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My parents moved away from Lincoln, Ill., two decades ago, when I was in college. I hardly ever get back there. But my mom still works in Lincoln, and it was to Lincoln I headed to meet her this fall, after returning to the U.S. from the Middle East.

I got off the train from Chicago and immediately saw that the old depot building — where we used to go for fancy dinners before prom — was boarded shut. A little monument commemorating the day Abraham Lincoln named the town in 1853 was faded and peeling. There was a man asleep on a bench at the train stop. He looked like he'd been there for days.

Driving around with my mom, I could not help but be struck by the question: What happened to Lincoln? I know this is a pretty common thought when people go back to their hometowns. But really, what happened?

I decided to find out for myself, to spend a week reporting in Lincoln.

It turns out that what's happening in Lincoln is happening in so many towns and communities across the country: As we recover from the Great Recession, jobs are coming back. But they are not middle-wage jobs — they are either high-wage jobs or low-wage jobs. The middle class is in serious decline. And that has all kinds of repercussions.

Fewer Jobs, More Crime

I started with Troy Brown, who went to grade school with my brother and is now a probation officer. He summed it up pretty well.

"The drug use has skyrocketed. The unemployment rate has skyrocketed. And just the general attitude — just no hope," he said. "I don't know really when it changed, but it seemed to be overnight."

Brown has seen that change up close. While the crime rate in Lincoln is steady, it's drug-related offenses that are going up. And the drug of choice these days?

Heroin.

So much heroin, Brown says, there's an overdose every week. And that's in a town of just 14,000 people. A handful of people have even died.

State authorities say in towns like Lincoln, people get addicted to prescription drugs then turn to heroin when they can no longer afford the pills. They say the supply of heroin from Mexico has increased, and that's why it's cheap and available.

Brown says, sadly, heroin is keeping him in business.

"Lincoln has really plummeted to the point where I would love for our office to have cuts because there's no more crime," he said. "But we're so swamped, it's just the exact opposite. I mean, I hate to say it, but I have total job security here."

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