Who wants to go?
Do the gays need to buy up everything in Cairo Illinois? Clean it up and make it a mid western mecca for us?
by Anonymous | reply 88 | December 8, 2022 10:06 AM |
Where the fuck in the state is that?
by Anonymous | reply 1 | December 7, 2022 12:00 AM |
It’s down at the rectum. Bordering Kentucky. Paducah KY, Cairo, and Cape Girardeau MO liken themselves as a tri-cities of sorts. Shitty sorts.
by Anonymous | reply 2 | December 7, 2022 12:07 AM |
Metropolis, Marion - shit
by Anonymous | reply 3 | December 7, 2022 12:11 AM |
Some of you don't know gay history.
by Anonymous | reply 5 | December 7, 2022 12:14 AM |
Me!!!
by Anonymous | reply 6 | December 7, 2022 12:16 AM |
Can anyone recommend some good books about Cairo Illinois?
by Anonymous | reply 7 | December 7, 2022 12:17 AM |
R2 R3 are correct . Of course a better description would be where the Ohio and Mississippi rivers meet.
OP it would be a great place to create a gay midwestern mecca freak out all the right wingers in the area.
by Anonymous | reply 8 | December 7, 2022 12:19 AM |
It's pronounced KAY-roe, by the way.
-- The people from vurh-SALES, KY, LYE-muh, OH, New MAD-rid, MO, and BURR-lin, NH.
by Anonymous | reply 10 | December 7, 2022 1:16 AM |
I really do have an unhealthy fascination with this place. I live far away but would love to visit one day. Of course they don’t have a hotel or airport so I’d have to stay somewhere else. I often look at it on Google earth.
by Anonymous | reply 11 | December 7, 2022 3:45 AM |
Is their sphinx up for sale?!
by Anonymous | reply 12 | December 7, 2022 3:48 AM |
[quote]It's pronounced KAY-roe, by the way. -- The people from vurh-SALES, KY, LYE-muh, OH, New MAD-rid, MO, and BURR-lin, NH.
Gurl, puh-LAAAIZE!
by Anonymous | reply 13 | December 7, 2022 4:38 AM |
[quote]I really do have an unhealthy fascination with this place
Get over it!
[quote] I often look at it on Google earth.
Cease and desist!
by Anonymous | reply 14 | December 7, 2022 4:40 AM |
Delish!
by Anonymous | reply 15 | December 7, 2022 4:46 AM |
Way south in Illinois. Considerably closer to Nashville, Memphis and St. Louis than Chicago. Southern Illinois has some beautiful scenery as where most of the rest of the State is extremely meh. Most people don't know anything about southern Illinois (probably for good reason) as where they certainly know Chicago in the north and possibly central Illinois which includes Champaign-Urbana, Bloomington-Normal, Peoria, and Springfield.
by Anonymous | reply 16 | December 7, 2022 5:03 AM |
No thank you. It's near the New Madrid Earthquake Fault, which could go again at any minute!!!!!
by Anonymous | reply 17 | December 7, 2022 5:05 AM |
Population went from 15k to less than 2k. Many a resident left, for reasons well known to her!
by Anonymous | reply 18 | December 7, 2022 5:15 AM |
Gays know how to make shit beautiful! Weho was a shithole of foulness and crime in the 60's and part of the 70's.
by Anonymous | reply 19 | December 7, 2022 5:19 AM |
I thought we were all going to move to a remote Scottish island. I prefer that option.
by Anonymous | reply 20 | December 7, 2022 5:30 AM |
It’s regressing back to that era ☝🏼.
by Anonymous | reply 21 | December 7, 2022 5:30 AM |
I've posted this before to the other recent thread on this subject, but Cairo was my mother's hometown and she had fond memories of an idyllic all-American childhood there during the 1930s and 40s. From the video you can see it's really a pretty location and all the run-down houses give you an idea of what used to be.
I think the town has minor potential as a local tourist attraction. We visited once when I was very young, and I remember going to see the point where the Ohio River meets the Mississippi. It was kind of neat to see the relatively clear water of the Ohio merge with the muddy Mississippi. They also have that spot where you can stand in more than one state at a time. We went on a random summer weekday and there was a nice size crowd there. It's not much, but what did Branson, MO have when they started? Open up a Victoria "Porkchop" Parker Glamor Girls Theater and a Nate Burkus Tchotchke Palace and a Bruce Villanch Throw Down Buffet and see what happens from there.
by Anonymous | reply 22 | December 7, 2022 3:23 PM |
delish!
by Anonymous | reply 23 | December 7, 2022 3:39 PM |
I couldn’t stand having to pronounce it that way, so no.
by Anonymous | reply 24 | December 7, 2022 4:00 PM |
That video is the stuff of nightmares!
Like Children of the Corn, or The Hills Have Eyes.
The part where he shows the sign "Jesus Lives Here!" is even more terrifying.
What a sad little place.
There were no people on the streets. Not one business open. Vines completely covering homes, like a scene from "The Walking Dead."
Can you imagine having to exist there, every single day of your life?
I would be crying.
by Anonymous | reply 25 | December 7, 2022 4:00 PM |
The point is to improve it, Mary at R25. It wasn't always that way.
by Anonymous | reply 26 | December 7, 2022 4:07 PM |
"They also have that spot where you can stand in more than one state at a time."
But can you stand in FOUR at the same time?
by Anonymous | reply 27 | December 7, 2022 4:10 PM |
It's impossible to revitalize that town.
There are no construction workers.
No businesses to support workers.
No government offices to issue permits.
No hotels/motels for workers to stay.
These people and businesses cannot be shipped in overnight.
They have to exist already, in order to be able to build and develop.
Without that infrastructure in place, and without workers, it's just not possible to rebuild the town.
It will just continue to die a slow death.
by Anonymous | reply 28 | December 7, 2022 4:12 PM |
Are people even supposed to go there? Is there anything left for a legit tourist day trip?
by Anonymous | reply 29 | December 7, 2022 4:15 PM |
[quote] Are people even supposed to go there? Is there anything left for a legit tourist day trip?
I watched the entire video.
Not a single place to eat.
Not one gas station.
Nowhere to stay overnight.
That place is a literal ghost town.
by Anonymous | reply 30 | December 7, 2022 4:16 PM |
Cairo floods too frequently, and the cratered tax base means limited public services.
It couldn't satisfy the many needs of your average population of fruitcakes.
by Anonymous | reply 31 | December 7, 2022 4:17 PM |
[quote] Is there anything left for a legit tourist day trip?
The Sphinx and pyramids, dummy. It is Cairo after all.
by Anonymous | reply 32 | December 7, 2022 4:18 PM |
It looks like a self-service quality in, R33.
And there's nowhere to eat.
Do you have to bring your own food?
by Anonymous | reply 34 | December 7, 2022 4:21 PM |
R33 Did you notice the rating?
by Anonymous | reply 35 | December 7, 2022 4:38 PM |
Wasn't Cairo the place where Jim was trying to escape to in "Huckleberry Finn?" I guess it was the first "free state" they could reach via the Mississippi.
by Anonymous | reply 36 | December 7, 2022 4:39 PM |
r34 Do you have something against Shemwell's Barbecue?
by Anonymous | reply 37 | December 7, 2022 4:42 PM |
It's just a short drive to Paducah, memorialized in this song.
by Anonymous | reply 38 | December 7, 2022 4:45 PM |
When I was reading up on Cairo I did see that that barbecue place is supposed to be excellent
by Anonymous | reply 39 | December 7, 2022 5:00 PM |
Id revise my earlier decision if they took R32’s suggestion to liven up the place a bit.
by Anonymous | reply 40 | December 7, 2022 5:47 PM |
Do they have a casino there? Seems like the kind of place where they'd build one, hoping to draw in some outsiders.
by Anonymous | reply 41 | December 7, 2022 6:40 PM |
Kill it...Kill it with Fire!!
by Anonymous | reply 42 | December 7, 2022 6:49 PM |
I remembering driving south from Urbana (where I worked for a while) and discovering to my horror that flat land can get even flatter.
by Anonymous | reply 43 | December 7, 2022 7:03 PM |
How’s their Nordstrom’s? Do they have French cuisine? Can I see an opera? Tell me they have a Bentley dealer!
by Anonymous | reply 44 | December 7, 2022 7:33 PM |
R16 people know of Springfield because it’s the state capitol and Abraham Lincoln’s stomping grounds and memorial.
by Anonymous | reply 45 | December 7, 2022 7:50 PM |
[quote]How’s their Nordstrom’s?
It's a notch below Sam Drucker's general store.
by Anonymous | reply 46 | December 7, 2022 8:01 PM |
I have a friend (raised African American) who descends from a wealthy family (white) in part because one of the scions had a separate life with a black woman. The remnants of the white family deny it, but that's just their reflex, since I put together the whole story for her (genealogist here).
AND with that research I saw how beautiful some of the older areas are/were in Cairo. Just a tremendous decay now, no industry, no people and a lot of bad vibes.
OP, fine with me, but that climate is rather steamy. I can do the delta blues life but can our fellow gays take it without it being New Orleans?
by Anonymous | reply 47 | December 7, 2022 8:04 PM |
And just in case people don't know, from north of the Ohio-Mississippi confluence in Missouri all the way south to the gulf, it's all the same old delta feeling. Hard to get anything started, much less done. You stand in the Missouri bootheel and see the cotton, rice and watermelons growing and feel the alluvium go 100 miles deep under your feet with sand and old sediment, and wait for the alligators to come back north as it gets hotter and hotter.
by Anonymous | reply 48 | December 7, 2022 8:08 PM |
What are the remaining 1700 people doing? I'd assume many are on government assistance and also many live in Cairo but drive to nearby cities for work. It's interesting, but also seems like a miserable existence. That said, people tend to normalize misery. The housing is cheap.
by Anonymous | reply 49 | December 7, 2022 8:10 PM |
[quote]I have a friend (raised African American) who descends from a wealthy family (white) in part because one of the scions had a separate life with a black woman. The remnants of the white family deny it, but that's just their reflex, since I put together the whole story for her (genealogist here).
Racism is basically what killed Cairo.
by Anonymous | reply 50 | December 7, 2022 8:16 PM |
R22, is it flood-prone?
by Anonymous | reply 51 | December 7, 2022 9:39 PM |
Yes, it's flood-prone.
by Anonymous | reply 52 | December 7, 2022 9:57 PM |
What a Dump!
by Anonymous | reply 53 | December 7, 2022 10:36 PM |
I’d rather stay in bed as to visit a dead end town like that.
by Anonymous | reply 54 | December 7, 2022 10:56 PM |
How is the healthcare system in Cairo?
by Anonymous | reply 55 | December 7, 2022 11:09 PM |
There is no healthcare system. Residents need to drive to other towns/cities.
by Anonymous | reply 56 | December 7, 2022 11:12 PM |
You can work from home and live there. They just need a Target.
by Anonymous | reply 57 | December 7, 2022 11:25 PM |
[quote] You can work from home and live there
Is there even internet or phone service?
I'm guessing no.
by Anonymous | reply 58 | December 7, 2022 11:33 PM |
Cairo is Gary, Indiana.
But worse.
by Anonymous | reply 59 | December 7, 2022 11:40 PM |
Does Gary have a Target?
by Anonymous | reply 60 | December 7, 2022 11:41 PM |
My husband taught at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He said it was dreadful. The locals and the professors and their families didn’t mingle so he and his friends would entertain in each others homes.
by Anonymous | reply 61 | December 7, 2022 11:44 PM |
It's MUCH worse than Gary. Gary actually has a "normal" not awful part believe it or not. And it's closer to better cities and even a major city - Chicago (it's technically a part of Chicago metro). Though I think Target is in a neighboring city.
by Anonymous | reply 62 | December 7, 2022 11:48 PM |
The only plus to Cairo would be any hot, horny desperate redneck studs, I imagine.
by Anonymous | reply 63 | December 7, 2022 11:56 PM |
When I first started reading X-Men in the 90s Cairo was featured as part of the storyline that saw storm deaged to a child and that's where she met Gambit. It always has fascinated me since as far as its history but I would never probably want to live there because of all the flooding.
by Anonymous | reply 64 | December 8, 2022 12:00 AM |
Gary is better, they have Miller Beach which has decent lake houses right off Lake Michigan. Like it’s own separate town.
by Anonymous | reply 65 | December 8, 2022 12:01 AM |
[quote] The only plus to Cairo would be any hot, horny desperate redneck studs, I imagine.
Cairo is about 70 percent black and nearly a third of its residents are over 65. Not saying a redneck stud would be impossible but they sure would be rare to find there.
by Anonymous | reply 66 | December 8, 2022 12:04 AM |
I had a hot threesome in Miller Beach years ago. Two tall Nordic looking guys.
by Anonymous | reply 67 | December 8, 2022 12:09 AM |
R28 is unfortunately correct.
I’m sure some (I did for a second) think “can’t we marginally fix up some homes and ship homeless people to them? A shitty home is still a home”
What do these people do when they get there? They need services (grocery store/bar - my priorities), but those need to exist before they get there because they are essential.
I won’t say towns like this are “lost” but you’d need massive corporate and government investment to get people to stay until the town was self-sustaining.
by Anonymous | reply 68 | December 8, 2022 12:11 AM |
R68 not to mention that none of the infrastructure has probably been worked on in decades. Once jobs were lost and people started to flee, the tax base fell apart.
So water and sewage is probably a mess (think Flint).
by Anonymous | reply 69 | December 8, 2022 12:14 AM |
[quote] Cairo is Gary, Indiana. But worse
Not even close.
Cairo has about 1500 people. Gary has close to 70,000.
Gary is a major shithole, but it's still a real city.
by Anonymous | reply 70 | December 8, 2022 12:15 AM |
One could open a gentleman’s establishment or party place off the radar I bet. Nice house with lots of rooms tucked away from the neighbors. I don’t do even that sort of thing at all and I find it hot to think about doing.
by Anonymous | reply 71 | December 8, 2022 12:16 AM |
I think it would be interesting to try to jumpstart a city/town, but I think Cairo should be demolished and dismantled. It apparently floods all the time (as so many southern IL towns near the river do).
by Anonymous | reply 72 | December 8, 2022 12:20 AM |
We are truly a dying empire.
by Anonymous | reply 73 | December 8, 2022 12:36 AM |
Cairo looks neat. It’s a shame they didn’t rebuild the public housing.
by Anonymous | reply 74 | December 8, 2022 12:45 AM |
Cairo would be a good place to be touched by a hobo
by Anonymous | reply 76 | December 8, 2022 1:23 AM |
It’s a shithole!
by Anonymous | reply 77 | December 8, 2022 1:25 AM |
Clearly there are other cities that have died - to finality; no one living there anymore.
I can't believe they still talk about reviving Cairo. That said, how does it truly end? Does the local government have to go to the state and give up/not renew a city charter? The government (Cairo still has one if minimal) has to disband somehow to truly finalize its demise. Would they be required to give notice to residents? I know this isn't being planned, but just hypothetically.
by Anonymous | reply 78 | December 8, 2022 1:30 AM |
[quote] I can't believe they still talk about reviving Cairo
No one is talking about it, except for the op.
And the people in this thread.
by Anonymous | reply 79 | December 8, 2022 2:17 AM |
[quote]You can work from home and live there. They just need a Target.
No Trader Joe's? Dealbreaker!
by Anonymous | reply 80 | December 8, 2022 2:23 AM |
I love the idea of living in an abandoned city
by Anonymous | reply 81 | December 8, 2022 3:21 AM |
You do get your pick of the abandoned mansions r81. Bring your tasteful friends!
by Anonymous | reply 82 | December 8, 2022 3:24 AM |
One of my friends lives in a midsize rustbelt/snowbelt city, which has lost a shit ton of jobs and about 25K to 40K of its residents in the last 20 years.
Real estate might be cheap there, but their property taxes are INSANE. My friend has a house worth about 200K and the property taxes are almost 15K. There's fewer people so all the per capita taxes go up for those who can afford it.
by Anonymous | reply 83 | December 8, 2022 3:32 AM |
Does the county pick up all the municipal duties if the city dissolves? I could see the county law enforcement and maybe welfare but do counties fund fire departments and public schools?
by Anonymous | reply 84 | December 8, 2022 8:07 AM |
Think bigger. Take over the least populated state Wyoming and get two gay senators. It would take only between 90,000-100,000 voting age gays and lesbians to move there and flip it based on recent election results.
by Anonymous | reply 85 | December 8, 2022 8:48 AM |
They have amazing community theater.
by Anonymous | reply 86 | December 8, 2022 9:12 AM |
If you want Cairo to be a gay project, please go do so because you are stupid gays and deserve to die. Cairo is abandoned because it is not safe, so not a good place to invest time and resources.
Smart gays in the 21st century should at least know to identify locations somewhat protected from climate disasters. Then start decorating.
I wouldn't invest in any flood zone, but that's just me.
by Anonymous | reply 87 | December 8, 2022 10:03 AM |
^ West Virginia then?
by Anonymous | reply 88 | December 8, 2022 10:06 AM |