MUNCIE -- Five years ago, Muncie's unemployment rate was low, people were working, building homes and shopping and all was right with the world.
And then the bottom fell out of the local and national economy, with the closings of Muncie's Chevrolet and BorgWarner Automotive plants, painfully high gas prices, the housing crisis, national recession and stock market downturn.
Since 2006, Muncie -- like much of the nation -- has been trapped on a rickety rollercoaster ride, a carnival fun house that's no fun at all.
How we got here -- poised on the brink of a recovery that could be slow or could be dramatic -- is the story of a community working its way through a painful transition.