I understand poverty; I was raised poor. What I don't understand is how being poor equates to one's yard looking like a trash dump. Being poor does NOT have to equate to being dirty...it just doesn't.

67 years old and a life long resident of Pennsauken, the neighboring town. Walked to my Boy Scout meeting every Thursday night, played in Dudley Grange, my gram and pop lived at 27th and Westfield Ave. I’ve seen Camden in it’s glory times of the mid 60's. It was very nice shopping around where my grandparents lived. My dad worked for Western Electric based in Camden and met my mom at the bank at 27 st and Westfield Ave. What has happened is a real shame.

I live in Newark and run a 501c3 that puts popup fine art galleries in long vacant storefronts on Commercial corridors. One of the issues I had to work out was the garbage dumped on sidewalks every Monday morning. I would go through the trash trying to identify the source. Most of it was Amazon boxes addressed to businesses in Kearney, just across the river. It took persistence and research but, it finally got toned down

Imagine being the Delaware River. Trapped between Camden and Philly, forever. Condolences.

*Canadian goose honks in the distance* "It's a kind of duck"

While u r watching this, consider this; We spent $300m/day for 20 years, in Afghanistan. Look who runs Afghanistan, now.

I drove through Camden in 1993, I was also speechless. Nothing has changed, block after block of abandonment cars, refrigerators, tires, burned out homes, etc. it looked like someone dropped a bomb in the area.

As a lover of cities, this makes me extremely sad. I was expecting to see a struggling downtown, maybe a bit like Poughkeepsie but not a dumpster fire.

Such a key location being wasted. Waterfront usually brings in a great opportunity. So sad.

Born Jan 6th 1958 at Cooper Hospital in Camden. My grandfather came to camden in the early forties from puerto rico to work at campbell`s soup because so many young men were off to war that the U.S. had to "import" workers from other countries that were friendly to us such as P.R. to work in the factories. My grandfather left the family(including my mom) for about 4 years while he built a house, got a car and prepared everything for them when the time came finally for them to come to the U.S. and also sent money to them for subsistence because P.R. was poverty ridden in those days. Many men worked low-paying jobs in the hot sugar cane fields getting cut and stabbed by the sugar cane stalks. The family came over finally in the winter and got their first look at snow. Yes it is true, camden has fallen farther than a bad angel when industry left or deported jobs and now camden is a horrible shell of a memory that even makes Philadelphia look good. My grandfather is long passed away and most of family is also passed. The part of this video that says that are some positive signs of an uptick is something we can surely hope for. There are some other places that once were vibrant, then went way down but something positive happened and then something else did and they soared up from way down so it might happen to camden. My birthplace❤🫡

I visited Camden in 2015, when I visited my office in Philadelphia. We went to Camden on a Sunday to see the adventure aquarium & battleship. We also walked along the river front & enjoyed a ride on the patco high speed line. The next day, everyone in the office was like, why did you even go there? It's the crime capital of the US.

Accountability. The people (not all) who live in this area need some. The blame game is getting nauseating.

Unfortunately there are so many towns like this scattered across the United States. Believe it or not, some look even worse than that area you were in. So many have been sucked dry and left as carcasses on the landscape.

A real shame. Not only did manufacturing companies close down and put people out of work, but railroads also used to provide jobs, transportation and commerce before they too got bulldozed over. Add to that corruption. There are dozens of cities like Camden that suffered a similar fate though this is all the more tragic because of the potential this city could offer.

WOW! Thank you for the tour. I do not blame you whatsoever for not wanting to give us a walking tour. Really makes me fortunate to have grown up where I did (the prosper west coast). Those rust belt cities, especially those of Camden, Gary, etc. really took the blunt force trauma of the economic impact. Too bad and sad to see.

Camden,NJ is my hometown,graduated from Camden High back in 1977,moved out in 1982,it wasn't always like this but Companies closing up or moving away,and other things it's ashame that so many vacant houses and crime,I just pray 🙏🏽 things can change.

Years ago I had to drive a car load of kids to the aquarium for their prom. then had to return to pick the kids up at 11pm. I felt like to Omega man, the only living person on the planet. The only sign of life was the traffic signals changing. No people, no other cars. I sat at a red light thinking, why am I stopping if I'm the only car on the road.

One of the largest employers in Camden was the Victor Talking Machine Company. Founded in 1901 by a machinist...Eldridge R. Johnson. Later became RCA Victor from 1929 to the 1980's. Gone today. Johnson literally built up Camden: two schools, a library and public parks and recreation centers. He was also one of the first employers to offer housing, benefits and good wages for the workers. Hope you don't get a flat...looks like loose screws and nails territory!

"People shouldn't have to live like this." When the government gives them everything they "need" except hope and motivation, how else could they live. Welcome to Camden, Detroit, Gary, Buffalo, and many more.

I am from New Jersey. You have courage to even drive through Camden. Good thing you went during the day and not at night.

I remember about 10 yrs ago Camden decided to downsize their police force. People were walking around with shirts that said, it's our time now! I went to someone's home for a service call, when I walked out people were shooting at each other from across the street. We decided at that point it wasn't worth working in Camden any longer.

Imagine Going back in time to Camden in its prime, and taking someone back to present day they would think “apocalypse”

When I see all the derelict places, it reminds me there is no housing shortage. These places are all ripe for renewal. The land is there. Infrastructure, etc... Remote work offers the biggest opportunity to recreate these places.

I have a good friend in Phoenix that’s a minister from here, he told me how it is, but I still didn’t grasp how bad it actually is. I’m not going to complain about Phoenix after watching this. Blessings to you as always for keeping us in the know.

i live one town over from Camden in Collingswood, which is nice. Camden has been plagued by corruption in its local govt for decades. There is a long list of mayors who have been indicted and served prison terms. All those boarded up houses? You cant even buy them as a property rehabber because they all have back taxes on them worth more than the property and the city govt will not waive the taxes so nobody ever buys them. the waterfront section is nice - because the govt offered companies massive tax breaks to come there so the city doesnt even make much from American Water, for example, who is HQ'd there now. i'm not a republican (either), but I find it almost funny that the city votes one way every single time - they have one style of governanace - nothing ever changes there. they have had 3 mayors just in the past year alone. i dont see anythin good coming for camden. it has its waterfront and the rest of the city is unlivable. *EDIT* I like near the end where he says "see the philadelphia skyline in the distance....whole different world here..." He clearly is not from this area. I invite him to search on "streets of kensington" videos. Kensington is a district in philadelphia. It makes Camden look like Bali.

These are results from drugs, poor education, horrible government . This is as bad or worst than some third world countries .

Thanks for sharing I had no idea about the Campbell's soup starting there that's my favorite🤔🙄

Thank you for your great video. I had been to Camden 3 times and i was shocked by the way people live there. Now i can show this video to people and i don't have to explain anymore. Greetings from FraserVille ontario canada

I live in Jersey. I was in Camden once in the early to mid 2000s, and what I saw was shocking. I saw street after street, row after row, of formerly beautiful Victorian row houses, all burned out, vandalized and collapsing. The last time I was there was just about 2 years ago. I was in the area of the US District Courthouse and the Rutgers campus, and I did a lot of walking. It was quite nice. But I obviously didn't get to those areas where you drove. That's pretty bad. I just recently saw some videos of the residential streets of Gary, IN. That was worse than what I saw in this video.

Was surprised to not see the sidewalks filled with homeless tents. Camden must be so bad not even the homeless want to camp out there.

Camden is literally like those 90's scenes of the nice happy family taking the wrong exit off a highway and ending up in the deep dark ghetto. Buses riddled with bullet holes, junkies sprawled out every 20 feet, everyone meandering about on their porches looking for something to fuck with. I walked every part of Philly as a kid with no fear or worry but just driving around Camden made me fear a stray bullet was gonna nail me or a car jacker would run up on me if I drove too slowly.

Thank you so much for sharing.❤️👊

Born and raised in Camden. Worked as a CPS worker for 15 years in my own city and accross the state. If you notice one of the main issues is abandoned buildings and dilapidated homes due to slum Lords. Please Stop assuming "the people did it". Much money has come into the city but a lot more political crime has come to. Stop judging by the look of things because beautiful hard working people live there. There are many roses that have bloomed from the concrete of Camden. I am one of them. The city has been abandoned, neglected and abused by not just its own people but also the surrounding rich cities who place there sewage incinerator in Camden and other toxic factories. The people have no voice and no power. So instead of talking about how bad it is and saying you wouldn't dare go there, go and join the others who are trying to make the city better place like UrbanPromise Organization. I have no respect for talkers. Get off ya high horse and do something about it or shut up.

As Spiro Agnew once said, "You've seen one slum, you've seen them all".

I've lived in New Jersey for many years now, and watching this video - while he was saying "wow" constantly of the view of the streets, it really hit me that all of it looked so normal to me now. Most of Camden looks like streets I normally go down in New Brunswick (not the parts by Rutgers), Newark, Elizabeth, or Paterson, or where I work in New York City. It really made me realize how desensitized to the trash dump streets and cities I live by I've become. Seeing barely drivable streets, dope addicts passing out on the sidewalk and drug dealers standing on their corners with piles of trash next to broken down buildings, thats just New Jersey to me.

WOW! I wish cities like Camden would consider opening up opportunities for everyday people to obtain properties for close to nothing and establish art colonies and redo the buildings. Detroit did it and it breathed so much life back when they were on the brink of destruction. Cool areas bring investment and of course you have the scourge of gentrification, but something has to give.

I had a surreal experience in NJ. We took a train from Camden to NYC. The train ride through NJ in March looked like the game Fallout 4. I took a ride through a post apocalyptic world that was NJ. The people on the train were rude, the people who sold us a ticket were rude, and the train station itself was sketchy. The most surreal part was when we flew out of NJ. I wish I could remember which airport it was, but it was something else. Everything was old and dated inside. When we got to our terminal, I went over to a food stand to get breakfast. I approached the stand where two employees were having a conversation. I stood there while they chatted. For a good awkward 30 seconds. While I was waiting, another employee took a yogurt out of a refrigerated section to my left and punctured the seal with a plastic spoon. He looked at me, grinned and said: well I guess someones gonna have to eat it now! I was blow away by this. The two ladies behind the counter finish their chat. She looks at me and with the most attitude someone could possibly muster, gives me the most sassy MMMHHHMMMMMM I have ever been witness to. I ordered my food and sat down. It was the saddest food I have ever seen. My egg sandwich was stuck to the foil and somehow greasy. I wasn't hungry anymore. The worst part - and it was surreal, I don't understand what or why this was happening; as I was sitting, this loud, obnoxious BEEP BEEP BEEP would come over the intercom and then someone would SHOUT over the intercom in a voice I can only describe as sounding muffled like Kenny from southpark, blown out and distorted, and somehow full of attitude. You could not understand a single WORD this person was shouting over the intercom. Every 30 seconds or so, BEEP BEEP BEEP MAHAWALALAL BAHAHRAAA and then slamming down the intercom. I nearly jumped out of my seat. It scared the shit out of me. This went on the entire time I was waiting for my flight. Why?? Why is this place like this?? Who is shouting over the intercom and why does it have to have that loud awful beeping?? These are questions I will never have an answer to. NJ is a fucking weird place I don't plan on visiting any time in the future.

The issue that I can’t get my head around is the ENORMOUS value of infrastructure that is already in place. It’s hard to fathom how the elected and stakeholders (taxpayers) can let this priceless resource degrade. I listened to a podcast recently that made the claim that the problem with the USA is that there are TOO MANY POOR PEOPLE! We can waste our treasure $$$ fighting wars that hinged on lies told to the people of this country and we can give vast sums to places like Egypt and Pakistan where much of that money is siphoned off into the pockets of the corrupt…..but if someone proposes rebuilding the infrastructure of OUR OWN COUNTRY for OUR OWN PEOPLE then there’s much fighting among politicians who oppose

I'm from Newark and I gotta say, Camden is a different monster. I've never been or had a reason to be there but I see that I'm not missing out on anything...I was getting nervous for you as you were driving through those streets. I'm definitely going to check out your other vids!

Enjoyed your Camden, NJ visit. I don't blame you for not walking and exploring the downtown area! I had to research the regal white building shown at 3:11 and 4:12, located at Broadway and Walnut Streets. Long ago this building was home to banking businesses, one of which was Broadway Trust Company. From what I could find, this building ceased to house banking businesses after 1930, likely due to the Depression. This classical revival structure was built prior to World War I. In 1990 this structure was added to the National Register of Historic Places. A fire in February, 2019 caused heavy damage. A church was utilizing this structure until the fire occurred.

750 billion for the Us military to lose another war yet cant have money to clean up trash and fix potholes.....

Generally there are a whole group of smaller cities that are highly impoverished. Camden actually is not alone. Here are a few compared to Camden. Camden household income= $28k, Poverty rate= 36%, Population 88k. Reading $32k, 33%, 88k. Youngstown $28k, 35%, 64k. Flint $28k, 39% (wow), 96k. Gary 32k, 31%, 76k. Flint has serious problems too. That 39% poverty rate is crazy high. The average house there is only worth $29k.

Great information 👍 great video as always.

I’ve lived in NJ all my life and I hear the Camden aquarium is gorgeous. I’ll never know. However the one thing I did see is a lot of nice cars for such a run down town. Good to know everyone’s got their priorities in order 👍🏼

Camden, NJ is my hometown. I was born there & also went to school there. I still currently work there and still go to church there (you rode past the street my church is located). Camden wasn't always like that. It was destroyed by corruption & empty promises. The residents lost hope & anything they tried to save it was stolen from them. Now the "privilege" kids that grew up in the suburbs have now pitch a tent & do there drugs & prostitute down the same streets you drove through. 😳 Zombies now walk the streets. I still pray 🙏 my once thriving city will make a surprising comeback or at least I hope

Camden is a city that has seen better days. I find it so sad that a city could get into that state. It’s got to be corruption at the top.

My dad was raised in Camden! I remember going with him up to Sycamore St in the polish neighborhood when I was a young girl in the 1950 & 60s. We were there to visit my grandfather. It was so clean. I remember seeing the women scrubbing there front steps with pine sol. Everyone was poor but there houses and properties were Clean! They took pride in what they had! By the time the 1970s came in my grandfather had passed away and the old neighborhood was changing fast. Now you can’t even go to that neighbor. I would love to go back to see the old house and visit St Joseph s church. It’s just not safe! So very sad because there are many good people who live in that city and go to work everyday!! It’s just not fair!

I was born in Trenton and grew up there in the 60's. All the dads worked in the factories. Great neighborhoods, good schools. Now I avoid going there at all cost. It's Sad.

I had to transfer trains in Camden a few times when I traveled a few years ago. It was one of the most scariest experiences I've ever had in my life. Just walking across the street.

I remember Camden for the 1950s through the 1970s. When you were driving on Kaighn Avenue and you crossed Broadway going west you were in my families old neighborhood. McCrorys still has the old sign up. Kaighn is pronounced Kane. The corner side ways to McCrorys was a drug store. The was a newspaper vendor on that corner. The other corner looks like it is still a liquor store. The other corner was a shoe store. Going north up Broadway was a fabulous butchers shop. Thriving stores lined both sides of Broadway going north and south. You drove right by where my grandmother's house on fourth street. Her house is gone now, but I remember the five points bar on the corner of fourth and Kaighn. My father would drop us off at grandmom's so we could do the shopping and he would go into the bar to visit with friends. My uncle George and aunt Doris lived up the street. That is where you cut off your video. My grandmom worked at Campbell Soup for 45 years. The New York Shipyard was further south on Broadway. Many, many war ships were built there during WWII. I have a lot of good memories in Camden. Corruption brought Camden to its knees. So sad. Hopefully the people of Camden can have a good life once again someday. I pray for them.

I was born in Camden as was my dad and grandfather. It was a different city back in the day. My dad worked as a teen delivering milk and selling ice cream from a bicycle cart. He finished his degree at Rutgers and met my mom at a skating rink. We had a very nice row house near Pine Point and I remember everyone on our street posting an American flag on Flag Day. We moved out when I was 4 because the city was going down. Today, that neighborhood looks like a bomb hit it. Boarded up windows, cracked sidewalks, cratered streets, trash, graffiti and crackheads. It’s horrible.

I was there a couple years ago to visit the Battleship New Jersey and was surprised how bad the roads to the ship were! Would not want to walk around town as the feeling even in the Uber car was unsafe! Ship is excellent though!

A few years ago Camden was declared to be one of the worst cities to live in. However, just down the road a few miles was Moorestown, NJ....which was declared to be the best small town in the U.S. to live in. Go figure !

Now you know why New Jersey is often disrespected by everyone else. Just sad.

You're brave. I recall when 60 mins did a story on Camden a few yrs ago and they had police escort the whole time they were there.

Not a zombie apocalypse, just another day living under the best economic system on Earth. I love when you can see the clear effects of capitalism, the declining rate of profit and eternal search for cheaper labor gutting American manufacturing and cities, people describe it as apocalyptic. If so, it's suffering of our own creation, and a more just world can be built in its ashes. Camden, Philly, Detroit, St. Louis, the entire East Shore of Indiana... all gutted in the name of increased profits and to hell with the people and communities they used for labor for decades.

U somehow found the best parts of Camden.. there r blocks n blocks of totally abandoned n collapsing houses

Yes, the Camden waterfront has seen some nice development. There is a huge 15k seat outdoor concert venue. A nice aquarium and the Rutgers-Camden campus. The Battleship NJ museum and now the 76ers headquarters and practice facility. But once you leave the waterfront area, things go downhill. I visited the aquarium and spotted a Rite Aid on my way out and stopped to grab some tylenol. Nope, the store was already closed for the day at 5pm. It was just too dangerous to stay open past that hour. You mentioned unemployment and big companies leaving. A good deal of the blame has to go to local and state government. I see places close in the suburbs and they have new tenants in only a few months. Also where are the city services such as trash pickup. Most of that trash has been there for years. I didn't even see you drive past a police car. Over in Philly we had his nerd mayor who was not popular. But one smart thing that he did was raise fees and taxes. He correctly pointed out that without revenue coming in, city services will suffer. Philly is still in a weak position but the steady revenue coming in has helped us to avoid the fate of Detroit and Cleveland.

I'm from the UK and would never expect to see this in the US, really depressing. I've never understood why people feel the need to litter their own streets, so disrespectful. We get it here too in places.

Im pakistnai ameican and grew up in downtown jersey city when it was full of empty warehouses and heroine needles. its maybe now the most liveable city in the US. Camden folks are tough and work hard

You were driving around in a true "food desert" there in Camden. I did not spot one place to get a decent meal and/or groceries or even a decent cup of coffee. WOW.

Trash everywhere, people should be ashamed of themselves to let their city get that bad. Only can imagine the rats that live amongst the trash that lay everywhere...eeeek

Camden NJ is my hometown and not afraid or ashamed to say so...many life in lessons and memories of the grind... That's what's up doh

5:24 that grown woman is my son's mother. She got a crack habit and disappeared into those streets. Haven't heard from her since February and it's September. Wow. Her name is Lisa 🙏

Paterson is the same thing. I went there for the first time last year, and what shocked me the most was the amount of garbage everywhere.

I lived in Philadelphia in the 90s and thought that city was rough then occasionally I drove to Camden and then suddenly didn't feel so bad about Philly. Interesting to note that Camden still bad today.

I went to basic training at Fort Dix New Jersey in 1980. We went to Camden and Trenton New Jersey and they looked a lot like I see in your video way back then.

Each city is a reflection of the people that live there.

Unfortunately, much of urban America looks like this and nothing can be done about it. Moving is the only option, either to a small town in the US or to another country with favorable demographics.

"People shouldn't have to live like this." .... it doesn't cost any money to pickup garbage or not graffiti the side of a building.

I went into the Army in 1966 and never went back except for my parents funerals. Sadly many towns in New Jersey are just like Camden. It may take another two decades to improve living conditions state wide.

That this should be a reality in the richest country on earth is heartbreaking...Gary, Indiana....Detroit, Michigan are in similar dire straits.

This is what happens when there are liquor stores on almost every block.

Camden had a great minor league stadium (Campbell's Field) with a magnificent view of the bridge over the outfield wall. It was a destination stadium for baseball fans, but razed in the last several years. Now a new Marriott hotel is where part of the parking lot was. We'll see how that works out.

Had to stop at Camden for bus transfer to Rowan… as soon as I walked out the train station, syringes were thrown out of bus windows LOL then got cornered by two random men and we ran to the bus stop where an officer just watched over us. Never again will I go near Camden.

Thanks! Now I've really experienced Camden and can cross it off my bucket list.

While in the Netherlands I spoke with a woman who was going to the US to study. I warned her about the crime and poverty she is likely to see. These videos accurately portray the decline of America. I travel a lot and also experience the gutted cities all across the US.

Don't say "part of the country WE have failed" or "people shouldn't have to live like this" because it's up to the people there to make it look nice. We can help, but it's their responsibility at the end of the day. Everybody has the ability to make it out of places like that, but THEY choose not to work to make it out of their or even make it a better place. They may have their own reasons for not working to make it out, but that's on them, it ain't anybody else's responsibility but theirs.

As a person who lives in New Jersey, now you see why we Jerseyian avoid Camden at almost all cost.

I'm a 56 white guy. I'm in Camden a few times a week doing service work. I've been doing it for over 20 years. I haven't had any problems there. There's a lot of good people in that neighborhood.

That's what happens when corporations care about profits and stock price more than their workers and communities they used to operate in. Camden, NJ., Bridgeport, CT, Detroit, MI, and a host of many others.

Residents are responsible for their towns and neighborhoods - a reflection. No business wants to be in a dumpster-fire.

I remember visiting Philly from Canada in 2008. Took a wrong turn and ended in Camden. Looked rough even then.

I used to deliver food and supplies to restaurants in metro NY/PA - the day they told me they were switching my run to Camden was my last day driving for the company lol. Nothing like driving around with checks and cash to make a huge bullseye.

That's a Canadian goose 🦆

As the old saying goes, "Nothing good ever happens in Camden."

My grandma grew up in Camden. My grandpa moved there.. Camden was beautiful. Grew up there during the great depression. My grandmas father (my great grandpa) was a cop. They never wanted for anything. (Turns out he was a bookmaker too). Seeing their address on old letters and whatnot looked upon Google maps... Horrible now. And this isn't a bad section (lake shore).. Not sure what my Grandfather did before or after his service but he worked for the city at one point. His position was filled by Walter Rand. Found that interesting.

Born in 1955 in Camden. Lived in North Camden. 718 N 8th Street almost at the corner of 8th and State. The row home is gone, taking 718 and 716 with it. Left in 1968 and went back once. Never again. On the West coast now.

What a scary looking town.

Yeah, I wouldn't get out and walk either. I'm 47 and lived in Jersey my whole life and Camden has always been bad as long as I can remember. Trenton isn't great either but it's better than Camden

Me and some some buddys of mine went across the Delaware river to see the Battleship New Jersey for the first time but to get there you have to go through Camden, and just in that short ride to get to the battleship somebody tried to get into his car while we were stopped at a red light, we had to circle a couple blocks to make sure they lost us before we finally arrived and parked at the battleships parking lot because he didn’t want them going through his car. The place is crazy idk how you could seriously survive there

A lot of the investment in Camden, like the subaru headquarters, are put in parts of Camden that are inaccessible to the residents. They're in Camden, but all the employees live in Cherry Hill and the surrounding suburbs

You're a very brave person. It's sad to see that a once thriving city has been relegated to this. Hopefully, it's not too late.

It was a HELL HOLE in the early 90's. Appears nothing has changed.

I lived in Mays Landing growing up. When the school would take us on feild trips I always just remembered going over the bridge looking down and seeing nothing but trash EVERYWHERE.

Town so dead you could run as many red lights as you want and no two people would either notice and/or not care at all. Literally no life around that area. Makes Newark and Paterson look like a kid's playground.

The Mayor of that town should be held accountable. This is sad.

Born and raised in New Jersey so I can tell you that the State has it's fair share of many towns like Camden - there has been this mass exodus of people leaving Jersey for many years now.

The American government has got to find a way to fix this problem. Arent they ashamed that their country that they govern is literred with cities like this!? It's disgraceful!

Leaders don't think big enough. Buy out the buildings (if you can call them that) and tear every single one of them down and recycle the concrete. Sell the entire area but compensate the residents with new "basic" townhouses in a section outside of the business district.