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I would have loved to see Cleveland, Cincinnati, or St Louis before these cities were carpet bombed by urban "renewal."
Good point, as the 1950 population is pre-urban renewal and full scale "suburbanization" for cities which essentially have had "fixed" city limits since before the peak population.
I would have loved to see Cleveland, Cincinnati, or St Louis before these cities were carpet bombed by urban "renewal."
Yeah, this happened with almost every city in the northeast and midwest. NYC kind of excepted. I'm sure there are online sites with tons of photos, but maybe the best source is old books.
There is Pittsburgh: Story of an American City by Stefan Lorant which is great and tons of photos, and even many drawings and paintings going back to the colonial era. and covers the entire history.
In 1950 both regions were strong. Detroit was perhaps nearing its peak and Milwaukee, Cleveland, Chicago, and Pittsburgh were all major US manufacturing cities. However, the East Coast was the business center. NYC, Philly, Boston were tops with Baltimore right behind. Of course DC has always been important. So overall I vote east coast in 1950. But not even close today due to the changes in industry and commerce. Does make one wonder what changes will be in another 70 years, 2090. Too bad most of us won’t be around to see it.
Baltimore wasn't so much a "business center" (on par with NY, Boston, Philly) in 1950. Its major economic drivers were its seaport and steel mill/shipbuilding complex.
rustbelt was widespread back in that day. 1940s through 1980s went all though PA and included most of NJ right up to NYC. and Baltimore
No, it wasn't Rust Belt. That area was thriving back in those days. It wasn't until the decline of manufacturing which started in the 70s did the cities and towns in that area nosedive in economic activity, prominence and population.
DC being part of the Northeast was not a new concept in the 1950s. The Northeast corridor was widely accepted and studied back than and one result of the study of the relationship among clustered cities came in 1961, a new term for the area.
Jean Gottman in 1961 coined the term megalopolis (Megalopolis, the Urbanized Northeastern Seaboard of the Unites States) to describe the massive concentration of population extending from the core of New York north beyond Boston and south encompassing Washington DC.
You are conflating two concepts. Gottman was describing the unbroken, densely-populated region that extended from Boston south to Washington DC, but he wasn't using the culture(s) or economy(ies) of that region to define it. In the middle of the 20th century, "The South" was accepted as the area of the US below the Mason-Dixon Line (the PA/MD border in that part of the Megalopolis) Thus, Baltimore and Washington were both part of the Megalopolis, but also part of the South, not the Northeast.
Baltimore wasn't so much a "business center" (on par with NY, Boston, Philly) in 1950. Its major economic drivers were its seaport and steel mill/shipbuilding complex.
Baltimore was a manufacturing giant back in the day.
No, it wasn't Rust Belt. That area was thriving back in those days. It wasn't until the decline of manufacturing which started in the 70s did the cities and towns in that area nosedive in economic activity, prominence and population.
It was indeed rust belt. the reason it got the name was because it thrived in industry. you need to read up a bit more. if you don't think Philly, Camden, Trenton, and Baltimore, just to name a few, got hit hard by the loss of industry you have no idea what you're talking about. I could name a lot more all throughout the region but its redundant
It was indeed rust belt. the reason it got the name was because it thrived in industry. you need to read up a bit more. if you don't think Philly, Camden, Trenton, and Baltimore, just to name a few, got hit hard by the loss of industry you have no idea what you're talking about. I could name a lot more all throughout the region but its redundant
Philly & Baltimore were never traditional rust belt cities in the way Detroit, Cleveland, Columbus or Pittsburgh were etc.. they didn't live and breath off of manufacturing industries
Philly & Baltimore had the luxury of having more diversified economies during that time and because of their. their massive medical/educational institutions and access to ports, they faired significantly better than their traditional rustbelt counter parts.
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