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Declining, Yet Still Smiling | Calumet City, Illinois
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 ส.ค. 2024
- Calumet City, Illinois is known for its smiley face water towers more than anything else these days. In the past, the suburban city was often referred to as "Sin City" due to not only drinking during the prohibition era, but also gambling and other forms of adult entertainment. The district that Sin City once stood proudly has since been demolished, and today it's nothing more than a couple of grass fields. Otherwise, Calumet City resembles most of it's neighbors being a declining blue collar community.
0:00 - 3:35 Smiley Face Towers and River Oaks Mall
3:35 - 8:00 Downtown Calumet City
8:00 - 17:00 History and Sin City Days
17:00 - 19:39 Border with Indiana
19:39 - 25:10 Corruption?
25:10 - 29:26 Chris Livability Score
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I've walked through and played around in Calumet. Hey, I just had an idea. They have drag racing spots around certain areas in Chicago like Doherty Road. That's in the south suburbs I believe... Would you drive through them during the daytime? Just a content idea😊
@@DoveGirl Always looking for stuff to film! Looked up Doherty Road though and couldn't find anything
@@ChrisHarden found this: "As of August 2005, street racing on Doty Road, also known as Stony Island Ave, in Chicago has been shut down. However, in July 2022, Axios reported that drag racing was taking place on Doty near 115th Street."
It still has beautiful well kept homes.
I grew up a couple miles from Cal City. It used to be really nice. And River Oaks Mall was our go-to for everything. Shopping, restaurants, movies, etc. it's a shame.
Yep grew up in Dolton and River oaks mall was our go to saw a lot of movies there
Blacks are to blame
Me too Lansing
It's called Amazon
Same!!! I grew up in Cal City in the 90s and remember PLENTY OF DAYS of hanging out at the mall and going to the movies out there!!!!! A trip down memory lane. Man ……. It was a great community back then ❤
The Blues Brotheres are from Calumet City.
It was mentioned in the 1980 movie The Blues Brothers.
St. Helen of the Blessed Shroud Orphanage.
Also mentioned in The Silence of the Lambs.
Dick butkus called cal city home for many years.
no no no, they went to a catholic school that was in cal city but they were born elsewhere. everybody on this thread is wrong.
@@bigdaddy-fk5bi It was a Catholic Orphanage that they were raised in.
St. Helen of the Blessed Shroud, Calumet City, IL
The Blues Brothers Orphanage
I'm the owner of that bar that you stood in front of . Your report was fair I would have given you a free drink if you had come in.
My man! Next time I’m in town maybe I will
That's what I'm talking about. Chris is definitely fair and that's a nice offer.
I’ll take the free drink 😂
if thats where i remember it, my StepMom worked there in the 80s
Man i remember growing up in the 2000s I lived in the city but weekends I use to go to my aunts house in Cal City. I remember when river oaks mall use to look like Chicago ridge mall 😭 literally filled with stores like Toys R Us and Game stop. The food court use to be filled with restaurants and people, I even remember the old movie theater. It’s just sad seeing river oaks mall now I have so many memories there
Imagine being a kid in the 80s. River Oaks was really booming back then!!!!
@@fnihp30 I’m already knowing it was smh sad to see
I was pleasantly surprised that Calumet City isn't as bad as what I had heard. Kudos to Calumet City. I love this video. 😊❤
I lived there in 2007-2012. Seen a lot change as a teenager and lived on State line Rd. Before the split of the road. River Oaks was the stuff back in the day. Had a date at the movies that’s was right across the lot. 😢😢😢😢😢😢 I’m now 30 years old so it’s crazy to see this video ❤😮😢
Fr tho
Thanks for the trip down memory lane. Worked for 4 years in the destroyed 6 story office building in River Oaks Mall, directly across from the water tower. It was there that I met my overseas roommate seven years after discharge. Small world. You also took us past our first apt. after getting married. Moved in 1971 to Chesterton Indiana.
Thanks for shareing this neat story! I miss the times when the old malls used to be full of working stores and almost too many people.
Hey you know what will happen if you'll go to Hamond and have a cheese sandwich? You'll have a Hamond cheese sandwich
🐖🧀🥪 👍
Thanks for the video Chris! I can recall seeing some bad crime incidents on the news for Cal City back in the day. Glad that it's doing better today. There's a lot of hard working people out there just trying to live their best lives.❤
I grew up in Calumet City from 1954 to 1970. It was a great place to grow up. Lived in Gold Coast at 166th and Wentworth Avenue. Most of my family lived in the north side. As a kid I had lots of kids to play with. Wentworth Woods was the shopping center we kids went to all the time. Before River Oaks everyone shopped in Hammond. River Oaks helped Hammond's decline. My family rarely shopped at River Oaks.
I grew up in Oak Forest in the 60s & 70s. Depending on traffic, maybe 20-25 minutes to Cal City on 159th street. The mall was lovely. I saw Apocalypse Now with 3 buddies at the mall theater in 1979 - $7 tickets but you got a program; a line around the block.
Very nice people. Hard working, high end blue collar. Always felt safe and welcome. Wish them the best.
I Apocalypse Now was really that popular?
@@swannoir7949 It was well and truly hyped; tickets were jacked 40%; and there was a printed program which you didn't usually see by 1979.
It made money. Not Star Wars money, but Brando gave it class. And girth.
Chris i love your videos of the Chicago suburbs and the research you do. I hope you can do the west suburbs as well...starting with Oak Park, Maywood, Bellwood, Berwyn etc
One day I’ll get to those
I'm from bellwood
@@Black-Pill-7411I’m grew up in Bellwood late 70’s thru 90’s. It definitely changed.
@ArethaRenee I'm there now. Actually a good place. Definitely on the upswing with all the new houses. Prices have more than doubled. Taxes are high unfortunately but not higher than the South suburbs
14:44 ROFL I can just see at a tourism board meeting "Let's see, what could we use to draw people to our town. What might they like to visit... Oh, I know! They could come see our dirt pile!" 🤣😂
No for real, thank you for putting these videos on. They let me see places I'd probably otherwise never see. Even being mostly a lifelong IL resident, I likely never go to Calumet City.
Chris, another great watch. I looked around on birdseye and street view, your right about State Line Road, very interesting how it's been modified.
Grew up in Cal City. The 80's was the best time ever. Love the Smiley towers
Really enjoy watching your south side of Chicago suburbs city
appreciate all the research u do Awesome vids 👍🏽
Great video! I like all these videos you make!
I was a UPS driver at the River Oaks Mall 30 years ago. The whole area was booming then. What a transformation for the worse since then.
Marshall Fields at River Oaks was special especially if you couldn’t get to the downtown Chicago one. Plus River Oaks was best when it was an all outside mall. Enclosing the place was cool at first but when the city went downhill, so did the mall. But Fuddruckers, Beginngans, Outback Steakhouse when it first opened, man, Cal City used to be poppin.
Wow it all comes together here. An extremely well sourced straight shooting easy to follow technically beautiful video with spot on commentary. The how and the why of the place are joined throughout. Chris is also fortunate to have a pitch perfect voice which is artistically blended in. I see this work as a documentary in its own unique class. This demonstrates how learning can be so enriching, entertaining and enjoyable. Way to go!
Thanks!
My maternal grandma (RIP) was born in Cal City and I was close to attending the now defunct Westwood college in 2007.
If you are would also consider covering stable, and thriving suburbs in Chicago, please do a video on Orland Park. Thanks
Gene Krupa is buried in Holy Cross Cemetery, Michigan City Road and Calumet Avenue. Mike Tomzsak went to TF North, Calumet City
Mike Tomczak, the Polish Prince of Calumet City! He was good enough at TF North to be QB at Ohio State. Believe he was an UDFA when Ditka had him signed as a backup QB in 1985 since Mike was tough enough to get into fist fights with Dan Hampton, Steve McMicheal and others during practice. Mike played as a starter for the Bears, Green Bay and a few others before ending his NFL career with Pittsburgh. Mike holds the NFL record for having the most personal fouls called against a QB.
@billwilson-es5yn Mike also has the most yard return for a touchdown interception! Against the freaking Vikings in Minnesota. The Vikings defense took McMahon out in the 1st half with the Bears down by 21 points! Mike came on and was brilliant in the 2nd half tied the score in the 2 minute warning. Ist and goal, clock running out he throws the ball on 3rd down instead of calling the play dead and bringing on Kevin Butler for the FG? Ditka chewed his a$$ out!
Tomzsaks dad was the football coach at TF North. i played under him and Roger Munda in 88-89. Go Meteors!!! lol
I was hoping you would drive by my grandmother’s old place. It’s few houses away from the old ball of fire bar.
grew up here and i remember going to river oaks mall before christmas and it was packed with people, as busy as can be. sad to see what has become of it
I called Calumet City home from September 6, 1976 to July 10, 2001. I spent the first 25 years of my life there. I have so, so many memories of growing up in CC.
I was so sad to see the movie theater go 😢
I, live in lansing Illinois, next door neighbor of calumet city!
I've seen all the south suburbs at this point. Lansing easily stands out from the others imo.
Lived in Calumet City Illinois 1966-1985 I though Kim F cousin had the idea to paint that water tower yellow Kim and I went to same elem school Sandridge Elem. GREAT Video Thanks
My aunt n uncle have lived out there for almost 50 yrs.. They updated n remodeled thw kitchen and inside.. but man their property has went to crap.. they was gone leave the house to my cousin but he passed.. the only thing it has going for it.. is the fact its tucked away on a quiet street across from a forest preserve.. so they cant build across the street.. always use to travel the 20 min to river oaks back in the day..
Illinois taxes is insane
Retail has gone online which is why the River Oaks deteriorated. Same is happening across the US for big Malls.
Yep
Orland Park is still popping..
@@fnihp30Yea. Orland is, surprisingly.
This place looks pretty well kept. The beautiful trees and grass are nice vs. all the negative take in the video not too bad ! Thanks for sharing this take it was very informative! 😂
There aren’t high paying jobs in Indiana. Most folks in Indiana work in Illinois.
just brought back alot of memories. i left Cal City in 91. went to TF North. lived at 647 Gordon. seeing all this makes me realize i left to florida at the right time. i dont miss it
You should have stopped at schoops for cheeseburger and fries. Best burgers in the area
Bro, you explored my whole riverdale il,caulment city burlington iowa all lots of memories of both
Current resident, I love Cal City. In the Hammond/Lansing border; it is very quiet with forest all around. Besides my horrific tax bill, I don't mind at all.
Never realized we had a Mr. and Mrs. Smiley….very interesting 🤭
Chris great videos on the south suburbs including cal city ive noticed you're getting really close to northwest indiana hopefully you'll be doing some videos here in nwi where I live but still appreciate all the videos in cook county because that's where I grew up
First name of this town was shrumsville after the first family to aquire 600 acreas . They started many business to produce dariy and pickels. Shrum pickels and the dairy became part of borden.
The Schrum pickle plant was near State Line by 165th St. across from the forest preserves. Us Hammond kids would ride our bicycles in the woods and see Schrum workers sitting on the back dock drinking out of brown bags.
@@billwilson-es5yn cool thanks. My old neighbors moms madien name was schrum. He said by the time his mom was born all of the wealth was pissed away.
Man, I miss Borden's milk. Taste like it came straight from the cow
I grew up in Cal City in the 80's and 90's. The reason for the blight isn't because of the economy, it was because of what happened in the Mid 90's. The projects started closing on the near south side, and pushed all of the bad characters south. That is the main reason why all of the people who built cal city left and closed their businesses. Joe's Video, John's pizza, Burnham Pharmacy are to just name a few. There was even taverns on almost every block, sometimes in the middle of the block. My grandfather lived a couple of blocks away from us, and he built his own home there in the 40's. I still take a ride out there occasionally, and I am sad to see what that town has become. People look at me like I don't belong there, and I just stop and tell them "this is my town" LOL........
I'm originally from the near west side of Chicago, and I don't even feel safe going to Sunday Mass at the old Catholic church I went to grammar school at. Stay away from Cook County,
what yrs you went to TF North? i left there in 90. do ya know the Embreys?
This is the truth. Then Mayor Daley had promised to rebuild and relocate the people in the projects. Instead, the City of Chicago kept the 500 million federal dollars, and used it to gentrify Chicago (along with the pension fund, which is why there's a shortage today). People who have grown-up in projects have a different way of life. But when you house ppl like animals for decades, how do you expect them to act? Unfortunate for the South Suburbs. Thanks for your post.
Cal City was a nice affordable place to live in the 70's. The Strip was always open, John's Pizza. Lauer's Restaurant on 154th Place had Prime Rib on Saturday night, King Cut was 6" thick!! Every other corner in the neighborhood had a tavern, plenty of revenue, plus River Oaks Shopping Mall! Only mall I'd ever seen that had Marshall Fields and Carson Pierre Scott next to each other? Point is with all that tax revenue the Calumet City PD was cool as hell, they didn't need to be writing traffic tickets constantly? Furthermore the Winter's in the late 70's there were horrible. Tons of snow! But unlike any other Southside Chicago area, which would ticket your parked car, or bury it plowing around it? Calumet City would have snowplows, along with City tow trucks remove the vehicle, plowing and put the f--king car back! I saw it living there, my first apartment! But as this documentary points out the demographics shifted,like my hometown of Dolton did. And, well you can fill in the blanks as to the downfall! I gotta say 1 thing most of the brick and cut stone walk up apartment buildings still look well kept!
Hegewisch Records
I met Kanye at River Oaks. When College Dropout came out. He was filming MTV the Diary. I was working at a cell phone kiosk. I didn’t make the show but I know 20 people in it…
Sure flood wall. We can call it that. Thank you for all your efforts. Enjoy your videos. Appreciate your research. Look forward to viewing your videos. Recently found your channel.
Man watching this makes me sad. I grew up in Lansing and during my Highschool years in the early 00's. River oaks mall was the place to be on the weekends.
Corrupted politics combined with apathetic voter base(true for the entire country if you really look) has destroyed the once great, still posessing massive potential, state of Illinois
Thank you. Some positive things - they tear down blighted buildings so that the streets look cleaner.
Born and raised. Some buildings still standing look better than they did when I was a teen.
You should do Alsip Illinois not far from there, also an hour away Bradley Illinois is having some big changes you should stop their when u have time as well
I worked as a county police officer in the area and I’ve never seen anything more than some gang activity.. the state line road portion was pretty much empty by the mid 90’s
Cal City, the Venice of the Midwest 🍻
Cal City is pretty much ghetto now, I would avoid it. Best advice is to stay away from any South Suburbs in Cook County if possible. It's not worth the risk. Indiana still recognizes bail laws, so it remains much safer than Chicagoland's suburbia. A word to the wise....
Great video. You should do Hammond. It's been revived by the Mexicans.
Calumet City isn't the only place that's had a happy face on the water tower. During the 1980's, Goodfellow Air Force Base, San Angelo, TX had a happy face on the base water tower.
Hey Chris, do a video on Hammond IN. Love your videos man.
River oaks mall was my childhood. Sauk Village, Crete, Steger or Matteson soon?
Stay tuned
$4,000 property taxes in a working class city? How can the elderly survive? 😥
No surprise that this whole "Calumet Region" consumes the bottom spots on Chris' Livability Score. Which means keep the videos about this area coming.
Haha yup
River oaks mall is on serious life support.
4:50 OMG I USED TO GO TO THAT SCHOOL IN THE PLAZA ON THE FAR LEFT 😭
Area is overly burden with high property taxes.
And all they have to do to escape those taxes is move a few miles east, which… is what people have been doing
Mayor Jerry Genova brought an end to all the chaos in Cal City. He essentially shut down the sin city strip.
Calumet City BAD?
At least it's NOT Ford Heights!😮
Far from being Ford Heights
TRUE VERY TRUE 💯
Valparaiso Indiana for a $200,000 home Is around $2400 a year..
I live in Crown Point Indiana, And my home is valued at 200000 and I pay $2100 a year.
So the $1600 per year in Indiana is a little bit on the low side
My parent's families arrived in Hammond from 1876 to 1900 to build homes and police the drunk Germans. Much of that area back then was similar to the landscape in the Cook County Forest Preserve District that runs thru Cal City. The land close to the Grand Calumet River was covered with low sand dunes with swamps in between them. State Street was extended west from Hammond so developers could move big houses from Hammond's growing Downtown into West Hammond. All those empty blocks around State Street used to be full of smaller workman's houses that were spaced 6 feet apart on narrow long lots. Calumet City used to be full of older houses and commercial buildings. They started building the nice brick houses in the 20's and after WW2. The Little Calumet River started flooding around 1960. Hammond raised it's levees a few times before I moved to Texas in 1977. Calumet City didn't so their Gold Coast would experience occasional flooding. I believe there was a flood in the early 80's where Hammond built a sandbag wall down the center of State Line to keep the flood water in Calumet City. I was watching the national news in Texas to see cops smacking the hands of people trying to take off sand bags so the flood water could escape and laughed when they said where it was happening.
Clearly, the flood in that mobile home park wasn't THAT bad; most of the homes there are probably as old as the park itself.
Dixmoor Illinois next ? Glenwood Illinois ?!!
Dixmoor soon, Glenwood a while away and on my archive channel when I get to it
Just recently moved to Cal City. They have some good food/restaurants. I knew that b4 I moved here from Addison because I'm familiar and be all over the state of Illinois. Goals of moving to Hyde Park or the south Loop
Please do more videos in Indiana. Thank you.
I’ll have more Indiana stuff throughout the year
Calumet City would be Horrible but for having better-off neighbors in the Hoosier State.
Thanks!
Thank you!
And the common denominator is. Ahh
what a dump of a city!! thanks chris!!!
I still live here by the video, state line and sorry to say, Calumet city is starting to boom again 😊, house property values went up by 30% to 40% , a lot of new Mexican Families with very young kids, no one to bad influence them lol, almost no abandoned borded house around 😅. We have easy bus and train acces witch helps get jobs from downtown, we have acces other towns like Harvey , dolton, the and village dont have
Cook county should be called Crook county!
… Yup!
Next time show the real cal city please! There are beautiful homes in cal city!
South suburbs are just sad. The first water tower was definitely sexist but weird with the smile.
Calshitty!😊
Lol
Calshitty, Scummit and Stinkney🤣
hey now. lol. i loved it there back in the 80s as a teen
CalShitty, Stinkney and Scummit lol
I own that bar you should have come in would have given you a free drink good report
please do Sauk Village IL
Will soon
One thing, however. You cannot have a "Sin City" without attendant crime and predation. Gangs? Sin City = gangs. I myself was more afraid of people in those "Section 8" buildings in the 1970s than in the 1990's. There were drugs back then as well. Anyone who thinks the problem was all "gangs" or "section 8" is straight up WRONG or didn't live there.
That's an interesting camera rig on your car. Have you ever been stopped or confronted?
No. It’s not illegal
I went to River Oaks Mall recently and it deliberately look like a ghost town inside of there....I don't like the south suburbs
Have their ever been aBrewery which made a Calumet city beer? Or Hammond?
it's like the only ideas these geniuses have at revitalization is a casino, a water park, strip malls/'shopping,' and over-priced bougie apartments. if not for federal and state money to float them instead of using it for supplemental income to build something they need but can't afford on their own, not a single one of these places would survive long enough to meet their next year's budget meeting.
how are some of these places not broken up and annexed or taken over by the state yet?
Ain't nothing in calumet but my lil cuzo and once she leave ain't nothing else out there😂😂😂
The blacktivity in the area will destroy anything that they try to do.
Have u seen the video on white kids in the Appalachia those dudes are on drugs, don't work, on ssi. Bs on that blacktivity .
Your comment was the kind I knew would be here..RACIST!!!
I like the smiling water towers, I hope they stay around forever.
Every street light was on during the daylight! LOL. Democrat incompetence at it's finest.
I wonder why you didn't drive by or speak about park harbor mobile community that was demolished and everyone was forced out!!!! Right off of Stony Island.. which was right now next to the bishop ford
Clean cut grass no trash laid back. Another simple suburb or midwest town
Thornton Fractional North High School - Home of the Meteors. Now there's a name that won't offend anyone. Right?
dont make fun of my old school. lol
Mike tomsack
sorry friend, wrong again. calumet city was the very last holdout in the area. trouble stayed in hammond, lansing, and dolton but stayed out of cal city. bad elements started to creep in in the 80s and by the early 90s it was a murder and crime haven. talk to the people that lived thru it.
Oh good old Cal city...the best place to go shopping at the mall in it's heyday and you could dump a body while shopping. Cal city was one place that was always on the news either for finding bodies or tons of chemical dumps in the Little Calumet River. The joke always was you don't drown in the little cal river, you get a broken neck from falling as it was solid waste and water never flowed in it.
Right on baby 👶 go Chris harden go baby 👶 😊😊😊😊😊l
Up until the racial conversion of cal city, cal city had the highest per capita volunteer rate in the country in every war cince ww2.