I can see the renaissance of the Midwest (unemployment rate, oil)

[Wonderful Jellal]

-Very strong growth for North Dakota (7%) and South Dakota (6%) these last years.These states are competitive, economically diversified (Financial sector in South Dakota, high tech in North Dakota) and people come back there (strong population growth for Sioux Falls), and they become more diverse racially.
-Indiana comes back ! Governor Mitch Daniels is a great gov, the state is reformed, changed, fixed, more competitive, and many businesses from Illinois go there (Indiana becomes for Illinois what Nevada was for California).
-Ohio isn't in great shape but they definitely understood the necessity to be fixed
-Michigan won't heal before one generation but the state is a new hot spot for Hollywood, particularly Detroit.
-The wind power is the new oil of the US, in West Texas (where the wind farms are) it's a great industry, many declining small towns has a big growth and invest ! The wind is mostly in the Midwest, particularly in North Dakota, maybe this industry will seriously help the Midwest

What do you think about it ?

[west336]

If the Dakotas are oil-rich like some believe they are, then there could be a new oil industry and a small renaissance in the Upper Midwest stretching to Chicago. But even without it, I think the Midwest could gain popularity again as swells of populations start having more families and seek more family-friendly enviroments that the Midwest are notorious for providing. Plus, there is always some X-factor out there that can/will shake the world and revolutionize everything, and that could originate from the Midwest, causing a swell of popularity.

One thing that I find just a little bit ironic is that if Global Warming continues and it actually is true and the environment changes dramatically, the Midwest and esp. the Upper Midwest will become much more moderate, especially in the winter time, making the weather much more tolerable. It seems like it's already starting to slowly happen...

[Nivalis]

Originally Posted by west336

One thing that I find just a little bit ironic is that if Global Warming continues and it actually is true and the environment changes dramatically, the Midwest and esp. the Upper Midwest will become much more moderate, especially in the winter time, making the weather much more tolerable. It seems like it's already starting to slowly happen...

There's even a book out on that subject: Global warming's silver lining: Northern countries will thrive, grow / UCLA Newsroom

[kyle19125]

Agreed. Cities like Sioux Falls, Fargo, Grand Forks, Des Moines and Omaha have quietly defied the recession with low unemployment rates and actual growth. The upper Midwest/Plains been overlooked by this country's geographical bias for the most part, but in my opinion if one were looking to get out of high density-high unemployment metro areas and start over, I'd look to these cities first.