Three decades of deregulation and growing income discrepancies in the United States have led to a middle class that is financially powerless. The complete DOWN THESE MEAN STREETS includes an over 50-metre-long collage in which the story of the deconstruction of the American dream is told on the basis of images, clippings and text, as seen through the eyes of those who have been left behind in the dust of the Great Recession. DOWN THESE MEAN STREETS investigates the years of the crisis within the broader context of the century which preceded them: post-war economic growth, deregulation, privatization and budget cuts (for everyone except the military) during and after the Reagan years, and the fatal blow to the idea of American invincibility and the culture of fear after the 9/11 attacks in 2001.

For decades America's inner cities have suffered from neglect, shrinking government budgets, declining local economies, poor schools and problems from drugs and violence. “We are obsessed with Homeland Security,” Will Steacy says, “but we no longer see what is that we are fighting for.” While wandering the transitional zones between the airports and business districts at night, Steacy recorded the hopeless state of the American inner cities in large format images. His aim is to expose the problems – because otherwise nothing will ever be done about them.