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"Most of the Midwest remains in denial. Other regions of the world, from New England to India, know they are in global competition and are off and running. This truth is just beginning to dawn on much of the Midwest. Heavy manufacturing isn’t just in a slump: it’s going. The family farm has been replaced by the factory farm. Schools that were good enough to train workers for assembly-line jobs aren’t good enough anymore."
on why globalization is bringing down the midwest..
So much bunk here, but I'll just address the bold. The "family farm" is now specializing in higher-margin organic veggies and heritage meats and doing better than it has for many years. Example: the Driftless area of Wisconsin has very fertile farmland, but due to the extreme hilliness of the region, large-scale industrial farms are impossible. For years, this helped California and the flatter states in the Midwest take the lead by building enormous factory farms, but now that there's been a change in the market (towards lower-scale higher-quality) these farms are part of the second-biggest organic region in the country, bolstered by the world's largest organic farming collective (Organic Valley, La Farge WI). With this new direction, the region has turned around a bit economically and sees its future market...and knows that market will continue to grow while people ask more-and-more questions about how factory farms treat animals, employees, dangerous chemicals, etc.
You simply cannot predict how current trends will apply in the future...or the "Rust Belt" never would have happened in the first place. Global disasters, wars, social trends, and so on change on a dime. The Midwest very well could see an enormous surge of population, depending on what happens economically in the future, because the bottom line is people move for JOBS.
Fresh water can be moved to more desirable areas, though. And the costs for desal are plummeting.
Just because Lake Superior has, by far, the most fresh water in North America doesn't mean everyone is going to be looking to move to the frozen tundra known as the Michigan Upper Peninsula.
The climate of that area of the UP is substantially milder than northern Wisconsin and most of Minnesota, it just gets a lot of snow. Latitude wise, the UP of Michigan is substantially further south in latitude compared to most of Europe.
I don't know about "substantially," and the climate near Lake Superior in Wisconsin is obviously about the same, but LS definitely moderates temperature extremes and increases snowfall. Areas of the UP and top 1/3 of WI are not only inland from LS, they are on a large plateau that further lowers temperatures.
Upper Michigan is simply too isolated, due to being a peninsula surrounded by giant bodies of water, to ever become much of a hot spot. Copper Harbor is the town furthest away from an interstate in the entire lower 48. Not very suitable for farming, either. Very beautiful, and very quiet...hopefully it's always that way.
The climate of that area of the UP is substantially milder than northern Wisconsin and most of Minnesota, it just gets a lot of snow. Latitude wise, the UP of Michigan is substantially further south in latitude compared to most of Europe.
Ok, and what does this have to do with anything?
Latitude has nothing to do with climate, and just because the UP isn't quite as cold as the coldest place in the continental US (Northern MN) doesn't mean it isn't insanely cold and undesirable to most folks.
Latitude has nothing to do with climate, and just because the UP isn't quite as cold as the coldest place in the continental US (Northern MN) doesn't mean it isn't insanely cold and undesirable to most folks.
Exactly. You are the one who wasn't paying any attention. Go back and re-read some of the above explanations and actually learn something instead of regurgitating the same tired know-it-all crap we always get from you.
International Falls MN averages 16 degrees colder in January and 10 degrees colder in February in terms of average lows during the coldest part of winter vs Houghton MI.
For comparison, that is the difference between Jan/Feb average lows in Atlanta vs. Chicago as well.
"Most of the Midwest remains in denial. Other regions of the world, from New England to India, know they are in global competition and are off and running. This truth is just beginning to dawn on much of the Midwest. Heavy manufacturing isn’t just in a slump: it’s going. The family farm has been replaced by the factory farm. Schools that were good enough to train workers for assembly-line jobs aren’t good enough anymore."
on why globalization is bringing down the midwest..
Don't be surprised if there's a bit of a backfill migration to the Midwest. One reason might be the scarcity of water, but a bigger reason just might be the cost of housing on both coasts. I can definately see large cities around Lake Michigan ( you know who they are) seeing a population increaese in the not-too-distant future..
you guys keep talking about water shortages. look up DESALINATION. we will be able to convert ocean water to fresh water in the future. some islands already do that now. the coasts will have WAY more water than the midwest by then lol.
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