See the video.
Posted on 10/27/2017 8:24:50 AM PDT by KeyLargo
Friday, October 27, 2017 Forgotten Illinois: Metropolis
D.C. Comics and the Metropolis Chamber of Commerce designated Metropolis, Illinois, as Superman’s hometown in 1972. And the Illinois General Assembly passed a resolution of its own to make the same designation.
Shortly after the Illinois General Assembly designated Metropolis the official hometown of Superman in 1972, the New York Times mentioned that the city was bleeding jobs, and young people were fleeing for greener pastures.
Fast-forward more than 40 years, and the problems are the same. The hope placed in a superhero is also still there.
See the video.
I have all the old Superman videos from the original TV show and the Daily Planet Building depicted in the show sure looks a lot like Los Angeles City Hall.
Visited the museum there in Metropolis IL several years ago on the way to drop the kid off for his HS Band Exhibit up in Chicago. Small, but nice bunch of Superman trivia.
For those who don’t know, Metropolis has only two things going for it. A Superman statue that tourists can take selfies with and a riverboat casino. Problem was, that the entire Ohio river belongs to Kentucky and Kentucky, which doesn’t allow casinos threatened to seize the boat as soon as it left the Illinois shore. Case went to the Supreme Court which ruled that the border was where the river was in the 1790s and therefore gave Illinois a small stretch river so the boat could sail.
With some exceptions Southern Illinois is a pretty depressing place. All political power in Illinois is held by the Chicago area, so the people in Southern Illinois are effectively voiceless in state government. But as sad as Metropolis is, a few miles downriver is Cairo which makes Metropolis appear to be a thriving community.
Far southern Illinois, south of Highway 13, is a severely depressed area. The towns along 13 are very nice, though crime in Carbondale is starting to become a problem. South of there is just bad. There’s nothing there but poverty. There used to be a lot of coal mines but they are closing down leaving no jobs. Cairo is the worst, I hate even driving through there.
North of 13 it’s nice, typical midwestern farm country.
From the late 60’s through the early 80’s I went through Metropolis all the time on the way to see my grandparents in Southern Illinois. It was memorable because we would cross the river and immediately see indicia of Superman around town, much like the connection between Chester, Illinois, and Popeye. Sadly, Southern Illinois—”Little Egypt”—has been on the decline for decades.
“llinois is home to a few powerful interests who believe one problem is at the root of the state’s horrific finances.
Oct 27, 2017
It’s not the sinkhole of pension debt swirling beneath Springfield and communities across the state. It’s not the Illinoisans leaving — one every five minutes — to other states, taking their taxable incomes with them. It’s not the deck that’s been stacked against taxpayers for decades. And of course, it’s not that the state’s spending is out of control.
The problem, they say, is that Illinois does not tax its residents enough.
It’s a scary thought.
And without fail, the proposed solution to this non-existent problem is as follows: Change the state’s constitution and pass a progressive tax hike.
As opposed to Illinois’ flat tax, where all earners are meant to pay an equal percentage of their income to the state, a progressive tax structure allows the state to set different tax rates for different incomes.
There would be arguably no bigger political victory for House Speaker Mike Madigan and his caucus. Every major Democratic candidate for governor — J.B. Pritzker, Chris Kennedy and Daniel Biss — has openly endorsed a progressive income tax as the solution to Illinois’ fiscal woes.”
Left that Hell Hole in the late 60’s, when I was old enough to stick my thumb out and hitch hike out of there. Still have some family there. My mother passed away earlier this year and trying to sell her estate for what it is worth is trying.The only higher paying blue collar jobs is either what is left of the coal mines or one of the prisons in Chester or the Fed in Marion.
Back in the 80s, I visited Cairo, Illinois (as a railfan, I heard the Crab Apple and Egyptian had steam freight, so I went there and the Iowa Traction, which had electric freight) and it should be another state.
I understand. My dad is from West Frankfort and throughout my life that area has done little but deteriorate. Those mines killed three men in my family. Most of my remaining connection to Southern Illinois now resides in various graveyards. However, I do have a bit of living family scattered around there and it makes me sad each time I visit.
Is Smallville nearby?
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