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This is the kind of question I'd expect from someone who's still wondering why Trump won the majority of Rust Belt states.
I would never ask this question because people don't choose where they are born (and mostly because it's just rude.)
A lot of times, if they don't like it - they leave when they are older.
People are free to make choices about where they live after a certain point in their life.
It's called being an adult and exercising their freedom of movement between the states.
It's just a fact that, regardless where we live in America, most people are quite proud of their country, state, and heritage.
Which is why this question seems so asinine and snobby. As if only certain people get to qualify as "real Americans" (and by implication, people in the rust belt are to be looked down upon - based on my interpretation of the initial question.)
I love my home. Why would you try and take that away from the people who live here (or grew up here)? Part of what makes it special is that it is my memories are and my life is.
I would never ask if a (major) city-dweller (i.e. New Yorker or Washingtonian, etc) was ashamed to grow up there because their hometown/state is inherently different than my hometown/state. People are allowed to be from different places in America.
Geez.......can you see why your question seems insulting now?
I don't know if it's shame so much as how magnified stereotypes are on here. There are certain posters who post their opinion, but word it as if it's simply fact. These people often have little if any actual experience with the places they are talking about, but if you read enough of their postings you can be convinced that these places actually are inferior. No matter the reality.
I love my little Rustbelt city, there's nowhere else I'd rather live. Watching it transition from a manufacturing center to a Knowledge/STEM/Services center can be some what intoxicating when you're a part of it.
Same thing with those who post extolling the virtues of places to which they have never been. They're just parroting the hype they hear.
I was born & raised in a suburb of Cleveland and then attended THE Ohio State University for college. I moved to Los Angeles on a whim after college, mostly to escape the snow, and ended up staying here. I am proud of my Ohio roots. It's where the real people are.
I love the look on people's faces when I tell them I'm from Denver, but prefer Indianapolis. They ask me if I miss the mountains. Nope, I like the forests here. I also prefer my nicer, paid-for house, friendlier people, and lower cost of living. And it's exciting to watch neighborhoods close to home coming back to life.
I would call my area the far western fringes of the rust belt Cedar Rapids/Waterloo down towards St. Louis. I am proud to be from here and have affection for areas to my East although many locals here do not agree and move the opporsite direction. Also lived in Chicago and assimilated the most to the true rust belt types there - loved the down to earth Polish, Irish, German, Black people. Get some of the same vibes here with German, Czech, Irish people.
I know when I "root" for an area culturally and economically I look to the Upper Mississippi Valley and Great Lakes Region. Especially old cities like Chicago/Milwaukee/St. Louis... Would love to visit Buffalo and see it come back into it's infrastructure over time.
The Upper Mississippi and Great Lakes are a MASSIVE fresh water system that is already populated - why are we still building pools and golf courses in the dusty deserts of this country again??
Same thing with those who post extolling the virtues of places to which they have never been. They're just parroting the hype they hear.
I know what you meam. Ironically I find myself sticking up for many areas of the rust belt, even some places I havent yet been. I guess that is better than bashing a place I haven't been..
One thing I've noticed is how many people paint this broad "rust belt" label over this HUGE swath of the great lakes and Midwest region - but really it's only individual cities or parts of certain metro areas that are actually rust belt.
I think the mystique of the RUST BELT is bigger than the actual areas that qualify. Even today most suburban areas of Detroit which house most of the people in that metro aren't really "rust belty" even though that city seems to be the face of the rust belt.
to answer the question though - NO, I would never be ashamed to be from the rust belt. If anything it's something to be proud of as those people seem much more down to earth and happy in their own skin, and happy with their own lives than many people who are chasing material things and being hip and cool and stressing out to make sure they're "worthy". Rust belt people know their friends and their family and they know how to have fun!
life is a lot more relaxing when outsiders don't have high expectations for you to pretend to live up to or just plain ignore you.
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