The Right ARMPIT of Illinois | Danville
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ก.พ. 2025
- Danville most certainly is the right armpit of Illinois. The city might be the most economically depressed city in the state. It's continued to be one of the fastest shrinking cities in not only Illinois, but in the entire country. In this video I tell you about how Danville was able to grow to be the size that it was, along with all of the factory closures over the years that has helped make the city what it is today: An urban blight mecca.
0;00 - 17:25 A Mostly Dead Downtown / Current Issues
17:25 - 19:35 Last days of the Village Mall
19:35 - 33:36 More of today's issues in Danville / Ugly east side
33:36 - 40:57 The worst part of town
40:57 - 50:53 Vermilion Street & The towns history
50:53 - 55:09 Chris's Livability Score
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Dan Ville is really more of an Arsewhole City or more accurately Village to be Frank Chris
Damnedville in Vermin County
I grew up in Danville. It was starting to go downhill when I was a teen in the 1980s. It's only gotten worse; sad to see my hometown take such a nosedive...
Danville really took a hit when Wyman Gordon and GM closed their plants...they were bleeding off workers all through the 1980s and shut down for good in the 1990s. Nothing left but the prison and VA hospital.
Do most people vote Democrat there?
I had a bus driver for oakwood school school named Mr Wise. Back in the 80s. He was a mean old bastard. 😂
@@buckjones4901oh no, they definitely do NOT. At least in the rural county area it is in.
@@buckjones4901right because all republican run communities do so well.
Another good video Chris! I grew up in West Lafayette, Indiana--back in the 60's Danville and Lafayette were virtual mirror images. Now Danville is a ghost town and Lafayette is a bustling, growing city with gleaming new factories and high tech research and development labs spun off from Purdue University. Keep up the good work--I never miss your videos!
A mexican bakery too.
The key to West Lafayette's success is having Purdue in town. It's why Champaign-Urbana is relatively prosperous compared to neighbors Decatur and Danville...the University is both a large industry unto itself, and access to research and educated workers pulls in industry.
Danville really depended on GM and, to a lesser degree, Wyman-Gordon Forge. (Arguably, the closing of Wyman-Gordon was what tanked Harvey, Illinois).
Acting like West Lafayette isn't another bleq shithole.
Thanks! A donation to the Hill-Jack Mountain Dew fund! You deserve so many more subscribers and views
Rich 🤑
Very generous, thank you!
We moved here to purchase an established, successful small business in Danville. Located just a mile or so from downtown on a residential street. Most of our customers are not from Danville. Our quilt shop and 36 bed retreat center is one of the largest in the mid-west. People come from all over to sew, quilt, eat, sleep and repeat! Our customer base brings in quite a bit of revenue for the city. They visit and spend money with us as well as eating and shopping in local Danville restaurants and stores. Our shop was created by repurposing an old nursing home in 2007. We take pride in our business and always have a well manicured lawn. When there is an adjacent piece of land that becomes available, we purchase it so that we can keep our area clean. Unfortunately we have some abandoned houses and houses in disrepair along our street. Would be nice to see it cleaned up. I guess you could say we have a bright, happy space in Danville. We offer beautiful, quality fabrics, sewing and embroidery machines, machine service, classes and events, as well as a retreat center. Visit us sometime at Threads of Time on Buchanan Street! 😊
From 1979 to 1987, Mom, Dad, my sister and I lived in Danville... Shorewood Point on the North Side. Mom and Dad were MDs in this town. In 1987 we moved away to Virginia, then New York, then to Dixon IL.
As I write this, I am a resident of metro Phoenix AZ...for the last 14 years.
Danville has seen better days. Perhaps the best way forward in this post industrial landscape it to start figuring out how to attract a technology mindset....like a data center.
I have always said that Illinois is a high tax and business unfriendly state. This is part of why I left. The people that run all levels of government need to start thinking "about the economy stupid!"
Arkansas looks a lot better to me
The corrupt, liberal, Democrat politicians do not want a good economy anywhere, and that is true in Illinois. They like poverty, because they can more easily control those who are dependent upon them for life's necessities. There is no saving Illinois as long as the corrupt, liberal Democrats continue to control the politics of this state. It is very sad. I am from Hoopeston, IL, just 25 miles North of Danville.
why did you move back to this shit hole of a state ?
A city like this doesn't need a boardwalk. It needs manufacturing and industry.
Preach it!
That will not happen.
& the best factory in the area (quaker) just closed down a couple months ago. I worked there & theres not a factory close to what they gave us.
It needs jobs and industry.
If you live in a place like that, and enjoy the outdoors, why not? Poor people should probably just suck it up until they deserve infrastructure
Danville was great as a kid growing up on the 80s. Spent hours at the mall playing video games at the Jolly Jester.
Christ... Haven't heard "Jolly Jester" in years.
Really like the evolution of your videos, all of the newer tweaks have been excellent choices / additions.
Thanks, if I’m not getting better after every video then I’m not doing it right
Another fantastic video. The historic facts are mind boggling. I’m looking forward to the next video
It's so incredibly depressing what has happened to our country. Here's a perfect example of how much manufacturing leaving the country has killed the US and in particular the rust belt. In the late 70s Dayton, Ohio had the same median household income as Seattle. That blew my mind. Almost every blue collar entry level job that used to provide a living wage has left the country and its killed so many cities like this.
Baseball Hall of Fame member Robin Yount is from Danville and should of ben mention.
He is the only player ever to win the MVP award twice playing two different positions of SS and OF.
amen
Honestly, your camera angles makes it look far better than it really is lol.
A few years ago, Danville had a fairly successful hockey team in the Federal Prospects Hockey League: the Danville Dashers. For some reason they were replaced by a team in the Southern Professional Hockey Leagues -- the Vermilion County Bobcats. Just a couple of months into the season they were scheduled to play the team from the Quad Cities. There was a post game skate scheduled too. Well the fans showed up, the stadium staff showed up, the Quad Cities team showed up, the line-ups announced, and Quad Cities lined up for the National Anthem. Quess who didn't show up? The Bobcats! They went out of business without telling anyone.
So the Quad Cities team treated the fans to their post-game skate!
Ha wow. Had to look them up. That was 2021?!? Hard to imagine Danville being able to support any kind of minor league team.
@@ChrisHarden Both the FPHL and SPHL are very low level hockey leagues. They pay their players next to nothing. Neither league has player development contracts with the NHL.
46:03 Point of clarification: The GM plant was not actually in Danville. It's site was located in the neighboring town of Tilton. Municipal property taxes would have been paid to Tilton rather than Danville.
Chris you explain clearly hence I enjoy your show
Thanks!
There are too many small cities that are feeling what Danville is, HOWEVER, as a former IL resident I believe it's IL politicians that are decimating what once was a great state. The company I worked for moved to IN due to the taxes.
Thank you for the video Chris! It's good to see some previous residents of Danville helping with rehab costs of the theatre. Not sure whether the town will ever revitalize to what it once was, especially with the high taxes and everyone leaving the state. Can't wait to see your other videos you have coming from IL!❤
Interesting view from the outside looking in. I lived in Danville from 2003 to 2016. I worked at the Fair Oaks complex for a part of my time there. Fair Oaks rent is based on income. Some rents were as high as like 150 and as low as free. Sadly the crime there generally wasn't the residents fault. It was people coming down from Chicago to visit. I once heard the manager of the location tell residents not to have baby daddies come visit to beat on them.
I live in Vermillion County Indiana now so I still use Danville for things.
Boyfriends, baby daddies, and brothers. Leave them behind.
I knew a number of people who worked for the cities housing authority and him claiming that they tore down some of the buildings in Fair Oaks because they hadn't been renovated in 70 years is false. They have had problems with thieves breaking into empty ones and stripping them of any copper there was.
Kickapoo State Park has a great MTB trail system thanks to local volunteers. Worth a visit.
Kickapoo is a funny word.
@@avgjoeavglife Better than Stepapoo.
@@69eddieD LOL
My mom took me and my siblings to Kickapoo in the 70's. I wonder if the waterslide is still operating?
I go there a lot
I live in Chicago and spent a lot of time in Danville in 60s+70s. Was real nice and laid back compared to Chicago. Then the demographics changed and that started the end. Last there in 2012. Looked bad and dangerous then. Now I feel safer in Chicago and that's unbelievable. Sad the way a small percent of people can ruin an town, large or small just with drugs and crime. All unpunished.
The fact that all the jobs left has nothing to do with it ,right?
Yep, used to date a sheriff’s deputy who worked there and he told me some stories. 😬
"All unpunished" certainly isn't true of criminals in Danville Illinois. An absurd statement in fact. The city has had a severe industrial decline.
I work there all the time that buildings gone now
Demographics riiiiight lol
I also grew up in Danville back in 70's then move to Bloomington and then Springfield. Still have about 90% of my extended family there I still couldn't be in town for more than 10 mins without passing a relative. I hate seeing mansion sized houses in a town just falling apart. There is great architecture all though out the residential areas of Danville. Unique well build Homes just rotting away or being destroyed by vagrants. whats weird is when my grandma and grandpa were moving from TN they were supposed to be going to Danville In but ended up in Danville IL. They are only about 30 miles apart. that Kirby risk building used to be Coco Cola. I lived real close to there.
You hit it head of nail with comment on why some blight in Danville when they closed the big projects in Chicago the people come down to Danville, Decatur Bloomington Champaign and Springfield.
So it was the people from the projects aka BLACK PPL that made all the businesses leave yet you'll have no problem that DANVILLE CORRECTIONAL which house alot of those project ppl are the economy of the town.
Wouldn't have anything to do with the METH BOOM or drug boom that plenty of whites sell and use in huh
Downtown doesn't look too bad. At least it looks neat and clean. I've been much worse places than Danville. Don't know how well a casino in an area with high unemployment will do.
The lack of available labor is a greater issue than unemployment. Many of the unemployed are also unemployable due to substance abuse etc
I will do perfect. People with no hope will spend every unemployment or welfare check they have in there with the hopes of a big win.
WOW - $90,000.00 for being mayor of Danville. Outrageous for sure
It's a shame to see Danville has declined so much. I went to Navy weather school at Chanute Air Force Base in 1985. We used to go to Danville on weekends when we didn't want to deal with the frat boys in Champaigne. It was still a nice town back then. They had some pretty girls too!
If Scott Isenhauer still lives in Danville, he must be crazy! I knew him when he worked for WGFA radio in Watseka. I don't know how he remained mayor for so long. Having lived between Danville and Kankakee for 60 years and to see the continued deterioration of these two cities and the state, as a whole, is alarming. I moved out of IL in 2016 due to the reasons you state in this video. Extremely sad!!
Scott ,was the ONLY mayor that ever called us back. Ever ,,in 38 years. Everyone else is too busy after they are elected. So there’s that. He got screwed by the Clowns who actually run the Mayor.
thank you for the video, i've never made it down to Danville.
17:26 When it comes to malls, It's NEVER a good sign to see a Cititrends store at a "thriving" mall‼️
I worked at the Devro Teepak casing factory in Danville back in 2002. Some of the nicest people I’ve ever worked with there.
Thanks for sharing Danville. I’ll now be buying a lake house on Lake Vermillion. Good livin!
A big part of the problem is when they tore down the housing projects in Chicago they moved to Danville.
True! Section 8 housing in Danvile has helped in its demise
what?
That's all the suburbs. It started happening in the 90's.
@@shelbyz1974 Your right but Danville got hit hard. The northern suburbs by the lake got little to none at all.
@@michaelmathes1991 The wealthy north shore burbs didn't get any; but North Chicago, Waukegan, and Zion got plenty.
In the early 2000s, Chicago started knocking down their public housing. Danville had the highest amount of public housing available per capita at that time. Naturally, the single moms from Chicago moved to obtain free housing. The problem? They brought their uncles, brothers, boyfriends, cousins (almost all with current or past criminally activities). And then the crime skyrocketed. It has not got better. The high school is a war zone with incompetent Superintendent and Board.
We used to drive through Danville on our trips from Hammond IN to Central Illinois on Route 1. Our excitement of Danville was the Big Indian and Tin man outside of a heat and air company
They moved the Indian to Champaign I believe it’s at Curtis Orchard. I remember both of those. I think there was a miniature golf joint near there as well.
Wrights heating & air is the place lol
Wrights Heating and Air still has the Tin Man in storage.
@@ericswires8534Swing “n” Spring
Now THIS is actual reporting. Fake News could use a lesson.
True, this is actual reporting, but please tell me what is and isn't fake news, I'm sure the answer will be solid
Heartbreaking.I left in 1969. Went back once to bury my grandmother. You drove right past Abe Lincolns law office several times without mentioning it lol. Not that it matters. Many buildings are so old that I remember them. I wish you'd called out the streets as you drove down them though. I think I knew where you were but wadn't certain. My mom knew all of those celebrities, dated one of them, our home was right down the street. This is a bittersweet memory lane for some of us.
I live east of Danville 20 minutes over in Indiana. When we were kids even 15 years ago danville wasn’t as bad as it is now. The only times I go to Danville anymore is for gross burgers restaurant or as I’m passing through on my motorcycle
mmmm, grossburgers... lol, they finally got bacon for their burgers...
Your footage makes it look a lot better than it is. Also, more businesses have closed since you posted this video. A few people are trying to open more, but the town really is dying. Also, there was some kind of contamination at the Quaker factory. It wasn't just cutting costs.
P.S. Fair Oaks is a lot more dicey than you made it seem. Driving through it is wild.
Another gem of a production with peerless expert fact filled narration, surface video that feels like being in the vehicle, spectacular drone work, an extremely creative way to show old coal mines (check it out) with spot on when needed background music. Whether the town/city be rich or poor, big or small, cross country and or scenic tours the viewer will be informed and entertained.
Amazing the number of celebrities who were born and raised in Danville.
I know right?
Was Bobby Short on that mural? I'd have to replay it to see.
The legendary dirt latemodel driver Bob Pierce lived in Danville at one time. Now they live in Oakwood.
@@dreed7312 That is Bobby Short.
Thanks for going for me. I live near the highway near Chicago and take the signs towards Danville and didn't where it was
That's danville indiana, an equally shitty town
You should talk about the slum lords RC Management that own 75 percent of Danville
Danville is my home town I hate the condition that it is in it has much potential and was once a great city. My parents and grandparents rave about how nice it was in the 60-70s
80 percent occupancy rate must be related to Dalton Mayor
For the record, Dick Van Dyke was not born in Danville, Illinois but he did go to High School there.
Dick was born in West Plains, Missouri.
I make this distinction because many people refer to one’s hometown as the one that person was born in.
I think the same applies to Gene Hackman. I believe he was born in California.
Which is weird since we have “birthplace” as a word to describe what you’re talking about
Same with Eminem and Detroit. Nobody associates Eminem with where he was born… St. Joseph, Missouri.
@@ChrisHarden I hear what you are saying but lots of people refer to their hometown as the place they were born.
Of course, many may NOT do this if they spent their formative years somewhere else.
I guess it depends on the individual.
i think hometown is where you grew up mainly… by that logic id call danville his hometown
Chris, A video made with intelligence and a pinch of nostalgia. Thanks for the video. How big is the Illinois exodus? What is happening? Is there a trend towards ghost cities? Is the average price per square foot for homes increasing or decreasing?
Joe Tanner is his correct name.
Chris, when you were driving around Main Street and even some of the other streets there seems to be a lack of graffiti -- that's a good thing....
The cost of shipping jobs Taiwan and China for 50 yrs . We have 16% mfg base in the GNP we are done thanks leaders
I enjoyed this video. 😊❤
I grew up in this little town back in it's "hay day" when it was growing and thriving and bustling. And yes, I moved away in the mid 70's for college. It breaks my heart to see it's downfall. You mention the mayor many times and his responsibility in all this....but isn't there a town development committee? Where were they in all this?
I grew up in Danville and still visit the area to spend time with family and work as fishing guide on the Middle Form Vermilion River which is Illinois' only National Scenic River. It's located in Kickapoo State Park which is a gem just outside of town and isn't far from Kennekuk County Park, another great place. Those are definitely bright spots in the area.
At about the the 48 minute mark you state that business continue to close along the business corridor which is technically true. However, by and large, much more business has been added to that part of town over the last 5 years than lost. Some of it not being due to lack of business, rather corporate decisions influenced by venture capital or private equity which continues to kill aspects of our economy all over the country.
Anyways, I know your theme is doom and gloom, but there are some really nice and normal middle class areas in Danville not shown in the video and the city really isn't as bad as it's chalked up to be and has some unique characteristics to it. There are definitely more blighted areas in the state with nothing to offer their residents.
Hmm. I showed some really nice homes along Vermilion St heading up to the area that you’re speaking of. Maybe you didn’t catch that part of the video. I’ll be showing more of the area that you’re speaking of in the 2nd video. I agree that Kickapoo State Park is a bright spot of the area.
I also find it extremely hard to believe that there’s been more business growth than decline in that corridor over the last 5 years. I saw 2 store closing signs when I was there. One was a music store.
The places that have closed absolutely have done so due to a lack of business. Otherwise they wouldn’t have closed their Danville location. If their Danville location was profitable, then they would’ve continued to operate in Danville.
I know of many cities of Danville’s size that share similar problems (a declining 30k population or so) that have a much, MUCH larger selection of stores and restaurants in town.
- My theme isn’t doom and gloom. My theme is truth telling. Some people don’t like it. Thats ok with me.
@@ChrisHarden you drove by no less than 5 businesses that have been built in the last two years and some that are currently being built. The entire development around Meijer has sprung up in the last couple years with some stores being added in the last year alone. I'm not sure that suggests declining business on the whole.
The music store that's closing is a family business that's been around for a long time. The available press states that the owner is 80 and she thinks "it's time." While I'm sure business has slowed, I wouldn't find it hard to believe that they're retiring and selling the property. Red Lobster, as another example of a closing business, was one of 120 other stores that were closed. The current owner, Golden Gate Capital, sold the land from beneath the stores and began renting it back to the restaurant at a rate of 12,000 USD per month. So according to private equity, the store was all of a sudden not making enough for corporate to keep it open. Don't you have to ask whether or not that's an absolute decline in business or a decision to benefit private equity that comes at the cost of stores that were profitable for the previous 20 years, even during the midst of a financial crisis?
I did catch that portion of the video with the nicer homes. I just wanted to add there's good amount of that that I am sure is hard to include in a video.
And respectfully, I've driven up and down Vermilion probably hundreds more times than you in the last 5 years. I can attest that, even if hard to believe, more has been gained recently than lost. I wouldn't call them hugely beneficial businesses to the local economy, but it's better than nothing.
But how many do the new businesses employ compared to the ones that left.
I have family in and around Danville. The old city has definitley gone downhill, but I think the bad reputation is somewhat amplified by TH-camrs. Illinois, overall hasnt done all that well. Anyway, Kickapoo Park is still a wonderful place to visit!!
Born and raised in Danville and I can say without a doubt that Danville is a shithole! Soon to be the Gary Indiana of Illinois. I will never move back to Illinois.
My brother and SIL retired there from the Northside of Chicago. They got a lot of house down there.
My niece and nephew own coffee shops and a local donut place. It's too bad you didn't visit them.
That said, yes, it's got a lot of problems.
Danville, IL is a great place to watch trains (if one is so inclined). Outside of that I can’t think of much else there.
We moved here to purchase an established, successful small business in Danville. Located just a mile or so from downtown on a residential street. Most of our customers are not from Danville. Our quilt shop and 36 bed retreat center is one of the largest in the mid-west. People come from all over to sew, quilt, eat, sleep and repeat! Our customer base brings in quite a bit of revenue for the city. They visit and spend money with us as well as eating and shopping in local Danville restaurants and stores. Our shop was created by repurposing an old nursing home in 2007. We take pride in our business and always have a well manicured lawn. When there is an adjacent piece of land that becomes available, we purchase it so that we can keep our area clean. Unfortunately we have some abandoned houses and houses in disrepair along our street. Would be nice to see it cleaned up. I guess you could say we have a bright, happy space in Danville. We offer beautiful, quality fabrics, sewing and embroidery machines, machine service, classes and events, as well as a retreat center. Visit us sometime at Threads of Time on Buchanan Street! 😊
Nashville, Illinois
I remember the flood of 1993 in St Louis.
Last night in this town at 3:00 AM we got a severe thunderstorm this morning when the light of day there were so many trees down.
Dexter Lombardo 🧔 🤠
Casinos and 'riverfront projects' seem to be the hallmark for dying towns. Oh, and wall murals too.
Spot on
There are casinos,
I've been griping about those murals forever! Yes they are beautiful but danville has so many other things that money could have gone for!
@@Cheryl-y3t Murals have a limited lifespan. Who will be repainting them when they are peeling and faded? Then it will REALLY look like trash.
They are nothing but distractions.
It's so sad that Danville and other Midwestern small cities have declines by so much.
I was in Danville just this morning (well at the VA Hospital then right back home to Crawfordsville ( thanks for the kind C-Ville Words! ) While rural Indiana and Illinois (and the rest of the Mid-West) can seem blighted, there are many communities that even if they are not growing so much, offer a nice place to live while close enough to a city like Indianapolis, Chicago, Louisville, or St Louis to have amenities within arms reach.
As someone who grew up near Danville I can definitely it has steadily gone down hill so glad I moved out of Illinois completely
Please, if you could do one on Waukegan.if you're ever in that Township.
One day
I hunted and fished on a lease at a strip pit near there in the late 70's. The only thing I remember about the town is the giant grain storage elevator. Was it Damville or Decatur that was destroyed in a grain elevator explosion?
With the exception the projects, I was surprised to see that the Danville streets appear to be very clean. Almost, as if Danville is saying "we are cleaning the slate to attract re-development". I think that is always the first requirement for any struggling town; that is, demolish and remove any abandoned buildings. Hope it works; I really do. However, high Illinois taxes will not allow that happen. Illinois needs both pension reform and property tax reform that will give its struggling towns, like Danville, a fighting chance to survive and to attract new businesses and new residents.
Truly blighted or unsound buildings not feasible to restore (and those with no real esthetic or historic value) should be demolished only when helpful for developement (sometimes repear and reuse is cheaper), while single family homes may not be financially feasible to restore depending on conditions. But demolishing empty commercial or larger residential buildings that are still in good condition or that can feasibly be repaired (which partly depends on if there are people potentially interested in and capable of doing so!) is a bad idea as smaller cities especially need to distinguish themselves by their history. Historic preservation where feasible tends to greatly help a town attract those with money, especially in smaller cities away from large urban regions!
Other than that your videos are amazing as always 😊
A casino for Danville? The proliferation of gambling casinos since the 1990s reminds me of the alternate 1985 in _Back To The Future 2_ . Exactly how is it a good idea to make it more convenient for poor people to gamble away all their money? Or is there a secret plan to convince hordes of wealthy gamblers to visit the Danville casino instead of the casinos in Las Vegas?
I think the biggest failure in Danville, that doesnt get talked about, is the Palmer Arena. Hockey and the festival of trees is the only thing its known for. Why isnt there concerts, stand up comedy, conventions, things to attract people from surrounding areas to Danville and spend money in town? Its been that way forever and ive never understood it
its too close to bigver venues and the venue/artist's contracts have a clause preventing performances within a certain distance and time.
My dad used to travel there during the mid 80s when he worked for EDS.
Looks downright liveable compared to a big chunk of Chicago.
You have a depressed area, loss of jobs, a poor infrastructure and you put in a
Casino ???
Who's bright idea was that ??? Try some job training and work on bringing jobs back.....
a casino will at least bring in some tourist revenue and create a few jobs. if you’re a border town like danville is… use it to your advantage
@@UserName-ts3sp Misery always seem to follow gambling.
@@jetsons101they told Danville a casino would bring jobs 😂🤣😂🤣 and Danville believed it
@@departmentofredundancydept4121 Service jobs is not a great way to build a local economy.....
@@jetsons101 a freaking casino is the worst idea for a failing city 🤷 People in Danville in general thought it was a great idea 🤣
Gotta say I'm m really not surprised about either Danville OR Washington DC being ranked the two "Loneliest" US metro areas! A lot of smaller isolated cities that have lost much of their sociel infrastructure a middle class local leadership class along with their economic base (while simultaneously sprawling outwards) have big problems with loneliness. They have had major social breakdown. But so do large, complexly fragmented and often unfriendly urban regions full of transient residents based on national and global financial, tech and government operations. I't's very easy for many to fail to keep up and end up getting lost in the rat race and often cutthroat status competitions of big, cosmopolitan urban regions!
You need to talk about Rantoul and what happened when the Airforce Base was closed.
I used to flight instruct at Danville Airport. There is an abandoned control tower there from a bygone era. Someone had been living in it. There was an aquarium and clothes up in the top area where the controllers hang out. This was in 2003 I wonder if it's still there.
The more rundown part of town... Yeah that's one way to put it. The GTA SA music is accurate.
The thing about college towns... I live in Chicago and the UIC neighborhood is practically its own... city, in a weird way. Its 'empty' during times when school isn't happening. The area has seen a huge shift in business that close and never reopen, some have a short life span. UIC is surrounded by government and private support. There are town houses that help a few select wealthy people raise their families but, the commercial strip fluctuates so much .The only business I can think of that has survived, from its inception, weathering the pandemic, till now is 7-11. Jamba juice had their own problems, but several other name brands only make money when there are those enthusiastic college kids running around. When it gets too cold or school is not in session, those crazy birds fly back home and there is no money in the area. So it makes sense why Urbana would be a lonely town. I only choose to take a stroll or walk my bike when school is not in session or else you have buncha smelly kids bumping into things, ugh.
Are you revisiting small towns you did videos on before? You have a older Danville video
I’ll remake videos on a few here and there but I’m not going to redo a lot of them.
you should visit metro Toledo, Ohio they have some really sad looking cities and towns inside of it
There was a shooting at the building on the left at 30:33 right before thanksgiving. 3 people shot and 2 of them died.
Of all the rust belt /manufacturing small cities .this one looks the best one to fix up
Having gone to U of I in Champaign, this is kind of how us folks from the city (Chi), did kind of speak of Danville and Decatur. lol
Love your videos. I'm a subscriber and watch all your videos. Living in Illinois sucks. Enough said. Taxes and basic needs like food costs are killing. In every way. Keep up the great videos!!
This video is 100% right on! Probably even too kind. Recently spent a weekend here and it was like driving through the hoods of Detroit. 1 in 4 houses have failing roofs. Every strip mall has at least two businesses: gambling/slots and pot/vape shops. It’s - c r a z y!!! My family and I stayed at a Baymont Hotel and at check-in if you live 30 miles or further away you must put down and extra $100 deposit and if you live 30 miles or closer you must place a $200 deposit….. I was like WTF but after we entered the room it was like holy crap this place smelled like a Pot plantation. We literally moved rooms 3 times to find one that wasn’t repugnant. Sunday morning we go across the street to for breakfast to this place called Sunnyside. Nothing telling us anything different we walk in (father-mother-16 y/o daughter and 13 y/o son) to death stares and a stern declaration that children are not allowed. The it hit us, we were in a Cannabis Dispensary! I kid you not the place either had been a restaurant or sure the hell looked like one. Even sadder was the completely full parking lot on a Sunday morning at 9:30 a.m.
Danville Illinois, where Martin Luther King gets Lynched every day.
When they decided to call Main St "Martin Luther King Jr Memorial Way," I asked why they would do that since it intersects with Lynch Rd. 🤷 Because it's Danville and it's racist as hell.
Can you do one on Watseka IL?
I worked at Quaker % made good money. Now i make almost as what i made at quaker. It was by far the best factory in the area
Nw side of Danville is nice… I was told not to go into town after dark by my gfs family around 2010
It's all bad. You can pretend that parts of it are nice, but you're just lying to yourself.
I used to go to Danville alot in the 90s early 00s it was already heading down to a bad time I recall the closest store would be the county market but was peaceful but now it's downhill sad I spent alot a time there
Same story as a hundred other Illinois towns. Destroyed by state government policies that drive business to more accommodative locations.
Hey now, we're progressive and darn proud of it. So proud the population is declining every year and more and more businesses pack up and leave.
Let's get real here. Businesses and corporations have screwed over the entire country, not just blue states. And when they move out of blue states to move to red states, it's again the business or corporation screwing over the workers with lower pay and screwing over cities by getting tax breaks.
Taxes destroyed communities close to the state borders. There's no reason to shop in Illinois when you can drive right down the block and pay way less tax. For that matter, there's no reason to live in Illinois when you can move right down the block and pay a third of the property tax you were paying in Illinois.
But Illinois got revenge! Everybody from Indiana and Wisconsin comes here to visit our dispensaries. When I saw Danville (1980) it was about as redneck as a town could be. A townie told me I better have my hippy ass out of town by sundown. Now you can buy pot there legally. Mind blowing!
"The grass is always greener in the other pastures, America will be great again once I am in the next State over despite the declines of all of the states regardless of progressive or conservative policies"
Hard to beat some Chinese kid who works for a nickle a day and sleeps under the machine he runs.
I will say it does look nice and clean
The fact that he filmed on a sunny day and brightness/quality of the video is deceptive. I live near Danville and have been there many times. It is FAR from nice and clean, trust me. It's rundown and dirty as hell.
@@Juju_The_Duderight, I keep seeing comments about how clean the streets look 🤣🤣 it's so far from clean.
If you want a good town to do, I suggest Hopkins park illinois and surrounding pembroke township in illinois. It's worse then ford heights.
Did a while back. th-cam.com/video/Okb0zaEgzq4/w-d-xo.html
The best donuts 🍩 31:52 in town
The downtown area appears to be fairly clean, even with all of the abandoned building. The public housing/apartments...not so much
I was shocked to find out that Danville, CA is an upscale suburb.
Danville, Indiana is only a little bit over an hour east of Danville, Illinois. For a long time Indiana's Danville was just a small rural town. Now it resembles some of the more upscale Indianapolis suburbs.
Danville, CA is very nice and wealthy.
I live in Texas for reasons that means nothing to you, however I was raised in Danville, IL. and I totally disagree with your opinion, there is places in Danville that is slummy (fair oaks), I see it this away ,if you don't like Danville, I-74 does bypass this town and is waiting for people like you to leave town via it, if you can't say anything good then don't say anything at all. people like you we don't want in Danville, take a better look at Danville in your rearview mirror
38:45 My mortgage/HOA in California to live in a gated community is $1050. I grew up in Iowa City/Cedar Rapids/Peoria you can HAVE those 😬winters😬
Total tax burden in Illinois is 9.7%. Indiana is 8.9%. I can't fathom that's a determinant factor in either state.
and retirement income is NOT TAXED in Illinois!
From the 80s to 2024 everything has changed welcome to life and America
can you do Charelston/Mantoon Illinois soon please?
Did a video on both a while back.
@@ChrisHarden ok. I will try to find it. Thanks
Charleston: th-cam.com/video/vscXFNOlzjk/w-d-xo.htmlsi=pUZJbrFKnyr9XtrE
Mattoon: th-cam.com/video/TQ2Ms1FOhV0/w-d-xo.htmlsi=L0tG3oHsOZ0q-Cig
Sad and bleak, -clean looking streets though and nice history. Too bad it's being lost to decay. Btw official commercial occupancy rates ( just like with residential vacancy rates) only include usable buildings and not abandoned or uninhabitable structures. So the downtown Danville vacancy rate is the actual vacancy rate of spaces downtown, -which doesn't mean the mayor is necessarily correct about the vacancy rate!
If Danville is the armpit of Illinois then Chicago is the azzhole .
And the ford heights area is the scrotum
I lived here as a kid and man it was depressing we lived right by a cornfield
Looks like my town in ole calumet region. Hammond Indiana. Do one on us for sure. I’ve always wanted to and our mayor has actually done a lot. Bringing the downtown back is hard. Tried many things. I also work for school city of Hammond which is in dire straights to the point of closing three elementary schools and mine being one of them.
We moved here to purchase an established, successful small business in Danville. Located just a mile or so from downtown on a residential street. Most of our customers are not from Danville. Our quilt shop and 36 bed retreat center is one of the largest in the mid-west. People come from all over to sew, quilt, eat, sleep and repeat! Our customer base brings in quite a bit of revenue for the city. They visit and spend money with us as well as eating and shopping in local Danville restaurants and stores. Our shop was created by repurposing an old nursing home in 2007. We take pride in our business and always have a well manicured lawn. When there is an adjacent piece of land that becomes available, we purchase it so that we can keep our area clean. Unfortunately we have some abandoned houses and houses in disrepair along our street. Would be nice to see it cleaned up. I guess you could say we have a bright, happy space in Danville. We offer beautiful, quality fabrics, sewing and embroidery machines, machine service, classes and events, as well as a retreat center. Visit us sometime at Threads of Time on Buchanan Street! 😊
This is great to see. As a self described "problem solver", I often ponder what the solution is to the small-town America economic problem, and I think it is people like you moving back to these small towns and running quality small businesses. You seem to run yours well, participate in the community, people feel that and spread the word. People will come. We will like to touch and feel things before we buy. Attractions bring in tourists and people on holiday love to, as you say, have lunch, and purchase local goods. I hope Danville makes it.
I used to clean your building when I worked for Clean Sweep custodian service. 🙂