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I would agree that Philly isn't normally considered rust belt, but if you google images of the rust belt, Philly shows up in it enough that I can see why its included for the sake of this conversation.
Just noting. In look yes some city's can belong yet if decay is clearly seen yet. Luckily the steel mills remained North of Philadelphia in Allentown/Bethlehem. A Oil refinery finally closed in-the-city. The Port is a positve for sure. Just skipping Philly and going to Baltimore can still surprise. Chicago also remains with still steel mills and a major old refinery in-metro.
Textile mill loss seems to not matter as it is not rust apparently I guess. Mining, steel, auto and major heavy manufacturing does rust.
Textile mill loss seems to not matter as it is not rust apparently I guess. Mining, steel, auto and major heavy manufacturing does rust.
The term Rustbelt had little to do with the type of industry, and more with an economy that was heavy manufacturing before the 1960's and experiencing a transition away from it. Yes even textile cities were included. Again the term Rustbelt, and what is, or could be considered has little to do with the limited City-Data definition of it.
The term Rustbelt had little to do with the type of industry, and more with an economy that was heavy manufacturing before the 1960's and experiencing a transition away from it. Yes even textile cities were included. Again the term Rustbelt, and what is, or could be considered has little to do with the limited City-Data definition of it.
Definitions of where, exactly, the Rust Belt is are also often debated. There is no answer. The term was not invented by geographers but by a politician and the media. Walter Mondale placed the blame on the policies of Ronald Reagan. But even earlier, in the 1970s, the demand for steel, which was high during World War II, had begun to wane, and many saw their jobs disappear.
But in the end, anywhere an economy was previously based on manufacturing and has since been losing population can be part of the gang.
Then once a year or two of modest growth, guess takes you off the chain gang.....
Definitions of where, exactly, the Rust Belt is are also often debated. There is no answer. The term was not invented by geographers but by a politician and the media. Walter Mondale placed the blame on the policies of Ronald Reagan. But even earlier, in the 1970s, the demand for steel, which was high during World War II, had begun to wane, and many saw their jobs disappear.
This is the correct take.
I think a lot of people also understand "Rust Belt" to be equated to "post-industrial," when they're not synonymous.
The true "Rust Belt" is certainly post-industrial in the sense that many cities have lost a huge portion of their industrial economic base, but the key difference between a city like Allentown versus Youngstown, is the extent of economic transformation and demographic shifts.
Allentown, and the greater Lehigh Valley, has benefitted greatly from in-migration from the NY and Philadelphia metros and cultivated a very diverse modern-day knowledge economy, more than it has ever had before. This is true of pretty much every post-industrial metro, or urban hub, within or adjacent to the BosWash megalopolis.
In the true Rust Belt, there's very little immigration, population/employment levels are still like half of what they once were, very little racial diversity, rapidly aging population, and very few signs of transition to a knowledge or "creative" economy, to borrow the Richard Florida vernacular.
Yes. More of Rochester feels much livelier than more of Buffalo. The rot in ROC is much more contained and concentrated, and the boom in Buffalo likewise. ROC was a creators' town in terms of business development, and still factors into its culture.
Absolutely. I was last in both cities at the beginning of the summer. Rochester, even in the rougher neighborhoods, still “feels” more vibrant and much cleaner than Buffalo, although statistically you would think it’s the other way around. Neither is a shining jewel of a city, but Buffalo still hasn’t shed the depressing rust belt vibe despite having a lower crime rate and significantly more development/population growth these days. Rochester has an energy that rises above some of the negative circumstances on the streets.
Definitions of where, exactly, the Rust Belt is are also often debated. There is no answer. The term was not invented by geographers but by a politician and the media. Walter Mondale placed the blame on the policies of Ronald Reagan. But even earlier, in the 1970s, the demand for steel, which was high during World War II, had begun to wane, and many saw their jobs disappear.
But in the end, anywhere an economy was previously based on manufacturing and has since been losing population can be part of the gang.
Then once a year or two of modest growth, guess takes you off the chain gang.....
And even then "Rust Belt" is more associated with steel industry along with related industries such as coal mining or even automotive manufacturing more than anything.
Meanwhile there are all those mill towns in New England that lost their main source of income long time ago and can be just as economically depressed are rarely consider to be part of "rust belt"...and those places aren't really gaining population, either.
Milwaukee staved off the worst population decline in large part because it was the only Rust Belt city which successfully annexed a wide swathe of suburbia, expanding out to the county line to the Northwest of the city. This helped to mask some of the core decline. Though it is also true the amount of urban prairie is much more limited than you see elsewhere.
This annexation was done in the mid-50s, years before the early 80s mass exodus of manufacturing was in full swing.
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