The Fall And Rise Of The Rust Belt
Today's blog is dedicated to the manufacturing cities within the US and Canada still struggling. Recently I watched Eminem's new video on YouTube entitled "Beautiful". This is not the typical Eminem we knew a few years ago.
When I'm talking about those manufacturing cities, I'm talking about the Rust Belt. It is an area in parts of the Northeastern United States, Mid-Atlantic States, and portions of the Upper Midwest. The region can be broadly defined as the region beginning west of the BosWash corridor and running west to Minnesota, particularly the city of Duluth and the Iron Range. Because the area's economy was defined by the steel industry and other heavy manufacturing, Minnesota – with its massive iron mining operations integral to steel – is often considered to be "where the Rust Belt begins". The area immediate to Lake Erie is considered to be the "hub" of the Rust Belt. The region extends southward to the beginnings of the coal-mining regions of Appalachia, north to the Great Lakes and includes manufacturing regions of Southern Ontario and Quebec in Canada.
So we're talking about Minnesota, Cleveland, Columbus, Youngstown, Milwaukee, Toledo, Erie, Bethlehem, Allentown, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Detroit, Flint, Buffalo, Windsor, Sarnia, London, Oshawa, St. Catherines, and Hamilton.
These are cities that one time became contribute to over one quarter of North America's GNP. But outsourcing of manufacturing jobs to developing countries along with trade deficits has resulted to economic problems in these areas.
Take Detroit for example. Detroit and the surrounding region constitute a major manufacturing center, most notably as home to the Big Three automobile companies, General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler. The city is an important center for global trade with large international law firms having their offices in both Detroit and Windsor. About 80,500 people work in downtown Detroit, comprising 21% of the City's employment.
And yet the rise in automated manufacturing using robot technology, inexpensive labor in other parts of the world, and increased competition have led to a steady transformation of certain types of manufacturing jobs in the region. Local complications for the city include higher taxes than the nearby suburbs, with many unable to afford the levies on property. During the recession, in April 2009, metropolitan Detroit's unemployment rate had risen to 13.6%. In the city, as of April 2009, the unemployment rate rose to 22.8%. Parts of the city have vacant buildings. Though the city has struggled with finances, it issued bonds in 2008 to provide funding to demolish blighted properties.
The irony of this promotional film, made in 1965, is pretty amazing. For some reason, Detroit was chosen by the U.S. to host the 1968 Olympic Games. (Mexico City eventually won the contest.) This film says that Detroit 'stands at the threshold of a bright new future,' a claim that sadly was mistaken.
In fact, even when this film was made, Detroit had been struggling for years with 'white flight' to the suburbs. A race riot during WW2 showed the racial tension already existing in the city. Population in Detroit peaked at 1.8 million in 1950 and then began to decline.
The worst blow came in 1967, two years after this film was made. The riot that year lasted five days and the state and federal governments, under order of then President Lyndon B. Johnson, sent in National Guard and United States Army troops. The result was forty-three dead, 467 injured, over 7,200 arrests and more than 2,000 buildings burned down. Detroit has never recovered, and today the population stands at just over 900,000, half of its 1950 level. The problems plaguing the U.S. auto industry have kept Detroit from regaining its former importance.
Detroit may probably be the worst cased scenerio for many rust belt cities. I have to admit. But does all other rust belt cities need to fear that what happens to Detroit will happen to all the rest. Well, not necessarily.
Fifty years ago, lake and river communities heard the cha-ching of industrial dollars when they looked at their waterfronts. Now, they see places where tourists will spend free time and money, helping to revive economies shattered by the joblessness and poverty left in the wake of heavy industry's collapse. Many are building convention centers and casinos, cleaning up polluted waterfronts and using low-interest loans and state grants to lure entrepreneurs to open restaurants and quaint shops.
Some cities like Johnstown, Pa., hope to use their steel history to attract visitors interested in the industries that fueled the country's economy for more than a century. Others, like Selma, N.C., have become a destination for antique buffs. In the coal mining Appalachian region of southwestern Virginia, the state connected 250 miles of mountain passes through 28 communities to create the Crooked Road, a foray through the region's bluegrass music culture.
Tourism on the Crooked Road has been a huge boost to an economy plagued for decades by double-digit unemployment, local and state officials say. The more than 10 percent increase in tourism since the road opened in 2004 has sparked locals to open restaurants, hotels, shops and even brought a long-courted McDonald's to Clintwood, a town of barely 1,500 people.
And why stop there? Take Toledo for example. Toledo and its surrounding communities are in the process of re-emerging as a “green belt. Every one of us knows a 30-something who might have done this community a world of good had they been able to stay. Toledo may have found a way to bridge the gap between those young adults who want to stay and the growing number of renewable energy and energy-efficient companies that need educated workers. Toledo and Lucas County officials have formed a Green Jobs Partnership, a training and job-placement mechanism to meet the growing needs of green-collar start-ups.
In the 1980s, Bilbao, Spain, had a lot in common with some U.S. 'Rust Belt' cities - declining population, dying industries, and a depressed downtown. Today, thanks to a massive investment in path-breaking architecture and visionary planning, this urban invalid in northern Spain has come back to life with a bang. Tourists who flock here from around the globe to see Frank Gehry's shimmering, titanium-clad Guggenheim Museum also find a reborn city, its waterfront in the throes of renewal, its bustling downtown streets lined with swank shops, its ancient center being restored. Industries are cleaner, jobs are plentiful and the population is no longer hemorrhaging.The spectacular turnaround of Bilbao, the capital of Bizkaia (Biscay) in Spain's Basque region, is a story of moxie, muscle and money.
Tourism industries, creative industries, green industries, health industries, research and development. That's what rust belt cities should be aiming for to create economic growth. But in order for it to happen, politicians on all levels need to ease the laws that restrict businesses to establish themselves within those cities. Which means more incentives for entrepreneurship and small business, lower taxes, less restrictions on what to sell.
The other day, a guy came up to me at our Fix Our World table (he was probably from a union) and suggested that Hamilton needs to create more manufacturing jobs.
Well yes, and no. Yes, because it would probably create opportunity at least a while. No, because there are other opportunities out there besides manufacturing that are long term and sustainable like creating your own business and becoming your own boss. Sure it takes a lot of work and knowledge, but it all starts with one simple idea, and builds up from there. Thing is, manufacturing is not the only way of income for any city. It would've been ideal centuries ago. But we are living in an ever changing society, where cities have to keep up or faulter all together. We should not turn back the clock and think 20th century thoughts; that's not how society progresses. We should not let governments and government bureaucracy do all the work. It's up to us. We have to think for ourselves, and it comes from education and learning. It's our only chance of survival.
The opinions expressed in this blog are those of the Simonizer, and do not necessarily reflect those of the Fix Our World Foundation.
When I'm talking about those manufacturing cities, I'm talking about the Rust Belt. It is an area in parts of the Northeastern United States, Mid-Atlantic States, and portions of the Upper Midwest. The region can be broadly defined as the region beginning west of the BosWash corridor and running west to Minnesota, particularly the city of Duluth and the Iron Range. Because the area's economy was defined by the steel industry and other heavy manufacturing, Minnesota – with its massive iron mining operations integral to steel – is often considered to be "where the Rust Belt begins". The area immediate to Lake Erie is considered to be the "hub" of the Rust Belt. The region extends southward to the beginnings of the coal-mining regions of Appalachia, north to the Great Lakes and includes manufacturing regions of Southern Ontario and Quebec in Canada.
So we're talking about Minnesota, Cleveland, Columbus, Youngstown, Milwaukee, Toledo, Erie, Bethlehem, Allentown, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Detroit, Flint, Buffalo, Windsor, Sarnia, London, Oshawa, St. Catherines, and Hamilton.
These are cities that one time became contribute to over one quarter of North America's GNP. But outsourcing of manufacturing jobs to developing countries along with trade deficits has resulted to economic problems in these areas.
Take Detroit for example. Detroit and the surrounding region constitute a major manufacturing center, most notably as home to the Big Three automobile companies, General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler. The city is an important center for global trade with large international law firms having their offices in both Detroit and Windsor. About 80,500 people work in downtown Detroit, comprising 21% of the City's employment.
And yet the rise in automated manufacturing using robot technology, inexpensive labor in other parts of the world, and increased competition have led to a steady transformation of certain types of manufacturing jobs in the region. Local complications for the city include higher taxes than the nearby suburbs, with many unable to afford the levies on property. During the recession, in April 2009, metropolitan Detroit's unemployment rate had risen to 13.6%. In the city, as of April 2009, the unemployment rate rose to 22.8%. Parts of the city have vacant buildings. Though the city has struggled with finances, it issued bonds in 2008 to provide funding to demolish blighted properties.
The irony of this promotional film, made in 1965, is pretty amazing. For some reason, Detroit was chosen by the U.S. to host the 1968 Olympic Games. (Mexico City eventually won the contest.) This film says that Detroit 'stands at the threshold of a bright new future,' a claim that sadly was mistaken.
In fact, even when this film was made, Detroit had been struggling for years with 'white flight' to the suburbs. A race riot during WW2 showed the racial tension already existing in the city. Population in Detroit peaked at 1.8 million in 1950 and then began to decline.
The worst blow came in 1967, two years after this film was made. The riot that year lasted five days and the state and federal governments, under order of then President Lyndon B. Johnson, sent in National Guard and United States Army troops. The result was forty-three dead, 467 injured, over 7,200 arrests and more than 2,000 buildings burned down. Detroit has never recovered, and today the population stands at just over 900,000, half of its 1950 level. The problems plaguing the U.S. auto industry have kept Detroit from regaining its former importance.
Detroit may probably be the worst cased scenerio for many rust belt cities. I have to admit. But does all other rust belt cities need to fear that what happens to Detroit will happen to all the rest. Well, not necessarily.
Fifty years ago, lake and river communities heard the cha-ching of industrial dollars when they looked at their waterfronts. Now, they see places where tourists will spend free time and money, helping to revive economies shattered by the joblessness and poverty left in the wake of heavy industry's collapse. Many are building convention centers and casinos, cleaning up polluted waterfronts and using low-interest loans and state grants to lure entrepreneurs to open restaurants and quaint shops.
Some cities like Johnstown, Pa., hope to use their steel history to attract visitors interested in the industries that fueled the country's economy for more than a century. Others, like Selma, N.C., have become a destination for antique buffs. In the coal mining Appalachian region of southwestern Virginia, the state connected 250 miles of mountain passes through 28 communities to create the Crooked Road, a foray through the region's bluegrass music culture.
Tourism on the Crooked Road has been a huge boost to an economy plagued for decades by double-digit unemployment, local and state officials say. The more than 10 percent increase in tourism since the road opened in 2004 has sparked locals to open restaurants, hotels, shops and even brought a long-courted McDonald's to Clintwood, a town of barely 1,500 people.
And why stop there? Take Toledo for example. Toledo and its surrounding communities are in the process of re-emerging as a “green belt. Every one of us knows a 30-something who might have done this community a world of good had they been able to stay. Toledo may have found a way to bridge the gap between those young adults who want to stay and the growing number of renewable energy and energy-efficient companies that need educated workers. Toledo and Lucas County officials have formed a Green Jobs Partnership, a training and job-placement mechanism to meet the growing needs of green-collar start-ups.
In the 1980s, Bilbao, Spain, had a lot in common with some U.S. 'Rust Belt' cities - declining population, dying industries, and a depressed downtown. Today, thanks to a massive investment in path-breaking architecture and visionary planning, this urban invalid in northern Spain has come back to life with a bang. Tourists who flock here from around the globe to see Frank Gehry's shimmering, titanium-clad Guggenheim Museum also find a reborn city, its waterfront in the throes of renewal, its bustling downtown streets lined with swank shops, its ancient center being restored. Industries are cleaner, jobs are plentiful and the population is no longer hemorrhaging.The spectacular turnaround of Bilbao, the capital of Bizkaia (Biscay) in Spain's Basque region, is a story of moxie, muscle and money.
Tourism industries, creative industries, green industries, health industries, research and development. That's what rust belt cities should be aiming for to create economic growth. But in order for it to happen, politicians on all levels need to ease the laws that restrict businesses to establish themselves within those cities. Which means more incentives for entrepreneurship and small business, lower taxes, less restrictions on what to sell.
The other day, a guy came up to me at our Fix Our World table (he was probably from a union) and suggested that Hamilton needs to create more manufacturing jobs.
Well yes, and no. Yes, because it would probably create opportunity at least a while. No, because there are other opportunities out there besides manufacturing that are long term and sustainable like creating your own business and becoming your own boss. Sure it takes a lot of work and knowledge, but it all starts with one simple idea, and builds up from there. Thing is, manufacturing is not the only way of income for any city. It would've been ideal centuries ago. But we are living in an ever changing society, where cities have to keep up or faulter all together. We should not turn back the clock and think 20th century thoughts; that's not how society progresses. We should not let governments and government bureaucracy do all the work. It's up to us. We have to think for ourselves, and it comes from education and learning. It's our only chance of survival.
The opinions expressed in this blog are those of the Simonizer, and do not necessarily reflect those of the Fix Our World Foundation.
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