On my last thread someone asked me about some of the more shocking things I have ever seen while exploring. The single most disgusting thing I have ever seen was at this location...the cooler of dead maggots. Read on, this is an interesting location....and heartbreaking.
This location featured a squatters den - the first I have ever photographed. A squatters den is just what it sounds like, a space where someone homeless has broken into the building and has been living in it. It was a classic den, and long deserted. Squatters pose a danger to urban explorers, in that they can be hostile, on drugs, or desperate enough to rob you.
This property also featured the most disgusting thing I have ever seen.....a cooler full of countless dead maggots. The cooler was closed, yet the maggots hatched inside, and consumed everything possible. It looked like there might have even been several generations of such in the cooler. You'll see it in a photo coming up (yes its gross) - they are the brown stuff all over the inside of a cooler.
I also learned some history about one of the people who was living in the apartment complex: I found a journal. The journal was hand written by a youth who was just returning home from prison. At the time she was 17. I will post her journal page in another post because it's striking...and sad. She's so young, and troubled...atop that I found her journal page among the ruins of a home that was clearly evicted.
Like so many other vacant properties, this beautiful home is being destroyed by people. Windows are being broken out, holes punched in walls, and more. It is only a matter of time before this classic stylish apartment complex is not worth saving. Once more, the community is causing it's own blight.
Full post and more photos here: http://toledowastewalker.wordpress.com/2012/06/19/553-walbridge-victorian-apartment-complex/
Photo on the left is current, photo on the right is a photo from a few years ago when the property was taken care of.
The squatters den...
The cooler of dead maggots...if it's brown it was a maggot...
You've got WAY more courage than I'd have, if you're opening up coolers inside deserted buildings!
A testament to how well that home is constructed that it could somewhat stand up to the abuses of squatters.
Yea...that cooler was something special. It was worse than the abandoned church that had human waste all over a pew.
Maybe, maybe not. I never found maggots to be particularly repulsive, unlike cockroaches which I hate.
I really hope you're doing something constructive about personal security here, OhioKimono. For openers, I do not want to read about you, attack and hospital all in the same sentence. People who live in these places or are there just visiting friends are generally not the kind, gentle folks you'll find in a church choir on Sunday.
Jack - I always take care of things. Also working on my conceal and carry....which works in Michigan and Ohio. I never explore alone either. I'm always aware of the dangers. Thank you for the care.
Wonderful pictures again!
What really aggravates me is the condition these places are in.
People in these areas complain about how hard it is to live there...yet are the primary causes for such blight and decay. All the damage to both of these locations I toured was done by people: not the weather, not time, not unpaid bills...but people.
People destroying their own neighborhoods....they crying about living in these neighborhoods blow my mind.
People in these areas complain about how hard it is to live there...yet are the primary causes for such blight and decay.
And this mindset is moving out of those areas and into others (see Ace Face's comments in the "Heatherdowns/Reynolds" thread). I don't get it myself. I guess Mom & Dad (or Mom or Dad...or significant childhood caregiver...<shrug>) don't instill that having a house all your own is "work" and you need to do things...like "mow the lawn", "repair broken items", "pick up dog crap", etc. Or pass along that someone else is not going to do the work for you. Or that you contribute to the greatness of the neighborhood by having a neat and tidy home.
Don't start with "they're poor". Not an excuse. Running a lawnmower (even a push/non-gas one), picking up toys/general yard crap/auto parts from the lawn, and paint are not budget-busting items. I've been in some of the poorest areas of many major cities and there are still folks who take pride and make their homes beautiful.
I have always felt that the houses in the Old South End, while not OWE caliber architecturally (well, some are), would be a golden area for people to re-gentrify if there was a reason for a large number of people to live closer to the city. Big homes, streets with trees and sidewalks, parks close by. Neighborhood places and some old "neighborhood storefronts". All potential.
Suburban flight...to escape a number of factors in Toledo...has left these grand old homes to many people who turn them into hovels. Although not every home is a squatters den or falling apart, it is plainly obvious that the OSE is not a teeming "nice" neighborhood that will draw moneyed families with small children if they have any other options.