Ghosts of The Region, Seeds of Emergence

Growing up in The Region taught me how decay can become art and how gardens rise from vacant lots. This essay begins with Hammond and asks: can cities in decline find hope in emergence?

I am from Hammond, Indiana and my dad worked in steel mills his whole life. When I go back to The Region, my friends mention how bleak it is. But I would not trade my upbringing for anything. Helping places that have been left behind is a core reason I do what I do today. My 1990s childhood in a post-industrial metropolitan area undergoing massive popul…