Driving Around Downtown Joliet, Illinois in the Rain in 4k Video

Filmed on Wednesday, July 5 2023, I drive around downtown Joliet, IL in the rain to see what's going on.
In 1673, Louis Joliet and Jacques Marquette ventured up the Des Plaines River and camped out on a huge earthwork mound, a few miles south of present day Joliet.
Joliet created maps from his exploration and labeled this mound Mount Joliet. The mound was later flattened as a result of mining operations.
The first recorded resident of Joliet was Charles Reed in 1833. In 1834, the village of "Juliet" was laid out by James B. Campbell. In 1845, local residents changed the name from Juliet to Joliet, reflecting the original name.
The quarrying of "Joliet limestone" was a huge industry in the late 19th century, earning the city a nickname of "City of Stone". At its peak, Joliet was shipping more than 3,000 rail car loads of Limestone per month across the midwest.
The Joliet Steel Mill opened in 1869, which attracted thousands of European immigrants to the area. The large manufacturing labor force in the city attracted many other industries, and Joliet soon became a regional hub of manufacturing. A huge variety of products were manufactured in Joliet - wire mills, stove companies, horseshoe factories, brick companies, machine manufacturers, canning companies, bridge builders, greeting cards and calendars, clothing, beer, pianos, windmills, and wallpaper were among the biggest industries.
In the 1970s, manufacturing left Joliet and by 1983 the unemployment rate was at 26%.
The local economy slowly recovered as Joliet transitioned from a manufacturing center to a commuter suburb for the Chicago area. Many Joliet residents commute to and work in adjacent Cook County.
Joliet has two casinos - Harrah's Joliet and Hollywood Casino Joliet.
The Chicagoland Speedway, which hosted NASCAR races until 2019, is located in Joliet.
The largest local employer is Amazon, which has a distribution center in Joliet.
Joliet has been featured in multiple films including 2019's "Working Man", 1973's "The Sting", 1980's, "The Blues Brothers". The Joliet Prison (closed in 2002), has been the site of many other films and television shows including Fox's "Prison Break".
As of the census of 2020, 150,362 people resided in Joliet.
The racial makeup of the city was 45.15% White, 15.84% Black or African American, 0.1% Native American, 1.95% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.31% from other races, and 3.04% two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 33.59% of the population.
The median household income was $77,373 and the Per capita income was $31,390. 10.7% of the population were living below the poverty line.
#driving #drivingtour #travel

[@freeman4899]

I lived Joliet till 2016. It is good place

[@chrisparks6522]

Joliet is my hometown! Absolutely loved growing up here. I grew up on the east side of town. You should've road around outside of just the downtown. So much more to see. When you driving on Chicago St you passed up the very first Dairy Queen that was in Joliet. You also passed up the Rialto theater which is haunted.

[@j.philiplarson2064]

Enjoyed seeing my hometown...however a little disappointed you didn't drive by JTHS(Central). You headed that way twice, but turned off before you got there. It is the most beautiful High School in the state of Illinois! But, I still enjoyed your video!

[@alexdawe-le4vj]

Joliet's bomb, I love that city

[@Wecameformoore]

Joliet will always be home in my heart. Much love from my second home in my heart; Austin,TX

[@kasmarj1]

I left in 1665 for the service. Joliet is always home; still have family in the area. I have not been in downtown area for some time but still recognized some old landmarks.

[@josefinevomberg8437]

THANK YOU!!! :O)

[@user-hn3lc6jt2j]

We was coming back from a motorcycle ride in 2009 I was stopped at the draw bridge at the 15.30 mark waiting for the bridge to come down, It started raining very heavy. We were soaked we would have been more dryer if we jump in Lake Michigan. My girlfriend put my clothes in her dryer & she shrunk them.

[@rauldiaz7309]

Great night views of my city. Almost seems like it isn't Joliet. *Another movie to add to the Joliet feature list is "The Hunter" with Steve McQueen (1980), which features a distant opening scene of Collins Street and the EJ&E railroad. Also actress Lynn Thigpen (RIP) is a native of the city and I believe also rests here. She played numerous parts including the cool jazzy disc jockey in "The Warriors" (1979).

[@nathanditton5011]

Good old Joliet my one and only home, wouldn’t move anywhere else.

[@paulsmith5398]

WOW! Looks like you were behind a nasty storm! The only times ive seen Joliet were from a train window. 👍👍❗

[@exploreusacities]

Same for me, actually. Riding that train into Chicago you pass by that big quarry.

[@exploreusacities]

What was happening on this particular day was the storm was just swirling around Chicago and it rained there for hours, Joliet was right on the edge of the storm. I drove toward Chicago to film the storm (because my Derecho video did so well), and I got a flat tire along the way. I took it as a sign that I should stop storm chasing.

[@paulsmith5398]

@@exploreusacities Ohhhh!, you chase storms too? Ive been a storm spotter since about 2006, after Springfield was hit by twin twisters...........wonder if we could go storm chasing together, ive always wanted to have a buddy to do that with.

[@exploreusacities]

No I'm not, I made the one video driving around in the Springfield derecho, it got a lot of views, so I contemplated becoming a storm chaser, but my wife forbid me from doing it!

[@paulsmith5398]

@@exploreusacities uhhhh, yeah, you definitely dont want to make her upset! I did that way too many times, and i miss her, now that shes been gone for a little over 3 years, of complications from diabetes 😔. And yes, there are a lot of risks involved chasing storms, especially the tornadic ones. I was watching the weather unfold on derecho day, and when the sirens blew, i about 💩my pants, the sky was darker than my black cat!

[@briang7392]

What rain?

[@maxsomggaming6374]

I lived in Joliet and it’s mush better than glen ellyn

[@jayortiz5589]

I wish i new the story of that boat/barge thing on the right at 8:15 ive lived in joliet off and on since like 95 and its always been there as far as i know and i never knew why.

[@exploreusacities]

sometimes very expensive items like boats and airplanes get abandoned because they are broken and it would cost too much to fix them or properly dispose of them, so the owner just leaves it sitting somewhere and then nobody touches it for 80 years

[@nathanditton5011]

Same, I’ve been squandering the internet for years and can’t find anything about it.

[@kasmarj1]

@@exploreusacities My Mom worked on that during WW2

[@alexdawe-le4vj]

Let alone Collins Street

[@martyaz]

Did you see Jake and Elwood?

[@exploreusacities]

Haha...you just reminded me of something. When I was a kid, my dad and I would ride the train to White Sox games, the train would pass the Joliet Correctional Facility, and each time the train passed by my Dad would always tell me to "Wave to Joliet Jake!"

[@alexdawe-le4vj]

Northside, what up?

[@paulengels6926]

They were on a mission from God.

[@savannahcampbell1669]

Joliet Is a Good A Place But I Never Been To Joliet Yet To The Vacation

[@alexdawe-le4vj]

150,000 census with 3 projects that if you ain't from there, don't go there (Deverview, the End, the Hill), cops don't even want to go there

[@exploreusacities]

Now I wanna go there!

[@Supreme36074]

Those projects have been torn down years ago 😂 & all those areas are way better than they were in the 80’s when you were last here , by the sounds of it 😂. Public Housing isn’t that much of a thing anymore in the city.

[@curryfrieschallenges6595]

I believe they just finished tearing down the hill in early 2022. It's all empty streets now. I'd recommend driving through, it's pretty neat.

[@deniceosborne7049]

Nice video but you’re driving too fast to get a good look at the buildings

[@planetetelios9748]

Louis Joliet town. Do you known this guy?

[@exploreusacities]

ya he's my best friend

[@planetetelios9748]

@@exploreusacities Do you speak French with him regularly. 😂

[@RD-fi6dm]

Ha,downtown Joliet. The ho's weren't out. Must have been the weather

[@Supreme36074]

What hoes? You catch some drunks, but hookers 😂 nah … police keep downtown very well off.