Reading, Pennsylvania is Still Losing Factories Years After They Closed

Wolfy
Wolfy
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2021-02-04に共有
Two corrections. Reading is/was the poorest city in the US at one point, not the poorest town. and the Vanity Fair Outlets are still open, just in a smaller space.

Video about the recent loss of many old factory buildings in Reading. The city hosted the first outlet center in the world in the 1970s. Jobs at retail stores in these outlets were very important to the city as factory jobs disappeared. At one time buses of people from all over the region were arriving here to shop. Unfortunately as outlet shops opened up in other places they took much of the business from the Reading shops. By the 1990's they'd gone into steep decline. 3-5 huge outlet complexes dwindled to one, and once again the old factories fell silent. This time there was no savior to fill these vast spaces though, and many of them were demolished by neglect or the shovel of an excavator.
コメント (7)
  • @Impulse_Photography
    Everything I am reading online now, July 2021, is saying that Vanity Fair Outlets of Reading, Pa is closed.
  • @iggyreilly2463
    Didn't watch the entire vid (had to run) but renovating/retrofitting buildings is very expensive. It includes seismic upgrades, disabled access/egress, etc. due to laws with no chance of variance. It's cheaper and easier to tear down and rebuild or pave. And Reading doesn't have tenants chomping at the bit to locate there. And voters + local tax base would likely reject public funding (public-private limited partnerships) to save these buildings b/c the economy and voters are relatively poor. I wish they had all been saved. Nothing like this will ever be built again and Reading is losing its history and heritage built by its ancestors.
  • @alansouthcentral
    In this vid you mention and show the Choc. Factory. Today(3-24-2023) there was an explosion that destroyed the building. 2 People dead, 9 are missing.
  • @ninvin21
    I'm 38 (Born in 83) was born and raised here. I'm still here. Great Video I could talk about these areas all day every spot you stopped at brought back a memory. I love doing the same thing you were doing in this video. Reading Has tons of History, Neversink mountain is my favorite area though.
  • @jessicaziemba1447
    It sucks that the buildings are no longer there for us to see. Keep the old buildings and use them for something. Don't let them fall to pieces. That's why it's called history. I wonder how many buildings are no in Reading because people are too lazy to doing something about them. Maybe instead of ridiculously high taxes, more people will live in Reading.