system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why is Gary, Indiana considered so bad and how did its notoriety spread and be commonly accepted?
gpt
First you need to understand why the world even noticed Gary.  Gary was a steel town back in the day and provided a great portion of steel to help build Chicago across the river and Detroit a few hours north.  So this gained the town a little regional fame. More fame came with the major fame of Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5 who go on to set the world on fire and put Gary on the map. 

Mid 80's many of the steel plants start shutting down and there is an exodus from the city of both commerce and residents.  Keep in mind at this time in history Gary boasts an 85% black population.

As the poverty rises so does the murder rate.  In the early 90's Gary is reported to be the murder capital of the US and gained much notoriety from that. For many years they tried their best to keep their title.   It is also the self proclaimed "home of the ski mask" and has been referred to as "Scary Gary" for decades.

The gangsta life was sensationalized even more when in the 90's the "chi-town rap" style was born and many of the acts came from the surrounding areas such as Gary, Hammond, etc.

 It also has had the same problems and set backs as many other mid-west towns have suffered from, meaning the main industry dries up and all the drug users who once had cushy jobs to support their habits now are unemployed and still need to get high. This has lead to many other types of crimes.  Gary also had some political scandals come and go in its history.

Plus if you have ever been there the GI smells like straight up shit. you roll up your windows as you approach.  It is not really fecal matter it is the smell of processed steel.  

Here we are in 2015 and those stories you hear are just that. stories. The history of a industrial town that lost most of its industry brought back by Gibbs and Chiraq and given a little more notoriety. All in all the town has its good parts and it has its bad parts like any town.