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Interesting link, CortlandGirl. I've heard about Youngstown's plan to shrink itself before. Here's what I don't get, though: Why raze all those houses that are on empty blocks, especially if they are still inhabited. Why force them to leave? Why not just shrink the city limits to say, half what they are now. Then, those who want to remain in the de-incorporated areas could do so with the understanding that they would no longer receive any city services (and would no longer pay city taxes). They could decide for themselves whether they want to stay in their homes and be rural residents, or sell the house to someone else who didn't care if they lived in the city.
Seems more humane to me, and the city still gets to conserve its resources for the areas where people are concentrated....
From what i've read they've only been razing homes that have been condemned or set on fire. Usually when a house sits empty for any amount of time all the aluminum siding, copper plumbing, etc. has been stripped.
I know that part of the plan does say something about buying out the few people that are left in the most unpopulated areas, but that really hasn't happened yet. There has been great discussion about this in the Ohio forum: http://www.city-data.com/forum/ohio/...oungstown.html (starting in post # 65).
As for shrinking the city limits i'm not sure the townships surrounding the city would want to pick them up. They are having trouble collecting money to pay for the land and streets they need to take care of.
Omaha, NE and Des Moines, IA are good mid sized cities that are doing fairly well in this current economic cycle. Both offer a diverse economy with very low housing prices.
I cannot for the life of me figure out what most people in Omaha do for a living. My brother-in-law works for a TV station, and a lot of DH's classmate from Omaha Central High School are doctors and lawyers. But how much doctoring and lawyering do you need per capital?
Thought i would share this slideshow w/everyone interested in pictures of the rustbelt Youngstown: Descent into Darkness (slideshow) | Lightstalkers (http://www.lightstalkers.org/galleries/slideshow/6676 - broken link) Not the prettiest scenes of Youngstown, but things are changing despite the past 30 years.
Thought i would share this slideshow w/everyone interested in pictures of the rustbelt Youngstown: Descent into Darkness (slideshow) | Lightstalkers (http://www.lightstalkers.org/galleries/slideshow/6676 - broken link) Not the prettiest scenes of Youngstown, but things are changing despite the past 30 years.
These pictures certainly do tell a story of a place that once had a thriving economy but in recent decades has descended into an abyss. Hopefully this can eventually turn around.
A few years ago I actively researched the Youngstown-Warren area and thought about moving there to start up my little radio station. Unfortunately the lack of even entry level employment opportunities put an end to that idea.
Right now, the cost of transporting goods from Asia to the US adds something like 9% to the final cost, relative to just a few years ago. If oil goes to $200/barrel, this transportation surcharge becomes 15%. Global outsourcing only makes sense if the cost of transportation is low. Once fuel becomes expensive, local manufacturing becomes more economical. This may, over time, lead to the revival of American industry.
The western edge of the rust belt is harder to define, but I would certainly think that Sioux City, IA would fit the mold of the rust belt town and would be on the very western edge of the rust belt. It had numerous meat packing plants and is down to three, had a Zenith plant, and GM had a plant. Many of these along with other manufacturing shut down in the 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s. The city did OK in the mid to late 1990s with Gateway growing, but the headquarters went to California and the city lost a lot of jobs in the earlier part of this decade (many of them manufacturing). The city had a strong labor union presence in its politics.
The city was often called "sewer city" and is dirtier than Sioux Falls (which was the same size as it in 1980s but is twice as big now and is its white collar cousin) and Omaha to the south. The city has had a bad rap, especially back in the 1980s when things were downright bad down there economy wise. The meat packing plant still there emits a strong smell when one is going down I-29 south of downtown.
The city has being trying to clean its image but is not as progressive as Sioux Falls and Omaha. I see some improvements with a new events center and improvements in the area, but more can be done.
Other Midwestern cities that would also fit the mold as western end rust belt cities include: Waterloo, IA; Cedar Rapids, IA; inner city St. Louis; Quad Cities (Davenport area), and Duluth, MN. I know that Sioux Falls, SD; Fargo, ND; Twin Cities; Des Moines, IA; Omaha, NE (although it had old industry and has successfully reinvented itself); and Madison, WI would fall in the line of thriving new economy cities that are based on services and may have some industry but have not experienced the brunt of industrial decline as much as the rust-belt like cities in this region and other rust belt areas.
Other rust belt city candidates include:
Gary, IN
South Bend, IN
Saginaw, MI
Muskegon, MI
Rockford, IL
Erie, PA
Liverpool, OH
Ashtabula, OH
Johnstown, PA
Altoona, PA
Buffalo, NY
Last edited by the_pines; 07-30-2008 at 04:38 PM..
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