BRADDOCK , Pennsylvania ( CNN ) -- What happens when business and government turn their collective back on a town and just walk away ? Braddock , Pennsylvania , is what happens . Braddock , Pennsylvania , has suffered since the steel mills went out of business in the 1970s and 1980s . When steel was king , the population of Braddock surged to more than 20,000 people . With its proximity to Pittsburgh and its location on the Monongahela River , it was an ideal location for a steel town . When steel mills began closing in the 1970s and 1980s , Braddock was not immune . In 1982 , Braddock 's main mill , the Carrie Furnace , closed its doors , putting thousands of people out of work . Throughout the 1980s and 1990s , residents left the town seeking work in other parts of Pennsylvania . The 2000 census put the population of Braddock at 2,900 , but it has dropped further , according to residents . Home prices have plummeted and real estate is as inexpensive as $ 6,000 for a single-family house . Historic pictures show a polished downtown and a bustling community . Now , most businesses have closed their doors , leaving only a handful to serve the community . A drive down Braddock Avenue , the main street , indicates the town has seen the bottom . The avenue is lined with crumbling offices and stores , boarded windows and empty lots where buildings once stood . But there is hope in the town . In 2005 , Braddock elected John Fetterman by one vote as its mayor . He is originally from York , Pennsylvania , and has lived in the area of Braddock for eight years . He has an MBA from Harvard and started a program that helped dislocated youth from the area receive their high school equivalency degrees . At 6 feet 8 inches and 325 pounds , he is an imposing figure . He chooses to dress in Dr Martens boots , baggy jeans and Dickies short-sleeved shirts because he feels he is able to connect with the people better dressed that way . He shaves his head and has a goatee . Possibly the most intimidating aspects of Fetterman 's appearance are his tattoos , clearly visible on his forearms , including the numbers 15104 , the town 's ZIP code . Watch as the mayor talks about his revitalization plan » . When asked if he thinks the town is at rock bottom , Fetterman replies , `` I do n't believe that it 's the bottom in the sense that this is a bad place . This is what can happen when you turn your back on a community . '' Since he was elected , Fetterman has made it his mission to give Braddock a prosperous future . He has given incentives to businesses to relocate to his town . The main incentive is large manufacturing space at a fraction of the cost in a normal market . A company that converts diesel engines into vegetable-oil burning engines , Fossil Free Fuel , relocated to Braddock from Allen , Pennsylvania . `` The initial building was about 14,000 square feet and supposedly the asking price was $ 25,000 . And we were like how do you get so much space for so little money ? '' said David Rosenstraus , one of the owners of Fossil Free Fuel . `` I think for a very small business like us , not having very much capital to work with building a shop , and investments going into tools and things inside the shop , [ we ] would be spread thin if we had to pay a lot for the actual building . '' On the site where the Carrie Furnace steel mill building still stands , the county plans to convert the contaminated land into commercial and residential space . Allegheny County executive Dan Onorato is driving this plan , `` We do n't look at this like a liability . We see some potential here . We can take back 147 acres , take back the riverfront and make this a viable spot again . But you have to invest public money into the infrastructure to make that happen . It wo n't happen on its own . For example , this place closed 25 years ago , it 's still here . The public sector has to come in and invest . '' Braddock still has many obstacles to overcome , but Fetterman believes that it 's possible to grow , `` I 'd like to see Braddock move towards -- continue to move towards -- a safer place that is moving towards better outcomes for everybody . ''
Braddock , Pennsylvania , thrived as a steel town . Thousands of people left after mills shut down . Mayor trying to use incentives to bring business back to area . Real estate prices are incredibly low , enticing some to move to town .