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I passed through Gadsden, Alabama several years ago. Goodyear apparently is still a major employer in the area, but it employees a lot less people than in the past.
Interestingly, I had relatives who worked at the Goodyear plant in Akron, Ohio and they were trying to recruit some to work in the Gadsden location in the early years when it first opened. They decided to stay in Akron. But I think Gadsden looks like a southern version of an Ohio Rust Belt town.
I passed through Gadsden, Alabama several years ago. Goodyear apparently is still a major employer in the area, but it employees a lot less people than in the past.
Interestingly, I had relatives who worked at the Goodyear plant in Akron, Ohio and they were trying to recruit some to work in the Gadsden location in the early years when it first opened. They decided to stay in Akron. But I think Gadsden looks like a southern version of an Ohio Rust Belt town.
That's a pretty good example.
I suppose a parallel is what happens to a town when a military base gets closed down. Anniston, Alabama, just down the road from Gadsden, has been through misery since BRAC closed down McClellan.
The Danville and Martinsville area of south central Virginia could be described as Rust Belt - with the caveat that the beautiful scenery of the Blue Ridge mountains and the prosperous metropolitan centers of the North Carolina Piedmont are not far away. That area of Virginia has a declining population with elderly demographics, and the traditional industrial base, centered around textiles and furniture, has downsized dramatically the last few decades.
Some of these suggestions are rather odd - Oklahoma City isn't remotely like the Rust Belt. While Memphis and Birmingham have grown more slowly than comparable areas across the South, they are well rounded economically and not particularly industrial these days. Possibly some limited sections of those metro areas share some Rust Belt qualities but those communities are not representative of their surroundings.
Portions of the Tri Cities metro area in TN (Kingsport has Eastman Chemical), more like a company town in some ways in terms of housing stock, strangely similar to smaller cities in PA with a southern twist.
Declined isn't the right word for Birmingham. I think transformed is a better term.
Your initial premise is correct. Being essentially a company town, Birmingham indeed was indeed slammed by US Steel in the late 70s. The city had always been a boom-and-bust town based on the fortunes of the steel industry. Just to give you an idea how US Steel actually held growth hostage here, USS actually started putting a tariff on any iron and steel products made in Birmingham that were shipped outside the state, all because the Birmingham mills became more efficient and productive than the plants up north. How crazy and short sighted is that?
So in the early 80s, Birmingham and Flint, Michigan, were neck and neck for the country's worst unemployment rate.
But in the late 70s, the city decided to collectively change the script and worked hard to transform the economy. Banking, finance, media, research, healthcare, and a more diverse manufacturing base were developed. It helped that Mercedes, Honda, and a swarm of their suppliers came to town as a result. So by the middle of the last decade, Birmingham was tied with Orlando for the country's lowest unemployment rate. Around 2005, Birmingham was the third largest banking center in the country behind New York and Charlotte, being the home for several super regional banks. The city then took it in the shorts once again with the mortgage meltdown in 2008 and subsequent mergers and acquisitions, but the dislocation was not nearly so severe.
And the change continues. The city has, of late, really boosted its infrastructure to act as a distribution center. There is a nascent tech industry (Emphasis on the word nascent. It ain't Silicon Valley, but it's a start), and the downtown area is utterly different than just five years ago, spurred on by about a billion in new construction projects. So while the metro area has grown steadily over the past thirty years, it's now better positioned for stronger growth in the years to come. Interestingly enough, US Steel has decided to close its blast furnace here permanently last year. In 1979, that kind of decision almost killed the city. Today, it barely causes a ripple.
An odd coincidence. I had to spend several days in Flint last summer on business. Given that Birmingham and Flint were twin poster children for manufacturing decline in the late 70s and early 80s, it was quite a comparison and contrast. Not harshing on Flint per se, but that town needs a fix really quickly. Meanwhile Birmingham doesn't even look like the same city that it was even fifteen years ago.
Mind you, none of this is meant to be relentless boosterism. Birmingham still has a lot to tackle. But beginning in the late 70s, we worked towards becoming a problem-solving city. Today, if you compare the place to Nashville or Charlotte, then Birmingham will still suffer. But, then again, we started much further back in the pack.
So, yeah, there was a lot of pain involved in changing the city's economy. But it ain't Youngstown. And the net result over the past thirty years has definitely not been a decline.
Sure it is. You sound like you're in the marketing and/or branding business. I bet you are. You seem to be omnipresent on City-data doing just that " BOOTERISM of Birmingham, Alabama . I lived in Birmingham suburbs. The place still pretty much sucks, and is bifurcated along racial lines. Nobody is buying your sales job.
Hmmm, this is a very interesting forum. The South does not have many traditional manufacturing cities, the largest one would probably be Birmingham. Birmingham has a lot of decayed areas but is not as bad as more traditional rust belt cities such as Detroit and Youngstown.
There are many cities in the South that have areas that are severely decayed. Atlanta has a lot of areas that are half-abandoned. Waco, Temple, Beaumont, Port Arthur, and Texarkana are all cities in Texas with a lot of Decay. Port Arthur may have the most decayed Downtown of a city more than 50,000 people. It is almost completely abandoned , and the surrounding residential areas are also extremely decayed. Jackson and New Orleans both have a lot of decay in some areas too.
The South has just as many if not more cities with bad decayed areas than the rust-belt. The reasons for the decay are different though.
Hmmm, this is a very interesting forum. The South does not have many traditional manufacturing cities, the largest one would probably be Birmingham. Birmingham has a lot of decayed areas but is not as bad as more traditional rust belt cities such as Detroit and Youngstown.
There are many cities in the South that have areas that are severely decayed. Atlanta has a lot of areas that are half-abandoned. Waco, Temple, Beaumont, Port Arthur, and Texarkana are all cities in Texas with a lot of Decay. Port Arthur may have the most decayed Downtown of a city more than 50,000 people. It is almost completely abandoned , and the surrounding residential areas are also extremely decayed. Jackson and New Orleans both have a lot of decay in some areas too.
The South has just as many if not more cities with bad decayed areas than the rust-belt. The reasons for the decay are different though.
"Half-abandoned" areas constitute an extremely minimal proportion of metropolitan Atlanta, particularly in a residential sense. It's important to remember that the city itself has only about 10% of the metro area and has seen significant growth in households despite little in the way of population gains. There is certainly vacant retail space scattered around the region, and many inner suburban areas that have transitioned over time to a less prosperous demographic than they had originally. But overall, Atlanta has hardly any Rust Belt characteristics - aside from a substantial population that has moved into the area from such places.
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