April 28, 2021, Gary, Indiana, USA: Arion Knight, 44, sits outside his small duplex where he’s lived in the city’s Delaney Projects public housing community for 10 years, but will soon be forced to leave. He’ll be homeless when they finally close this place. I was homeless before, so it don’t scare me. I’ll be ok, said Knight, who is one of only a dozen residents living in the midst of now-empty homes. This community, like several others in Gary, will be demolished as redevelopment in this once-thriving steel town continues. Once a segregated city with black people only being allowed to live in the Midtown section of the city, Gary, became famous for the employment opportunities that thousands of workers sought after in the US Steel factories. While the steel industry helped the city of Gary to thrive and grow, the steel industry also helped the city to decline as factory closures led to thousands of job losses and a large exodus out of the city for over half of the city’s population, now estimated at 70,000. Gary is poised for a turnaround, as many Chicago residents want to leave the city yet still work there, local officials note. (Credit Image: © Robin Rayne/ZUMA Press Wire)
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