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I'm from Cleveland and most of my life I've heard the term "The Rust Belt." Let me tell you something...I hate that term, ever since I got older I hated that term. It's very pejorative and demeaning because when you hear it, some people think of it in negative light. For those who say a name has no meaning, a lot of times it does.
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.
To be honest, as much as I think the media gets an unfair bad rap in this current climate we're in, I do think they have a huge hand in creating a very inaccurate picture of The Rust Belt as all "white working class" people who are uneducated and work in factories and plants.
Watching CNN and MSNBC, the term is only used when describing the things I mentioned above, it only reinforces those stereotypes that aren't true, no group is monolithic.
I don't mind it, TBH. The vast majority of times I hear it, it's used to convey pity towards the residents of these towns (even if often misguided pity) rather than anything resembling contempt.
I don't mind it if the person using it actually understands the area and is not using it in an insulting way.
I DO mind it if someone is using it in a negative way or using it to stereotype the entire region.
I think it is meant to stereotype a region and it is a negative term. When it is used images of decaying cities, depressed unemployed people and cold miserable surroundings instantly come to mind. Most people think of Ohio and southern Michigan mostly when they hear the term, the towns of Cleveland, Youngstown and Toledo in Ohio and Detroit and flint in Michigan are the epitome of the stereotype. People who live in the rust belt have no more reasons to like the negative stereotypes about them than the people of Mississippi have to lime the negative stereotypes about that state. Recent history in the industrial Midwest means those stereotypes will be around for a long time yet to come. The one city that seems to defy that negative stereotype is Pittsburgh PA, it has revitalized and has even become a popular destination. The modern usage of the term rust belt more deals with the industrial Midwest (Ohio, Michigan and Indiana) nowadays. I think Pittsburgh and PA is really rarely included in that maligned region.
I'm from California and I've never understood what rust belt meant. I always wondered if it was because people's cars rusted faster there because of salting roads for snow. I just always assumed it had something to do with people's cars rusting faster there - like here, cars rust faster if you live at the coast because of the salt from the ocean.
I'm 62 and have lived all but 6 years of my life on the west coast, so I'm just chiming in to say not everybody has any idea what rust belt is supposed to even mean. And I was never curious enough to look to see if it meant anything other than people's cars rusting faster LOL. I never thought of it as being more negative than weather-related issues that caused rust. Never thought of it being derogatory towards anyone who lived there.
Nobody likes to be made fun of, or to be stereotyped, though, I get that. California is one of the favorite targets out there, and most people are wrong when they stereotype it/us.
I'm from California and I've never understood what rust belt meant. I always wondered if it was because people's cars rusted faster there because of salting roads for snow. I just always assumed it had something to do with people's cars rusting faster there - like here, cars rust faster if you live at the coast because of the salt from the ocean.
I'm 62 and have lived all but 6 years of my life on the west coast, so I'm just chiming in to say not everybody has any idea what rust belt is supposed to even mean. And I was never curious enough to look to see if it meant anything other than people's cars rusting faster LOL. I never thought of it as being more negative than weather-related issues that caused rust. Never thought of it being derogatory towards anyone who lived there.
Nobody likes to be made fun of, or to be stereotyped, though, I get that. California is one of the favorite targets out there, and most people are wrong when they stereotype it/us.
You are right that all the rust on everything because of the weather is part of it. The rust is also on the closed factories and that is where the stereotypes of unemployment and urban decay come into play. The term basically denotes the industrialized portion of the Midwest that has struggled economically for decades, has miserable weather, urban decay and yes lots of rust. That is the way I have always seen it and heard the term used.
The term Rust Belt doesn't sound as pleasant a place as the term Sun Belt. Sunbelt makes most poeople think of sunshine and clear blue skies and nice warm temperatures, outdoor recreation. The term Rustbelt brings about visions of rusted out automobiles and buildings, closed up factories, gritty, bleak, cold and grey skies, smoke stacks, urban blight even in the small country towns, old looking, kinda depressing. Once the Rust Belt cities figure out what kinda towns they want to evolve from the "Industrial age" into the "Information age, the Rust Belt label will continue to fit the area.
I'm from Cleveland and most of my life I've heard the term "The Rust Belt." Let me tell you something...I hate that term, ever since I got older I hated that term. It's very pejorative and demeaning because when you hear it, some people think of it in negative light. For those who say a name has no meaning, a lot of times it does.
I'm not from "The Rust Belt" and I don't like the term and would like it even less if I lived there. Hopefully the improving manufacture we are seeing will revitalize the area.
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