Death on The Ohio, Wheeling, WV

[KCtoBrooklyn]

Wow, true gems there. Hope they get saved. Thanks for the tour!

[diskojoe]

Originally Posted by ColDayMan

It really is one of those stories about how a suburban shopping center (in Wheeling's case, a large mall to the west and a pseudo-lifestyle center to the east) can kill a downtown to the core. Such a shame.

Kill america, shit. The lack of people in this thread scares me too. Its devoid of life. Its like planet of the apes or some shit.

[kcexpress69]

Awesome thread, but I agree, it's pretty sad, that a city that was, will not be much longer in the decades to come. If I'm correct, this was a steel town?? Steel and coal was the mainstay in this region, and both have suffered. I would really love for steel to come back. As for the buildings themselves, it kinda has a St. Louis like appeal to it. I've always liked old St. Louis architecture. Nice job, Photolith

[DoomJ]

Originally Posted by photoLith

Wheeling almost feels like Cairo, Illinois which is like wheeling but on a much smaller scale.
Here's my thread on Cairo I posted a few years ago.

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=186776

Fantastic pictures of Wheeling. I must say, despite the hard times it does seem a lot more alive than Cairo. Last time I passed through southern Illinois the only living things I saw in Cairo were the plants growing through the buildings; at least some cars are parked in Wheeling... somebody's there...

[fflint]

Great photos. Leaves me a bit melancholy--that is some fantastic architecture being wasted.

[Evergrey]

Originally Posted by DoomJ

Fantastic pictures of Wheeling. I must say, despite the hard times it does seem a lot more alive than Cairo. Last time I passed through southern Illinois the only living things I saw in Cairo were the plants growing through the buildings; at least some cars are parked in Wheeling... somebody's there...

It's obviously MUCH MUCH MUCH more alive than Cairo... and much more populated than Cairo (Wheeling is its own MSA of about 150k located adjacent to the Pittsburgh MSA). That was hyperbole on photoLith's part. Wheeling is still a functional place... is HQ of a decent-sized bank (WesBanco), has a world-class park (Oglebay), and several normal, pristine, attractive neighborhoods to the east of Downtown (which are never photographed on here as they're not that interesting from a streetscape perspective). It's a troubled city... been in decline since 1940, lost almost all its historic manufacturing, and has a populace that is seemingly indifferent to the city's legacy architecture... but it's not a ghost town like Cairo. A more apt comparison for Cairo in the region would be Brownsville, PA.

[photoLith]

Yes the suburbs of wheeling seem like they are in good shape, vibrant in fact but the town seems to not care about its historic downtown and the incredibly historic areas surrounding it.

[urbanpln]

"A lot of good stuff there"

[photoLith]

It's such a shame that so much will be torn down and lost forever though.

[LSyd]

great tour. it looks like a christmas miniature village. have they tried bringing in the film industry for period pieces?

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[Bronxwood]

Just finished playing The Last of Us (amazing game) which takes place in a post apocalyptic America. Parts of the game take place in Downtown Pittsburgh and the surrounding metro area. Wheeling already looks the part! All that is needed are a few overturned cars and some clickers. Beautiful architecture, hate to see it all going to waste.

[pdxtex]

Originally Posted by photoLith

Something tells me that Wheeling is not ready to be an oasis of tolerance anytime soon, massive brain drain has left the town pretty well set in its ways.

so did you get a sense that maybe some of those folks commute to pittsburgh? some of those rowhouses look really well maintained and have trendy, small japanese cars parked out front. who lives inside?

[KevinFromTexas]

Neat. It's a shame the place is in decline. Those old brick buildings are wonderful.

[photoLith]

Originally Posted by pdxtex

so did you get a sense that maybe some of those folks commute to pittsburgh? some of those rowhouses look really well maintained and have trendy, small japanese cars parked out front. who lives inside?

Maybe people living out on the eastern edge of wheeling do but most of the people I saw in the old parts of wheeling were very broke looking white trash and low income people unfortunately. Even the people living in the nice looking homes looked pretty down and out.

[MolsonExport]

I absolutely love this place, despite (because of?) the grit.

[photoLith]

You should come visit.

[Wheelingman04]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

It's obviously MUCH MUCH MUCH more alive than Cairo... and much more populated than Cairo (Wheeling is its own MSA of about 150k located adjacent to the Pittsburgh MSA). That was hyperbole on photoLith's part. Wheeling is still a functional place... is HQ of a decent-sized bank (WesBanco), has a world-class park (Oglebay), and several normal, pristine, attractive neighborhoods to the east of Downtown (which are never photographed on here as they're not that interesting from a streetscape perspective). It's a troubled city... been in decline since 1940, lost almost all its historic manufacturing, and has a populace that is seemingly indifferent to the city's legacy architecture... but it's not a ghost town like Cairo. A more apt comparison for Cairo in the region would be Brownsville, PA.

You nailed it

[Wheelingman04]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

Even Wheelingman has left Wheeling.

Yes I left Wheeling to be with my ex-fiance. We broke up and I moved from Wellsburg further north to 3 miles east of downtown Weirton in Hancock County, WV near the PA line where Hanover Township is located(the village of Paris,PA is on most maps). I am limited to exactly where I can live because of my medical conditions. I have tried to move into PA but I only wanted to live near the T tracks so I would have good public transportation but to no avail. I moved here because it was right at the time,I like this place, very low crime and the neighborhood but most of all I wanted to be real close to Pittsburgh. I think the key factor that keeps Wheeling alive rests with its very low crime rate. This place would be long gone and decrepit if it had a high crime problem. Again the mall to the west and the hybrid lifestyle center to the east has killed downtown. There are some that commute to Pittsburgh, especially doctors but even my mom has been commuting to Washington, PA for over 20yrs at the hospital and some of her friends did who lived in Wheeling also. I don't plan on ever living in Wheeling again though crazy things happy. I lived most of my life there. I personally could live in several major cities in my lifetime, but Pittsburgh is a special place and I would only miss it more and more if I left the area.

[Jeff]

now that was an awesome thread! thanks for sharing