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But that's usually applied to people in the South and Appalachia, which have been culturally conservative essentially since the dawn of the Atlantic slave trade. The Rust Belt is fairly liberal and voted mostly blue until 2016.
Politically much of the region is traditionally democrat, but more of a union democrat not necessarily liberal as it’s labeled today. Most of those states banned gay marriage, are quite pro gun and pro hunting. You will find lots of big gas guzzling trucks and SUVs so obviously they are not tree huggers. The region is extremely segregated so they do not value diversity either. Socially they just are not liberal at all. What they are is very distrustful of corporate America and quite pro labor union. This is why liberals were horrified last year when Wisconsin and Michigan both flipped red. With the democrat party moving away from union working people and toward a more extreme socialist and liberal position it was inevitable that the democrats were going to lose the Midwest. Liberals have always falsely believed that region was theirs, it never was as it really belonged to labor unions.
I don't see 'rust belt' as a perjoritive, but it is not exactly a compliment either. It is like the term "sick"; if someone sneezes, and I suggest they may be 'sick', I am not insulting them, just describing their less-than-optimal condition.
For the most part, the term 'rust belt' is historical anyway. Not every rust belt city has recovered to their former glory, but I would say all rust belt cities are post post-industrial at this point, and if they are struggling, it has more to do with their lack of adaptation to the modern economy, a challenge for all US cities regardless of whether they ever had rust belt status.
I don't have a problem with it, but there are many more areas that are basically "Rust Belt," have those characteristics, but don't have to "wear the label."
I live in northeast TN. No one ever thinks of TN as Rust Belt, but in many areas, it is. This is a shot from my hometown, Kingsport, last week.
Plenty of smokestacks and rundown buildings here. A lot of boarded up businesses. A lot of dated, blue collar housing. Not much in the way of anything higher end. Manufacturing, here as elsewhere, has taken a notable decline. The only reason our population is holding steady is annexation and retirees from other areas moving in.
I don't have a problem with it, but there are many more areas that are basically "Rust Belt," have those characteristics, but don't have to "wear the label."
I live in northeast TN. No one ever thinks of TN as Rust Belt, but in many areas, it is. This is a shot from my hometown, Kingsport, last week.
Plenty of smokestacks and rundown buildings here. A lot of boarded up businesses. A lot of dated, blue collar housing. Not much in the way of anything higher end. Manufacturing, here as elsewhere, has taken a notable decline. The only reason our population is holding steady is annexation and retirees from other areas moving in.
We're Rust Belt.
Thank you mentioning this, because I think people underestimate how much annexation and retirees may comparatively bolster up some places compared to “Rust Belt” locations.
I think this is the only time I really roll my eyes at "rust belt". Many people think it describes this region of the USA, like those entire areas would be the "rust belt" just like large generic swaths of the south are the "sun belt".
Rust belt applies to fairly specific set of metro areas, and normally just sections of those metro areas within the general Midwest and areas of the Northeast.
Youngstown, Flint, Gary, areas of Detroit, areas of Pittsburgh and Cleveland.
Then again you have cities like Columbus, Grand Rapids, Indianapolis, etc etc and a host of other small towns, rural areas and mid sized cities that have nothing really to do with "rust belt".
Rust Belt isn't a region, but a set of very specific places that have a similar trait in that they used to be very heavily industrial economies and those economies went into decline starting around the 1970's.
I don't have a problem with it, but there are many more areas that are basically "Rust Belt," have those characteristics, but don't have to "wear the label."
I live in northeast TN. No one ever thinks of TN as Rust Belt, but in many areas, it is. This is a shot from my hometown, Kingsport, last week.
Plenty of smokestacks and rundown buildings here. A lot of boarded up businesses. A lot of dated, blue collar housing. Not much in the way of anything higher end. Manufacturing, here as elsewhere, has taken a notable decline. The only reason our population is holding steady is annexation and retirees from other areas moving in.
We're Rust Belt.
Of course, people are not gonna see your town as Rust Belt because it's in the Sun Belt. It's sun, fun, glamour and rebirth; I'm talking about people's perceptions. The Rust Belt is viewed as decay, not glamorous, no jobs, struggling economies and "You get out if you can and God knows you don't come back."
Of course, people are not gonna see your town as Rust Belt because it's in the Sun Belt. It's sun, fun, glamour and rebirth; I'm talking about people's perceptions. The Rust Belt is viewed as decay, not glamorous, no jobs, struggling economies and "You get out if you can and God knows you don't come back."
Which is ironic because I technically live in the "Rust Belt" but the economy here is booming, $300,000 new homes are going up all around me (that will buy you a beautiful new 4 bdrm, 2.5 bath home with all the trimmings where I live) and the countryside is peaceful and bucolic. Meanwhile, I have been in areas of the "Sun Belt" that looked more like the definition of a rust belt than here in the, well..."Rust Belt".
I think the economic crash that occurred over the past half century as industry packed up and left America for low wage countries affected far more of the country than just the Upper Midwest, or wherever exactly the geographic boundaries of the "Rust Belt" are, we just get to hear about it and get labeled more because the largest of the blue collar manufacturing industries, the automotive industry and the steel industry, happen to be centered here.
Thank you mentioning this, because I think people underestimate how much annexation and retirees may comparatively bolster up some places compared to “Rust Belt” locations.
The state has now basically disallowed annexation without a citizens' referendum. The city was just annexing affluent neighborhoods, businesses, even if it was in a disorderly fashion that defied any common sense explanation.
Amusingly enough, they strip-annexed four miles of interstate that led up to a Sam's Club, Cracker Barrel, and a couple of motels, but the Sam's went to another city. They've strip annexed several affluent neighborhoods and densely populated areas without the consent of the residents.
Quote:
Originally Posted by QCongress83216
Of course, people are not gonna see your town as Rust Belt because it's in the Sun Belt. It's sun, fun, glamour and rebirth; I'm talking about people's perceptions. The Rust Belt is viewed as decay, not glamorous, no jobs, struggling economies and "You get out if you can and God knows you don't come back."
Of course it is. A lot of dumb ideas get floated around about states and people want to paint with a very broad brush.
Last edited by Serious Conversation; 01-22-2018 at 12:16 PM..
I live in Pittsburgh, and I don’t have a problem with Rust Belt, but I DO take issue with the way it’s often applied. People seem reluctant to include East Coast cities that saw major population loss due to de-industrialization (Boston, Philly, Baltimore and any number of smaller NY, CT and MA cities). They’re also more likely to exclude cities with small black populations (Minneapolis), even though the numbers warrant rust belt categorization.
Well to be fair, Pittsburgh is included in the Rust Belt and like Minneapolis, it is less than 25% Black while cities like Indianapolis, Columbus, and Kansas City tend to be excluded and they are over 25% Black.
And how exactly do the numbers for Minneapolis warrant inclusion in the Rust Belt? The first graphic on this page wouldn't seem to indicate that...or perhaps, at most, it could be considered a recovered Rust Belt city like Chicago or your own city.
I live in Pittsburgh, and I don’t have a problem with Rust Belt, but I DO take issue with the way it’s often applied. People seem reluctant to include East Coast cities that saw major population loss due to de-industrialization (Boston, Philly, Baltimore and any number of smaller NY, CT and MA cities). They’re also more likely to exclude cities with small black populations (Minneapolis), even though the numbers warrant rust belt categorization.
Do you think Pittsburgh is shaking its "Rust Belt" status or do people still have that negative "Rust Belt" point of view when it comes to Pittsburgh? From what I hear it's 50/50 with Pittsburgh, some people feel it's made tremendous turnaround (Pitt being one of the Top 20 Finalists for Amazon) and some people still feel "It's still Pittsburgh". I would plan to make a visit to Pittsburgh this year.
Last edited by QCongress83216; 01-22-2018 at 12:33 PM..
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