Camden, New Jersey | What Happened? 

In 1985 I was moving from FL to NJ pulling a small trailer and made a wrong turn off an exit into Camden. It was after dark. I drove like 10 blocks before realizing it wasn't getting any better. Cop pulled me over and asked what I was doing there. I explained I was lost and where I was headed and he said to follow him and he'll get me back to the freeway. Dude was golden. I'll never forget that.

Imagine growing up around zombies and not falling victim to the madness. God bless the children coming up who are susceptible to getting caught up.

I've noticed something from the USA when a city starts to get worse in terms of violence when it starts to get bad spoken, or deteriorated, people instead of working together with the community to improve or solve problems, people prefer to just leave and move to other cities, so the drug dealers take over the place, this has happened in many American cities.

I noticed the one residence with hanging plants all on the porch. So sad. One lone person trying to make a difference.

I'm currently living abroad. Whenever I meet non-Americans with that cliche "American dream" of moving to NYC and living out their idea of what they think this country is based on all the years of sitcoms and other media they consumed, I want to show them this and tell them they aren't missing out on much. I've seen third world countries that cleaned up better than this.

Clearly there is no jail time for criminals. I have always wondered, it cost nothing to put your trash in a trash can. No matter how poor you are you can walk to a trash can and put your litter in a can. We grew up poor, very poor . But my dad made us pick up the trash people throwed in our yard as fast as my dad seen the litter. And if litter was in our neighbor's yard we had to pick it up as well. Picking up litter Is free.

I grew up in Camden in the 60s (Polak town, as they called it) so seeing this breaks my heart. I will always hold a soft spot in my heart for Camden because it is where my happiest memories come from. I have compassion for the people living there now; many who lived their have anger towards the . They seem to have no self-esteem for themselves and for the place they live. I understand they live in poverty but picking up trash would make it seem so much better. But I guess they’re stuck and can’t find the energy or pride to change their situation and environment. It seems to be passed down from generator to generation. I hope someday Camden will get back to the way it used to be, and I pray for the people living there. May God bless them.

We all know what happened.

I’m a CDL truck driver and I just picked up a load from the Camden, NJ Port. During the day. First time here. I’ve been to most all of America. This was by far one of the, if not the worst city I’ve ever been to.

I grew up in West Camden during the 60's. It was great. At five years old I walked to school by myself. We played outside until 9-10pm on the weekends, ate Yum- Yum, sold on Baird Blvd. It was a beautiful time.

Idk but I'm always in awe, happy to live in the middle of nowhere away from big cities.

Jersey Born! Camden Raised! Back in the 80s 90s, the abandoned businesses displayed in the beginning of the clip were Alive, Active, and Well! That was downtown Broadway in Camden. Seeing how ran down it's become is sad, but I do have wonderful memories from my childhood when everything and everyone was cooling and chilling, hanging outside, from snowball fights to playing with the fire hydrant. Good memories indeed 😌

I attended college in Pennsylvania and met a gentleman from Camden New Jersey who had to go home for a family emergency and I offered to drive him when I arrived in Camden New Jersey I could not believe my eyes I thought I had entered World War II Germany to see the decay that I was seeing and wondered if I was still in America I grew up in Boston and Boston does not have areas like thisThis was in the late 1980s but I said this to say that the gentleman that I met was an awesome gentleman great family values and a great person so you cannot judge the people by the way the city looks but I was very surprised that how the city looked

THIS IS FREAKING SAD ...AMERICA WORST THAN PHILLIPINE OR MUMBAI SLUM ....WORST THAN 3RD COUNTRIES !!!! WHAT IS GOING ON ....WHERE IS THE MAYOR OF THIS TOWN ? DO SOME THING !!!!!

I worked there in the early 80’s at a food distribution warehouse. We would get robbed at gunpoint in the middle of the day for food. Houses all burned out, abandoned, and in disrepair. Roving bands of dogs. Poverty is an ugly thing.

My father who lived in Camden 1915/1954. He always said this is what Camden was coming to.But it is just a fact of life in many cities across the country.

Damn… this is one of those cities that really makes me appreciate where I live (despite wishing I could move somewhere else). Sad scenes that even movies don’t show.

My family is from Peru and even there I have never seen such dirty and destitute streets. Even in the poorest villages in the mountains of Peru you don't see this kind of misery. People are clean and friendly and there is 0 gun violence. People need to stop putting down TWC's when TBH there are plenty of horrible places here in the US.

I'd like to solve this puzzle, Pat.

There's a book by Chris Hedges called "Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt" that talks about the hallowing out of the country and takes Camden, NJ as a prime example. Tons of union jobs shipped down to Monterey, Mexico or automated. He goes in depth with interviews and research. Very good read with fascinating illustrations.

There was a riot that happened in 70's and it never was the same and it's sad Camden was a beautiful city years ago

Back in the 70’s and 80’s, all of those businesses on Broadway were open and still thriving. The wheels have been in motion for years to allow this city to deteriorate in order to be bought out block by block to build businesses and expensive homes. It’s slowly being done throughout the city. Campbell’s headquarters stayed. Subaru built a complex. American Water built their headquarters on the waterfront. Some other large businesses in East Camden. All that ribbon cutting, but no jobs for the residents.

I will forever hold a place in my heart for Camden and the people there. The youth have no idea they live in such terrible conditions. We made a way to smile and have the best childhood in the city. Most of the people in the city have a great spirit regardless. I actually lived in this area (Parkside) and went to UPK as a youth. Sensei Rob has saved a lot of us.

I used to live in almost everywhere in Camden....North, South and East near Cramer Hill and Pennsauken, it's always been this way and it's sad to still see it the same, now that I have kids and I go through there I tell myself I would never raise my kids here but when you're a kid living through this like I did you just get use to living where you are and deal with it, damn shame.

I use to drive in those streets every day for work. All the drug addicts get moving around 7am to try and find their next score. Too bad you didn't capture downtown Camden where the people with money are buying up blocks to build more expensive housing and how they're pushing people out just to make money. Sadly if you only make minimum wage Camden is one of the few places you can afford to live in New Jersey.

El problema es que mucha gente entró al primer mundo, pero el primer mundo no entró en ellos.

Thanks for the footage.

Nice shots of the bikes! Its almost like they were about to hit you!

It's crazy. Drive only 10 minutes from Camden and you'll be in some of the nicest towns in south Jersey. Such as Collingswood, Haddonfield, and Haddon Heights.

It was worse 30 years ago. Same for Irvington Newark and Trenton. Many burned out and boarded up properties were torn down and new homes replaced them.

This is definitely not what you call "living the dream" in the USA

I was born in Gary, IN and it looks so similar but smaller to Camden because there is nothing left standing in Gary.

The trucking company I worked for in the early 90's hauled scrap metal to a recycling company in Camden. It looks like it hasn't changed a bit. Wow! What a rough town. I went down with one of the drivers. Couldn't wait to dump and get out of there.

Camden new jersey is get more run down i see .I do have good memories back from the 80's going there visiting my mother aunt .She live her aging years working for a convent as a cook after her husband died. Remember when I first learned how drive and went to see her... She say let's go to the casino... LOL....

Excellent capture on the area. Appreciate the high definition. Have been there before.

Notice the air conditioner window units are all on second floors. Not just because of heat, if you want to keep them, that's where they go.

Absolutely depressing. Well at least the neighborhood watch is active.

Imagine raising children in a place like this.

Never been to Camden but can tell you exactly what happened. The Federal Govt. subsidizes Billions to states and cities. Somehow, those funds have begun to vanish before reaching communities. Remember when new buildings like Recreation Centers and Libraries were built? Remember when young people lined up for summer and part time jobs instead of standing around on street corners? Remember when kids roamed the neighborhood with lawn mowers looking for yard work? That was the America I grew up in.

I never seen it before but this is horrible!!!! How, in America, is this happening?

Camden, been like this since the late 80’ early 90”s when I use to roll over there from Philly to knock down shorties. You don’t see a welcome to New Jersey sign until you get to Cherry Hill. Only thriving business is Cambell Soup and maybe the Aquarium!!!!!

Very sad for a new world country with all this money and nothing is happening to solve it's people's housing crisis and the drug epidemic has sadly been shoved aside as well...smh

Keeps getting better. 😀👍🏻

Camden needs change. These streets are filled with too much crime and drugs. I know this is a controversial topic but gentrification is something that needs to happen to make communities better. I live in Camden right now and I can tell you that once things started to get better, the people living in the areas that got better felt safer and knew they could walk home from a hard day of work without worrying if they would even get home. Change is inevitable and for the most part its necessary.

Its really messed up to know that this living conditions has to exist in our society, and I say has to because it absolutely exists in all our cities

It has been like this for 60+ years. They have build projects and within a decade they are ruined.

I was born in a neighborhood like this in Boston in 1937. We moved to a small suburb with lawns and trees when I was 8 and I hated it. I was homesick for the slums. I remember walking up the street on my second day and thinking I had seen all the one-family houses I ever wanted to see. Still feel that way about one-family houses, but realize how lucky I was to escape the ghetto. Still feel just the slightest twinge of ill-conceived nostalgia when I watch walk-throughs of the most wretched big city neighborhoods.

Your hood skills are level 10 crazy bro

Ironic how one of NJs most affluent towns,cherry hill is the next town over 🤔.

It's obvious that this is a depopulation situation, it's happened all over the rust belt. I expect, though, that the properties are owned by some sort of entity. It is incumbent on municipal and county governments to mandate a resolution, force a resolution that makes the property owners level the abandoned structures, clear and level the property. empty fields are better than that.

It's probably a similar thing across the nation in that: underneath all the blight and crime there are a lot of beutiful historic homes and buildings. Here, the whole neighborhood is like historically intact, and in a restored state, would actually be quite beautiful, some of these houses must be from the 1880s.

The motorcycles kinda give it a _Road Warrior_ feel.

That shot of the dilapidated church with the tweaker in front of it made me feel a certain way I can't describe...

Post apocalyptic! All the places that look this bad have one thing in common! I was born and raised in Paterson NJ it's exactly the same..take a wild guess what it is.

Oh my God! I worked for a company based in Norcross, GA and I occassionaly met with one of our managers of the NJ plant. I had no idea how horrible this place is. I have had nightmares like this! 😮

I can imagine that's a scary place be at night

*Camden, New Jersey. The city I was born in thinking the sound of gunshots across the street everyday was a normal thing everywhere. Sometimes I meet people from NJ and NY who tell me they're grateful they left because they knew there was no future for them there. This looks like a literal trash can everyone's living in. They have no idea how terrible their life is until they move to a much more clean, peaceful and thriving area where everyone is kind, happy and not trying to rob them and kill them. I still have family there in NJ, but I'll never go back to live. I've visited roughly 25 different states and lived outside the U.S. and as far as I'm concerned, I'm a Floridian through and through. I'm staying here in FL.*

i live in philly, 2 miles across the river, and have never been to the bad part of camden, i have no reason to be there, thanks for the video

Ok. Now do the night time version of this video. Lol.

"Awful" is the only way to describe this.

Is that the american dream? Holly Sh...... i stay in Germany 😮

Love the bars on the windows tells a story

This was s where I learned to roll through stop signs back in the 1990s after working after 10 pm- so I didn’t get shot in the head sitting at a stop light or sign- this is now Armageddon on steroids - real news 🙏♥️⛵️❤️

This is what happens when you that poor people move up into the good neighborhoods and they aren't ready for that move they don't have the skills to maintain a home or the money they say to theirselves I'm going to move to a nice neighborhood but they bring their bad habits with them and then they bring down that neighborhood too

I was part of the American Engineering team getting the Acela ready in Philly back in 1999 - Camden had the big aquarium and outdoor music shell but all other parts were wasteland. You'd think that modern tech would help get the criminals off the streets so good people can live there.

My mom grew up in Camden, even went to Camden high in the 70’s. my grandparents still live there to this day, we moved out in the early 90’s to Miami but I would stay plenty of summers with them and DAMN! I can’t believe my eyes when I see this, because when you’re young and in it you don’t realize how bad it is

When I worked for Bell Tell the garage that served Camden had special Friday orders. The whole garage got their first ticket there. They had to be out by noon. No one went there till Monday.

This is what happens when you prioritize other groups and countries over your own citizens🥱

It is a certainty that anyone walking these streets is up to no good--because there is no industry. I read there is not even a GROCERY store in the City limits! The people born and stuck there have the odds stacked so heavily against them. I don't think any of us can relate to this who have not lived in a ghetto. Thank you, Hoods N Hollers, for giving those of us who don't get there to see with our own eyes a glimpse into what poverty REALLY looks like. Keep up the good work.

Depressing! It’s so sad to see this. The buildings, although run down, have nice architecture. If only citizens and government could come together and rehabilitate even one block at a time…Give businesses an incentive to return. Sadly, the worse it gets, the worse it gets…

Great content👍👍👍👍💯💯💯💯

Omg !! The more he was driving, all of the blocks were boarded up!!!

My then 70 year old mother and handicapped brother were robbed in camden in the late 80's.

Back in the 40's -50's Camden was a middle-class working city with thousands of good paying manufacturing jobs... Campbell Soup, RCA, New York Shipyard...etc. All gone... now it's one of the poorest and violent cities in America... Very sad...

Pretty much how I remember it from 25 years ago when I left it last, born and raised in Camden city. Loved the couple decades I resided there. This city is home to some of the most wonderful people I’ve ever met in my life.

I was in Camden 12 years ago, on my way to Washgington D.C......IT hasnt changed. VERY sad.

That is so messed.... I walked them streets and was not like that... so sad 😞

What are the odds to find so many if not new cars, at least kind of new ones and seems they live in the area . Perhaps “ auto insurance it’s too high that they can’t afford a house “. Failed to see how many motorcycles and , moped and three wheels are running in those streets !

I drive to Camden for work. Sad sights to see… worst is when you see bad things in front of elementary schools..

Great work, a great video. I remember growing up in the east end of London after the docks were shut down, after years of neglect now you can't buy for love or money. I'd like to visit this town, I'm an Artist

You could blame the governor the mayor for that one

Heart breaking !!!

I grew up in the city we all left in 2001 to San Antonio Texas it's been like this since I was a kid in the '80s...

I'm surprised to see a Mc Crory's store in Camden. We had one in Passaic where i was born & raised, closed down but was replaced by other businesses. Mc Crory's closed in the mid, late 90s so to see a building still inactive since the 90s, reflects the development of Camden.

Philly and Camden = Step brother and sister

A hot sultry afternoon somewhere what looks like a depressed area of New Jersey Camden. I am from the UK. Parts of the UK are looking very similar these days.

Asbury Park NJ was like that, but they cleaned it up and now is beautiful and thriving. The difference is the good leadership vs corrupted and lazy.

Welcome to America

And yet look at all the nice cars sitting out there.

Ei esse canal é maravilhoso! Saudações do Brasil. 🙏👏👏👏

Caden at one time was the main hub for electronic manufacturers a earlier version of silocone valley on a world wide scale.

Looks like a scene out of Back to the Future when Marty is heading towards Biffs Hotel.

What makes me angry is that cities will use tax dollars for the upkeep of better parts of it city, where the citizens can afford their own upkeep and completely disregard the lower income areas.

I am not eating at a place called OK fish

Spent many yrs here.. back in the late 90s and 00s this place was out of control. Wild to put it mildly.. This place is very different now. I actually miss the old Camden from those times

Good content

As a kid, I lived on East Camden by the shipyard, we moved out in 1969,had the family car stolen in front of our house, found 3 days later in North Camden stripped and burned ,remember going to my moms parent house on Atlantic Ave 50's and 60s what a different, had friends who lived by the old St . Joe's H.S.,my wife is from that H.S. class of 1970 so sad !

I lived in camden nj that town is very depressing very depressing

When Campbell's pulled the plug it affected Camden and Cherry Hill. That was a BIG economic cost for the Metro area Philadelphia included in the ruins too.

The factories unionized and the factories gradually left. Then the people gradually left. Houses need a lot of ongoing maintenance. Without it, the houses quickly deteriorate and no one renovates them. It becomes a huge block of abandoned and section 8 housing.😅