JD Vance's Hometown, Middletown, Ohio, Featured in Reporter's Notebook

"As a child, I learned my home address to guide adults in finding me if I got lost."

The memoir "Hillbilly Elegy" by Republican Vice Presidential nominee and Sen. JD Vance recounts his challenging upbringing in Jackson, Kentucky, and Middletown, Ohio.

Like Vance, I too learned my address for the same reasons. In fact, the geography is quite similar. I was born in Middletown, just like Vance. However, I was raised just west of there. Unlike Vance, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Clarence Page of the Chicago Tribune, basketball Hall of Famer Jerry Lucas, football Hall of Famer Cris Carter, or baseball All-Star Kyle Schwarber, I cannot claim Middletown residency.

Although I did not graduate from Middletown High School like Vance, I spent a considerable amount of time in Middletown growing up. As a result, I am very familiar with the town and know it well.

Both my parents graduated from Middletown High School. My dad worked for four decades at ARMCO Steel, a major plant in Middletown. In "Hillbilly Elegy," Vance writes about how the fate of Middletown was linked to ARMCO, now known as Cleveland-Cliffs. I spent countless hours visiting my maternal grandmother who lived in Middletown. Like Vance’s family, grandparents on both sides of my family migrated from eastern Kentucky to Middletown to work at ARMCO.

Middletown was predominant in our lives.

In 1976, I witnessed President Gerald Ford drive down Verity Parkway in an open-air convertible in Middletown.

As I grew older, I bought cassette tapes of Def Leppard and Iron Maiden in Middletown. We dined regularly at Frisch's and a hamburger stand called The Jug in Middletown. I took a few classes at the Miami University (Ohio) branch in Middletown. I played basketball and soccer in Middletown. And I ran laps at the indoor track and swam at the YMCA there, too.

I still visit Central Pastry in Middletown and purchase a small cake or a box of smiley face cookies. No other establishment can match the quality of their butter cream icing.

Vance was a cashier at Dillman's, a local grocery store owned by Roger Dillman. As a delegate, Vance was sponsored by Dillman to attend Buckeye Boys State, a nationwide government politics program run by the American Legion.

From junior high onwards, I studied vocal performance under the renowned Helen Ramsdell in Middletown. She taught music from her grand home on Central Avenue. Besides me, Ramsdell is famously known for having taught the McGuire Sisters in the 1930s. Don't forget to look them up, kids.

During my high school years, some of my most significant experiences took place in Middletown.

The Summer Youth Theatre program, run by the local arts organization in Middletown, provided an opportunity for students aged 12 to 18 to audition for a musical show. The performances typically took place in July or August at Middletown High School, with the auditorium being located in the raised portion of the building visible in videos from Vance's rally last week.

Currently, Middletown High School boasts one of the top high school theater facilities in the state, featuring a grand, wooden stage with integrated footlights and an apron that extends into a deep chasm, doubling as the orchestra pit. The backstage is expansive, with ample space to accommodate multiple layers of curtains, travelers, and scrims. Additionally, there is a set shop, a spacious makeup room, and two dressing rooms for the performers.

My high school, located southwest of Middletown, lacked the amenities that other schools had. However, we had a "raised garage" in our "cafetorium," which made performing at Middletown each summer a thrilling experience. I participated in several productions, including "Oklahoma!," "South Pacific," "Gypsy," "Li’l Abner," "Bye-Bye Birdie," and "George M!" It was a lot of fun. Additionally, you got to meet and hang out with students from other schools.

Each night after rehearsal, many of us would drive down Briel Boulevard in Middletown to find various food options. It's unlikely that any street in America has as many fast-food joints and eateries as this one: Burger King, Long John Silvers, Friendly's, Famous Recipe Fried Chicken, Rax Roast Beef, McDonald's, Wendy's, White Castle, Pizza Hut, Captain D's. There was an Arby's nearby and a local pizza place called Cassano's. If we were out late, a few of us might head to Milton's Donuts, which stayed open all night.

We'd often discuss our aspirations, hopes, and dreams as kids. However, most of us planned to leave Middletown to pursue our passions in theater, music, or movies. Our dreams were fueled by an icy Coca-Cola and a bacon double cheeseburger from Burger King.

Despite spending a considerable amount of time in Middletown, I always viewed my visits as "heading into town" because we were from the countryside.

At the time, I admired Middletown, which was not as big as Cincinnati, Dayton, New York, or Chicago. However, it felt more refined than the rural surroundings where I lived. Middletown boasted a thriving arts community, featuring an art gallery, classical music performances, a grown-up theater troupe, and multiple movie theaters.

In Middletown, the houses appeared more pleasant. Several students appeared to be doing better financially. Their parents could have worked at ARMCO, but they might have been involved in corporate matters. Unlike my dad, they were not blue-collar workers.

Out where we lived, it never seemed like there was much to do in Middletown.

I didn't realize that something was going on in Middletown at the time.

In the 1980s, ARMCO, the reason for Middletown's "company town" status, began losing money. The recession of the time and the influx of foreign cars into the U.S. market worsened the situation, as did the "dumping" of cheaper steel into the American market from abroad.

ARMCO was acquired by Kawasaki and became AK Steel. The company temporarily relocated its headquarters from Middletown, Pennsylvania to Pennsylvania. In 1987, there was a brief lockout at ARMCO, and in 1990, there was nearly a strike.

When I returned to Middletown from Washington, I would often parachute into town to catch up with friends or grab a meal. However, things were changing.

Although people may not have relocated to Washington, D.C., like me, they left Middletown for larger cities such as Cincinnati or Columbus. Despite not becoming Youngstown or East Chicago, the town underwent changes due to the global economy's evolution through outsourcing and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

This is what makes Middletown an American story.

After the 2008 financial crisis, Middletown underwent significant changes. The streets were run-down and dilapidated. A mall on the eastern side of the city near I-75 struggled, with shops boarded up. The population decreased slightly. Although poverty had always been a problem in Middletown, the hardship was now more pronounced. The city looked destitute, with meth use skyrocketing, homelessness becoming more obvious in downtown Middletown, and even prostitution.

In August 2008, the McCain campaign secretly brought Sarah Palin to Middletown's Hook Field under the cover of darkness. Palin was unexpectedly chosen as McCain's running mate, and the campaign kept her selection a secret until the next day's rally in Dayton.

The Manchester Motor Inn in downtown Middletown, which had once been a luxurious hotel, was now run-down and in disrepair. Despite its decline, the Manchester had previously hosted notable guests such as JFK during his presidential campaign in Ohio in 1960. Bristol Palin, daughter of the former Alaska governor, criticized the Manchester's poor condition in her 2011 memoir.

"The younger Palin wrote that the old hotel had outdated furniture, small rooms, pink walls, and an ample supply of cockroaches. She had never seen a cockroach before. Although reporters may not consider Wasilla the most beautiful town globally, at least it doesn't have roaches."

Bristol Palin incorrectly referred to the town as "Middleton" instead of "Middletown."

In the aftermath of the 2008 economic crisis, Middletown experienced a resurgence. Despite the closure of three major banks in downtown Middletown, Cincinnati State established a branch campus in the old Cincinnati, Gas & Electric building. This sparked a revival of sorts, with a few coffee shops and restaurants opening up downtown. Today, there's even an Italian steakhouse. The streets were repaved.

"The song "Middletown Dreams" by the Canadian rock band Rush was released in the mid-80s. According to Neil Peart, the band's late drummer and lyricist, the title was chosen because there is a Middletown in almost every state in the U.S. Peart explained that people identify with a strong sense of neighborhood, which is why the title resonates with so many people."

One lyric goes like this:

"Those who require an escape from the city can be transported through dreams."

Certainly, one can understand that sentiment based on Vance's depiction of Middletown in "Hillbilly Elegy."

But Rush’s song ends with this:

"In Middletown, they dream of a pleasant life in their little neighborhood."

Middletown may be a place of nightmares for some, but it's also a place of dreams. Many people from eastern Kentucky migrated to Middletown to work at ARMCO.

JD Vance, like me, was inspired by Middletown to dream of a better life and higher wages.

The story of dreaming in all the Middletowns is quintessentially American.