Cairo, Illinois: America's most depressing city

[Folk Hood]

Those were some truly amazing pictures at the head of the thread. And as someone else mentioned, it looks pretty desolate; no one is walking around.

The Mississippi Valley is unique and unusual, IMO, compared to the rest of the Midwest/Midsouth/South that the river goes through.

Despite that, in many places elsewhere, it appears that Cairo is one of the pioneers. Yea, a pioneer of decline. When this thread started is about the same time when plenty of boom towns were going bust. Plenty of long-time economic powerhouses have reached a point where the economic erosion has become serious enough to say in those places, it's not just a temporary downturn but long-term ...or even that life is permanently changed, like in Cairo.

True turn-arounds are becoming fewer and farther between. Along the Mississippi, Davenport/Quad Cities and Dubuque were once considered the epitomes of Midwest rust. These days they are doing pretty well. But these are the lucky ones. Other towns seem immune to economic resuscitation - or there is not enough of the gravy to pass around the table.

[Dan]

Despite that, in many places elsewhere, it appears that Cairo is one of the pioneers. Yea, a pioneer of decline. When this thread started is about the same time when plenty of boom towns were going bust. Plenty of long-time economic powerhouses have reached a point where the economic erosion has become serious enough to say in those places, it's not just a temporary downturn but long-term ...or even that life is permanently changed, like in Cairo.

When I lived in Austin, I'd take frequent weekend journeys on the farm-to-market roads leading out of town, seeing what lies beyond the hipsters and bats. East of Austin, the blackland prairies are littered with dying little towns. They last prospered in the 1920s, when weather was unusually good, farming and light industry was extremely labor intensive, intercity roads were still bad, and the middle class was coming onto its own. Most of these towns no longer have a reason to exist; they hang on through inertia, pride, and to some extent, economic development programs. They'll never come back. They're too far from any larger city to be a bedroom community, they have no critical mass of their own to build on, and only a few have unique advantages or charms that make them stand out from the hundreds of other prairie towns. No amount of Main Street programs, enterprise zones, tax incentives, public works projects, lot giveaways, or campaigns promoting their "family friendly" nature will save them.

This phenomenon is nothing new. Throughout Europe, thousands of small villages have emerged and disappeared through the centuries. The United States is still a young country. Even though we try to prop up these small towns, I think over the next century or two, most of the places that have lost their reason for existence will disappear from the map. Cairo will probably be among the larger communities that eventually cease to be, but others will follow.

[mgk920]

When I lived in Austin, I'd take frequent weekend journeys on the farm-to-market roads leading out of town, seeing what lies beyond the hipsters and bats. East of Austin, the blackland prairies are littered with dying little towns. They last prospered in the 1920s, when weather was unusually good, farming and light industry was extremely labor intensive, intercity roads were still bad, and the middle class was coming onto its own. Most of these towns no longer have a reason to exist; they hang on through inertia, pride, and to some extent, economic development programs. They'll never come back. They're too far from any larger city to be a bedroom community, they have no critical mass of their own to build on, and only a few have unique advantages or charms that make them stand out from the hundreds of other prairie towns. No amount of Main Street programs, enterprise zones, tax incentives, public works projects, lot giveaways, or campaigns promoting their "family friendly" nature will save them.

This phenomenon is nothing new. Throughout Europe, thousands of small villages have emerged and disappeared through the centuries. The United States is still a young country. Even though we try to prop up these small towns, I think over the next century or two, most of the places that have lost their reason for existence will disappear from the map. Cairo will probably be among the larger communities that eventually cease to be, but others will follow.

I agree, towns come and go and if the money isn't there, no amount of academic thought will bring them back.

And, IMHO, a larger one that I know of that is on that same track is Ontonagon, MI, located in da wesdern YooPee, a general region with many mining ghost towns. With a 2000 Census population of 1769, it had shrunk to 1494 by 2010, when the Smurfit-Stone paper mill - and the city's (actually organized as a Village) main reason for existing - closed and the plant has since been demolished. My expectation is that it will eventually shrink to about 200-300, enough to service tourists to the nearby Porcupine Mountains and support the county's government. I believe that it will be an interesting planning case study in the decline of a place that has lost its reason for being.

Mike