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It's closer to the Rustbelt but I don't think it really fits into either category.
It is that unfortunate blend of Upper South and Lower Midwest that I don't care for either. Also, throw in constantly bad weather and unusual cultural collisions as it is near a crossroads of different regions.
Last edited by GraniteStater; 12-29-2018 at 07:26 PM..
It is that unfortunate blend of Upper South and Lower Midwest that I don't care for either. Also, through in constantly bad weather and unusual cultural collisions as it is near a crossroads of different regions.
It makes for an interesting place if nothing else. I kinda like cities like that somewhat defy easy categorizations.
Cities in Georgia like Macon, Columbus and Augusta kind of stick out in my opinion. They sort of seem poised to take off in terms of size and location, but really aren't for some reason.
Those cities all lack an engine or "IT" factor that would generate significant growth.
Columbus has the strongest corporate presence of them all (with Aflac, Char-Broil, TSYS and Synovus), but they're all either slow growth or relatively small companies and not really recruiting a ton of college graduates from outside the region for employment. The city is also hamstrung by poor interstate highway connectivity being at the terminus of I-185, thus gets passed up for manufacturing/logistic development in favor of cities along I-85 or I-75, near Atlanta.
There's also Fort Benning, but employment/investment there is extremely cyclical, depending on the Federal/DoD budget for that year.
Last edited by citidata18; 12-29-2018 at 04:28 PM..
I agree but if I start calling it Rustbelt people will get all worked up that it’s too southern lol.
Well, Louisville is considered a Southern city, along with the state as a whole.
I was just scanning this thread for some reason, and realized I didn't really know what "Rust Belt" means. Apparently it's northeastern and midwestern cities that have lost jobs and population because of industries closing?
I always though it was because the areas used a lot of road salt and it rusted out cars and everything else. Seriously.
For what it's worth, north central Alabama is a quite properous area that's located in the Sunbelt. It, and Baldwin County on the Gulf, are really the only properserous areas in the entire state. It's still not even close to growing at the same rate as Atlanta, Nashville, much of North Carolina, and Austin. Prosperity is relative.
Memphis
Nashville
Birmingham
New Orleans
Louisville
Are not Sun Belt
Haven't read the entire thread, but how do you define Sunbelt? All those places are geographically in the sunbelt, but if the meaning is prosperity and growth, Nashville certainly fits the bill. Birmingham, not so much so. New Orleans is still recovering from Katrina, and Louisville seems to be growing at a reasonable rate.
Pgh is not declining. It does have more jobs than it can fill though, many of which are hard to hire due to high technical qualifications. So its unemployment rate doesn't tell the whole story - they are worried that the reitrment of baby boomers will leave too many unfilled jobs
Isn't that a good problem to have though? Certainly a lot better than high unemployment.
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Seriously. 
