As happens, I was originally going shoot up something this Sunday, but as I was making my way down Sears Street to 8:30 AM mass at Corpus Christi from Peckham, I recalled another idea I had for slideshow some weeks back when it seemed to me at least that the number of vacant and abandoned properties on Sears and Clark Streets exploded out of nowhere…so I took pictures of all the vacant and abandoned properties on both streets…27 properties to precise.
As is the usual for me, very depressing…why…because I know a lot of these homes are lost forever.
When I take pictures of abandoned places, I think of the stories that each must have…stories of people’s lives…memories, etc. which will fade away forever.
[Click here for hi-res Windows Media version…a lot, and I mean a lot better than YouTube.]
just curious if anyone had any information… My Great Aunt lived at 182 Clark St. for most of her life until we moved her out in 1992. Is the house still there or has it been a casualty of fire, like many vacant homes on the east side? I now live in Florida haven’t been back in that area in some time. The Urban Funeral Home was the building to the right of her house and Kolbe Center was one house down on the left (if I remember correctly).
Scott,
The house where you Great Aunt lived is gone…Corpus Christi has a statue of Mary in the lot…
I grew up in the B-F area and it’s sad to see that so many homes have been abandoned and neglected over time. Grant it, the B-F area is not a ‘high dollar’ real estate area, but to let these homes deteriorate is a shame. Sure, 10 or 20 years ago, these homes were in ‘decent’ shape to say the least. “Basic repair costs” were minimal, at best and property taxes were acceptable. But seeing these pictures, the homes need so much in the line of repair and up-keep that I can see why they’re abandoned. If only someone would have invested a few hundred dollars back then, it would have prevented the need to spend thousands (if not tens of thousands) of dollars now to bring these great homes up to ‘livable’ conditions. Then again, if we only invested more money into our local Catholic Churches and Catholic Schools, we wouldn’t be facing the issues of our Churches closing down. Let’s pray for one and all…
Chris,
The death of our neighborhood is sad. I pass your site around to all my childhood friends from Kanty’s I have contact with. When I watch your videos or slideshows, I understand why you are doing this. You wrote on here about how when you see buildings, churches, and homes being lost it is like a part of you being lost. Too bad more people don’t understand. You keep the neighborhood alive.
What year did you graduate from Kanty’s?
Dawn
Dawn…
Thank you…1981 from SJK…basically that is our whole mission here at BFA…get the word out about what is going on the neighborhood…good and bad…
Chris B.