I have fond memories of growing up in the Mon Valley. Homestead, Braddock, Duquesne and McKeesport were bustling, vibrant city areas. There were many stores and shoppers. Not everyone worked in the steel mills. Some were bricklayers, bus mechanics, backhoe drivers, insurance salesmen. There was a widow with several children. She got Social Security and she worked at her brother-in-law’s grocery store. There were rich people who were accountants, doctors, a newspaper owner and a geologist who drilled oil and gas wells. They just had nicer houses. There were Black families scattered throughout. We all got along. Mostly everyone was able to raise families on a single paycheck.
We had an incinerator to burn garbage. It had a tall smokestack. We had a dump for other stuff. You could find all sorts of good stuff at the dump that people threw out. We had air pollution, and people got cancer and COPD. Now we have no air pollution and people still get cancer and COPD.
In 1980 I moved to Westmoreland County because the taxes were lower, but I found that we had to pay extra for sewage and garbage. The grass isn’t always greener on the other side.
Susan Stiles
North Huntingdon