We abandoned our inner cities and played tax games to get companies to move to new places. We built vast suburbs and better off people moved there, meaning the roads are now clogged, resulting in a hollowing out of city cores. And then the inner city schools and infrastructure were neglected for decades; as the tax base fell things got worse. This is the result of decades of bad decisions by many actors. If we don't take some sort of action it won't get better.
Cities were fine before lockdowns and progressives moved in and destroyed then even with all of that. The reality is the left destroyed these cities. It has nothing to do with businesses moving out or any of that nonsense.
@@JesusChrist2000BC so your contention is that pandemic lockdowns and civil strife during 2020 were the sole cause of urban decay? And these problems didn't exist before 2020? I hope not. Having spent a decent amount of time in Philly myself, I think you'd be surprised at how deep the problem is. What is the GOP solution to these problems, given that you and others find it convenient to blame Dems? If you're going to criticize one party, do tell us what the other party has proposed to fix it. Or will this be like Trump's cheap, amazing, efficient replacement for Obamacare that never materialized?
@Edward: Why are you asking for help from the other side? The republicans already told Dems to bring back plain clothes officers and stop & frisk. But you don’t like those options do you?
The "right" and "left" are all in it together to protect there interest. Nothing will be done if people sit around waiting on any of these clowns to come up with solutions.
Born and raised in Philly and sad to say, this video has only captured a glimpse of what Kensington is really like. Kensington is absolutely horrendous! It’s like a living real life horror film day and night 🤦🏾♀️
A few years ago I was homeless and spent just 5 months sleeping on the streets in kensington. This video barely scratches the surface. Should've seen the area after dark in the summer, especially before they cleared out the tents under the bridges. Used to call the one bridge "emerald city", it was not a pleasant place. The city eventually put up eviction notices telling people they had to move their tents or they'd be thrown out. And the video doesn't show it but there is out in the open drug dealing. Certain blocks you just don't walk down unless you're there to buy. Used to hear gunshots, often fully automatic, almost every night. It's a relatively small part of the city, but its like a different world down there
No lies there, my grandmother refuses to move to another part of Philadelphia. The fact that we had to barricade the doors with something before going to bed was a nuisance especially when there is no sound and you just hear the outside and vision everything going on, even when you really understand the area. This wasn't constant as I only visited not so often. Now having to transport every morning down Kensington to go to college classes it really darkens the day when you get under that train track. Seeing how everyone is okay with their lifestyles and no way out of it, there is truly no real way to solve the neighborhood when it's barely ran by enforcement and government. When they don't even travel down when you call 911 sometimes after a certain time. It's a big risk if you care for your safety and your family's, but I hope that it gets better and everyone lives a better life getting out of there. Even if you get use to living in the area, your not going to have a blissful life staying there. Just watching the video with silence shows what's it's like.
The videos that you see on the internet including this one do not cover the whole entire Kensington. This is just one little strip/street that is called kensington avenue and runs through a few different neighborhoods. Philadelphia has over 100+ neighborhoods and 4 different neighborhoods carry the name Kensington. West Kensington (Gentrified 3rd) East Kensington (Gentrified 2nd) Kensington Olde Kensington (Gentrified 1st) The "drug epidemic" footage you guys see on the net that is repeated by many channels is less than a half a mile strip that runs through Kensington (North) None of those videos actually show the blocks and neighborhoods in kensington. Just kensington avenue where the blue line train runs up top. People prejudge Philly or even the kensington neighborhoods for that matter based off of a .56 mile strip. The problem starts at Kensington ave and Tioga st and ends by Kensingtonave and Lehigh ave. When this video started , you were coming from the neighborhood "Juniata" then transitioned to Harrogate before quickly transitioning to North Kensington. By the time you got to Hunter school on Kensington and York where it transitioned into front street and you went left down the avenue with closed stores before you cut left in EAST Kensington. If you would of cut right you woulda hit west kensington. Kensington Ave starts at the Frankford neighborhood and ends at the 2 neighborhoods west and east kensington. East Kensington homes are selling for 300k-700k each West Kensington is selling for 200k-600k They just built some brand new homes in North kensington the heart of where the epidemic is at called the Kensington Courts for $380k-500k right on Frankford and Lehigh. 90% of those houses were sold and not to Philadelphia Natives Olde Kensington sells for $500k-$800k West, East and Olde kensington have all been gentrified and have people from all across America are living in those neighborhoods. People from all walks of life from more than half of the countries states moving in. I mean people from as far a California, Washington, Texas, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Kansas, Colorado, Georgia, Carolinas, Virginia and tons more just to name a few who have moved into one of the 4 Kensingtons. The problem I have with the videos people create about my neighborhood is they are looking at it from an outsiders perspective and glorify the wrong things. They don't see the whole picture just the headlines. I'm born and raised in kensington. I have tons of detailed kensington videos, covering all 4 kensington neighborhoods. Driving tours, walking tours, scooter tours, day and nighttime. Most people don't see the potential urban areas like this have. Movies have been shot in the Kensington's,(Shooters, Mechanic, Rocky, Transformers,etc) Many creative talents from Producers (Sarom Sounds), Rappers (OT the Real, Ayo215, Drama B2R etc), and even famous you tubers have came out of Kensington (Braapp Vlogs) just to name one. Give it time in the next 5-10 years North KENSINGTON will end up ritzy thriving also. There will be new Cafes, bars, restaurants and more will be planted in the north kensington area and the drugs will be phased out. Property values are just being driven down at the moment so the investors can come in soon. Life long residents will get tired of seeing the decay and move out... hipsters, grads, business owners and other professionals will help rebuild North Kensington and move in. Theres a lot of True Kensington ambience missed in this video... Im born and raised in Kensington and now Im currently traveling the country, I learned quickly there are tons of other states, cities and towns with similar drug issues that are not put in the limelight so often. South "Jackson" Mississippi looks like a WARZONE!
You want to know what happened ? I will tell you. The jobs disappeared . Families broke up or never started. The only thing léft was unhappiness. When cheap imported came in , the good jobs left. Governments decided to build jails instead of people. It is called breakdown in society. People need jobs. With jobs comes security homes and families. So in todays world you have broken people. People living on the streets. The consumers helped to create this situation. And For the cherry on top, there is China. The United States could become in a war based on cheap goods ! All those cheap goods were no bargain!
True. It happened all across the country. The elites don't want us living well and prospering. They pretend that hurts global warming but the facts is they want us to be poor slaves so we beg for things as they trade items for more of our freedoms.
I was told that years ago Kensington once a working class neighborhood with numerous factories in the area. Once these areas started fading away our once great cities went downhill.
@@Schubes5 He means in the 50’s, 60’s & 70’s but I was born in 1979 in Frankford “the next neighborhood over” & Kensington was always like this but now it is just pure madness. In the 80’s & 90’s it was rough but now it is just completely out of control.
Our country gave away all our jobs to China and other places so that people could save a few bucks at Walmart,didn't turn out to be such a good deal did it
I escaped Philly for Florida in June. They take obscene amounts of taxes from the people who work hard, don't take crime seriously (2021 set a homicide record 530+), and the people who live there vote for policies that perpetuate these problems.
That looks pretty clean compared to some recent footage I've seen of Kensington. The trash and the number of junkies stumbling around have increased exponentially.
Yes.. Because they relocated them to an 12 x 10 block area. So you'll see hundreds of them gathered under and around the El starting at K&A down to Kensington & Jasper and all of the surrounding back streets on either side. Total Mess.
@@billyjacc Great info, thanks, didn't know about the relocation. Certainly makes sense when you see how much it has further degraded, even within a year time span.
Nick, Been watching your channel for a while now. Thank you for looking at the American homeless problem so straight on. It's powerful when you just drive through these places and say nothing. It's a sad fact that we are all facing. We need to see this and begin to heal as a nation..together. I also teach international students American Culture and English. Believe me, they are often shocked at how chaotic and run down it can be.
In 1962 Detroit Michigan was the richest city *in the world* now look at it today. Philadelphia should be looked at in a similar light. Where have we gone wrong as a nation? What can we change for the better to turn this ship around? These are the questions to ask ourselves as a a nation, and as Americans.
Manufacturing companies moved to cheaper countries. Even China is getting expensive so it goes to Indonesia. Prison labor and automated machines make up some of America's manufacturing now.
@@Lildizzle420 no program lifts a person out of poverty unless they want to be out of pverty, most people just want free money and foodstamps so they can be lazy bums smoking pot at home.
Stop voting for anyone with a D next to their name would be a start. Then among republicans dont vote for rinos and only ones who support the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Then your area will Flourish. New Hampshire is a perfect example.
... as a German Biologist... in 1982 I was a PostDoc at Cornell University in beautiful Ithaca, NY - when I arrived in NY - All the Symptoms of decay were already there - to my shock and surprise. Workers with 9 000 Dollars per year and 19 % Interest on credit. The Fall of any Empire...
You’re not kidding. I graduated HS in 77 so we spent 76 going around looking at schools. I was being offered athletic scholarships so some were big schools. All gross cities. Syracuse, just gray & bleak. MD, PA & DE were no different. I was in my little suburban bubble.
@@jasonwill5949 How long do you honestly think that will last? You think the government is going to devalue its own currency to nothing by hyperinflation spiral? Or is it a greater possibility that they let inflation run hot long enough to pay down their debt. All the while the average American takes on more debt and saves less. Then they raise interest rate to 5 to 10 percent to benefit them when it is convenient and increase strength of the dollar at that point. Then they have their nation of debt slaves.
As a resident of Philadelphia that lives only a neighborhood over to this one, I can tell you that our local government does NOTHING to correct or improve this problem. We are praying that this gets national attention because our local officials are not only failing us but completely neglecting their duties…
Used to drive Uber/Lyft in the Philly area and end up going through Kensington and some other super shady areas of Philly, which has a lot. Hell, you have to go through Chester to get to Philly from my neck of the woods, lol. It amazes me how vibrant Philly still manages to be. There's still younger folks who are willing to buy cheap row homes and flip them, even in some of these borderline neighborhoods.
I am still trying to figure out the correlation between homelessness and tons of trash. It should be an easy effort to clean up behind themselves and properly dispose their garbage between ( nods). A pristine area would go a long way in helping thier situation. I MEAN,WHAT ELSE DO THEY HAVE TO DO??????
I think a big reason why so many of these ghettos have nice cars is because of buy here pay here lots and poor decision making. A lot of people don't care how much of a dump they live in, as long as they have a nice car they couldn't care less
@Christopher DH Public Transportation in some of these run down areas can be a scary and dangerous thing! So it's always a good idea to have a Car, Truck, S.U.V. in good condition or as new as possible.
Even more fun: the Chinese corner stores where you can buy a shrimp lo mein, a loosie (with complimentary use of a lighter attached to a string), a roll of toilet paper, epic Purple Drink, and 1 AAA battery for under $10.
It's called George Soros Hand Picking and putting Into power weak district attorneys not just in my hometown, but all across The country. Larry Krasner our DA Absolutely was funded by George Soros. The thinking goes that if he Can use his wealth to stop criminals from being prosecuted, they are right back out on the street causing mayhem. The faster society breaks down the faster the obstacle to Soros' dream of a New World Order can manifest.
I see paved roads, working traffic lights, late model cars, mostly maintained buildings, no massive tent cities, open stores. Not great, but hardly the dystopian nightmare you describe. Phila. has many great, thriving sections. The suburbs are great, especially the western suburbs.
I have not been around the area in 2-3 weeks and this is actually the cleanest and best state I've seen the area through a video. There's literally trash tornadoes and piles with tents replacing open areas. It doesn't look perfect or horrific through a video, but you wouldn't want to live there for your life it is depressing and disappointing when you get to know the place. The other areas of Philadelphia is great, but it's not really moving better with recent activity while the great areas are overshadowing what's really the crap fest it can be. No place is perfect by all means, but I'll be happy to move to another city/state. But I did grow up here.
I went to North Philadelphia to visit my sister before she died. It was lots of trash on the ground in the neighborhood. Her block was clean. I think the neighbors did that to keep their street clean. My favorite NBA basketball team is located in Philadelphia. I would love to go there and watch a game someday.
I graduated from Temple; lived in Germantown; Mt Airy; took the bus and the subway to work which was at Temple University. Kensington was a lower-middle class neighborhood. It breaks my heart to read these things about it. Don't know what the mayor is doing or actually not doing to address this nightmare of Kensington. Philly people - speak out. I no longer live in Philly - moved 35 years ago.
I'm from what's called the "third world" This isn't really a poor area in terms of the cash outlay that was used to build the area. The problem is that they didn't use the modern panels but a small brick in construction that is often unpainted. The color scheme involves dull tones and the row houses have a monolithic "blocky" look to them
This would be a step up for most of the world. Cars and businesses everywhere. No falling down buildings. Not good by old American standards but what do you expect when you flood the country with poverty?
Most of these people’s problems would disappear if they would: 1) SOBER THE F UP 2) Stop being promiscuous 3) Learn a trade - literally any trade 4) Don’t break the law 5) learn how to speak and write by reading. Read about any subject for free on your phone 6) Get to church If these people did these things, this area would experience a renaissance
@@whooelse9444 life is hard for everybody, but some people make it harder than it has to be, drug and alcohol are the worst things you can introduce in your life.
I’m from NY and I live in PA and we have a heroin epidemic here in the high schools. Sht is wicked. Keep up the good work and do you have any videos on NYC ?
I never fails to amaze me how much trash there is strewn about the street, here in Michigan we have some horrific ghettos, but there usually isn't trash all over the place just burned out, abandoned buildings and empty overgrown lots
Twice I have driven and stayed in towns from Tawas to Rogers City, and was amazed at how clean it was everywhere... Wish I felt more welcomed as I visited, as I really liked it a lot and considered the arena for a move.
@@JF-xq6fr Northern Michigan is an incredibly clean place and the locals are often very caring towards the environment. Unfortunately I'm sure people in the coastal areas don't care much for tourists, but in my experience people in the Grayling area are very friendly but that could be because tourism isn't quite as big there
@@nothat0therguy992 Thank you. I spent a week each time, once this last May, the other time last Sept looking to perhaps make a move in retirement. It truly was shockingly clean, even restrooms, hotels for the most part, etc... And way up north was so quiet, relaxing, and even the drivers seemed more relaxed, much less speeding, etc. I was amazed at how much the area (esp around Presque Isle) reminded me of Maine, WA state, etc. I like the NE lower because of less snow, its remoteness, low population density, and peaceful slower pace, but I felt as if the locals (esp older ones in Alpena) just do not like 'foreigners', despite me being polite, friendly and reserved with them. I do have a W PA dialect, so for sure they knew I was not a native. I have friendly friends from other parts of MI, and perhaps you are on to something. Maybe I will look around your wonderful state, and see if somewhere else seems a better fit. Thanks again.
@@JF-xq6fr Thank you for your commentary on MI. Hoping to visit some of the locales you spoke about next year. Ironically, I too, have a W PA accent...Western Erie County to be exact.
@@communitypark2313 Welcome, and howdy neighbor - I'm in the the county just below you, originally from just outside of Pittsburgh. Been mup-here long enough, and CAN NOT wait to get out. I think you will enjoy your visit to MI, and also think you will experience the vibe I mentioned as well. Good luck.
Been waiting for you to come round Philly! Finally I get to hear your opinion on this area. I live about 15 minutes away from this place. Heard a lot of bad so I tend to stay clear of it completely. Thanks for the video
Nick this reminds me so much of Bushwick and Bedford-Stuyvesan in Brooklyn, New York. You must do the hoods in Brooklyn one day. My father owned apartment buildings there in the 80''s and carried three guns to collect rent.
The park you past at Kensington and Indiana is nicknamed Needle Park. They move the homeless of the main strip of Kensington Avenue and 5 days later, the homeless move right back. Just a horrible cycle of mental illness and drug addiction. So sad.
You can immediately tell if a neighborhood is bad if there is a lack of adherence to lights/walk don’t walk signs. It’s just such a basic thing, and indicates a lack of respect for community rules. You don’t really see it often in nicer areas
Philadelphia sales tax is 2 percent on top of Pennsylvania s 6 percent sales tax. Philadelphia charges a 3.75 percent wage. Basically if your family makes 100k, you're giving the city 4k for no reason. Property taxes are still costly.
It's always funny when people say "how can such a place exist in America" when many many many places just like this exist in America. The opioid crisis made things 10x worse. I just don't know how helpful poverty porn is if we're not having a real discussion about what's creating the conditions in the first place, like the opioid crisis, the currently affordable housing crisis, and institutional neglect. That level of trash means the city isn't doing their job collecting it.
@@nitewatchman1576 the entire country is going through a crisis. Republican counties are dealing with the worst of the aforementioned crises. Deal with that.
My roommate was addicted to heroin and he asked me for a ride up there twice a week. I would drop him off and it’s literally a 3rd world country. Especially during the winter it’s like a wasteland. Thankfully I live in San Diego now. Philly went from the best damn place on earth to a forsaken city ! It sucks cause I spent 25 years there it’s my hometown!
Grew up here & sadly got high here. It was no where near how it is now though. I have 6yrs clean & praying everyday for every lost soul down Kensington. I promise it gets better.
Yes, it is absolutely horrible how the local government allows this to happen. Shameful, but I don't think you saw the best of it. You didn't see any 'zombies.' ( live in PA, thankfully not near Philly.)
I found this channel last night and have been binge-watching starting with the places I've lived for any period of time: Oakland, DC, Philly, and Atlantic City. So far you're spot on. Although Oakland was much better when I lived there 25 years ago, little significant development has occurred since then based on your drive. Is there a video on Camden, New Jersey? It's Atlantic City without any hope.
I grew up here. My mom and grandma have been addicts here. It goes back 3 generations for us. 10 years ago it wasn’t as bad. It is absolutely destroyed now. The only solution is to create a safe injection site and give out clean, regulated heroin. People pushing this new tranq-dope with xylazine are causing addicts a slow painful death. I moved to maine and got away from there. I hope my neighborhood can change. But it’s been bad for 75 years. It’s a viscous circle of addiction, crime, poverty and lack of help.
Oh brother. This thinking is one of the problems - normalizing drug addiction. How about if we focus on getting people off the drugs so they can be productive members of society instead of encouraging them to kill themselves slowly and painfully?
@@rafaeltorre1643. Move them to Portugal where it worked so well. It could never work that well in this country. I know jail used to clean the Heroin addicts up. I’ve seen many rescued via an arrest. How about long term rehab ?
@@wyattearpswoman838 the point is to get them help getting off drugs. But the drugs on the streets are cut with dangerous cutting agents and causing serious medical problems and is destroying everything. The point of giving out safe heroin is to offer services to get clean when they get in the door. Trust me, nobody wants to be a heroin addict. 98% of people who stay addicts have mental health and other factors preventing them from getting clean.
This isn’t as bad as I have seen it. The streets actually look cleaner and there aren’t as many addicts hanging around…must be cold enough they have found shelter?
I got off on that stop once not really knowing where I was, and there were needles littering the ground and many MANY Heroin dealers asking me to buy lol. I nearly got mugged that day by two sick dope feigns who needed money for a fix. I had to run on an elevator to get away from them. This footage actually looks MUCH improved from that of 10 years ago! I'm glad to see it's gotten better! There isn't trash everywhere and homeless camps. I don't see groups of dealers on the corners either now. The L train in itself is an eyesore though providing cover for dark dealings if you will. For miles from center city to Kensington and Somerset there are abandoned warehouses on both sides of the train with all the windows broken out, graffiti, and some burnt ruins. They need to go in and flatten those buildings and start over! It's sad! (First hehe)
It's getting worse by the day.... open drug deals are spreading though out the city now..... The mayor n D.A. only cares about giving parking tickets not stopping the Fentanyl coming in from the southern border.... Poor souls look like Zombies walking around.... SMH.
he didnt really go up any side streets- under the El is probably the cleanest part you'll see of Kensington, take a right turn or left turn off the El and the scene changes quickly.
@@jasonwilliams4342 mostly streetwalkers and hunched over people looking for their next score of H- its rare you'd run into any trouble during the day unless you were looking for it
Generally for some reasons people, poverty starts when parents make pior decisions and the children inherit the fall-out from these decisions. Here in Brazil for example who was born in favela fataly wiil have his destiny sealead
@@spirit13the1st6 I'm sure the low IQs in West Virginia know all about UNPROTECTED SEX seeing as they lay around sprung on METH all day long as they live off the system.... Manchin wasn't lying! 😩
I've been watching your videos for some time and for me this situation is a free sample of what a world pos neoliberalism would look like. Increased inequality, less jobs, failed social security, bad politics towards workers, etc. Is naive to blame just the drug peaple and say that they dont wanna work full time. I'm from Brazil and even here, a poor country, see this reality in America is too sad. Why is so complicated for a country that spent trillions of dolars on weapons and wars to provide affordable housing, but this is socialism and this word is prohibit in US.
My son lives in small town in Pa. but has to go into Philly area for his job. He talks about how bad it is and the drugs! He said, he area’s of Philly that were safe aren’t safe anymore. Hopefully when Governor Wolf leaves the new Governor will make changes. Wolf has been awful for the whole state!!
So difficult to be proud of my country when places like this are seemingly the norm. As a car guy, there does seem to be quite a few nice ones in that neighborhood however.....
There are some very lovely sections of Philadelphia like: Old City, Chestnut Hill, Society Hill, Fairmount, Roxborough, Andorra, Manayunk, parts of Germantown and Mount Airy…Not all of the city is a dump.
Seeing that monstrosity of a rail link above the street for that distance everyday would make anyone feel depressed. Made me think of that “Half Life” PC game which used to give me that claustrophobic feeling.
This video doesn't even come close to how bad it has become. I worked in Kensington for 16 years and watched it decay. Very sad, once a nice area with factories providing jobs.
This is the now worst example of the loss of the upper lower and middle classes being lost in this country. Thousands of manufacturing jobs shipped to slave labor countries and then shipped back her for us to buy. All so a fee people can make 1.1 billion instead of 1 billion. Damn near everyone would rather priced be 5% higher to by US made goods, but that option barely exists. It's not an example of a global economy, it is an example of rampant greed. Also, Kensington is a very small portion of Philadelphia and does not represent the whole city.
A lot of new construction since you made this video, it reminds me of uptown here in Dallas 20 years ago. You still have lots of derelict townhomes please save them before the entire block is leveled for one apt complex.
It is in rapid decline. Priorities are completely f*cked in this nation. Cleveland has exploding crime, but finds it necessary to spend 12 million on a "foot bridge" downtown. Ridiculous. Oh, and the mission of the new mayor there is to focus on the "lead paint crisis"...ok, how about addressing the lead bullet crisis??
This is totally absurd that our inner cities across america have gone to "no existence of caring ."Why are these cities, county and state officials turning a blind eye to these atrocities toward their citizens?
As a north Philadelphia resident. Kensington is a political agreement from all parties concerned to concentrate the drug use and crime to that area specifically rather than numerous other places in the city. The police will not bother anyone using or slinging drugs in Kensington. If you get caught in other areas, you are going to the pokey.
I remember making deliveries to Philadelphia to Acme Distribution Centers for Marcal Paper Products and never had any problems on the streets, also picked up at Tasty Cakes, I believe that’s who it was ! They where really nice, give me a few cases for myself and our break room back at the terminal ! I always tried to treat people the way I liked to be treated ! Can’t complain !!
Acme's DC's were in South Philly and West Philly. Completely different areas all though west Philly near old DC 1 and DC 4 were way worse. You never left you trucks unmanned during the day.
@@DeathSpellXVI Yes. After the breakup of strong families, loss of good jobs, what you mentioned follows. I'm old, I can remember when all average jobs had 100% health benefits. Values learned from entertainment on television broke down our morals, Lobbyist helped politicians sell us out to move our factories overseas, for more profits.
MAGA is what we need. And better citizens who want to improve the place. Sadly, there are many people who live in these hell-holes who don't seem to mind.
Philadelphia is the the worst major US city imo. I visited a few nights ago on a layover to fly overseas. Ironically, I go to other countries to feel like I'm in a developed country again. I went to supposedly one of the nicer parts of the city (Center City) and it was filthy with tons of roaming vagrants. I paid almost $18 for a philly cheesesteak. Never again. At least in California, the weather is nice but Philly was cold.
Sounds about like a tourist. If u go anywhere in center city you’ll be paying $18 for a cheesesteak and they aren’t the good ones. Unfortunately you have to go to the hood for a good cheesesteak
Sounds like you haven’t really experience philly the right way. I’m in center city all the time. It’s super nice. The architecture is some of the best in the country. Did you even do any museums?
philadelphia, the city of brotherly shove (love). i've lived in and around philadelphia all my life. you can hear the cursing and honking in this video. kensington used to be a lot worse than it is, now kensington and north philadelphia are the largest "bad" areas in philadelphia. i would say a ring around center city and north philadelphia are more dangerous than kensington, but whenever i'm in kensington i can feel the anger, ignorance, and low income. the people in kensington are poor and not happy about living in these conditions, and most of them don't have a good way out of it.
What's up Mr Nick Johnson although I've been subscribed to your channel for a little while this is my first attend to leave a comment so there I did it LOL
A nice add-on is the Parking Wars episodes filmed in Philly... BTW, a simple thing is to sweep the sidewalk in front of your house and throw away the trash on your property regardless of where it came from.
I kept wondering how much it would suck to live in one of those second-floor apartments above a store. You've got an elevated train out the window, drugs and depravity downstairs. Sometimes Nick's stuff is like "Bad Quality of Life Porn."
Actually this looks spectacular compared to how it usually looks and I hate to say that but seriously Nick, I believe you're getting the "cleaned up" version of the largest open air drug market I used to live in Roxbury and travel down Allegheny to Kensington everyday for work SMH it was no joke
Yooo you really think its one of the worst neighborhoods you've seen? Thats super telling coming from you. what a shame, philly was on the come up for a second there too
Why would you ask a question that he has answered multiple times already. Do you think he’s pretending this isn’t one of the worst cities that *He Has Seen* ?
They sure have nice cars for such a bad neighborhood. I've noticed that in other videos as well. Here I am, in a bad neighborhood, with a 2004 Honda that gets me from A to B on a wing and a prayer. How do they get nice cars?
It'll never happen when we have 3 generations of Americans brainwashed in Progressivism and Left-Wing Ideology. The new generations are more radical then the previous.
@UC1SlFA3g74BmehWi8voLVGA Yes and the "West" has falling at the hands of authoritarianism. London, Paris, Berlin, Stockholm, Auckland, Sydney aren't doing any better.
@@oliveraparicio8464 if you think america is progressive leftism or whatever you call then you need to travel around and experience real lefty ideology around 90% of the american left are smack bang centre right in europe and in some countries even too right wing so that idea of leftist ideology is just bullcrap
Here's my entire Pennsylvania playlist: th-cam.com/play/PLq-_cmf3H6yp0BbP8pVMHHXi5wHGI-hGU.html
We abandoned our inner cities and played tax games to get companies to move to new places. We built vast suburbs and better off people moved there, meaning the roads are now clogged, resulting in a hollowing out of city cores. And then the inner city schools and infrastructure were neglected for decades; as the tax base fell things got worse. This is the result of decades of bad decisions by many actors. If we don't take some sort of action it won't get better.
Cities were fine before lockdowns and progressives moved in and destroyed then even with all of that. The reality is the left destroyed these cities. It has nothing to do with businesses moving out or any of that nonsense.
@@JesusChrist2000BC so your contention is that pandemic lockdowns and civil strife during 2020 were the sole cause of urban decay? And these problems didn't exist before 2020? I hope not. Having spent a decent amount of time in Philly myself, I think you'd be surprised at how deep the problem is. What is the GOP solution to these problems, given that you and others find it convenient to blame Dems? If you're going to criticize one party, do tell us what the other party has proposed to fix it. Or will this be like Trump's cheap, amazing, efficient replacement for Obamacare that never materialized?
@@texlad04 agree 100%
@Edward: Why are you asking for help from the other side? The republicans already told Dems to bring back plain clothes officers and stop & frisk. But you don’t like those options do you?
The "right" and "left" are all in it together to protect there interest. Nothing will be done if people sit around waiting on any of these clowns to come up with solutions.
Philadelphia was once one of the world’s largest and greatest cities.
I propose building a high-speed train from Washinton DC to Boston. This can maybe help home prices rise in Philly.
i thought we were getting back to that too... before the pandemic/riots
like we say in NOLA.ain’t there no more.
@@mikeseier4449 only in some parts. I live in Upper Darby/Drexel hill and it's pretty bright up here yet
@@sm3675 , there is a train they use to come and buy drugs from far n wide.... not hi-speed though........ be well.
This looks like a good day in Kensington. It doesn’t show the usual things you see driving through here.
Yeah. It looks decent here
This video is a whole Lie! Go on Alleghany
He is going to the regentrification area
Thats because hes too scared to venture off the main street
@@DPrizm215 FACTS
Born and raised in Philly and sad to say, this video has only captured a glimpse of what Kensington is really like. Kensington is absolutely horrendous! It’s like a living real life horror film day and night 🤦🏾♀️
This is about as quiet as it gets, wait till everyone is awake lol
@@mattyicee215 That ain’t even Kensington fr man like
Where are all the junkies??
Haha good
Yeah so true. He got here right after a big cleanup. Every time I’m here I see mountains or garbage and tarp tents surrounded by heroin addicts
A few years ago I was homeless and spent just 5 months sleeping on the streets in kensington. This video barely scratches the surface. Should've seen the area after dark in the summer, especially before they cleared out the tents under the bridges. Used to call the one bridge "emerald city", it was not a pleasant place. The city eventually put up eviction notices telling people they had to move their tents or they'd be thrown out. And the video doesn't show it but there is out in the open drug dealing. Certain blocks you just don't walk down unless you're there to buy. Used to hear gunshots, often fully automatic, almost every night. It's a relatively small part of the city, but its like a different world down there
I live rite there he’s not lying one bit
No lies there, my grandmother refuses to move to another part of Philadelphia. The fact that we had to barricade the doors with something before going to bed was a nuisance especially when there is no sound and you just hear the outside and vision everything going on, even when you really understand the area. This wasn't constant as I only visited not so often. Now having to transport every morning down Kensington to go to college classes it really darkens the day when you get under that train track. Seeing how everyone is okay with their lifestyles and no way out of it, there is truly no real way to solve the neighborhood when it's barely ran by enforcement and government. When they don't even travel down when you call 911 sometimes after a certain time. It's a big risk if you care for your safety and your family's, but I hope that it gets better and everyone lives a better life getting out of there. Even if you get use to living in the area, your not going to have a blissful life staying there. Just watching the video with silence shows what's it's like.
I got stuck up for some Chinese food once close to the Frankford library which is just a couple blocks down
Glad you made it up out of there
That’s scary man glad you were able to make it out
The videos that you see on the internet including this one do not cover the whole entire Kensington. This is just one little strip/street that is called kensington avenue and runs through a few different neighborhoods. Philadelphia has over 100+ neighborhoods and 4 different neighborhoods carry the name Kensington.
West Kensington (Gentrified 3rd)
East Kensington (Gentrified 2nd)
Kensington
Olde Kensington (Gentrified 1st)
The "drug epidemic" footage you guys see on the net that is repeated by many channels is less than a half a mile strip that runs through Kensington (North) None of those videos actually show the blocks and neighborhoods in kensington. Just kensington avenue where the blue line train runs up top. People prejudge Philly or even the kensington neighborhoods for that matter based off of a .56 mile strip. The problem starts at Kensington ave and Tioga st and ends by Kensingtonave and Lehigh ave.
When this video started , you were coming from the neighborhood "Juniata" then transitioned to Harrogate before quickly transitioning to North Kensington. By the time you got to Hunter school on Kensington and York where it transitioned into front street and you went left down the avenue with closed stores before you cut left in EAST Kensington. If you would of cut right you woulda hit west kensington. Kensington Ave starts at the Frankford neighborhood and ends at the 2 neighborhoods west and east kensington.
East Kensington homes are selling for 300k-700k each
West Kensington is selling for 200k-600k
They just built some brand new homes in North kensington the heart of where the epidemic is at called the Kensington Courts for $380k-500k right on Frankford and Lehigh. 90% of those houses were sold and not to Philadelphia Natives
Olde Kensington sells for $500k-$800k
West, East and Olde kensington have all been gentrified and have people from all across America are living in those neighborhoods. People from all walks of life from more than half of the countries states moving in. I mean people from as far a California, Washington, Texas, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Kansas, Colorado, Georgia, Carolinas, Virginia and tons more just to name a few who have moved into one of the 4 Kensingtons.
The problem I have with the videos people create about my neighborhood is they are looking at it from an outsiders perspective and glorify the wrong things. They don't see the whole picture just the headlines. I'm born and raised in kensington. I have tons of detailed kensington videos, covering all 4 kensington neighborhoods. Driving tours, walking tours, scooter tours, day and nighttime. Most people don't see the potential urban areas like this have. Movies have been shot in the Kensington's,(Shooters, Mechanic, Rocky, Transformers,etc) Many creative talents from Producers (Sarom Sounds), Rappers (OT the Real, Ayo215, Drama B2R etc), and even famous you tubers have came out of Kensington (Braapp Vlogs) just to name one.
Give it time in the next 5-10 years North KENSINGTON will end up ritzy thriving also. There will be new Cafes, bars, restaurants and more will be planted in the north kensington area and the drugs will be phased out. Property values are just being driven down at the moment so the investors can come in soon. Life long residents will get tired of seeing the decay and move out... hipsters, grads, business owners and other professionals will help rebuild North Kensington and move in.
Theres a lot of True Kensington ambience missed in this video...
Im born and raised in Kensington and now Im currently traveling the country, I learned quickly there are tons of other states, cities and towns with similar drug issues that are not put in the limelight so often. South "Jackson" Mississippi looks like a WARZONE!
I remember Calle de Oro (North 5th st.) correct me on that one.
Do people still call it the badlands?
500+ murders in that fckin place tho
You want to know what happened ? I will tell you. The jobs disappeared . Families broke up or never started. The only thing léft was unhappiness. When cheap imported came in , the good jobs left. Governments decided to build jails instead of people. It is called breakdown in society.
People need jobs. With jobs comes security homes and families. So in todays world you have broken people. People living on the streets. The consumers helped to create this situation. And
For the cherry on top, there is China. The United States could become in a war based on cheap goods ! All those cheap goods were no bargain!
Again democrats
@@nitewatchman1576 yes!!!!
Everyone is HIRING NOW. No reason to NOT have a job now.
True. It happened all across the country. The elites don't want us living well and prospering. They pretend that hurts global warming but the facts is they want us to be poor slaves so we beg for things as they trade items for more of our freedoms.
I was told that years ago Kensington once a working class neighborhood with numerous factories in the area. Once these areas started fading away our once great cities went downhill.
Very true I grew up there
By “years ago” you’re probably looking at more like 25-30
@@Schubes5 He means in the 50’s, 60’s & 70’s but I was born in 1979 in Frankford “the next neighborhood over” & Kensington was always like this but now it is just pure madness. In the 80’s & 90’s it was rough but now it is just completely out of control.
Yes it was beautiful and so much fun and safe.
Our country gave away all our jobs to China and other places so that people could save a few bucks at Walmart,didn't turn out to be such a good deal did it
I escaped Philly for Florida in June. They take obscene amounts of taxes from the people who work hard, don't take crime seriously (2021 set a homicide record 530+), and the people who live there vote for policies that perpetuate these problems.
One hellhole to another?! lol! Good luck.
@@zachwright5802 you on crack too, tomatoes don’t grow after frost.🤷🏾♂️
@@megadog5743 There hasn't been any frost in South Florida yet. It's 67 degrees out.
@@lorelailaval7676 To each their own. For me it's been great here. I picked tomatoes from my garden yesterday and my neighbors live in relative peace.
@@zachwright5802 Remember to vote to keep it that way. Dont vote democrat or you can go back to Philly.
That looks pretty clean compared to some recent footage I've seen of Kensington. The trash and the number of junkies stumbling around have increased exponentially.
@rennie Yes, he said March 2021.
@@Betterthangoldandsilver Way way too clean compared to now. Also, the Cricket store is long gone.
Yes.. Because they relocated them to an 12 x 10 block area. So you'll see hundreds of them gathered under and around the El starting at K&A down to Kensington & Jasper and all of the surrounding back streets on either side.
Total Mess.
@@billyjacc Great info, thanks, didn't know about the relocation. Certainly makes sense when you see how much it has further degraded, even within a year time span.
Also winter time in summer people be out more
As a city employee of Philadelphia this video does not show factual proof of how bad Kensington really is
This comment is scary
Isn’t driving through while recording factual enough? smh I’m sure there are worse parts of Kensington.
Nick,
Been watching your channel for a while now. Thank you for looking at the American homeless problem so straight on. It's powerful when you just drive through these places and say nothing. It's a sad fact that we are all facing. We need to see this and begin to heal as a nation..together. I also teach international students American Culture and English. Believe me, they are often shocked at how chaotic and run down it can be.
In 1962 Detroit Michigan was the richest city *in the world* now look at it today. Philadelphia should be looked at in a similar light. Where have we gone wrong as a nation? What can we change for the better to turn this ship around? These are the questions to ask ourselves as a a nation, and as Americans.
Not voting Democrat is a start
Manufacturing companies moved to cheaper countries. Even China is getting expensive so it goes to Indonesia. Prison labor and automated machines make up some of America's manufacturing now.
@@Lildizzle420 This mentality is how we got to this point.
@@Lildizzle420 no program lifts a person out of poverty unless they want to be out of pverty, most people just want free money and foodstamps so they can be lazy bums smoking pot at home.
Stop voting for anyone with a D next to their name would be a start. Then among republicans dont vote for rinos and only ones who support the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Then your area will Flourish. New Hampshire is a perfect example.
... as a German Biologist... in 1982 I was a PostDoc at Cornell University in beautiful Ithaca, NY - when I arrived in NY - All the Symptoms of decay were already there - to my shock and surprise. Workers with 9 000 Dollars per year and 19 % Interest on credit. The Fall of any Empire...
You’re not kidding. I graduated HS in 77 so we spent 76 going around looking at schools. I was being offered athletic scholarships so some were big schools. All gross cities. Syracuse, just gray & bleak. MD, PA & DE were no different. I was in my little suburban bubble.
I was one of those worker, but I think I made $10,000 in 82.
But interest rates have dropped ever since to as low as 2%
@@jasonwill5949 How long do you honestly think that will last? You think the government is going to devalue its own currency to nothing by hyperinflation spiral? Or is it a greater possibility that they let inflation run hot long enough to pay down their debt. All the while the average American takes on more debt and saves less. Then they raise interest rate to 5 to 10 percent to benefit them when it is convenient and increase strength of the dollar at that point. Then they have their nation of debt slaves.
@@BatMan-yb7hs whoa brotha that was deep what you said and facts you said it perfectly im a 82 baby
It's amazing how nice the roads are
Because everyone is staying home living off the govt.
That's what I thought
As a resident of Philadelphia that lives only a neighborhood over to this one, I can tell you that our local government does NOTHING to correct or improve this problem. We are praying that this gets national attention because our local officials are not only failing us but completely neglecting their duties…
Used to drive Uber/Lyft in the Philly area and end up going through Kensington and some other super shady areas of Philly, which has a lot. Hell, you have to go through Chester to get to Philly from my neck of the woods, lol. It amazes me how vibrant Philly still manages to be. There's still younger folks who are willing to buy cheap row homes and flip them, even in some of these borderline neighborhoods.
This actually wouldn't look THAT bad if it weren't for the trash everywhere. There's clearly still a lot of economic activity around.
I am still trying to figure out the correlation between homelessness and tons of trash.
It should be an easy effort to clean up behind themselves and properly dispose their garbage between ( nods).
A pristine area would go a long way in helping thier situation.
I MEAN,WHAT ELSE DO THEY HAVE TO DO??????
he drifts out of Kensington into other sections that are being gentrified. LIke Fishtown. Kensington is hell.
The trash is not that bad there is trash but not what I expected
Yea it's not. Everyone likes to overexaggrate shi+
You are 100% CORRECT, I still can't put it together ( homelessness and trash) they have all the time in the world to clean up and keep things clean.
Maybe a weird question: but why do most cars look so modern?
That's what I always wonder, how do these people living in such a dump afford such nice cars?
I think a big reason why so many of these ghettos have nice cars is because of buy here pay here lots and poor decision making. A lot of people don't care how much of a dump they live in, as long as they have a nice car they couldn't care less
@Christopher DH Public Transportation in some of these run down areas can be a scary and dangerous thing! So it's always a good idea to have a Car, Truck, S.U.V. in good condition or as new as possible.
the big expensive looking ones are owned by drug dealers usually
I think the nice cars belong to drug dealers n I hear Kensington was a. Ice,working class neighborhood.
Addiction is not a moral issue
4:25 you know you’re in the hood when you start seeing Boost Mobiles everywhere.
There’s also one on the right just 20 seconds later 😂🤣
Nah the rainbow clothing stores😂😂
Even more fun: the Chinese corner stores where you can buy a shrimp lo mein, a loosie (with complimentary use of a lighter attached to a string), a roll of toilet paper, epic Purple Drink, and 1 AAA battery for under $10.
Not the middle part of the state. The mountains are beautiful. People are friendly and help out each other.
Opioids are everywhere, some places just can afford the addiction better than others
Good lord it's like something out of Dante's Inferno. Merry Christmas Nick and everyone. And God help us in 2022 it's gonna be a doozy.
Amen. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you!! ;)
@@callipitter8474 Talking about brains and you can't even spell properly *yourself*.
Thanks Jack Frost
真女神転生５😁プロフィールの写真
It's called George Soros
Hand Picking and putting
Into power weak district attorneys not just in my hometown, but all across
The country.
Larry Krasner our DA
Absolutely was funded by
George Soros.
The thinking goes that if he
Can use his wealth to stop criminals from being prosecuted, they are right back out on the street causing mayhem.
The faster society breaks down the faster the obstacle to Soros' dream of a
New World Order can manifest.
I get a kick out of seeing all these bike lanes cities add, even though the area is riddled with crime and poverty.
Bike lanes are important. But not a solution to crime and poverty nonetheless
Man, you're famous now, I found your channel when it was only 5000 subscribers congrats.
I see paved roads, working traffic lights, late model cars, mostly maintained buildings, no massive tent cities, open stores. Not great, but hardly the dystopian nightmare you describe. Phila. has many great, thriving sections. The suburbs are great, especially the western suburbs.
I have not been around the area in 2-3 weeks and this is actually the cleanest and best state I've seen the area through a video. There's literally trash tornadoes and piles with tents replacing open areas. It doesn't look perfect or horrific through a video, but you wouldn't want to live there for your life it is depressing and disappointing when you get to know the place. The other areas of Philadelphia is great, but it's not really moving better with recent activity while the great areas are overshadowing what's really the crap fest it can be. No place is perfect by all means, but I'll be happy to move to another city/state. But I did grow up here.
We both know what this is about. It's solely about views.
Yea that’s cause he’s playing it safe and not venturing to far off into the neighborhood
I went to North Philadelphia to visit my sister before she died. It was lots of trash on the ground in the neighborhood. Her block was clean. I think the neighbors did that to keep their street clean. My favorite NBA basketball team is located in Philadelphia. I would love to go there and watch a game someday.
West is worse
@@hugh2hoob668 Is that where Will Smith is from?
I graduated from Temple; lived in Germantown; Mt Airy; took the bus and the subway to work which was at Temple University. Kensington was a lower-middle class neighborhood. It breaks my heart to read these things about it. Don't know what the mayor is doing or actually not doing to address this nightmare of Kensington. Philly people - speak out. I no longer live in Philly - moved 35 years ago.
@@barbaramaroney6890 They have a Mt. Airy, PA around Philadelphia or is that Mt. Airy, MD?
I’m a die hard Flyers fan…..television is just fine with me.
Thank you for another great video Nick! Happy Holidays!
You too Danny
I'm from what's called the "third world" This isn't really a poor area in terms of the cash outlay that was used to build the area. The problem is that they didn't use the modern panels but a small brick in construction that is often unpainted. The color scheme involves dull tones and the row houses have a monolithic "blocky" look to them
That's probably because when it was built, it was meant for the middle class, until this happened.
There's no such thing as third world. It call undeveloped country
This would be a step up for most of the world. Cars and businesses everywhere. No falling down buildings. Not good by old American standards but what do you expect when you flood the country with poverty?
I was just in Costa Rica in the mountains a 3 miles up and my tour guide questioned me about Kensington and Alleghany for about 20 minutes.
Most of these people’s problems would disappear if they would:
1) SOBER THE F UP
2) Stop being promiscuous
3) Learn a trade - literally any trade
4) Don’t break the law
5) learn how to speak and write by reading. Read about any subject for free on your phone
6) Get to church
If these people did these things, this area would experience a renaissance
Yup, it's not the place that's bad, it's the people. Sadly most of these people love the filth, drugs and ignorance.
@@StallionFernando well if life wasnt so damn hard, none of this would be happening.
@zilksmooth Ha aha ha ha aha there are many athletes and politicians living in really nice areas, and homes who are promiscuous.😆🤣🤣🤣
@@whooelse9444 life is hard for everybody, but some people make it harder than it has to be, drug and alcohol are the worst things you can introduce in your life.
Some of the worse people go to church.
I’m from NY and I live in PA and we have a heroin epidemic here in the high schools. Sht is wicked. Keep up the good work and do you have any videos on NYC ?
I never fails to amaze me how much trash there is strewn about the street, here in Michigan we have some horrific ghettos, but there usually isn't trash all over the place just burned out, abandoned buildings and empty overgrown lots
Twice I have driven and stayed in towns from Tawas to Rogers City, and was amazed at how clean it was everywhere... Wish I felt more welcomed as I visited, as I really liked it a lot and considered the arena for a move.
@@JF-xq6fr Northern Michigan is an incredibly clean place and the locals are often very caring towards the environment. Unfortunately I'm sure people in the coastal areas don't care much for tourists, but in my experience people in the Grayling area are very friendly but that could be because tourism isn't quite as big there
@@nothat0therguy992 Thank you. I spent a week each time, once this last May, the other time last Sept looking to perhaps make a move in retirement. It truly was shockingly clean, even restrooms, hotels for the most part, etc... And way up north was so quiet, relaxing, and even the drivers seemed more relaxed, much less speeding, etc. I was amazed at how much the area (esp around Presque Isle) reminded me of Maine, WA state, etc.
I like the NE lower because of less snow, its remoteness, low population density, and peaceful slower pace, but I felt as if the locals (esp older ones in Alpena) just do not like 'foreigners', despite me being polite, friendly and reserved with them. I do have a W PA dialect, so for sure they knew I was not a native. I have friendly friends from other parts of MI, and perhaps you are on to something. Maybe I will look around your wonderful state, and see if somewhere else seems a better fit. Thanks again.
@@JF-xq6fr Thank you for your commentary on MI. Hoping to visit some of the locales you spoke about next year.
Ironically, I too, have a W PA accent...Western Erie County to be exact.
@@communitypark2313 Welcome, and howdy neighbor - I'm in the the county just below you, originally from just outside of Pittsburgh. Been mup-here long enough, and CAN NOT wait to get out.
I think you will enjoy your visit to MI, and also think you will experience the vibe I mentioned as well. Good luck.
Been waiting for you to come round Philly! Finally I get to hear your opinion on this area. I live about 15 minutes away from this place. Heard a lot of bad so I tend to stay clear of it completely. Thanks for the video
I've done like three videos about Philadelphia
@@NickJohnson I guess since I’ve started watching you I haven’t seen any new uploads in Philly. Anyways hope you enjoyed your stay 😂
Nick this reminds me so much of Bushwick and Bedford-Stuyvesan in Brooklyn, New York. You must do the hoods in Brooklyn one day. My father owned apartment buildings there in the 80''s and carried three guns to collect rent.
I will!
Bushwick isn't that bad and bedstuy isn't that bad either nick Johnson go to east new York or the bronx
The park you past at Kensington and Indiana is nicknamed Needle Park. They move the homeless of the main strip of Kensington Avenue and 5 days later, the homeless move right back. Just a horrible cycle of mental illness and drug addiction. So sad.
You can immediately tell if a neighborhood is bad if there is a lack of adherence to lights/walk don’t walk signs.
It’s just such a basic thing, and indicates a lack of respect for community rules. You don’t really see it often in nicer areas
I’m popo, come from a trust fund Philadelphia family and cross streets haphazardly. And you should see me drive.
Philadelphia sales tax is 2 percent on top of Pennsylvania s 6 percent sales tax. Philadelphia charges a 3.75 percent wage. Basically if your family makes 100k, you're giving the city 4k for no reason. Property taxes are still costly.
It's always funny when people say "how can such a place exist in America" when many many many places just like this exist in America. The opioid crisis made things 10x worse.
I just don't know how helpful poverty porn is if we're not having a real discussion about what's creating the conditions in the first place, like the opioid crisis, the currently affordable housing crisis, and institutional neglect. That level of trash means the city isn't doing their job collecting it.
Factz
Democrats
@@nitewatchman1576 the entire country is going through a crisis. Republican counties are dealing with the worst of the aforementioned crises. Deal with that.
What’s worse? Here or Camden?
Interesting video
Camden
My roommate was addicted to heroin and he asked me for a ride up there twice a week. I would drop him off and it’s literally a 3rd world country. Especially during the winter it’s like a wasteland. Thankfully I live in San Diego now. Philly went from the best damn place on earth to a forsaken city ! It sucks cause I spent 25 years there it’s my hometown!
I would not have obliged him probably.
@@wyattearpswoman838 yeah well I did
wow
Grew up here & sadly got high here. It was no where near how it is now though. I have 6yrs clean & praying everyday for every lost soul down Kensington. I promise it gets better.
Very grim and depressing looking. Thanks for sharing. I’m appreciative of my own neighborhood already.
Yes, it is absolutely horrible how the local government allows this to happen. Shameful, but I don't think you saw the best of it. You didn't see any 'zombies.' ( live in PA, thankfully not near Philly.)
i dont understand how they just turn a blind eye to it for all these years
Yes.... It's Plilly's mayor n D.A. fault.........remember the last 2 riots they just stood down and let them wreck the city.... SMH.
He needs to film during the summer
Something about the elevated train is just depressing 😔
What??? 🤔
The overhead train whizzing past just adds to the dystopia
Merry Christmas 🎄🎁, Nick! Watching your videos is like Christmas no matter what time of the year it is!
Question: How nervous did you feel driving in the neighborhood? Granted, it was during the day.
Democrats...that's the problem ...now the Progressive Left will finish the job
Only when I have to stop too long frank and that's not often.
@@NickJohnson 😁💯
@@josephpizzo1250 correct the policies are to ensure the complete breakdown of society by that every man for himself 😬
@@NickJohnson Then go back to where you came from if you are so scary.
I found this channel last night and have been binge-watching starting with the places I've lived for any period of time: Oakland, DC, Philly, and Atlantic City. So far you're spot on. Although Oakland was much better when I lived there 25 years ago, little significant development has occurred since then based on your drive. Is there a video on Camden, New Jersey? It's Atlantic City without any hope.
Yes there is. Camden is 💀 th-cam.com/video/96rY8-aZiNA/w-d-xo.html
I grew up here. My mom and grandma have been addicts here. It goes back 3 generations for us. 10 years ago it wasn’t as bad. It is absolutely destroyed now. The only solution is to create a safe injection site and give out clean, regulated heroin. People pushing this new tranq-dope with xylazine are causing addicts a slow painful death. I moved to maine and got away from there. I hope my neighborhood can change. But it’s been bad for 75 years. It’s a viscous circle of addiction, crime, poverty and lack of help.
Oh brother. This thinking is one of the problems - normalizing drug addiction. How about if we focus on getting people off the drugs so they can be productive members of society instead of encouraging them to kill themselves slowly and painfully?
@@rafaeltorre1643. Move them to Portugal where it worked so well. It could never work that well in this country. I know jail used to clean the Heroin addicts up. I’ve seen many rescued via an arrest. How about long term rehab ?
@@wyattearpswoman838 the point is to get them help getting off drugs. But the drugs on the streets are cut with dangerous cutting agents and causing serious medical problems and is destroying everything. The point of giving out safe heroin is to offer services to get clean when they get in the door. Trust me, nobody wants to be a heroin addict. 98% of people who stay addicts have mental health and other factors preventing them from getting clean.
Excellent video tour of the Philadelphia slums and hood, damn scary, no go areas at night
That's some crazy shit. Most of the time the cities just ignore these parts of town. It's very sad
Your dash cam quality is way better than in cinema film or movie.
Nick, dude this is a serious improvement on past videos. Not that bad tbh!
He avoided the bad parts, this video did not showcase Kensington in the slightest
This isn’t as bad as I have seen it. The streets actually look cleaner and there aren’t as many addicts hanging around…must be cold enough they have found shelter?
Exactly. It's cold now. So all the people are huddled up somewhere.
Because it’s winter wait till summer time comes you will see them pop outta no where every year
Naw they on the side blocks getting high
I got off on that stop once not really knowing where I was, and there were needles littering the ground and many MANY Heroin dealers asking me to buy lol. I nearly got mugged that day by two sick dope feigns who needed money for a fix. I had to run on an elevator to get away from them. This footage actually looks MUCH improved from that of 10 years ago! I'm glad to see it's gotten better! There isn't trash everywhere and homeless camps. I don't see groups of dealers on the corners either now. The L train in itself is an eyesore though providing cover for dark dealings if you will. For miles from center city to Kensington and Somerset there are abandoned warehouses on both sides of the train with all the windows broken out, graffiti, and some burnt ruins. They need to go in and flatten those buildings and start over! It's sad!
(First hehe)
It's getting worse by the day.... open drug deals are spreading though out the city now..... The mayor n D.A. only cares about giving parking tickets not stopping the Fentanyl coming in from the southern border.... Poor souls look like Zombies walking around.... SMH.
he didnt really go up any side streets- under the El is probably the cleanest part you'll see of Kensington, take a right turn or left turn off the El and the scene changes quickly.
@@raymondrosario3470 , Your right !! Should have gone by Walgreens n entrance to the EL Train n corner side streets..
@@jasonwilliams4342 mostly streetwalkers and hunched over people looking for their next score of H- its rare you'd run into any trouble during the day unless you were looking for it
@@jasonwilliams4342 ha! fair enough- good day
Generally for some reasons people, poverty starts when parents make pior decisions and the children inherit the fall-out from these decisions. Here in Brazil for example who was born in favela fataly wiil have his destiny sealead
If you can’t afford to raise a child don’t have so many It’s cruel
Low IQ's love UNPROTECTED ,sex.
It makes too much sense NOT to have kids in this HORRIFIC environment.
@@spirit13the1st6 I'm sure the low IQs in West Virginia know all about UNPROTECTED SEX seeing as they lay around sprung on METH all day long as they live off the system.... Manchin wasn't lying! 😩
I've been watching your videos for some time and for me this situation is a free sample of what a world pos neoliberalism would look like. Increased inequality, less jobs, failed social security, bad politics towards workers, etc. Is naive to blame just the drug peaple and say that they dont wanna work full time. I'm from Brazil and even here, a poor country, see this reality in America is too sad. Why is so complicated for a country that spent trillions of dolars on weapons and wars to provide affordable housing, but this is socialism and this word is prohibit in US.
More like neo feudalism
@@chrism8180 Its both but it's more liberalism.
@@JesusChrist2000BC didn't realize that the son of god was invested in bipartisan politics
@@chrism8180 he always preached about kindness to the poor and downtrodden
Lol america is going towards effin socialism.
Nick: This is the worst place I have ever visited in my life!!!
America: Challenge accepted!!
Haha
👍
My son lives in small town in Pa. but has to go into Philly area for his job. He talks about how bad it is and the drugs! He said, he area’s of Philly that were safe aren’t safe anymore. Hopefully when Governor Wolf leaves the new Governor will make changes. Wolf has been awful for the whole state!!
You've been other places that looked worse than this.
So difficult to be proud of my country when places like this are seemingly the norm. As a car guy, there does seem to be quite a few nice ones in that neighborhood however.....
There are some very lovely sections of Philadelphia like: Old City, Chestnut Hill, Society Hill, Fairmount, Roxborough, Andorra, Manayunk, parts of Germantown and Mount Airy…Not all of the city is a dump.
The Walmart of Heroin, damn that's bad place.
Why did almost every store appear to be closed?
Seeing that monstrosity of a rail link above the street for that distance everyday would make anyone feel depressed. Made me think of that “Half Life” PC game which used to give me that claustrophobic feeling.
This video doesn't even come close to how bad it has become. I worked in Kensington for 16 years and watched it decay. Very sad, once a nice area with factories providing jobs.
This is the now worst example of the loss of the upper lower and middle classes being lost in this country. Thousands of manufacturing jobs shipped to slave labor countries and then shipped back her for us to buy. All so a fee people can make 1.1 billion instead of 1 billion. Damn near everyone would rather priced be 5% higher to by US made goods, but that option barely exists. It's not an example of a global economy, it is an example of rampant greed. Also, Kensington is a very small portion of Philadelphia and does not represent the whole city.
A lot of new construction since you made this video, it reminds me of uptown here in Dallas 20 years ago. You still have lots of derelict townhomes please save them before the entire block is leveled for one apt complex.
Dude, the infrastructure in this country is so worrying. How is this not a symptom of a country in rapid decline?
It is in rapid decline. Priorities are completely f*cked in this nation. Cleveland has exploding crime, but finds it necessary to spend 12 million on a "foot bridge" downtown. Ridiculous. Oh, and the mission of the new mayor there is to focus on the "lead paint crisis"...ok, how about addressing the lead bullet crisis??
We look the other way and sweep it under the rug
@@wyattearpswoman838 , oh my God. It's insane! So frustrating, I know. They refuse to work on anything substantive, like crime and infrastructure.
@@chrism8180 so true. Im in NYC and looking to leave to a different state. Breaks my heart to see this happening, all around the east coast
lot of nice newer cars , dont see lot of trash on the streets like la skid row, Venice sfo , Oakland
This is totally absurd that our inner cities across america have gone to "no existence of caring ."Why are these cities, county and state officials turning a blind eye to these atrocities toward their citizens?
As a north Philadelphia resident. Kensington is a political agreement from all parties concerned to concentrate the drug use and crime to that area specifically rather than numerous other places in the city. The police will not bother anyone using or slinging drugs in Kensington. If you get caught in other areas, you are going to the pokey.
America can be like a horror movie...too liberate capitalism, low taxes for rich people...god damn
There are cities and towns just like this all over the US. The bigger the population the bigger the problems
You mean the more Dems you vote the bigger the problem. 😂😆🤦
I remember making deliveries to Philadelphia to Acme Distribution Centers for Marcal Paper Products and never had any problems on the streets, also picked up at Tasty Cakes, I believe that’s who it was ! They where really nice, give me a few cases for myself and our break room back at the terminal ! I always tried to treat people the way I liked to be treated ! Can’t complain !!
Acme's DC's were in South Philly and West Philly. Completely different areas all though west Philly near old DC 1 and DC 4 were way worse. You never left you trucks unmanned during the day.
When a country loses it's manufacturing base due to lobbyists and politicians, this is what's left over.
Drugs, decadence and lack of morals?
@@DeathSpellXVI Yes. After the breakup of strong families, loss of good jobs, what you mentioned follows. I'm old, I can remember when all average jobs had 100% health benefits. Values learned from entertainment on television broke down our morals, Lobbyist helped politicians sell us out to move our factories overseas, for more profits.
Thanks Nick!!!
Ok Don.
all the rich people can hide behind their walls and gated communities.but they
can’t hide its coming soon.
MAGA is what we need. And better citizens who want to improve the place. Sadly, there are many people who live in these hell-holes who don't seem to mind.
@@Lildizzle420 yo! Brandon! We got another “tax me harder, daddy” over here 👈
As the wealthy gets richer, the general population becomes poorer, it's observable in all states.
Philadelphia is the the worst major US city imo. I visited a few nights ago on a layover to fly overseas.
Ironically, I go to other countries to feel like I'm in a developed country again.
I went to supposedly one of the nicer parts of the city (Center City) and it was filthy with tons of roaming vagrants.
I paid almost $18 for a philly cheesesteak. Never again.
At least in California, the weather is nice but Philly was cold.
Sounds about like a tourist. If u go anywhere in center city you’ll be paying $18 for a cheesesteak and they aren’t the good ones. Unfortunately you have to go to the hood for a good cheesesteak
Never leave your hotel room while staying overnight! The Krasner Krime Family of No Bail Savages will murder you
I guess You missed the Art museum, Franklin Institute, and the Zoo.
Sounds like you haven’t really experience philly the right way. I’m in center city all the time. It’s super nice. The architecture is some of the best in the country. Did you even do any museums?
@@Dalt21 i lived there longer than you were born 61 years. You have no idea what i it was like in the 70s 80s 90s. until 2011 when i i left
I like these videos. Because I enjoy traveling but it gives me hardcore anxiety being far from home. So watching these helps.
philadelphia, the city of brotherly shove (love). i've lived in and around philadelphia all my life. you can hear the cursing and honking in this video. kensington used to be a lot worse than it is, now kensington and north philadelphia are the largest "bad" areas in philadelphia. i would say a ring around center city and north philadelphia are more dangerous than kensington, but whenever i'm in kensington i can feel the anger, ignorance, and low income. the people in kensington are poor and not happy about living in these conditions, and most of them don't have a good way out of it.
philadelphia is rough.. been there done that. would only revisit down town.
I believe elevated railways make cities unappealing and drab. Too industrial, and not pleasant to look at.
I definitely agree with this. What were they thinking when installing these eyesores?
THIS 100%
What's up Mr Nick Johnson although I've been subscribed to your channel for a little while this is my first attend to leave a comment so there I did it LOL
Cool Michael!!
I used to deliver to Family Dollar stores in Philadelphia and it was a scary thing to have to do...
I bet
A nice add-on is the Parking Wars episodes filmed in Philly...
BTW, a simple thing is to sweep the sidewalk in front of your house and throw away the trash on your property regardless of where it came from.
I kept wondering how much it would suck to live in one of those second-floor apartments above a store. You've got an elevated train out the window, drugs and depravity downstairs. Sometimes Nick's stuff is like "Bad Quality of Life Porn."
Actually this looks spectacular compared to how it usually looks and I hate to say that but seriously Nick, I believe you're getting the "cleaned up" version of the largest open air drug market I used to live in Roxbury and travel down Allegheny to Kensington everyday for work SMH it was no joke
What happen to Penn?All the steel manufacturing went to China.
Happy St Patrick's day! Nick!
Yooo you really think its one of the worst neighborhoods you've seen? Thats super telling coming from you. what a shame, philly was on the come up for a second there too
100% The Walmart of Heroin
Why would you ask a question that he has answered multiple times already. Do you think he’s pretending this isn’t one of the worst cities that *He Has Seen* ?
@@CollinMac96 Then he hasn't seen much.
I've seen way worse videos of this place. Looks like they cleaned it up recently.
@@magellanicspaceclouds facts
Is that train tracks built that way or just a high way type structure? Never seen anything like it.
They sure have nice cars for such a bad neighborhood. I've noticed that in other videos as well. Here I am, in a bad neighborhood, with a 2004 Honda that gets me from A to B on a wing and a prayer. How do they get nice cars?
I would think they’ll be lotta junk cars in this area.
Beats me! They live in their cars....
House poor, car rich. I’ve seen a BMW parked outside a rundown trailer in my neighborhood!
I lived in Philly a few months some years ago. You should go to this area at night in the summer…
The usa need a total modernization… what we have here used to be WOW to other nations, now its YUCK… real talk
It'll never happen when we have 3 generations of Americans brainwashed in Progressivism and Left-Wing Ideology. The new generations are more radical then the previous.
@UC1SlFA3g74BmehWi8voLVGA Yes and the "West" has falling at the hands of authoritarianism. London, Paris, Berlin, Stockholm, Auckland, Sydney aren't doing any better.
@@oliveraparicio8464 if you think america is progressive leftism or whatever you call then you need to travel around and experience real lefty ideology around 90% of the american left are smack bang centre right in europe and in some countries even too right wing so that idea of leftist ideology is just bullcrap
Americans are better off travelling overseas.
@@EasternDreamer615 more people come here than the next 4 countries COMBINED
I know people who grew up there in the 70s and it went from heaven to hell in 50 years