Which is a more important region for a city to be located-Gulf Coast or Great Lake? (construction, to live in)
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The Gulf Coast is far more important strategically in terms of international trade. From the Port of New Orleans, you can go anywhere in the world. From the Port of Chicago, you can go to Canada. The Gulf Coast also has an infinitely superior climate to ANYWHERE bordering any of the Great Lakes whether its Chicago, Detroit, Erie, Cleveland, or Buffalo. The entire Great Lakes region is a frozen wasteland at least 6 months out of the year with maybe 2 months of truly decent weather. Here in Louisiana, 7 months of the year are perfect weather, 3 months are a little on the hot and humid side (but I would still prefer that over a Chicago winter), and two months are chillier than I'd prefer.
Economically the Gulf Coast is far stronger. The Texas and Florida cities are growing especially fast. New Orleans has recovered its pre Katrina population in the metro area, while cities like Cleveland, Duluth, Buffalo, and Detroit have never recovered their population decline due to economic ruin. Baton Rouge is doing well economically and Biloxi-Gulfport now have the second largest concentration of casinos in the country, surpassing Atlantic City. The Gulf Coast of Florida is the nicer side of Florida, with fewer illegal immigrants and poverty/crime which dominates Miami.
Most of the Great Lakes is in the Rust Belt even though our President is trying very hard to help that region and bring back manufacturing, but the Gulf Coast has a strong manufacturing sector with less regulations and less unions.
To be fair, manufacturing in the United States peaked in employment in 1979 and there are plenty of important ports, big and small, on the Great Lakes. Lake Ontario ports are actually clear for 8 months or so and that includes Rochester and Oswego in that case. icebreakers can also be used so ports can be used all year around. So, it isn't like things stop during the winter.
The answer is the Gulf Coast, and it's not even close.
The concentration of energy resources, along with the intelligence and capital that controls them, is more than sufficient to give the region the victory over the Great Lakes, considering how vital such power is to allowing function for the modern economy. Such experience and intelligence also ensures that the region remains in strong relevance even as the world shifts to cleaner energy sources. Additionally, the region is also home to other important natural resources, including a big supply of salt concentrated among many naturally occurring domes within the region.
The Gulf Coast also represents a more open gateway to the world at large compared to the Great Lakes. Whether it's the wide selection of Latin America, or the crucial Panama Canal, or Europe and Africa overseas the Atlantic, the connections are many.
As far as water supply is concerned, the frequent thunderstorms, combined with intense rainfall rates and aquifers for recharge, ensure that the Gulf Coast is without issue in that department. Now, the Great Lakes no doubt are vast reservoirs of fresh water - but there would still need to be a purification process, as you can't exactly drink straight from a lake. That purification process would be but a step below the desalination that the Gulf could do anyway if needed.
And overall, there's just much better quality of life to be achieved naturally along the Gulf Coast. And there's no doubt of it, between the much better beaches overall, as well as the milder winters that allow for wider variety of unique habitats, biodiversity, cultivated vegetation, and agriculture. Such equable climate and landscape is crucial in sustaining large populations, hence the success of the Indus Valley and Chinese Empires that existed in similar climate zones.
Huh? Are you calling people in Chicago with all its headquarters and commodity exchanges, and Toronto, the capital of Canada, stupid, and lacking the intelligence of the Gulf coast? Are Mobile, Pensacola, and Corpus Christie the new brain trust of the nation?
Obviously, you take great delight in the term "Rust Belt", even though it's derogatory and outdated. Milwaukee is a beautiful city, and no matter how it placed, it doesn't look "Rust Belt."
I definitely don't. I live in a rust belt city and proud of it. Im just pointing out that your orignal point was misleading.
Which is associated with the Mobile River which isn't at all comparable to the Mississippi River. Come on now.
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New Orleans shouldn’t have stopped Mobile’s potential, there are plenty of other major cities that coexist such as Chicago and Milwaukee.
You aren't taking the common economic foundations of New Orleans and Mobile into account (agriculture based on slavery) as well as their differing histories of immigration. And even though Milwaukee may coexist as a major city along with Chicago, the gap between those two cities is even larger than the gap between New Orleans and Mobile. And in a similar way, Houston stymied New Orleans' potential due to the former displacing the latter in importance with the energy industry.
Economically the Gulf Coast is far stronger. The Texas and Florida cities are growing especially fast. New Orleans has recovered its pre Katrina population in the metro area, while cities like Cleveland, Duluth, Buffalo, and Detroit have never recovered their population decline due to economic ruin.
I think you're being a bit disingenuous in your comparisons here. New Orleans hasn't recovered its metropolitan pre-Katrina population as it is currently below its official 2000 population. Also comparing population loss/recovery due to a natural disaster on one hand and due to broader economic and demographic changes on the other is apples and oranges.
It wasn't in regard to the Gulf States. I was saying that if water became a problem in the US, or the world, the Great Lakes water becomes gold. Asia has already tried to get some of it....not happening.
Lake Baikal, Siberia alone has more fresh water than the great lakes... combined. Asia will be fine
Besides, desalinization would probably be the norm by the time the world economy was at the point major lakes were the only option of getting water.
Is it me or is this becoming a p*****g contest? "Gulf Coast good", "Great Lakes bad". "Gulf Coast is Paradise", "Great Lakes are 3rd World countries." But, us Great Lake folks are used to it by now. We're used to having all kinds of shade thrown at us while the Gulf Coast barely has any shade thrown at them. JK .
Huh? Are you calling people in Chicago with all its headquarters and commodity exchanges, and Toronto, the capital of Canada, stupid, and lacking the intelligence of the Gulf coast? Are Mobile, Pensacola, and Corpus Christie the new brain trust of the nation?
Don't play dumb, it's pretty clear that I was speaking strictly in reference to the energy industry ... which also happens to be the very industry that controls the world's power, and keeps the modern economy functioning.
Which is associated with the Mobile River which isn't at all comparable to the Mississippi River. Come on now.
True, but it is still a navigable river that serves a different drainage basin, all the agricultural products and whatever else that is produced in Alabama are shipped down the Alabama/Mobile river, not the Mississippi river. Obliviously New Orleans will always be the larger city since it serves a much larger market, but to say Mobile doesn't have one is disingenuous.
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Originally Posted by Mutiny77
You aren't taking the common economic foundations of New Orleans and Mobile into account (agriculture based on slavery) as well as their differing histories of immigration. And even though Milwaukee may coexist as a major city along with Chicago, the gap between those two cities is even larger than the gap between New Orleans and Mobile. And in a similar way, Houston stymied New Orleans' potential due to the former displacing the latter in importance with the energy industry.
City (population) - City (Population): Ratio | distance in between
Buffalo (1,134,210) - Rochester (1,082,284): 0.95 | 66.62 miles
Seattle (3,939,363) - Portland (2,478,810): 0.63 | 145.17 miles
Washington (6,216,589) - Baltimore (2,802,789): 0.45 | 35.15 miles
Boston (4,628,910) - Providence (1,604,291): 0.35 | 41.15 miles New Orleans (1,262,888) - Mobile (413,757): 0.33 | 131.34 miles
New York (19,979,477) - Philadelphia (6,096,120): 0.31 80.59 miles
Houston (6,997,384) - New Orleans (1,262,888): 0.18 | 317.53 miles Chicago (9,533,040) - Milwaukee (1,572,245): 0.16 | 81.24 miles
So I guess you are right Milwaukee is not the best example, but there are plenty of other cities that beat New Orleans and Mobile, I guess the real surprising thing is how small New Orleans is, and true it doesn't have the best geographic lay out, but certainly another near by city could have sprouted as the hub for between international trade and domestic trade of the Mississippi river drainage basin, perhaps that city could've even been Mobile, or Biloxi?
And the fact that the Gulf state doesn't have enough "economic" room to support multiple major cities tells you that the Great Lakes region is superior to the Gulf coast, with out the tourist/retirement industry of Florida and energy field of Texas, Houston and Tampa wouldn't even be as nearly large as they are now.
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