Rust Belt Alliance (Cleveland, Cincinnati, Toledo: manufacturing, bill, rail)

[Daytonnatian]

Mnay cities in this nation, especially in the Great Lakes Region, face many image problems, along with other problems. I was just wondering if there was some kind of alliacne between the cities of:
Rochester, Syracuse, Binghamton, Albany/Troy/Schentandy and Buffalo in New York,

Erie and Scranton in Pennsylvania,

Akron, Cleveland, Youngstown, Toledo, Springfield, Mansfield, Hamilton/Middletown and Dayton in Ohio,

Gary/Michigan City, South Bend and Fort Wayne in Indiana,

Champaign, Peoria, Bloomington, the Quad cities, Rockford, East St Louis, and the South Chicago suburbs in Illinois,

And

Detroit, Flint, Lansing, Saginaw, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo/Battle Creek, Port Huron, and Benton Harbor in Michigan?

If there isn't there should be (cities that I am not so sure about their economic state I Italicized) and fast. In this economic climate, we need it.

[hillside]

um, cincinnati?

[CTownNative]

Originally Posted by hillside

um, cincinnati?

Cincy to me is a borderline Rust Belt city.I don't know if it fits the bill as much as some other cities.Cleveland and Detroit seem to be the cities that get Rust Belt tagged on them the most,along with smaller cities in Michigan,Northern Indiana,and Western New York.I can't remember what the map of the Rust Belt looks like but it might include Cincy and St. Louis.To answer the question I think there is sort of an alliance between some of the cities,but the Ohio ones don't seem to have that big of an alliance.The western NY ones seem to have more alliance then the other state's cities.

[JR_C]

Cleveland, Youngstown, and Pittsburgh are trying to form a "tech belt."

This article is kind of old, but it explains more about this "tech belt."
Two congressmen to hold tech forum - Vindy.com News - Business & Technology - Youngstown, Warren, Columbiana, Ohio

I'm not following the progress of this development, but maybe this article will provide enough info for other interested individuals to start researching.

[aquila]

I don't see Cincinnati as a rust belt city. Never have. It's economy has generally always been diversified enough that it's managed to avoid that designation. It's basically a bubble city in a different class by itself.

[bobdole99]

Yeah, ive always considered it to be that there is cincinnati, and then the rest of the state of ohio. When I think ohio, cincinnati is probably one of the last cities I think of.

[Ohiogirl81]

There is some sort of alliance or whatever of Great Lakes states already, but it's probably more concerned with the health and use of the waterways than with the general economy in those states.

[hillside]

true, cincinnati is more of a financial hub than most, but look at the perennial poorest cities - detroit, buffalo, cleveland, cincinnati, st. louis...that's the rust belt. cincinnati was industrial before all of those cities that have been thrown around sans pittsburgh. it's just hard for me understand that because the city was big enough to have a diverse economy, that it's dead and dying manufacturing sector-turned-service doesn't qualify.

[Cincy-Rise]

It's true that Cincinnati isn't a true rustbelt city compared to the Great Lakes cities, but its beginnings were definitely Rust Belt, like Hillside has stated. There's a reason it was one of the "Big 4" rail lines.

In today's day and age, it has diversified its economy enough to make it appear almost as if it was never a Rust Belt city.

Actually, when reading about Rust Belt cities, many sociologist and economist state that the term Rust Belt no longer applies to cities as it used to. In other words, its generally a dying term.

[JefferyT]

Mill Creek valley is rustbelt.