Why the Midwest is gonna boom again. (Pittsburgh, Indiana: sales, real estate)

[nickolaseposter]

Cleveland. Indianapolis. Dayton. St. Louis. Cincinnati. Grand Rapids. Columbus. Pittsburgh. Toledo. Fort Wayne. Kansas City. Memphis. Chicago. Nashville. Louisville. Peoria. Des Moines. Minneapolis. Akron. Detroit. (I'm probably forgetting a few other ones.)
The midwest definitly has an interesting array of cities. But what is going to make it boom the most???

I don't think that we'll have to worry much about competition between the West Coast (California's population is, for the first time in eighty years, seeing a decline) or the East Coast (NY is not growing as much, and the only REAL cities that are growing is D.C.). The real competition will be between the midwest (north) and the southern states. Cities like Atlanta, Miami, Tampa, Dallas, Houston, Austin, New Orleans. Thats the competition. The midwest has gotta get smart and outwit the southern states. And the BEST way to do that. THE WAY WE'RE GONNA GROW, is by mere affordability. The recession isn't over yet, but when it ends, the markets will rise in a direction where people want to spend their money in a way that they can get more BANG for their BUCK. So what should the midwest do? Not lower their standards, but provide strong middle class housing that is diverse and offers plenty of ammentities. Wanna grow our downtowns? Offer middle class housing downtown or near it. Clean up old houses with character and clean up dirty neighborhoods. It's all about making things look nice, having at least okay schools, having a diverse economy, and having an affordable, realistic setting. That is whats gonna draw people to your city in the 2010 and even into the 2020's.

[Hopes]

We're going to beat the south with quality schools alone. The southern schools are absolutely terrible.

[raubre]

We may have to beat the northeast as well (Seattle and Portland are happening)

[Blackbeauty212]

I'm not to sure you can lump Pittsburgh in with the midwest, yes we have some mid-west tendency but Pittsburgh IMO is much more relatable with the East Coast...Not that its totally relatable but that its more so than the midwest.

[rescue_company_one]

I live in Oklahoma City. If you wanna know why This city is growing here it is.They have a program here called MAPS. They voted in 1993 on a 1 cent sales tax. This tax amounted to 309 Million over 66 months and gained 54 Million in Interest. They used this 363 Million to build a bunch of stuff to make the city better. They built a Baseball park, a Canal in thier Bricktown district, Renovated a convention center and some other stuff and Improved the river. When I say improved the river I mean they damned both ends of a 2-3 foot deep (Except for during rain) and made a beautiful 30 foot deep rock sided river for about 7 miles. This project went so well that in November 2001 they voted to extend it and call the next phase MAPS for Kids. 700 MILLION DOLLARS for 400 projects including building or renovating over 70 Schools. They are currently getting ready to vote on MAPS 3 which would start in 2012. They spend money to make things better. That will pull people and buisnesses into the city. They had a population of 438,000 in 1990 and an estimated 547,000 in 2007. Bottom line is that people have WANT thier city to get better. Nothing is stopping other cities from doing this but thier citizens. If you want to attract people and buisness to your community you need to have something for them.

Personally it is not enough for me. I like Snow, I hate tarantualas and Scorpions, and I miss the east coast. I plan on Moving to Pittsburgh late next year when my Wife finishes her next Degree.

But I want to ask you this, Why cant Pittsburgh or Monroeville or anyplace there do anything like this???

[Fiddlehead]

I agree with the poster that the Midwest could attract people. Not sure I would call it a boom, but it will grow faster than in recent decades. The West (including the PNW) have risen beyond their true value. I think they will retain appeal, but less than in previous decades. California, in particular, seems like it's done. Not to say it will dry up and blow away, but I think people definitely are reconsidering it, due to rapid increases in crime, poor schools, and fiscal problems.

As for the Midwest vs. South, I suppose it might depend upon a lot of factors, including climate. The upper Midwest is pretty harsh for sun, warmth lovers, so that goes toward the South. However, good schools, abundant parks and amenities, low to moderate crime, and a clean environment would certainly attract people to the Midwest. I know that the stereotype most Americans have of the upper Midwest cities is harsh winters, burning rivers, shuttered factories, and endless cornfields. To the degree that those can be proven false, people will eventually give the region a look.

I do think there has already been a big push of Californians into Texas, Arkansas, and Missouri. I believe most of it has to do with cheap real estate, ok schools, and a moderate climate. Some of this might have been bubble bandits parachuting in with big equite bucks, bit others, I believe, just like the economics better. Likewise with North Carolina, but I have heard of very few moving to Pittsburgh or the upper Midwest, unless pursuing jobs in hard-to-find fields, like academia.

[creepsinc]

While I agree with the basic premise, Pittsburgh and Nashville are NOT in the Midwest. And Seattle and Portland (from a later post) are not in the Northeast. What's going on here?

[Hopes]

For the record, I don't want Pittsburgh to boom. Booming economies bust. I like the stable economy we have.

[Tiger Beer]

I don't see it happening...being from the Midwest, and Michigan in particular...I just think many of the cities are just 'ruined'...i.e., too car-centric, too industrial and dirty, too decayed, and none of this would matter much, if they weren't simply too cold.

I think the original attraction to the Midwest was for good soil/farming...then the Great Lakes brought in industrial...easy way to ship things out. But these days, farms and industrial are really low priority for the United States.

Things have shifted to financial centers...and ahmm...telecommuting...maybe green technological industries....healthcare will be a major one - but I see it more in warm climates. I see all of that happening somewhere else. I don't see why anyone would want to invest in any of those things in a Detroit, Buffalo, Flint, etc., when you could do that in Arizona, Florida, or southern states where many jobs and northerners are moving to.

I think Pittsburgh might be an exception city to the others though. It is just south enough to not be excruciatingly cold, and just average cold....and it isn't as car-centric as the Detroit, Buffalo, etc. kind of places...where if you want car-centric, why not shiny new Phoenix, Orlando, etc.

In other words, I think most of the Midwest can't possibly boom with just a few exceptions. Actually Minneapolis, Omaha might be good cities, etc., but still the cold weather. They'll probably remain more or less the same with small growth because of regional reasons.

[Honest Bob]

I think that anyone that thinks that Cleveland is going to rebound has rocks in their heads.

Basically from what I read and see, companies who had plants are now in the green kick and they are abandoning their Brownfields type factories and plants and starting new green business elsewhere and sticking the government with the bill to clean it up.

When i did research on the Rouge - because some of my friends worked there - I read where Ford didn't want anything to do with it anymore because they polluted the heck out of it for years and now they don't want to pay to clean up their mess.

Jobs are moving south to places where there is no Unions and where they have right to work states where you don't have to pay Union Wages or over time and you can ask employee's to take a cut in pay to keep their jobs when times gets tough.

Places like Pennsylvania are becoming Retirement communities - just like Florida back in the 70's, 80's and 90's!

In my county alone there is almost 50% of the population over the age of 62 and another 1/4th under the age of 21. That leaves almost no one to pay into the tax base. Sooner or later the bridges are going to fall into the rivers and the city will fall in on its self.