the fiery furnace of toil. It is peopled by men and women of every living tongue and creed... As steel goes, so goes the world, and Gary is its prophet."
- Mayor Thomas Knotts, 1910

"Don't push me cuz I'm close to the edge, I'm trying not to lose my head.
It's like a jungle, sometimes it makes me wonder how I keep from going under."
- Grandmaster Flash & The Furious 5, 1982

"Just as in the past, Gary could be the engine that drives the growth of Northwest Indiana... The hope of this Region is the City of Gary. Everything that is done to tear Gary down is doing great harm to the whole Region. As goes Gary, so goes the rest of the Region."
- Mayor Richard Hatcher, 1987