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  #1  
Old Posted Oct 30, 2013, 7:26 PM
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Johnstown, PA- A gritty gem in the hills

Johnstown, PA is the heart of the Johnstown Metro (pop ~ 150,000). A more than once thriving city in the hills of Western Pennsylvania, the city has seen its share of disasters;natural, man-made, and financial.
It's a very urban rascal but has experienced a population drop from 67,000 in 1930 to about 21,000 today. The city lost 12,000 jobs in the early 90s with the closing of steel mills.
I did speak to a couple of people while exploring downtown, and they said they felt the city is starting a rebound....I hope that is true.
Here's a link to some more info about the city:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnstown,_Pennsylvania

Now some pics of the city with the biggest concentration in the downtown area.

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The downtown city park
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There were several tall boxes for the old & poor.

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A building that's part of a big hospital complex.
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Kernville Neighborhood
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Cambria City Neighborhood
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Back in the downtown area for a few more buildings

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79. Amtrak station


Some downtown residential
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A couple of industrial buildings

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Some art (?)
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The old Ithmobile in front of an appropriately named building.

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Finally, The Johnstown Inclined Plane

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96. Flag at the top.


97. Old steel plant


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So long from Johnstown

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Hope you enjoyed.
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  #2  
Old Posted Oct 30, 2013, 8:00 PM
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Interesting tour, I really love that last aerial photo.
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  #3  
Old Posted Oct 30, 2013, 11:50 PM
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Whenever I see a PA city on here, I know we're in for a treat! All the hallmarks are there: A beautiful and dense downtown, a huge sprawling hospital, commie blocks for old people, functioning train stations, abandoned industrial plants, minimal sprawl, a decent greenbelt, and loads of potential.
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  #4  
Old Posted Oct 31, 2013, 12:38 AM
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Great pics! I still have some family members there from my mothers side but I have yet to make the journey out there to visit. Thanks for sharing Ex!
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  #5  
Old Posted Oct 31, 2013, 12:49 AM
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I got a job working construction
for the Johnstown company
but lately there ain't been much work
on account of the economy - Springsteen, The River
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  #6  
Old Posted Oct 31, 2013, 1:36 AM
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Michael Graves is everywhere.
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  #7  
Old Posted Oct 31, 2013, 2:44 AM
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Great looking place! Adding it to my list of places I need to visit.
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  #8  
Old Posted Oct 31, 2013, 10:25 PM
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Thanks for the replies guys. I'm sure I will be visiting Johnstown again to check out some more neighborhoods.
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  #9  
Old Posted Nov 1, 2013, 12:29 AM
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It's always great to see Ampipe.
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  #10  
Old Posted Nov 1, 2013, 1:33 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ColDayMan View Post
Michael Graves is everywhere.
That's kind of what I was thinking. It's like the one building that REALLY doesn't fit.

Some great pre-war stuff in here.
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  #11  
Old Posted Nov 1, 2013, 2:24 AM
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When I was in school I found a reel of 16mm film of a trolley going down the streets of Johnstown. Completely awesome....
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  #12  
Old Posted Nov 1, 2013, 3:39 AM
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How can a KFC not survive there?
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  #13  
Old Posted Nov 1, 2013, 5:10 AM
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Nice pictures. Johnstown has some nice older buildings. But, it seems that there are a ton of ugly renovations on the ground floors, and then there are some ugly newer buildings as well.
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  #14  
Old Posted Nov 1, 2013, 8:50 AM
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fantastic thread. i drove thru here once, but dont remember it like this. that forelorn flatiron is just a gorgeous bldg. and its not often something drops your jaw like the bucks craft center warehouse lol. best of all, they know how to preserve their steel plant legacy, even if by neglect or abandonment (unlike that state just to the west).


Quote:
Originally Posted by dc_denizen View Post
I got a job working construction
for the Johnstown company
but lately there ain't been much work
on account of the economy - Springsteen, The River

oh but it doesn't stop there with the boss & this place:

"takin' turns dancin' with Maria, as the band played 'Night of the Johnstown Flood'." highway patrolmen from nebraska
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  #15  
Old Posted Nov 1, 2013, 5:31 PM
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there's a lot to love in this little city. that building in #7, some of the older modern architecture, the river and truss bridge.
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  #16  
Old Posted Nov 1, 2013, 8:09 PM
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Smile

Nice tour and nice pictures. Thanks for sharing.

Love the views from that hill over the town. The inclination is spectacular.

Congrats and greetings from Madrid, Spain.
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  #17  
Old Posted Nov 2, 2013, 2:42 PM
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Nice looking town. A lot larger than I originally imagined.
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  #18  
Old Posted Nov 2, 2013, 2:46 PM
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Great set of a really neat, semi-forgotten city. I was impressed with how busy the downtown area was during my brief visit.
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  #19  
Old Posted Nov 2, 2013, 4:24 PM
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Possibly the most hopeless city in America... but fascinating urban fabric and topography to explore. There are so many weird gritty neighborhoods worming their way throughout the rugged hills and valleys of Greater Johnstown.

Last edited by Evergrey; Nov 3, 2013 at 3:57 AM.
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  #20  
Old Posted Nov 3, 2013, 3:13 AM
MattofSloppyVariety MattofSloppyVariety is offline
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I always love seeing pictures of Johnstown. I grew up in the area and recently lived there for two years while I still worked in Pittsburgh. And I agree with Evergrey, it is a hopeless city and then add to that one of the worst crime rates.

As for the pictures:

51 - I'm so glad you got a pic of Alma Hall. One of the few buildings the withstood not only the great flood, but all of the floods in Johnstown. So many people survived in here during the flood of 1889.

79 - Although it is a fully functioning train station, a majority of the inside is just for show. You are unable to enter the main hall where benches are located to take a seat. If you are waiting for a train, you have to use the platform outside.

85 - your question 'Some art?' Yes, it is. That is located outside the Flood Museum (for those not familiar with the city, the banner in the background gives it away). If I'm not mistaken, on one of my many visits to the museum, I believe this is made out of pieces of metal found from the '77 flood and welded together. There is a piece of metal in the interior of the museum that most people walk by much like this statue. Turns out that one is an actual part of a bridge twisted by the flood waters.
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