America's Fallen Cities: Joplin
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ก.พ. 2025
- My appearance on Magnus' podcast:
• [Ep25] Architectural U...
Beauty and the Faith:
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#urbanism #urban #missouri #joplin #history #architecture #cities #beautiful #views #video
What an amazing restoration project on the library. I hope more people like you and Magnus push for this renewal of wasted space.
I am encouraged to read this message. Thank you! Kind regards, Magnus Gautestad.
That old train station immediately caught my eye. I'm glad that you agree that would be an awesome candidate for restoration!
We have received a recommendation about the old train station as well, and we're looking into it. If you lived there, what type of services would you prefer to have there?
@@beautyandthefaithanything new would be nice, that area of joplin feels pretty rundown. i’ve driven on the roads right next to the old station many times, and never even noticed it. the dollar general and the streets/parking spots around there are such an eyesore. i think the most popular use would be for restaurants or bars, that seems like the main reason people go out in joplin (evidenced by the dying mall). i wonder if something like the food hall at the pearl in san antonio could be done. (check out food hall at bottling on google maps for pictures).
@@beautyandthefaith The problem with the old train station is that it is in a part of town that is largely abandoned at this point. There was an effort about 15 years ago? (I think) to try to restore it and it was determined at that time that it just wasn't economically viable, IIRC. At this point, I'm not really sure what could be put there that would be desirable.
I grew up in Joplin, nice video! It would be pretty incredible to see Joplin's downtown area revitalized, and for more businesses to replace a lot of the empty parking lots that litter the area.
litter is the perfect word. I just moved out of Joplin because I finished my education. Joplin is a dumpster fire that has been ravaged by asphalt and cars. I remember when I moved there that I became depressed because genuine beauty was so hard to come across. A project like this is most welcome and should be eagerly accepted
Another good watch. I'd enjoy a video about Birmingham, AL. Truly one of the Great American Cities that rose and fell during industrialization and is working on it's own revival. There is also a really good aerial comparison photographs pre and post-interstate.
Joplin is a great town with a cool vibe for a small midwestern town.
American cities are so ugly today. We need to bring back stellar public transportation.
Also train more people on how to build with stone and brick. I know concrete is cheap, but it just isn’t the same in looks.
@@DiamondKingStudios I agree it'd look nice, but realistically it's not ever coming back. For the retail chains that fill out the majority of modern cities, the profit motive to make hyper-aesthetic buildings just doesn't exist. Even if it wasn't prohibitively expensive, old-timey brick and stone construction just isn't compatible with modern building codes, so the closest you're going to get is veneer.
The world should know what America was, this feel sad but the efforts to bring back the old architecture is promising ❤
I took a trip to the Ozarks back in 2021 and i drove to Joplin, i loved it! I think it's a neat town!
One of the worst tornados in American history leveled Joplin.
It's often overlooked how small towns were impacted by interstates rerouting around them.
I've traveled coast to coast several times and I've seen first hand dozens or hundreds of times when the interstate is rerouted.
The saddest example is probably Lordsburg, New Mexico.
It was founded as a mining town, but quickly became a junction and rest stop for travelers on highway 80 and 70.
It was bustling, and a prosperous middle class town until it was bypassed in the 80s.
Today, all but one or two of the buildings in downtown are abandoned and today the town has a nearly 30% poverty rate, with pretty much the only available work being a couple of truck stops and hotels on the interstate exits.
Another great video! Will check it out
honestly the library should remain, at least partially, a library. it would have far greater utility and likely pull more people to the area than a theater/office/whatever.
I get where you're coming from, especially as a big fan of libraries. However, I think it would get much more use from being an event center with multiple rooms and halls + a cinema. A place for weddings, reunions, conferences, etc. People don't really go to libraries much anymore, and besides, I don't think it is even being used as a library right now even. On top of that, with libraries being public places, you'd have to get government bureaucracy involved, which can only be an obstacle.
@@alexanderrotmenszI’m a young man, and my sister and I still use libraries. I think they are an indispensable resource within any community and think Joplin ought to have at least one convenient one to go to, even if it isn’t in the historic building.
@@DiamondKingStudios We value libraries (which you can see is part of our model in the video), and since our multipurpose centers is also made for education and community building, having a library support both of that while adding to the aesthetics. With that said, Joplin has a new public library in cold modernistic style not far from this place, so we would need to see how much demand it is left. Knowing myself, I would love to spend some time in a beautiful library, but would not in a modernistic white glass and metal box. That is why we can compete in a healthy way with the new modernistic art centre a few blocks away with classical arts as well.
The beauty of our model is that we will ask the local population to #votewiththeirwallet and #votewiththeirfeet, before anything is invested in any city. So we will know which businesses that want to rent a space, and have a general idea of the need of the public, so we can tailor fit it to that. And if that changes over time, so can we. The landscape architectural designer on our team studied about the great Carnegie library porsject during his schooling, and we want to honor history and cultural heritage, and bring that spirit for the public good that Carnegie had forward as well as we can.
@@DiamondKingStudiosthe joplin public library is a new and large complex. not too far from downtown but kind of wedged between neighborhoods
Just came to say, we have a very nice and new library in Joplin, so there’s no need at all for books to be at the old Carnegie library.
looks like anywhere else now… mediocre, unfriendly…. do city planners live here? thank you for posting
Thank you for the impeccable video, Alexander. Keep up the excellent work. Tears come to my eyes as I watch the images of once beautiful cities transformed into desolate, depressing urban wasteland. As we know from history, the Germans bombed so many great cities to smithereens in WW II; the Americans later decimated their own once glorious cities through "urban renewal". Tragic.
i was born and raised here this is so neat
Its not a well known city, but ypu should definitely do a video about Alexandria, Louisiana. It has a population of about 43,000, which is declining. But with the declining, suburban sprawl, which keeps expanding the city limits, happens. The mall, built less than 2 miles from downtown, killed downtown. In the 60s, they demolished the old city hall and square to build a big brutalist monstrosity that takes up the entire block, and blocks the view of the hotel bentley. Its a really interesting smaller, looked over city that would be great for one of these videos.
Absolutely unbelievable, how did americans allow this to happen
You should do one on Quincy, Il or Cairo, Il. Both close to where I live, both drastic in change.
many architectural Treasures lost in this small City.
6:18 oh hey, I'm mentioned!
And yes, this is a great first step to improve a small but growing town. I dearly wish this upon every place in the U.S., but the hardest step will be the undoing of the massive damage that is the highways smack dab through the middle of cities and towns, and rebuilding them elsewhere. It'll cost a lot, but it'll be worth it in the long run. Then the _real_ improvement can begin.
6:17 Hey I'm in the video!
You should do a video like this for Springfield IL. We could really do for a new downtown cinema.
Awesome video! I’ll check out B.A.T.F!!
i looked them up and... sketch !!!
I lived not too far from joplin and even then i never visited the city, there was never too much of a reason going east when the stateline was not far- but i forget its still obscure compared to other areas within missouri. You kinda forget people dont remember horrible midwestern tornatoes 10-15 years ago. Theyll be growth in joplin, especially if they do it cheap and proper. I do want to see some of those older building's restored
no way, i love to see the SW MO representation
i had no idea the train station was still around??
We still have sum old historical buildings in downtown Joplin
Joplin native here. As much as I would love for Joplin to be a booming city that takes care of and uses its historical buildings, I don't see a solution happening anytime soon. Memorial Hall is a good example. It's a performance hall that fell into disrepair, and instead of renovating it and making it better, they just built a new performing arts center. After construction started is when they put a proposition on the ballot to renovate Memorial Hall, except it was very unreasonable, so of course it got voted down. Now they are planning on demolishing it. It also seems like nobody is really using the new building. People want to perform in nearby Springfield (pop. 170k), or Branson, which is a popular tourist attraction, or Columbia, a college town. Not a lot of people who aren't local artists want to perform in Joplin.
Downtown itself is pretty dead these days, and to be honest I don't see that issue being solved anytime soon. The only businesses that are downtown are really local restaurants. They're good, but obviously not affordable on a regular basis. Downtown is only ever busy during an event we host around 6 times a year. There are very limited apartments, and half of the area of downtown is parking lot. There is a singular parking garage but it isn't public. The only way I see it being possible to revitalize downtown is to move services that people use on a daily basis to downtown, but that would just mean moving those services from Rangeline or 32nd street and therefore sucking those districts dry as well. All of this, plus the fact that online shopping exists, so we no longer need as many stores or shops as before. What could easily be one large downtown district, with high rises instead of one story buildings, buildings instead of parking lots, and parking relegated to a few garages, is currently around 4 large business districts that are basically dead.
i would really like to see something about springfield, MO. kind of similar to joplin but they seem to be doing better at revitalizing. there’s also the commercial street historic district
BTW main street in joplin is kinda dead and just a den for homeless people. We destroyed a large section of forested area for a large store and even more apartments and thats where a lot of these people came from. There was for a short time a movement by cyclists who wanted to widen main street to include a bike lane on both sides. That would have meant destroying the buildings that were left from the towns beginnings. They also proposed making it off limits to cars.
There was a push to restore the old train station last year I think. That was not going to happen because they waned to turn it into a brewery
I beleive that school at 2:56 is still there as i drive by it daily
The art complex is looked at as a huge waste of money as it remains empty of visitors most of the year and looked at as an eyesore. Instead of dealing with the homeless issue in that area they built it in. You can walk out of the front door and see someone sprawled out on the sidewalk with a shopping cart or a bench with someone in a sleeping bag.
Also you want to build a church within walking distance of 3 other churches and have one possible design conflict with the surrounding architecture? The other churches are more of a medieval stone styles. with one being just a brick building.
Joplin is a mess of conflicting building designs and philosophies. Especially during the rebuilding
lived here my whole life and never thought much about the historical architecture, to me its always been before and after the tornado. Also glad to see someone else also hates the cornell complex, it just does not fit its surroundings at all
Why do people destroy beauty when they abandon cities? Northern New York, Detroit, Parts of Cincinnati have this problem
Both church designs look great, though I do prefer the more gothic looking one.
Same thing happened to my city
I was born here first no joke my first memory was the Joplin tornado remember seeing a so many dead bodies
Joplin now also has EYE CREATURES
I love traditional architecture and design (I'm a big fan of Brent Hull's channel), however, its important to be mindful of it's overlap with fascism amd nationalism. I'm all for bringing back the architectural philosophies of the old style, but I dont want to bring back the baggage of those previous periods while also scorning the progress, innovation, and creativity of the newer periods.
I would love a modern house built off the ideas of honesty, craftsmanship, and proportion; while also making use of improved modern tools and materials, appealing to modern sensibilities and functionality, and built with the idea of blending into the natural landscape and creative disregard for the mundane and conventional. I would like to see more buildings that are inspired by both the arts-and-crafts movement and brutalism.
Bright example of the uglification of good old Murica.
You sure it wasn’t Magnus who did the arson? Lol
Your videos are like an inverted version of Extreme Home Makeover. You show how towns were once great and have been made shitty.
What city is that 3:44
It is Niagara Falls, New York
I don’t think Cairo, IL is pronounced like that, at least according to my uncle who used to work on riverboats.
Oh it could be Cay-roh. My bad
@@alexanderrotmensz We Americans pronounce European/Asian toponyms in strange ways sometimes. See also Lancaster, PA and any Spanish-derived town name in California
Sad that almost every American town had this same fate
How about it
This is a horrible and dishonest look at Joplin. Joplin is doing better now than ever. There were pictures so outdated, not current on how things currently look.
lol, "batf" wants to incorporate _churches_ into all their designs? *no thanks.*
I think if people in that downtown area want to attend a church, then it isn’t the worst idea, but as a religious man myself I have some skepticism of having a church building part of a city’s master plan for urban revitalization.
Usually when I imagine a church being built, it is because some congregation wanted to make one for themselves. The city constructing a church to donate to the people, no matter how beautiful it looks (though we sure need that, I’ll admit), will always raise red flags in my view.
I think this is something that someone who advocates separation of church and state and someone who wants to practice his faith can both agree upon.
Not to mention, BATF's website talks about how numerous churches are closing -- there's not exactly a shortage of church buildings out there.
@Zalis116 lol, they are definitely up to _something_ see how the rest of the buildings are kind of associated with the church, too. 🤔
i think it would be really nice to have a church building downtown like that. a lot of the churches meet in glorified warehouses there.
but yeah, there is no shortage of churches in the region. every time i’m in joplin, im shocked by the number lol.
I mean, it is "Beauty and the FAITH". I am not overly enthusiastic about that either, but that's in their name.
Joplin is a completely soul less. Which is odd given how many churches are there. South Missouri in general is a blight upon the nation