Two and then one further down the road.

GE M-400s

GE M-400

That town looks pretty grim. Run down, many vacant lots and trashed houses. How common is this around the US?

Most of the US isn't like this. The only cities I know of that are this depressing are Cairo and Gary IN (which you should driving through if possible). Detroit MI is also like this but it's actually starting to get rebuilt now due to gentrification and all that.

Any specific part of Gary I should check out?

It is strange to see towns like these, the few places in Sweden that have been abandoned by industry like this still look presentable, old houses are usually torn down.

Cairo IL is actually a pretty well known town just because of how unfortunate the situation there is. A while back there was this thing called Project Cairo or something where an internet campaign tried to get new businesses and jobs there but from what I heard it was a flop.

Cole, do you live in Cairo?