Category: Another Viewpoint || By

A video about McKeesport by Duquesne University grad student Alyssa Kramer went viral last month among former area residents. As of this writing, "A Faint Sound of Metal Beating on Metal" has been shared on Facebook more than 100 times and viewed nearly 1,900 via Vimeo.

Kramer created the 25-minute short film as part of the McKeesport2013 project. Tube City Almanac had a few questions, which she graciously answered.

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What class is working on the McKeesport 2013 project, and who is the professor?

The class was a team-taught course taught by two great instructors, Maggie Patterson and Douglas Harper, and was aimed at advanced undergraduates and graduate students enrolled in journalism/multimedia arts and sociology.

What familiarity, if any, with the Mon Valley did you have before the project?

Despite being from the Pittsburgh area, it's slightly embarrassing to admit that I knew next to nothing going into this project. I mean I knew the steel industry left, and I knew Pittsburgh suffered because of it, but I had no idea of the rich history of the valley and what a vibrant, flourishing town McKeesport was for so many years.

What were your initial impressions of McKeesport?

Truthfully? I thought it was depressing. And sad. Just from a visual perspective though, and before I spoke to any community members.

It actually reminded me quite a bit of where I'm from, which is Beaver County. I mean Aliquippa went through basically the same thing so seeing the abandonment in McKeesport and other areas of the Mon Valley was not a new sight to me. Just sad.

Where are you originally from?

Center Township, Beaver County.

What year are you at Duquesne, and what degree are you working toward?

I guess you could say I'm a second year. I've been taking classes on a part-time basis but will be starting full-time this coming fall. I plan to graduate by May 2014 or at the latest December 2014. My degree will be a M.S. in Media Arts & Technology.

Where did you do your undergraduate work?

The State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo in Buffalo, NY. I graduated in 2007 with a B.S. in psychology and a minor in journalism.

How much just "wandering around" did you do before filming? Were you frightened at all?

The first time I went, I spent about two hours walking the streets by myself taking photos. It was dead winter on a Saturday, so that didn't help the ambience, but it was a complete ghost town.

I remember it feeling a little creepy, but not creepy in the sense that I was worried for my safety or anything, just creepy that it was so deserted.

I remember looking into the windows of vacant storefronts seeing the place still filled with what looked like people's belongings and store inventory. It was like the people who owned the place just up and left and didn't pack or anything. I felt sort of like I was in a scene of Stephen King's "The Stand" or something.

Once the weather got warmer, there were definitely more people outside. Most of them were extremely friendly and curious about what I was doing, but there were a few that yelled and cursed at me for just making eye contact. So, I was never scared, but perhaps nervous once or twice, mainly because I was alone and carrying around some relatively expensive equipment.

How did you decide who to include in the video?

I actually included almost everyone that I interviewed. I thought they all had something very valuable to add. The difficult part was editing the individual interviews. I think most of my interviews lasted between 30 and 60 minutes, and each one was so rich and thorough that I honestly could have made a 25-minute documentary about each person I spoke to.

Especially Mike Joyce from The Palisades. He spoke on his entire life --- from working in the mills to owning bars to watching his friends and family suffer when the steel industry left and to where he is now. It was very touching.

So, the hardest part for me was deciding what to cut from the interviews. In order to decide, I had to keep reminding myself of the focus of my project, which was main street business and not personal stories.

Was there anyone who declined to talk on camera? Why? And were they willing to talk to you off camera?

No one declined to be on camera, really. Everyone for the most part seemed happy to talk with me. Except for one guy who shouted at me as I was getting some street footage, "Don't film me, white bitch." So, I didn't.

How did your initial impressions of McKeesport change as you talked to people?

My initial impression of McKeesport changed a lot. As I mentioned above, I wandered the streets by myself for several visits before I really started talking to people and sort of had it in my head that this was going to be a sad story, because, based on what I had seen so far (boarded up businesses, garbage everywhere, not a single soul in sight) how couldn't it?!

But, the first person who changed my perspective was Mike Joyce from The Palisades. I keep referring to him because I probably spent the most time at Palisades attending events and getting to know him. His interview was just so sweet and thoughtful that I started second-guessing my opinion.

Also, you wouldn't believe how packed these events are at Palisades! People showed up dressed to the nines and filled the place. I couldn't believe how many people were there and how fun it was. If you had told me that such a place existed in McKeesport the first day I wandered the ghostly streets, I would have laughed at you. But, it does exist and it's great.

The next person who I feel helped change my opinion was Stacey Steiner. She's from McKeesport and still lives there. Her attitude was extremely positive, but not in a defensive way or anything like the way some people can be towards their hometown, just honest and genuine.

Many of my questions were sort of focusing on the depressing facts about McKeesport, but she answered each with a uniquely positive spin that made me re-think how I was going to interview people and approach this project. I could go on and on, but I gained more respect and understanding of McKeesport with each interview I conducted.

Parts of the video seem very hopeful, but others are despairing that things will ever improve. Where do you fall on that scale?

From a practical standpoint, it doesn't seem that McKeesport has a ton going for it in the traditional aspects of what makes up a successful town. The housing is poor, jobs are lacking, businesses are struggling and transportation is practically non-existent.

However, it is uniquely located and has opportunities for river development. Plus, many original building structures are still there which I think provides a skeleton of potential.

In his interview (a part I didn't include) Ron Gaydos mentioned that there is a new trend of preference for urban living in small communities, with local grocery stores and eclectic shopping rather than living out in suburban developments and shopping at malls.

I'm referring to these sort of "hipster" towns, like you find in Shadyside, Lawrenceville, etc. So Ron said, and I think I agree, that McKeesport has the potential to be developed into something like that perhaps, if the trend continues.

I really appreciated the honest opinions of the Crown Framing guys because I think it would be naive to think that there aren't plenty of others who share their opinion. I went into this project planning to report my findings and never intended to guide the film one way or another.

If I found a sad story, I would tell a sad story, if I found a happy story, then it would be happy. And while I think it ultimately ended on a positive note, it's no secret that McKeesport has its share of problems and I wanted to be sure that I accurately reflected everything I encountered.

That said, the majority of people I met did have an overwhelming amount of loyalty, care and nostalgia for the town. They remain hopeful and confident for a comeback so I think when the right attitudes are in place and the belief is there, anything is possible.

What signs of hope --- and signs of despair --- do you see?

The signs of despair I saw were just so many dilapidated houses and storefronts. It's overwhelming to the point where I could see how people would suggest just wiping it all out and starting over. There also seemed to be so much garbage on the streets and over-flowing in cans. It looked like a sign of giving up.

For hope, many of the old, beautiful buildings still stand tall and proud, and something about having the trains blast loudly on the tracks right along the main streets, and the church bells ringing makes it seem possible that McKeesport isn't over yet. Plus, the marina is beautiful. I'd hope that McKeesport could develop that into more recreational use.

If you were asked to offer suggestions --- what would you suggest that McKeesport (and McKeesporters) work on to improve the community?

One suggestion I would have is to bring more events downtown. I understand that McKeesport has an International Village Festival each year that's held at Renzie Park. I've been to Renzie Park and it's a beautiful place, but I think McKeesport needs to work on bringing back the main street appeal. So perhaps the festival could be held on Walnut and Fifth one year?

There appears to be a stigma attached to the downtown area, a stigma that says it's unsafe or scary, or "The Wild, Wild West" as Mark Galzerano from Crown Framing put it, but, like he said, it's actually not.

And as long as people aren't going downtown, businesses aren't going to want to open there, which means jobs won't be happening and so on.

Ideally, I think that if McKeesport could work on gaining back the downtown community, things might start turning around. But first you have to get people there.

So, I think that trying to bring back the main street appeal in attempt to normalize it by hosting fun events there and such, people may see it again as a place they'd like to frequent which would hopefully allow the customer loyalty to rebuild and businesses to return.

Watch "A Faint Sound of Metal Beating on Metal":

A Faint Sound of Metal Beating on Metal: A Documentary from Alyssa Kramer on Vimeo.