Are Rust Belt revivals overblown? (best, state, place, population)
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I think people overexaggerate how their city or a shrinking city is coming back.
For example People love to say Cleveland is roaring back, and quickly regaining its footing, and overall just bursting at the seams, but if that where true, would it have lost 17.1% of its population? and would its metro be Shrinking?
not to say these cities are not improving I just think people are jumping the gun a bit.
and its not just Cleveland, its other cities too, llike Pittsburgh, and other "rustbelt" cities.
Well, when you fallen as far as these cities have, just slowing the decline tends to look like UP. And the concept of the Rust Belt Revival is a valid one. New York City and Boston both have had remarkable turnarounds in the past 40 years.
However, from afar Pittsburgh looks like a beautiful city, with a scenic location in the hills which has a lot of opportunity to be the hub city for exploration of the Marcellus Shale deposit. And since New York state is hamstringing development of the shale gas, all of the engineering firms will base their operations out of Pittsburgh rather than a city in New York. Eventually, when New York state allows exploitation of this resource, all of the headquarters jobs will be firmly fixed in Pittsburgh. And those Pittsburgh universities will be producing all of engineers and geologists to supply that industry. Count me as one person that thinks that the Pittsburgh renaissance WILL materialize.
I think people overexaggerate how their city or a shrinking city is coming back.
For example People love to say Cleveland is roaring back, and quickly regaining its footing, and overall just bursting at the seams, but if that where true, would it have lost 17.1% of its population? and would its metro be Shrinking?
not to say these cities are not improving I just think people are jumping the gun a bit.
and its not just Cleveland, its other cities too, llike Pittsburgh, and other "rustbelt" cities.
I think the difference is that city limits for said cities haven't expanded in recent or relatively recent years like many cities in other regions, including some in the Midwest, have. Some of these metros actually gained in terms of population too.
Rust Belt cities have been forced to reinvent themselves on many levels and that's what they are doing.
Every Rust Belt city has put a new focus on reviving their downtowns. That is something that must be agreed upon. It seems the theory is fix the core to fix the next layer of neighborhoods.
We'll see if this translates into stabilization and growth.
Last edited by costello_musicman; 03-23-2012 at 07:59 PM..
Most of the rust belt cities have stabilized and I think a lot of them are laying the foundation for future growth. Pittsburgh and Milwaukee seem to be doing the best in that regard. The low unemployment rate augers well for the future.
That said I think there is a lot of hyperbole comming from the bosters of rust belt cities. For example it is good to see what is happening in Cleveland but to call it a massive boom is way over the top. A dozen condo towers would be a massive boom. To put the dollar figures in perspective the new bridge across the St Croix in Stillwater, MN is a $700 million dollar project - that is just a four lane highway bridge. A few billion dollars isn't really that much money in constuction.
I grew up in the rust belt so I understand how badly people in those cities want them to return to what they were, but they are taking the glimmer on the horizen and selling it as if they are already back.
Most of the rust belt cities have stabilized and I think a lot of them are laying the foundation for future growth. Pittsburgh and Milwaukee seem to be doing the best in that regard. The low unemployment rate augers well for the future.
That said I think there is a lot of hyperbole comming from the bosters of rust belt cities. For example it is good to see what is happening in Cleveland but to call it a massive boom is way over the top. A dozen condo towers would be a massive boom. To put the dollar figures in perspective the new bridge across the St Croix in Stillwater, MN is a $700 million dollar project - that is just a four lane highway bridge. A few billion dollars isn't really that much money in constuction.
I grew up in the rust belt so I understand how badly people in those cities want them to return to what they were, but they are taking the glimmer on the horizen and selling it as if they are already back.
I agree with this. I do think that the Cleveland boosters are getting a little crazy on these boards. Calling that city "Chicago-ish" seems a little like hyperbole to me. I think it's great that cities have boosters but come on. To read some of their posts you'd think that in 5 years Cleveland's skyline will trump Midtown Manhattan's.
I don't think any of the rustbelt economies are reviving or reinventing their simply trying to adjust to the modern market which is a big difference.
Take Chrysler for example - they should be completely out of the car business. You have some of the best designers, engineers, and workers you could ask for. Surely a few of them have a new innovation they could start to manufacture. When Japan hit bottom that's what major companies did - used the skills they knew but in a completely different market. Until we start seeing that I don't see it turning around.
Wind power, robotics, manufacturing facilities, farm equipment, privatized space travel / satellite, safety equipment for police or military, so on and so on. New companies have popped up but to me a new company popping up is not what Rust Belt cities need. They need failing companies to pool their financial and human resources to enter into a market that is on the rise rather than trying to stay afloat in markets that are collapsing. Right now we're seeing the collapse slow down but it is still decreasing.
I agree with this. I do think that the Cleveland boosters are getting a little crazy on these boards. Calling that city "Chicago-ish" seems a little like hyperbole to me. I think it's great that cities have boosters but come on. To read some of their posts you'd think that in 5 years Cleveland's skyline will trump Midtown Manhattan's.
Most of Cleveland's new construction is infill and TOD.
Only a half dozen projects are over 8-10 stories.
Like much of the rust belt, Cleveland fell very very hard. Even five years ago there was less than $1 billion being spent on a few projects. Today the number has jumped to over $7 billion. IMO you can't blame residents for getting excited with what's happening. It's fun to see so many cranes and hear the sound of hammers during the day in Downtown and University Circle.
I think people overexaggerate how their city or a shrinking city is coming back.
For example People love to say Cleveland is roaring back, and quickly regaining its footing, and overall just bursting at the seams, but if that where true, would it have lost 17.1% of its population? and would its metro be Shrinking?
not to say these cities are not improving I just think people are jumping the gun a bit.
and its not just Cleveland, its other cities too, llike Pittsburgh, and other "rustbelt" cities.
I just think "coming back" means different things to different people. As someone who lived in Pittsburgh from 2005 to 2009, I can attest that the city has become a nicer place to live, even if it doesn't mean it gained population. In my mind, Pittsburgh "coming back" means the city has successfully been able to replace 10 low-paying jobs in steel mills by 6-8 high-paying jobs in health care research, biotech and robotics. It doesn't mean city limits will get back to 500k+ population. Population growth is overrated.
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