See more of what River Rouge (and Ecorse) looks like here: th-cam.com/video/hkjd15pPMfo/w-d-xo.html Michigan Playlist: th-cam.com/play/PLkAKbwTlGHeJoyujmAhEMOusr2cLGm_jK.html Detroit Suburbs Playlist: th-cam.com/play/PLkAKbwTlGHeIe9OSmlhG2TK3Q207cHb2v.html Help me grow my other channels! Chris Harden's Travel Archives: www.youtube.com/@chrishardenarchives Nostalgia Tours Radio: www.youtube.com/@Nostalgiatoursradio ==================================================================== EVERYTHING THAT I USE IN THE FIELD: Main Camera: amzn.to/3iS4vvF Side Cameras: amzn.to/2WuCYIs Media Mod for Camera: amzn.to/3j7CMGF Lav Mic: amzn.to/3lsMkz9 Drone: amzn.to/3ITcKBV SD Cards: amzn.to/3C2co9O Camera Mounts: amzn.to/2UXVR6p Cables Required for Longer Recordings: amzn.to/3BYnr3Q Computer: amzn.to/3787b2j External Hard Drive: amzn.to/3lb23Tf WHAT I USE AT HOME: Computer: amzn.to/3rKIdiN Sound Mixer: amzn.to/3C15Ubx Microphone: amzn.to/2VaCjvo Microphone Accessories: amzn.to/3v7A35Z INTERACTIVE MAP that shows you all of the places that I've made videos on: (Doesn't always work on mobile devices. Will always work on PC.) www.google.com/maps/d/u/2/edit?hl=en&mid=1Lhzf04ocimPu-ROkg4cfXEYEvKMNnlI5&ll=34.29834970801405%2C-91.53765609999999&z=5 SOCIAL MEDIA & CONTACT INFO: Email: ChrisHardenYT@Gmail.com On Twitter: twitter.com/Chris_Harden55 On Instagram: instagram.com/c_harden7 On Facebook: facebook.com/ChrisHardenYT DISCLAIMER: Links included in this description might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you. As an Amazon Associate I do earn a small commission on qualifying purchases. As always, thank you for supporting my channel!
hey Chris it's been a while since I commented on one of your videos hope you're doing well man the power plant at the beginning of the video looks like a place where Freddy Krueger would work lol😂
Growing up in Detroit, I always remember the smell in the downriver area. Chis mentioned salt in this video. A lot of people do not realize that there is a salt mine under the city of Detroit in the area that Chris is in. The mine entrance is in southwest Detroit near Fort Street not far from the Rouge River.
@@erocker78 Yes sir, you are correct about the Morton salt mine. I didn`t want to get too far off topic in his video. There are several salt mines in or near the Great Lakes. There is another large salt mine under the southern part of Lake Huron that is accessed from Goderich Ontario, Canada
@@erocker78 No problem, there is an awful lot of things that I don`t know about . I try to learn something new every day . I comment on Chris`s videos to try to help him out with the algorithm.
Awesome video. Thanks for sharing the information. I was curious about the large brick ranches sometimes listed there for such low prices. Another TH-camr in Detroit real estate mentioned River Rouge has a rogue if not tyrannical building code enforcement department maybe that explains general lack of blight. I wish for nothing but good luck and love for Detroit, and all her suburbs. Again awesome video, enjoy your weekend!
First comes to many liquor stores, then a overabundance of vape stores shortly follow When "Pawn" shops start popping up, start to worry. When pot stores move in, it's too late -- put the house up for sale.
I'd much rather have a pot / cannabis store than another abandoned building. It helps the tax base and brings an economy that was not there for decades.
@@jetsons101 in my experience, most churches could be good community centers or integrated into parks instead of stealing public space for your religion
@@circleinforthecube5170 Most churches are already community centers, urban churches don't have much Green Space, churches outside of the city do have Green Space areas. Churches don't steal public space, that space is paid for. People like you don't have to go to a church if you don't want to, but in America we have freedom of religion --- many chose to go and many don't. Hmmmm You sound like a W0KE democrat, my family and I will say a prayer for you......
Worth noting, most crime in the area arent spur of the moment. It's usually people with prior conflicts. I used to work in the city installing internet/cable and didnt have any safety issues.
A lot of theft. Saw my neighbor steal a little mobile Library thing they put out and each other's garbage cans in broad daylight. Never saw that in Detroit or Ecorse.
I stumbled across your channel about 3 or 4 years ago and loved your videos then. I remember commenting on how you should have WAY more followers than you did at the time. After watching this episode, I noticed all of the little(and big) things you've added to your videos since then, and it's great to see you're at 81K subs!( I think I remember 10,000 or less at the time, if I'm not mistaken). Keep kicking ass, Chris! Thank you for all the hard work and great content!
I grew up in Weirton W. Va - former home of the largest "start to finish" Steel Mills in the nation. Home to several "coke" plants it was filth on a level this place will probably never see. Not a bad looking town, but without a new industrial investment it is surely doomed.. sad.. Thanks for documenting the Midwest as it exists today..
I visited my grandparents on henry st in river rouge 1963 to 1972. Played at Belanger park and us steel park. We were far enough away from marathon not to get sulfur smell. Great video and drone footage!
I grew up in River Rouge or the Rouge as we called it. It is no way the dirties city in Michigan. Go look right next door at Ecorse or southwest Detroit especially the Ray (Del Ray). Rouge has actually gotten better since I left there back in the 2000s. Rouge Rat 4ever and proud of it!
River Rouge is absolutely the dirtiest city. The entire town has industrial pollutants hovering in the air above it. Im guessing that’s why you moved away despite being proud of being from there? River Rouge is closer to the marathon plant than Ecorse is. Southwest Detroit isn’t a city it’s a neighborhood. Already looked at Delray and the other neighborhood you’re thinking of is Boynton. Once again that’s only a small part of Detroit. You can live in Detroit and be far away from this area. Like, 7 Mile and Kelley. You would have an entirely different set of problems to deal with up there, but air quality wouldn’t be near as much of a concern as it is down by Zug Island and the Marathon plant.
@ChrisHarden it is called being zoned heavy industrial! And, we're you associated with some treehugger organization that loves to destroy America's heavy industry! Did you carry an air monitor with you!
Just curious… Did you live here… in The Rouge? Because all of my family did since the 1900’s and they are very proud of their past, history & city…”The Rouge”
Hey Chris how about u come back on Saturday night around 1-4am and sit on Polk st or beechwood and vlog 😊 or go on liddesdale in the hole right after if u make it
I grew up in Brightmoor in the 60.s. 70's and half the 80's. You could smell the bile from Zug Island quite a few days in the summer. And that's quite a ways north of where you're at now. Can also tell you that Ford Mo. Co. did their fair share of helping to ruin the Rouge River. Along with those other nasty factories and companies, they truly were NOT for the environment. I can also tell you I wondered in the back of Fairlane Mansion in the early 70's long before it got walled off. I can show you the exact spot where Thomas Edison and Ford laid the cornerstone to the power plant for the mansion. Those companies killed that once beautiful river.
“Industry” lol. Funny how that definition has changed over the years. Keep ‘em stoned and tell them who to vote for. FYI: The revenue generated, 6% sales tax and 9% excise tax, goes to the State of Michigan, minus the cost to regulate the “industry” and grow government. The people using and spending their money are those lest able to afford it from my observations, but to each their own according to their abilities and ambitions.
Why do people have to mention Detroit its River Rouge. If something happen in a suburb they have to mention Detroit or metro Detroit but when it's good they don't. (most of the time)
Proud resident. Born in SW Detroit, grew up in Delray, Rouge, and Ecorse my whole life. My grandparents moved here in the 1950's from Kentucky and Papaw worked on Zug Island and they lived well into their 80s with no kind of sickness or cancer's from the air quality. 😏 I bought my first home here in the early 2000's for 8k. Taxes arn't that bad here like you claim, I pay about 2k a year. I feel very safe here and the Police are always on patrol. Most of us keep our houses up and our grass cut. Back when I was a kid it was a gangland warzone, it's come a long way since then. Most diverse city downriver with equal parts black, white, and spanish. Great community for boating access and fishing. And yes if you like to partake in the devil's lettuce West Jefferson is definitely the cannabis Gaza strip! 😉
Some aholes shot paintballs at my house and the police told my mom if they come up to our car and bust out the window that's not a crime. I don't feel safe.
Chris why didn't you show the other 60% of the River Rouge? None of the public housing areas. None of the truly abandoned areas. I live in Rouge, and it's divided into 3 nicknames.. DISCLAIMER I DIDNT NAME THIS.. THESE ARE HOW CERTAIN AREAS ARE REFERRED TOO, IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ME, where you recorded is called the "WHITE SIDE", across Jefferson, is whats called "THE BLACK SIDE" or "THE BACK STREETS". Why didn't you record over there? Those numbers you gave make no sense with the beautiful areas you showed. Take em to the hood. This video was very misleading and one sided. Be blessed....
He's close enough to the poop when he's at that park. I don't know about all this lore but except certain chunks of streets this is the worst city I've ever lived in. Detroit proper is way better.
I’m very impressed with how well kept up the homes & stores are. Even the closed up businesses are neatly boarded up & not showing disrepair. It’s obvious that the residents take pride in their neighborhoods. I did not see any blight, overgrown lawns, etc. I was expecting the worst from your title! So glad to see more positive things than negative ones!
It's sad he did that. That's only one area. River Rouge used to have military housing in it. We are if the Detroit River, and 3 miles from Fort Wayne. Military housing went into low income housing. He didn't show you guys over half the city 😞
@@hollymoon8453where exactly is/was the military housing? Are you saying it was tore down and rebuilt for low income housing or are the original military buildings still there? Very cool..
I love Michigan. I think it's the most beautiful place on Earth. I'm more loyal to my State than I am to the United States. That being said, we have our problems.
Want to add, while some commented " so what, it's just another rust belt." As the old saying goes, " Those who can not remember the past are condemned to repeat it." So thank you again for publishing this history that I hope isn't repeated. Your channel is more valuable than any script production on a news channel. Well done!
To be honest, this was one of the better looking neighborhoods in Detroit. Some of your other Detroit videos showed neighborhoods that looked third world.
Thanks for the history lesson of River Rouge Chris! Shame about the corruption involving school children's meals. My grandfather used to work for US Steel in Illinois after returning from WW2 and the Korean War. I always remember the horrible smells of the plant. He died in the 80's of Emphysema.
Have friends who were raised in 'The Rouge' as natives call it. They were raised there during the 50s and some still live there. Sad that things have deteriorated as they have. In spite of this have many warm memories of family gatherings years ago.
You forgot to tell everyone that River Rouge is a "Blue Collar" Rust Belt City....and the people who "choose" to remain here are happy...Yes we have a ton of environmental issues because the heads of industries refuse to do the right thing with home buyouts/relocation, "It is what it is".....Hopefully in my lifetime, My neighborhood will be transformed into a beautiful green zone for everyone to see & enjoy....
Yes, it’s dirty and the air quality stinks. But to me, the saddest part is the loss of those good paying industrial jobs. And that could be traced back to those corrupt politicians, not just in the city, but in the whole country.
Peel back the layers and you can trace it to over regulation and overly zealous labor unions. Look a little deeper who is behind those entities and what and who they support. It goes back a very long way.
Let's see what happens to Michigan electricity grid once DTE shut's the Monroe Power Plant! DTE has probably spent nearly $2B on emissions control equipment at the Monroe plant!
@@SouthernBelleACewoah! Wait a minute! Do you have any good links, or do you care to share what you know, that delves into this topic? I mean.. I'm definitely gonna look into it myself but would love to have multiple sources. Do you know WHEN they're shutting the Monroe plant down?
I just saw $3.69/gallon and we are paying about $1.60/litre - take our $1.60 and multiply it by 3.78 and we are paying $6.05/gallon here in Windsor right across the border. Trudeau sucks.
Previous source of the infamous "Windsor Hum" that ended when the US Steel Mill blast furnaces on Zug Island shut down in 2020 (US steel still has noisy operations there but not like before).. You can hear the hum of large steel mills for miles away at night!
Can someone please explain something to me! How the hell does a steel mill disturb people's sleep. Especially if it nearly a mile or more away from them!
@@SouthernBelleACe because they are often incredibly loud and produce a deep noise that tends to carry farther, especially at night. Steel mill furnaces are typically either blast furnaces (which blast compressed hot air around the furnace cauldron in an inclosed space) or electric ark furnaces (which use a masive electric ark to produce adequate temperature to melt steel). Both methods produce incredible levels of vibration (unlike a regular open hearth furnace which would not get neatly hot enough). The blasted compressed air or massive electric arks and to a lesser extent the equipment that produces them, cause the massive iron and steel structures the furnaces are enclosed in to act as giant harmonic instruments. In fact, they need to act as such (at least to an extent) or else the buildings would be damaged from the extreme vibration. Slightly faulty ventilation or flare stacks (as was true on Zug island) can make the problem much worse then usual but even without any faulty or off equipment or structures the sound from any large steel mill is still typically intense. Because much of the noise from steel mills is largely very deep pitched (higher pitched sound is also produced but doesn't carry naerly as far) and usually oscillating (do to multiple sound waves from multiple structures) the peak sound is much louder and it can carry much farthur (especially at night) then would otherwise be the case and ear plugs are often not affective do to the deep pitch. Furthermore, infrasound (sound just below the typically audible range) is also produced in large amounts by steel mills which cannot be heard in the normal sense by most people but is felt and perceived as sound by way of an auditory hallucination (or indirectly heard one could say). This often produces a slight panic reaction in people even if they don't articulate it as such, and can increase stress levals and put people on edge without them realizing why. I could often clearly hear (mainly at night but sometimes durring the day) even the steel finishing plant several miles from my home across town untill it was shuttered earlier this year, but an integrated steel mill can be much louder still. Even though the steel plant in my suburb didn't make new steel anymore (it was once an intregrated mill) it was still a massive facility that did use two large annealing furnaces (which I believe also use electricity but only get to 1700○ to instead of much hoter like at an integrated mill) plus those used to melt tin for the hot dipping lines. Annealing furnaces are still not a normal furnace though and can still be very loud, -as can be the giant high pressure cold rollers used to treat steel coils. The noise I heard was an oscillating, quivering deep matalic drone that I could hear (and feel) frequently that often bothered me both because it was a spooky sounding noise and because I didn't know what it was and the sound seemed to come from all over and yet no where, but very vaguely from the north. It would give me chills sometimes. I only realized what it was apon asking others and the fact that the sound completely stopped at the same exact time the steel plant's furnaces shut down!
@@SouthernBelleACe actually the Gary and Cleveland works are quite loud and can be heard for a long ways off by some, just not as bad as Zug Island was. Most people are used to it but I have heard of people complaining about hearing the drone and clanks of the Cleveland works at night from across town and into the suburbs(!) If I could often clearly hear just the steel finishing plant several miles away at night which you won't find anything online about (the noise it made) a full integrated mill is much worse. It's just how it is in a steel town. Allegations of modified exhaust stacks and overworked blast furnaces at Zug would also explain the usually bad noise leval there if true. Plus this affected Canada after a certain point (there was some loud noise before and now but not at a similar leval) in a city with no equivalent loud noise source of it's own. Whole different ball game then old industrial cities that are used to it!
@@SouthernBelleACe btw you can actually find a video of the Gary works on TH-cam taken by drone without music, and the loud, oscillating, deep matalic hum of the furnaces is VERY noticeable even from a ways off! Its on the SamLoveTrains channel and is from last year. That type of sound can easily Cary for over 5 miles at night (much less often during the day) depending on conditions, much like a distant diesel freight train but significantly louder.
I live about 15 miles further downriver and work in the Marathon refinery on the maintenance team. The pay is good, and because of the union we're in, we have incredible health insurance. I have not had to worry about a medical bill since i started working there. It is sad though, because they don't let us work over 40 hours a week unless something catastrophic happens. They bring in cheap labor from down south to do a lot of the work that Detroit area residents could be doing. The new plant manager isn't even from Michigan.
Interesting.. do you mind sharing what qualifications are required for your position and round about how much they start out making? I'm a nurse but my kid is coming of age and it's nice to learn about employment opportunities we've never heard about.
GREAT RESEARCH CHRIS. I grew up here many years ago. We were plagued with corruption of taxpayers stolen money, lots of it, even then. Great Lakes Steel paid a big portion of property tax and kept the schools going. I remember the sewage system always backing up in our neighborhood's basements. I remember taking baths and seeing a ring of dirty orange metallic flakes in the tub. I never noticed the air quality until we went up North in the thumb area and came home. It was hard to deal with. I will say that we had great sports teams and my High School teachers were great, but many of us were terrified to use the school bathroom. I minded my own business but witnessed too many violent crimes. The crime and poverty after all these years still remind me how blessed my family and I are to get out of there😮. I had no idea the taxes are that high, WOW. Good video, thank you for helping expose those officials stealing money meant for poor kids. River Rouge was swimming in huge tax revenue from Great Lakes steel and politicians were stealing a lot of it. Nothing has changed except now Jefferson is called " The Green Mile " for the numerous pot stores. 😅
ZUG island yeah, no kidding, it's dirty. That's what they've been producing steel for a 100 years. All industrial and like most cities it's on the crappy south side
Justifiably critical of U.S. Steel, Zug Island, nearby Marathon refinery, and the former DTE power plant. But, virtually nothing said of Ford's enormous century old Rouge complex. Ford deserves credit for decades of cleanup efforts, new investment, and maintaining some jobs, but the property is hardly back to nature and sprouting green shoots everywhere. Any comments?
Masterfully done....as usual. Listening to the detailed thorough narration alone is worth the time. Chris has a really unique way of winding clever humorous thoughts into very serious topics but not at the expense of people who are struggling to just get by. I have said this before...corruption is disgusting and much more so in a poor struggling community. How do these perpetrators sleep at night? Between the outstanding drone work and street video I am surprised the residential area did not look worse than it did. Chris has performed a real public service shining a light on this area.
I have my own theory as to why Mitt Romney wasn't for the bailout. I wonder if Obama told the Big Three this. Sure we will bail you out. But, in return, you will have to build a certain of amount electric vehicles by 2020 or so!
These districts need to post how the district pays cabs to take kids back and forth to school. We are talking some students fares are $50-100 one way 5 days a week. 500-1000 a week. Some are special needs but most are low income parents that are to lazy to work
Ah, the smell of coke ovens at work. Was a regular smell here too on the southern tip of Lake Michigan near Gary Indiana. That along with other industrial stink. Used to smell the farm smells here as well. Still some corn and beans, but the cattle and pigs are far and few.
River Rouge was a wonderful community before the mid-80's Also, it would be nice if this narrator includes that the definite downfall of the area and industry isn't the FAULT of the residents that still remain in River Rouge.
One thing I noticed about your Detroit area videos is there are rarely any people in them. What does river rouge look like on Saturday afternoon? I know that my home town of Romulus is basically abandoned. No people anywhere.
Mill I think is hiring, drove by there a few weeks ago and pay started at $25 per hour. Used to be not that bad with the houses and businesses. except for the pollution. My Grandmother lived there and 60’s and 70’s , and I remember my dad’s car would have an orange film on it after a few hours. My family worked in many of those mills and plants.
But $25 dollars an hour is what they paid in the 90s and it was decent enough then, but man.. it's a shame at what has happened to our "good job" opportunities in SE MI.
Maybe I missed it, but I don't see any redeeming value in that city which is really sad. Probably within the next fifty years the city will be abandoned if not sooner
I agree to an extent. What does it for me is the pollution. The more we learn about all of that, the more people will move away as they value their health. That outweighs the potential sentimental value there is in the community IMO.
Watch your videos while I ride the stationary bike. About a year ago you would show the map of your route at the start of the video and one could see where you had driven. Liked this feature. Thank you for your shows.
No it's not, unless you're talking about Delray. We literally have a waste treatment plant down Jefferson amongst the blocks after visger you might smell it anytime. You can see it spewing brownish yellow into the atmosphere.
Just found your channel somehow. Very cool stuff! I live in the metro detroit area and find alot of your content very interesting. Furthermore, i like seeing the other states also. Keep it up! You have a new sub now!!
I was on Zug island that night in 2018 when that accident happened. Crazy stuff. Was my 2nd night on the job. Also the coke battery on Zug island is owned by DTE, the rest of the island is US steel where they have the blast furnaces.
From our area, I can tell you that NOBODY ever moves TO the downriver area if they have any choice. It's more slime and grime than the D. Detroit has improved greatly over the last 10-15 years. We live in the 'burbs now
In 1999 insane clown posse made zug island famous with this lyric lol From Southwest Detroit, deep within Zug Island's industrial waste depositories, it's Shaggyyyyyyyyyy Tiiiiime!!
River Rouge, Ecorse and SUBURBS don't go in the same sentence or anything else for that matter. Unfortunately Highland Park looks worse compared to when i grew up there in the 70's. Sad.
See more of what River Rouge (and Ecorse) looks like here: th-cam.com/video/hkjd15pPMfo/w-d-xo.html
Michigan Playlist: th-cam.com/play/PLkAKbwTlGHeJoyujmAhEMOusr2cLGm_jK.html
Detroit Suburbs Playlist: th-cam.com/play/PLkAKbwTlGHeIe9OSmlhG2TK3Q207cHb2v.html
Help me grow my other channels!
Chris Harden's Travel Archives: www.youtube.com/@chrishardenarchives
Nostalgia Tours Radio: www.youtube.com/@Nostalgiatoursradio
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hey Chris it's been a while since I commented on one of your videos hope you're doing well man the power plant at the beginning of the video looks like a place where Freddy Krueger would work lol😂
love your videos, Wayne county born and raised; I love the history, I love exploring - you tie those together beautifully. Keep doing what you do man!
Growing up in Detroit, I always remember the smell in the downriver area. Chis mentioned salt in this video. A lot of people do not realize that there is a salt mine under the city of Detroit in the area that Chris is in. The mine entrance is in southwest Detroit near Fort Street not far from the Rouge River.
Under Lake Erie too. Morton has a plant in Mentor Headlands, OH.
@@erocker78 Yes sir, you are correct about the Morton salt mine. I didn`t want to get too far off topic in his video. There are several salt mines in or near the Great Lakes. There is another large salt mine under the southern part of Lake Huron that is accessed from Goderich Ontario, Canada
@@bobmackay3414 I did not know that. 👍
@@erocker78 No problem, there is an awful lot of things that I don`t know about . I try to learn something new every day . I comment on Chris`s videos to try to help him out with the algorithm.
I lived on Fort and Oakwood and I could felt the salt extraction which felt like a 4.8 magnitude earthquake.
Awesome video. Thanks for sharing the information. I was curious about the large brick ranches sometimes listed there for such low prices. Another TH-camr in Detroit real estate mentioned River Rouge has a rogue if not tyrannical building code enforcement department maybe that explains general lack of blight. I wish for nothing but good luck and love for Detroit, and all her suburbs. Again awesome video, enjoy your weekend!
First comes to many liquor stores, then a overabundance of vape stores shortly follow When "Pawn" shops start popping up, start to worry. When pot stores move in, it's too
late -- put the house up for sale.
I'd much rather have a pot / cannabis store than another abandoned building. It helps the tax base and brings an economy that was not there for decades.
Id add churches to that list. Too many churches seems to be a common theme in poor areas.
@@whatever833 ???? They are many closed churches. Your comment was a attempt at humor, right ???
@@jetsons101 in my experience, most churches could be good community centers or integrated into parks instead of stealing public space for your religion
@@circleinforthecube5170 Most churches are already community centers, urban churches don't have much Green Space, churches outside of the city do have Green Space areas. Churches don't steal public space, that space is paid for. People like you don't have to go to a church if you don't want to, but in America we have freedom of religion --- many chose to go and many don't. Hmmmm You sound like a W0KE democrat, my family and I will say a prayer for you......
Worth noting, most crime in the area arent spur of the moment. It's usually people with prior conflicts. I used to work in the city installing internet/cable and didnt have any safety issues.
Good information about the positive
A lot of theft. Saw my neighbor steal a little mobile Library thing they put out and each other's garbage cans in broad daylight. Never saw that in Detroit or Ecorse.
I stumbled across your channel about 3 or 4 years ago and loved your videos then. I remember commenting on how you should have WAY more followers than you did at the time. After watching this episode, I noticed all of the little(and big) things you've added to your videos since then, and it's great to see you're at 81K subs!( I think I remember 10,000 or less at the time, if I'm not mistaken). Keep kicking ass, Chris! Thank you for all the hard work and great content!
Thank you! I’m always looking to improve on stuff 👍🏻
I've always enjoyed your videos and this one is no exception. I'm glad to see your channel grow with subscribers. Keep up the great content!
Thanks!
"all dressed in.... Black [RACIST]" is HILARIOUS 😂
Love that "RACIST" sound bite that he inserts in all his videos. 😆
I grew up in Weirton W. Va - former home of the largest "start to finish" Steel Mills in the nation. Home to several "coke" plants it was filth on a level this place will probably never see. Not a bad looking town, but without a new industrial investment it is surely doomed.. sad.. Thanks for documenting the Midwest as it exists today..
Better than Flint honestly it doesn't seem nearly as bad. Looks like a decent town
I visited my grandparents on henry st in river rouge 1963 to 1972. Played at Belanger park and us steel park. We were far enough away from marathon not to get sulfur smell. Great video and drone footage!
They have one of the best school basketball teams in the state when ever our team played them they got skunked
I grew up in River Rouge or the Rouge as we called it. It is no way the dirties city in Michigan. Go look right next door at Ecorse or southwest Detroit especially the Ray (Del Ray). Rouge has actually gotten better since I left there back in the 2000s. Rouge Rat 4ever and proud of it!
River Rouge is absolutely the dirtiest city. The entire town has industrial pollutants hovering in the air above it. Im guessing that’s why you moved away despite being proud of being from there?
River Rouge is closer to the marathon plant than Ecorse is. Southwest Detroit isn’t a city it’s a neighborhood. Already looked at Delray and the other neighborhood you’re thinking of is Boynton. Once again that’s only a small part of Detroit. You can live in Detroit and be far away from this area. Like, 7 Mile and Kelley. You would have an entirely different set of problems to deal with up there, but air quality wouldn’t be near as much of a concern as it is down by Zug Island and the Marathon plant.
@ChrisHarden it is called being zoned heavy industrial! And, we're you associated with some treehugger organization that loves to destroy America's heavy industry! Did you carry an air monitor with you!
He only showed the "W"side. Not the "B"side or the back streets. This was misleading frfr
"Ruuuuiiijjjj"
Del Ray doesnt exist anymore because of the Gordy Howie Bridge, its a few ppl that still live there but its gone
Pizza, Reefer, & 40oz to FREEDOM😅!
"The peak population was 20k in 1950 and will never see that many people again." Unless it's the National Guard.
I remember Detroit used to have that sulfur smell in their water.
Crazy that the Standard Federal bank, when I lived there is now a dispensary. 😂
I know right lol.
River Rouge is starting to come back, housing values have risen significantly. I have lived there for 8 years and this video is not a fair depiction.
Just curious… Did you live here… in The Rouge? Because all of my family did since the 1900’s and they are very proud of their past, history & city…”The Rouge”
Hey Chris how about u come back on Saturday night around 1-4am and sit on Polk st or beechwood and vlog 😊 or go on liddesdale in the hole right after if u make it
I grew up in Brightmoor in the 60.s. 70's and half the 80's. You could smell the bile from Zug Island quite a few days in the summer. And that's quite a ways north of where you're at now. Can also tell you that Ford Mo. Co. did their fair share of helping to ruin the Rouge River. Along with those other nasty factories and companies, they truly were NOT for the environment. I can also tell you I wondered in the back of Fairlane Mansion in the early 70's long before it got walled off. I can show you the exact spot where Thomas Edison and Ford laid the cornerstone to the power plant for the mansion. Those companies killed that once beautiful river.
I remember it always smelled awful traveling through there out of state when I was a kid !!!
The cannabis industry solely saved River Rouge hands down.
“Industry” lol. Funny how that definition has changed over the years. Keep ‘em stoned and tell them who to vote for. FYI: The revenue generated, 6% sales tax and 9% excise tax, goes to the State of Michigan, minus the cost to regulate the “industry” and grow government. The people using and spending their money are those lest able to afford it from my observations, but to each their own according to their abilities and ambitions.
Lmao. I'm from Kazoo, and automatically thought of Flint. But yea, Detroit makes sense too.
Hometown gotta love it , all weed shops helping city to stay float tho
I fish at that park every now and then
And eat the walleye and pike out of the river
My whole family from the Rouge
Unfortunately 100% true
Judge Richard E Valois
Why do people have to mention Detroit its River Rouge. If something happen in a suburb they have to mention Detroit or metro Detroit but when it's good they don't. (most of the time)
Zug island Indian burial ground 😮
That is something that I knew and should’ve mentioned. If I recall I didn’t put that in there 🥴
Rouge is not that bad.
I ate fish out of the Detroit river my whole life
Yes my husband got murdered out there 😢
How so?
go to muskegon
Keep shipping all of the jobs overseas, and wonder why there are low income cities.
You can thank the Bushes for that.
I eat fish from the river ALL THE TIME. The fish are fine the river is fine. you can tell he’s not from here
0
Zombiland :)
Detroit historically has been a hard working, industrial place. About jobs and making money through the automobile industry and industrial sites.
Proud resident. Born in SW Detroit, grew up in Delray, Rouge, and Ecorse my whole life. My grandparents moved here in the 1950's from Kentucky and Papaw worked on Zug Island and they lived well into their 80s with no kind of sickness or cancer's from the air quality. 😏
I bought my first home here in the early 2000's for 8k. Taxes arn't that bad here like you claim, I pay about 2k a year.
I feel very safe here and the Police are always on patrol. Most of us keep our houses up and our grass cut. Back when I was a kid it was a gangland warzone, it's come a long way since then. Most diverse city downriver with equal parts black, white, and spanish. Great community for boating access and fishing. And yes if you like to partake in the devil's lettuce West Jefferson is definitely the cannabis Gaza strip! 😉
IDK.. have you checked out LaPlasaince Rd exit off 75 in Monroe? There's like 8 dispensaries on one little corner.
Some aholes shot paintballs at my house and the police told my mom if they come up to our car and bust out the window that's not a crime. I don't feel safe.
I remembered seeing haze regularly driving through River Rouge and southwest Detroit.
Chris why didn't you show the other 60% of the River Rouge? None of the public housing areas. None of the truly abandoned areas. I live in Rouge, and it's divided into 3 nicknames.. DISCLAIMER I DIDNT NAME THIS.. THESE ARE HOW CERTAIN AREAS ARE REFERRED TOO, IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ME, where you recorded is called the "WHITE SIDE", across Jefferson, is whats called "THE BLACK SIDE" or "THE BACK STREETS". Why didn't you record over there? Those numbers you gave make no sense with the beautiful areas you showed. Take em to the hood. This video was very misleading and one sided. Be blessed....
He's close enough to the poop when he's at that park. I don't know about all this lore but except certain chunks of streets this is the worst city I've ever lived in. Detroit proper is way better.
I’m very impressed with how well kept up the homes & stores are. Even the closed up businesses are neatly boarded up & not showing disrepair. It’s obvious that the residents take pride in their neighborhoods. I did not see any blight, overgrown lawns, etc. I was expecting the worst from your title! So glad to see more positive things than negative ones!
"Look nice, live worse" that's our motto
It's sad he did that. That's only one area. River Rouge used to have military housing in it. We are if the Detroit River, and 3 miles from Fort Wayne. Military housing went into low income housing. He didn't show you guys over half the city 😞
@@hollymoon8453where exactly is/was the military housing? Are you saying it was tore down and rebuilt for low income housing or are the original military buildings still there? Very cool..
I love Michigan. I think it's the most beautiful place on Earth.
I'm more loyal to my State than I am to the United States.
That being said, we have our problems.
Well said.
Want to add, while some commented " so what, it's just another rust belt." As the old saying goes, " Those who can not remember the past are condemned to repeat it." So thank you again for publishing this history that I hope isn't repeated. Your channel is more valuable than any script production on a news channel. Well done!
To be honest, this was one of the better looking neighborhoods in Detroit. Some of your other Detroit videos showed neighborhoods that looked third world.
River Rouge is a suburb, not apart of Detroit but yeah the community doesn’t look as bad as a lot of Detroit neighborhoods I agree
Lots of industry. Jobs and money. Industry isn't supposed to be pretty. I don't think the area looks bad at all.
yeah it looks awesome
If you like loud noise and bad smells, then River Rouge is for you.
It looks awful, money isn’t not everything.
@@CT-vm4gfit kinda is
Smelling Zug Island is not like going to a botanical garden.
Thanks for the history lesson of River Rouge Chris! Shame about the corruption involving school children's meals. My grandfather used to work for US Steel in Illinois after returning from WW2 and the Korean War. I always remember the horrible smells of the plant. He died in the 80's of Emphysema.
Great video
Have friends who were raised in 'The Rouge' as natives call it. They were raised there during the 50s and some still live there. Sad that things have deteriorated as they have. In spite of this have many warm memories of family gatherings years ago.
A boarded up pawn shop, wow. This may be poorer than Highland Park but it doesn't look nasty like Highland Park
True that
You forgot to tell everyone that River Rouge is a "Blue Collar" Rust Belt City....and the people who "choose" to remain here are happy...Yes we have a ton of environmental issues because the heads of industries refuse to do the right thing with home buyouts/relocation, "It is what it is".....Hopefully in my lifetime, My neighborhood will be transformed into a beautiful green zone for everyone to see & enjoy....
You contradicted yourself
Lmao & Smiling....Thanks for the great video Chris
Yes, it’s dirty and the air quality stinks. But to me, the saddest part is the loss of those good paying industrial jobs. And that could be traced back to those corrupt politicians, not just in the city, but in the whole country.
Peel back the layers and you can trace it to over regulation and overly zealous labor unions. Look a little deeper who is behind those entities and what and who they support. It goes back a very long way.
Let's see what happens to Michigan electricity grid once DTE shut's the Monroe Power Plant! DTE has probably spent nearly $2B on emissions control equipment at the Monroe plant!
@@SouthernBelleACewoah! Wait a minute! Do you have any good links, or do you care to share what you know, that delves into this topic? I mean.. I'm definitely gonna look into it myself but would love to have multiple sources. Do you know WHEN they're shutting the Monroe plant down?
Scum town I know numerous people that lived in homes in river rouge that have died of cancer ! I lived there for 15 years
It's kind of what happens when you hijack free Enterprise
I just saw $3.69/gallon and we are paying about $1.60/litre - take our $1.60 and multiply it by 3.78 and we are paying $6.05/gallon here in Windsor right across the border. Trudeau sucks.
Previous source of the infamous "Windsor Hum" that ended when the US Steel Mill blast furnaces on Zug Island shut down in 2020 (US steel still has noisy operations there but not like before).. You can hear the hum of large steel mills for miles away at night!
Can someone please explain something to me! How the hell does a steel mill disturb people's sleep. Especially if it nearly a mile or more away from them!
@@SouthernBelleACe because they are often incredibly loud and produce a deep noise that tends to carry farther, especially at night. Steel mill furnaces are typically either blast furnaces (which blast compressed hot air around the furnace cauldron in an inclosed space) or electric ark furnaces (which use a masive electric ark to produce adequate temperature to melt steel). Both methods produce incredible levels of vibration (unlike a regular open hearth furnace which would not get neatly hot enough).
The blasted compressed air or massive electric arks and to a lesser extent the equipment that produces them, cause the massive iron and steel structures the furnaces are enclosed in to act as giant harmonic instruments. In fact, they need to act as such (at least to an extent) or else the buildings would be damaged from the extreme vibration. Slightly faulty ventilation or flare stacks (as was true on Zug island) can make the problem much worse then usual but even without any faulty or off equipment or structures the sound from any large steel mill is still typically intense.
Because much of the noise from steel mills is largely very deep pitched (higher pitched sound is also produced but doesn't carry naerly as far) and usually oscillating (do to multiple sound waves from multiple structures) the peak sound is much louder and it can carry much farthur (especially at night) then would otherwise be the case and ear plugs are often not affective do to the deep pitch.
Furthermore, infrasound (sound just below the typically audible range) is also produced in large amounts by steel mills which cannot be heard in the normal sense by most people but is felt and perceived as sound by way of an auditory hallucination (or indirectly heard one could say). This often produces a slight panic reaction in people even if they don't articulate it as such, and can increase stress levals and put people on edge without them realizing why.
I could often clearly hear (mainly at night but sometimes durring the day) even the steel finishing plant several miles from my home across town untill it was shuttered earlier this year, but an integrated steel mill can be much louder still. Even though the steel plant in my suburb didn't make new steel anymore (it was once an intregrated mill) it was still a massive facility that did use two large annealing furnaces (which I believe also use electricity but only get to 1700○ to instead of much hoter like at an integrated mill) plus those used to melt tin for the hot dipping lines. Annealing furnaces are still not a normal furnace though and can still be very loud, -as can be the giant high pressure cold rollers used to treat steel coils.
The noise I heard was an oscillating, quivering deep matalic drone that I could hear (and feel) frequently that often bothered me both because it was a spooky sounding noise and because I didn't know what it was and the sound seemed to come from all over and yet no where, but very vaguely from the north. It would give me chills sometimes. I only realized what it was apon asking others and the fact that the sound completely stopped at the same exact time the steel plant's furnaces shut down!
@@jKLa funny. You never hear anything like this from Gary, East Chicago, Whiting, Granite City, and Cleveland.
@@SouthernBelleACe actually the Gary and Cleveland works are quite loud and can be heard for a long ways off by some, just not as bad as Zug Island was. Most people are used to it but I have heard of people complaining about hearing the drone and clanks of the Cleveland works at night from across town and into the suburbs(!) If I could often clearly hear just the steel finishing plant several miles away at night which you won't find anything online about (the noise it made) a full integrated mill is much worse. It's just how it is in a steel town. Allegations of modified exhaust stacks and overworked blast furnaces at Zug would also explain the usually bad noise leval there if true. Plus this affected Canada after a certain point (there was some loud noise before and now but not at a similar leval) in a city with no equivalent loud noise source of it's own. Whole different ball game then old industrial cities that are used to it!
@@SouthernBelleACe btw you can actually find a video of the Gary works on TH-cam taken by drone without music, and the loud, oscillating, deep matalic hum of the furnaces is VERY noticeable even from a ways off! Its on the SamLoveTrains channel and is from last year. That type of sound can easily Cary for over 5 miles at night (much less often during the day) depending on conditions, much like a distant diesel freight train but significantly louder.
What about the skatepark in the nice beautiful Park, the memorial one with the helicopters. That's bullshit
I live about 15 miles further downriver and work in the Marathon refinery on the maintenance team. The pay is good, and because of the union we're in, we have incredible health insurance. I have not had to worry about a medical bill since i started working there. It is sad though, because they don't let us work over 40 hours a week unless something catastrophic happens. They bring in cheap labor from down south to do a lot of the work that Detroit area residents could be doing. The new plant manager isn't even from Michigan.
Interesting.. do you mind sharing what qualifications are required for your position and round about how much they start out making? I'm a nurse but my kid is coming of age and it's nice to learn about employment opportunities we've never heard about.
Another corrupt town. How sad. I enjoyed this video anyway. There is alot of information here.😊❤
Anyone recall the conviction of Detroit mayor Kwaumee Kilpatrick!
The mayors son has the green light to do what he wants, all those despo’s don’t make no since
Who mike bowdler or Billy Campbell 🤔.
I think he means Mike Bowdler.
GREAT RESEARCH CHRIS. I grew up here many years ago. We were plagued with corruption of taxpayers stolen money, lots of it, even then. Great Lakes Steel paid a big portion of property tax and kept the schools going. I remember the sewage system always backing up in our neighborhood's basements. I remember taking baths and seeing a ring of dirty orange metallic flakes in the tub. I never noticed the air quality until we went up North in the thumb area and came home. It was hard to deal with. I will say that we had great sports teams and my High School teachers were great, but many of us were terrified to use the school bathroom. I minded my own business but witnessed too many violent crimes. The crime and poverty after all these years still remind me how blessed my family and I are to get out of there😮. I had no idea the taxes are that high, WOW. Good video, thank you for helping expose those officials stealing money meant for poor kids. River Rouge was swimming in huge tax revenue from Great Lakes steel and politicians were stealing a lot of it. Nothing has changed except now Jefferson is called " The Green Mile " for the numerous pot stores. 😅
ZUG island yeah, no kidding, it's dirty. That's what they've been producing steel for a 100 years. All industrial and like most cities it's on the crappy south side
Justifiably critical of U.S. Steel, Zug Island, nearby Marathon refinery, and the former DTE power plant. But, virtually nothing said of Ford's enormous century old Rouge complex. Ford deserves credit for decades of cleanup efforts, new investment, and maintaining some jobs, but the property is hardly back to nature and sprouting green shoots everywhere. Any comments?
Masterfully done....as usual. Listening to the detailed thorough narration alone is worth the time. Chris has a really unique way of winding clever humorous thoughts into very serious topics but not at the expense of people who are struggling to just get by. I have said this before...corruption is disgusting and much more so in a poor struggling community. How do these perpetrators sleep at night? Between the outstanding drone work and street video I am surprised the residential area did not look worse than it did. Chris has performed a real public service shining a light on this area.
Do not bail out general motors again... Let them fail if they're going to fail.
I have my own theory as to why Mitt Romney wasn't for the bailout. I wonder if Obama told the Big Three this. Sure we will bail you out. But, in return, you will have to build a certain of amount electric vehicles by 2020 or so!
fun fact: the Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot made a song named "the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" in 1976 to remember this tragedy.
And it's one of the best songs IMHO.
These districts need to post how the district pays cabs to take kids back and forth to school. We are talking some students fares are $50-100 one way 5 days a week. 500-1000 a week. Some are special needs but most are low income parents that are to lazy to work
Kids with special needs can get transportation to school in almost all school districts throughout the U.S. It doesn't matter the parents income
22:29 What is going on with that building ? I see the front but no side walls.
Yeah... that's what I'd like to know 😆
I grew up in River Rouge. Thank God I don’t have any health issues 💙🙏🏽😢
That’s great. My grandpa worked at the marathon refinery for several decades. Don’t think he had related health issues from it either… Amazingly.
Ah, the smell of coke ovens at work. Was a regular smell here too on the southern tip of Lake Michigan near Gary Indiana. That along with other industrial stink. Used to smell the farm smells here as well. Still some corn and beans, but the cattle and pigs are far and few.
River Rouge was a wonderful community before the mid-80's
Also, it would be nice if this narrator includes that the definite downfall of the area and industry isn't the FAULT of the residents that still remain in River Rouge.
Why do ppl like this try to only report the negative ijs
One thing I noticed about your Detroit area videos is there are rarely any people in them. What does river rouge look like on Saturday afternoon? I know that my home town of Romulus is basically abandoned. No people anywhere.
Great video I'm from Rouge and you got a lot right, but you left out other not as known facts. Very informative nonetheless.
Fair enough
You need to go to another state. Badmouth there. You're in a vacuous bubble that doesn't take into account the jobs heavy industry brings with it.
Mill I think is hiring, drove by there a few weeks ago and pay started at $25 per hour. Used to be not that bad with the houses and businesses. except for the pollution. My Grandmother lived there and 60’s and 70’s , and I remember my dad’s car would have an orange film on it after a few hours. My family worked in many of those mills and plants.
But $25 dollars an hour is what they paid in the 90s and it was decent enough then, but man.. it's a shame at what has happened to our "good job" opportunities in SE MI.
If you want to see whst your breathing there just go check your furnace filter
A lot of people have died from cancer due to the pollution in rouge and the surrounding cities 💙
I was raised and grew up here , then we moved to Detroit when I was 3 or 4 years. Then moved back when l was about 25 years.
I live downriver, to think there's people eating fish they catch out of the Detroit river is wild to me.
Absolutely know the humming noise. Drives you absolutely mad without another noise to drown it out.
Wasn't for Detroit may not of won world War 2
It's not dirty today you should have seen it in the 70s when steel industries were booming
Maybe I missed it, but I don't see any redeeming value in that city which is really sad.
Probably within the next fifty years the city will be abandoned if not sooner
I agree to an extent. What does it for me is the pollution. The more we learn about all of that, the more people will move away as they value their health. That outweighs the potential sentimental value there is in the community IMO.
Cool video
Thank you
Watch your videos while I ride the stationary bike. About a year ago you would show the map of your route at the start of the video and one could see where you had driven. Liked this feature. Thank you for your shows.
The Smell oh God the smell......oh were going over the Rouge river? Hold your breath!!!!
That's going through Detroit
No it's not, unless you're talking about Delray. We literally have a waste treatment plant down Jefferson amongst the blocks after visger you might smell it anytime. You can see it spewing brownish yellow into the atmosphere.
I feel offended 💀
Just found your channel somehow. Very cool stuff! I live in the metro detroit area and find alot of your content very interesting. Furthermore, i like seeing the other states also. Keep it up! You have a new sub now!!
We use to have acid rain back in the 90s when i was like 7 ..
I was on Zug island that night in 2018 when that accident happened. Crazy stuff. Was my 2nd night on the job. Also the coke battery on Zug island is owned by DTE, the rest of the island is US steel where they have the blast furnaces.
Our governor promised road fixs. Instead we have traffic jams for the over passes lmao.
how do the roads get fixed?
@dianayount2122 recently on fox they explained why ohio is superior to us. I suggest you do your own homework .
From our area, I can tell you that NOBODY ever moves TO the downriver area if they have any choice.
It's more slime and grime than the D.
Detroit has improved greatly over the last 10-15 years. We live in the 'burbs now
Love all your videos, you have exceptional talent in your style of presenting your content.
In 1999 insane clown posse made zug island famous with this lyric lol
From Southwest Detroit, deep within Zug Island's industrial
waste depositories, it's Shaggyyyyyyyyyy Tiiiiime!!
River Rouge, Ecorse and SUBURBS don't go in the same sentence or anything else for that matter. Unfortunately Highland Park looks worse compared to when i grew up there in the 70's. Sad.
If you have to post signs with detailed explanations of which fish have the least chemicals I think I’ll just pass on fishing there lol
Exactly how I feel lol
Had to go to RR a few months ago, and the paint on my car was irreparably damaged!
I once had a white car that had orange spots appear from the air quality