The Real Reason Everyone Left

[@krockpotbroccoli65]

A cool, historic town destroyed by bureaucracy. For no reason. They didn't even expand the port in that direction... They should just give the property back to the residents. Trying to get them to buy it back is a huge slap in the face.

[@HanzBlitz-i8t]

That's what the government does. Remember, these aren't really people making decisions at large bureaucracies, it functions like a malfunctioning computer program.

[@thefonzkiss]

Since 1965, there have been plans to enlarge the Port of Antwerp and demolish the village of Doel to be replaced with petrochemical industry. This has seen many people having to sell their homes to the development corporation of that enlargement, however some people resisted the plans. In the middle of the 1980s, the plans were halted only to be revived in 1995. Many historic buildings have already been demolished. As of 1 September 2009, people are no longer allowed to live in the village.[10] In 2021, there were still 19 people living in the village and 91 in the surrounding area.

[@thijsjong]

They live there untill they die or find a really cheap way to live somewhere else. No way to fetch a good price on a house when you sell it. Transfer ownership to the manucipality for low compensation.

[@thejourney1369]

Go to the Shenandoah National Park in Virgina. It is a beautiful park, but if you are a hiker, you will see the remenents of those who once called those mountains homes. The government forced them off their land to create the Park. If you are interested, I’ll be happy to share with you the story.

[@charlesrobertson8767]

I grew up in that part of Virginia

[@thejourney1369]

@@charlesrobertson8767 my grandparents land bordered the park. In the early 90’s, they tried doing the same thing again to my community and others that bordered the park. Thankfully, they didn’t win that time, although Supt. Jacobson was determined to take our land.

[@tashasmith6179]

This old historic town needs to be brought back to life 😢 Very creepy as it is now

[@MotoSly]

they are working on bringing it back to life.

[@8309barbie]

On 30 March 2022, a compromise was reached after a 24-year long legal battle. The Port of Antwerp is allowed to extend its container harbour, and the village of Doel is allowed to exist. A green buffer zone will be created between the harbour and the village. The World War II monument that was moved in 2011 will be returned to its original location.

[@phlowtey]

9:21 Rat seized a golden opportunity to cross when the cat was distracted.

[@Ganiscol]

I didnt notice either of the two 😅

[@tulpatonmopo]

I saw something move, scrolled back and stopped to see that rat, after that I noticed the cat. Funny moment, I have to say.

[@Lex1uth3r]

😂

[@paulw176]

The port of Antwerp was the goal of the failed German 'Battle of the Bulge" offensive during WW2. If they had succeeded, it may have changed the outcome of the war...

[@Ganiscol]

Sort of similar to what happens in Germany nearby coal strip mining - as the mine progresses through the landscape and turns it into a moonscape, towns are swallowed and completely disappear. At first they call on the courts and usually fail, then the civil disobedience approach by refusing to leave and that usually also fails. Here, the courts may have saved whats left of the town, but the damage is done and so is this town. Strategic interest always wins.

[@NuffinEdited]

I can't see that place being brought back to life. Nice tour thanks

[@Brandon_Jackson]

If that was America every inch of copper wire would have been stripped from those places by “craheads”

[@dmzabo3914]

Who's to say its not here? So in a crazy twist our American cracky-heads are more of a early bird gets the worm kind of people than lay abouts in Belgium? lol

[@GabeHandle]

It's been too long, the children of those who grew up here have already grown up somewhere else and planted roots. This town will not be coming back.

[@HanzBlitz-i8t]

It would be new people when the homes are sold for 1/6th the price of normal homes in the area.

[@Itsaboutthewaterlife]

Kind of creepy. Google Maps has the whole area blurred out. Even the street views are blurred. WTF.

[@LordBelial1978]

CONSPIRACY THEORY TIME, BITCHES!!!! 🤪

[@DianeC.]

Hi!!! This video is very interesting...Looks like it was nice a place at one time. Oh yes, I have seen The House of Wax many times. Thanks for showing this to us...Great Video!!!...🦋

[@ghtaboma]

Doel, goes back to the 1200’s.

[@MonicaLitman]

I can’t imagine anyone wanting to buy back now. The whole town would have to be rebuilt 😢

[@jeffcyr2182]

You need to do a video on Picher Oklahoma. It’s an abandoned town, residents had to move because of lead contamination

[@Roderic07]

oh its so cool you been there..what i found interesting is the town looks like that but the church is surprisingly well maintained and neat...while you are in Belgium you should go to Luik, On the other side of country....i was there sunday, there is on a hill an old Military Fort from 1814 ( Fort de la Chartreuse)...its awesome there

[@СолнечныйПарус-р7щ]

I hope for the revival of the city, this small pearl.🤩🤗

[@thomaspaulfrazier4959]

Reminds me of Times Beach Missouri out side of St. Louis Missouri USA‼️ Dioxin sprayed on dirt roads to keep the dust down‼️

[@offshack]

For a cool look at the change in Doel - google street view was here in 2009 and most everything still was clean, lived in, and in pretty nice shape, people walking on the streets, homes lived in, etc - they came back through in 2013 and in just 4 years the decay and downfall was monumental. The changes from 2013 to the final set of views of 2023 are just "more aged" but not as starkly shifted as they were in just the 4 years of 09-13.

[@nikkigardiner9426]

Thank you, Chris! ❤

[@RoyJenkins777]

Thoroughly enjoyed this Chris, great job. God Bless

[@thebeek123]

Streets and gutters are surprisingly clean.

[@seanpetaia]

Yeah I can see the street is more cleaner then the building itself.

[@michelemiller1700]

How sad to see this poor town. Ty great video.

[@turbomustang84]

There was a huge section of Los Angeles county that was taken to facilitate the then proposed Century Freeway and I moved away in 86 and it still was not started so we had huge parties in the abandoned homes . I know it's finished now but I haven't been to that area since I moved. I always felt it was government overreach myself.

[@dorientjewoller113]

I call Doel, in the current stage, a wasted potential. We have a social housing crisis here in Belgium, where people who need urgently a social accommodation are left on a waiting list of 7 years. Why not tear down the house of people who don't want to buy them back and place on those location those living containers as social accommodations. Eventual use it as a model for social living places around the world. And I think you can find tons of containers in the port of Antwerp that aren't good enough for transport but good enough to re-use as a living space.

[@cplinstructor]

The homeless problem is NOT caused by a lack of housing, plenty of housing exists, those that think that demonstrate a fundamental lack of understanding about the problem. The problem is that these people mostly are simply not able/not willing to lead normal productive lives, mostly due to destructive personality traits, drugs, alcohol, mental illness, lengthy criminal records, or any combination of the above. The fact is that even if you gave them housing they would be incapable or unwilling to maintain it and it would fall apart and otherwise just create blight. But then you also have the issue of all the actual productive people that actually can get housing because they do what they are supposed to, they work, they save, they obey the law, and they do not destroy their lives with drugs and alcohol. What about them? Where is their reward for doing things right? Are you going to pay their mortgages? Why do the drug addicts criminals and wastrels who can’t hack it in society and contribute nothing get free houses while the rest of us have to pay for it? That hardly seems fare does it? All you would do is to create an incentive not to even try to do things right. Why work and make smart life choices when you can just go to the government with your hand out and get everything for free? You would create more bums. Not to mention attract more from surrounding areas who just want free stuff. You make the issue worse. And who get’s to pay for it? Oh yeah, those people that actually work and do things right and have to pay a mortgage, unless of course they just stop trying or are driven homeless simply by the added cost. Want to ACTUALLY fix the problem? Then you have to fix the actual social issues that cause homelessness, not just take the logic free cop out and just say “just give them houses.” But then that would require actual work and thought and confronting the actual consequences of failed left wing government policies, can’t have that now can we?

[@MikeBlair-ce1er]

With all the graffiti you could mistake this for Gary, Indiana or other rust belt towns.

[@MrCtsSteve]

Looks like one of those Call of Duty villages

[@UNCLE-DRONY]

Those crickets add to the ambience that’s for sure.👍🏼

[@lindacleveland3923]

You go to some pretty cool places!!

[@robertforrest7956]

I bet its a hot place during the Halloween👻 season, even though they don't really 🎃celebrate it...also a hot spot for horror flix. 😅

[@anthonycalbillo9376]

So, any possibility of renovating the old houses and doing something with them? It's a shame that they are failing apart.

[@MobileInstinct]

Maybe some of them but the ones I saw inside didn't look too good.

[@brandyjean7015]

​@@MobileInstinct that's a waste.

[@MotoSly]

The town is getting back on it's feet. Houses are getting back on the market.

[@Nohandlebar2]

I usually watch these videos on lunch great video

[@dmzabo3914]

@ 9:21 big ole Belgium rat 🐀 🐁 crossing. I think that rat got offended when you said big ole septic tank smell.

[@MsAdvill]

Oh you're so close by! Welcome in Belgium! :3

[@susancoy3096]

Great video. I have enjoyed your foreign videos. Stay safe

[@DeRikBE]

As Belgian men i was there a few years a go, you can easely ride to Doel with your bicycle on the towpath along the Schelde, it's a kind of creepy feeling and indeed people still live there, you need to respect them aswell. It's a sure worth looking village near Antwerp (other side of the Schelde), nice video, keep up the good work.

[@trishagail353]

Crazy, strange, interesting story!!! It would be great if they could bring this little town back to life, but that's probably a long shot. I always love the history lessons you give us on these places ❤. Thanks for taking us along!!!❤

[@SouthBayRick]

Maybe there is some radioactive contamination. Could be underground leakage that needs a massive cleanup.

[@EliseMartini-h4s]

Awesome video! Thanks Chris.

[@mgratk]

How deep was the hole? ( The YT "new" badge is covering the "W". ha) Anyway, I would love the quiet life there. Great video as always.

[@Lutzboater]

Thanks for another very interesting visit to a place that would be hard to imagine, if not for your talent. Such a shame that this little town has become what you depicted. Sad place.

[@drreed917]

Looks like a film set...

[@terrynixon2758]

11:39 Ahh, the universal symbol for delinquency

[@stuartgmk]

😅😅😅

[@Williamk492]

Hi thank you for this video. Just for info, it is pronounced ‘dool’ (as in cool, or drool). Quite close is another interesting little town called Lillo. It just got cut off from civilisation by the port but people actually still live there. Enjoy your stay 👍🏻🇧🇪🫶🏻

[@AmberEwell-b3c]

Amazing find! Thank you

[@anastasia10017]

the town looks very charming. but you can't live next to a nuclear plant. 6:39 that white house is lovely. even the tiny grey house at 6:45 is so cute.

[@kananaskiscountry8191]

it is too bad that someone doesn't refurbish and repair the places to be lived in again

[@flitsertheo]

Too much work and money. It might be cheaper to demolish the old house and build a new one.

[@CreedStonegate]

I went there in VR using Wander because of this kickass video. It's one of the cooler spots in the google map system for sure. There's a few actual art pieces of graffiti around on camera too. Anybody else with Wander needs to check it out!

[@Modern_Nostalgia]

one of your best locations yet!

[@MotoSly]

People are moving back in and houses are getting back onto the market. People won the battle against the big port. But at a big cost. Many people took their own life, and many people got depressed.

[@dawndeany9645]

Very sad town I’m glad don’t live like that

[@nopenottanoway]

Was that a pea hen at 9:05 (peacock)?😂

[@zekesgirl100]

And a white one at that!

[@jonathanchalk2507]

There would be people who refused to leave due to there age, old people who don't want to move. When the government say they offered them a fair price it might not be enough to buy elsewhere. The town was so quiet and peaceful as you walked through. Antwerp was heavily bombed by the Germans during WW2.

[@СолнечныйПарус-р7щ]

Thx, dear Chris. 🤗🤩🤩👍👍💪

[@brettcrawford8878]

Looks like an extremely good set for a movie. It is fully built. Just needs a good script and actors.

[@jandoerlidoe3412]

it strikes me that you did not meet anyone there.... the squatters are gone....There was a ferry boat between Doel an Lillo... I once did work on it... so i know Doel....I left Belgium in 2014... never came back or near Doel... Thank you for posting this video.... A story of decay & death....pretty much the same as what is going on in Europe at this time...

[@mbookey7561]

i hate taggers. "Mans ambitions must be small to write your message on a bathroom wall.

[@MrWolfsDen]

The government there didn't mind building a nuclear plant next to a neighbor , but they care about vandalism in a mostly abandoned town that people moved out of not wanting to live next to a future disaster .

[@dyobodraode2554]

They didn't move out because of the nuclear power plant.

[@flitsertheo]

That "neighbor" would be the Netherlands. Whenever possible countries build their nuclear power plants close to a border. For example Givet in France or even Chernobyl in Ukraine. So the neighbor gets at least a share of the fallout if anything goes wrong.

[@LordBelial1978]

As long as the residents who still live there don't get hassled by anyone who stalks the streets during the day or at night. Then it's all good. There's plenty of areas around that town to flock to. No need to go near residents. I'm thinking those teens and kids who might venture there.

[@prondlee]

walking around a 'ghost town' like that would be a refreshing change from the hot, dusty, overcrowded, concrete jungle called a city, that i live in!

[@carmenm.4091]

This is so strange to me. We have a severe shortage of housing in the Netherlands and on a stones-throw away there’s this village in Belgium.

[@teribenoit87]

Yep thank you

[@reneerollins4433]

Imagine waking up, looking outside and seeing a nuclear power plant. That's erie to me Thanks for the cool video.😊

[@dezznutz3743]

Its a power plant, it produces electricity which makes your female life MUCH easier, yet you complain about it for no rational reason.

[@mgratk]

I lived within just a few miles of a nuclear power plant. Other than the monthly siren test there was no indication it was there, except for the1 very nice park at Harris Lake. It was much, much safer than NYC, Chicago, LA, St Louis, Philly, DC, Detroit, or even nearby Durham and Raleigh.

[@timvanacker5129]

A few years a go, it appeared to be a BIG Pokemon Go hotspot. Hundreds of people would gather there to catch 'em all. Until the poice took care of it and forbid the pokemon go fans to come there. Doel is, like you say, a small village near the Antwerp harbor, the Belgian government wanted to expand the container docks but eventually, when all of the people left, buried those plans but it was too late for the inhabitants... they never came back

[@DrQuagmire1]

don't know why, but that shot at the 0:33 mark kinda reminds me of North Philadelphia a little bit

[@martinUTFR]

Would cost probably 100s of millions to fix this town , not worth it

[@darren2564]

Parts of the UK look like this where local industry has been closed with no replacement jobs .

[@BrianMurfitt]

What a waste of money and time for the Belgian government and the peoples lives destroyed/disrupted unnecessarily and for what?! It looked like it was a pretty town once!

[@brettcrawford8878]

Looks like an extremely good place to make a movie. Lots of interesting scenery.

[@jodysales2362]

No matter how many urban explores nor what country the ol'bait and tackle drawing will be spotted and seen. 😆

[@johnmartin7182]

mega channel/ content I just thought I say it because what you do you deserve it

[@jeannegayle6365]

Side Bathroom???? its just an outdoor toilet, we have had them for centuries, not new. This is how you hook up a home with no plumbing to plumbing. Great idea, but not new. Ours was in an addition to the house and held the toilet, sink and laundry. Places in N. America still build like that if it is not feasible to add to the existing building. Large windows in bathrooms are also 'normal' every where but N. America.

[@duchesserickson]

Looks like the Zombie Apocalypse set, minus the zombies.

[@theone2be33]

Damn! You might bump into The German in Venice! That would be hilarious

[@flitsertheo]

14:02 That isn't a municipal police car. Red stripe, dayglow bumpers, bilingual with French text (police) visible on this side, I guess it belongs to the Motorway Police.

[@Liz-cmc313]

Now that you mention it,it does remind me of House of Wax🙃....looks like it was a nice little town.

[@freakyivonne]

Interesting video 😎 Are you going to Holland? I am living in Middelburg, an hour away from Doel.

[@rickengen5249]

Thanks chris

[@nathank4708]

3:15 we had them spring things in our park. But that one would hurt, just look at it and imagine😂😂😂

[@robsteries]

0:48 I love that the only shit laying on the streets is real shit. 8:42 is a chapel

[@FeedScrn]

Nice tour. Everything is sellable and restorable... It all depends on price.... // Just because people may move back in, that doesn't guarantee that the homes will be restored to their original states... even if they promise to make it so.

[@flitsertheo]

The houses will be sold "as is". At a bargain price probably and with all sorts of cheap loans and bonuses to help the owners refurbish but that would be it. And if you don't refurbish after a few years they knock on your door to collect the "abandoned or dilapidated house" tax.

[@thefonzkiss]

We don’t go to Ravenholm.

[@EJFXxx]

just like all the people still living around Chernobyl ... its not as dangerous as the govt wants you to believe ... the U.S. just helped Ukraine construct a nuclear waste dump site in that area

[@theenchiladakid1866]

I would live there, until i got popular with other people who would live their

[@r90fan1]

What if they didn't like you and you never got popular?😮

[@jdsmith5060]

Graffiti Sucks

[@threeraven13]

If 2 sleepers were going to intend on meeting somewhere quiet in the dream world, this would be the perfect place.

[@user-gs6fq1jq8y]

Were do they get power water and sewer.. I don't think they generate utilities for that small of a town unless they are hooked up to or a part of a much larger power facility.....

[@darthwiizius]

They'll have a substation running off the grid mate, and the sewers were already there. With so little material being flushed through them those old sewers will last longer than the buildings connected to them. They're only yards away from major infrastructure so staying connected isn't difficult. We have plenty of little hamlets that make a little village like this seem like a metropolis but they are still connected to all the services and sewers, not to mention farm houses out in the sticks, though they often can't get gas because the pipe infrastructure just makes it unviable so they use heating oil instead.

[@dennisneo1608]

Great content as always!!!

[@iGame3D]

This is like an episode of Star Trek " Spock. ... Where ... are.... all the people?"

[@theresonlymusic6332]

Welcome to my home country 😊😃🇧🇪

[@markwestervelt9708]

I have to think that there’s no electricity or gas hooked up. Wonder how they get heat in winter. Only option is to tare it all down and rebuild it

[@flitsertheo]

As long as houses are inhabited, energy and other utilities will continue to function.

[@GraveVisitations]

So mr burns lives near by

[@flitsertheo]

Then he would probably live in Brasschaat, the Beverly Hills of Antwerp.

[@DrLynch2009]

I'm surprised nobody is trying to develop that town again knowing two big employers are right next to it now. Also rat running infront of the camera at 9:20

[@devinpaul9026]

No birds. Some kind of predator in the area.

[@thefonzkiss]

Yeah they’re called cats and he said they’re all over the town.

[@devinpaul9026]

@@thefonzkiss Mountain lions are cats too. Just a thought.

[@Ganiscol]

@@devinpaul9026 there are no mountain lions in Belgium 😉 But indeed several feral cats in this video. There's even a scene with a cat looking at Chris as he holds the camera over a fence and a rat running across the alley behind the cat while cat is distracted by Chris 😅

[@eminou-s4i]

Chris, whenever you go up to the 2nd floor of an abandoned building, I'm always thinking you're going to fall through the floor. 😮 Be careful with yo'self.

[@harmonizedigital.]

Looks like many places in the USA.

[@kbcustoms3571]

You should use Google image translate for the signs that were in Dutch. All you do is turn it on. Aim your camera at what you're looking at and it will live. Translate it to whatever language you want it to

[@ShettikkaWoods-jl8iq]

So sad 😢

[@flitsertheo]

Even if their structures are sound, these houses would need a complete refurbishment to meet 2024 standards, from triple glazing to electrical wiring. While few may care, as most of these buildings lack historical significance apart from the church, I anticipate a large investor might buy up nearly the entire town, demolish it, and construct new homes. The proximity of the nuclear power plant and harbor is unlikely to dissuade buyers; in fact, it may attract those seeking housing close to their workplace.