Posted on 09/01/2010 9:31:43 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
A city does not die when its last resident moves away. Death happens when municipalities lose the industries and vital populations that made them important cities.
The economy has evolved so much since the middle of the 20th Century that many cities that were among the largest and most vibrant in America have collapsed. Some have lost more than half of their residents. Others have lost the businesses that made them important centers of finance, manufacturing, and commerce.
Most of America’s Ten Dead Cities were once major manufacturing hubs and others were important ports or financial services centers. The downfall of one city, New Orleans, began in the 1970s, but was accelerated by Hurricane Katrina.
Notably, the rise of inexpensive manufacturing in Japan destroyed the ability of the industrial cities on this list to effectively compete in the global marketplace. Foreign business activity and US government policy were two of the three major blows that caused the downfall of these cities. The third was the labor movement and its demands for higher compensation which ballooned the costs of manufacturing in many of these cities as well.
24/7 Wall St. looked at a number of sources in order to select the list. One was the US Census Bureau’s list of largest cities by population by decade from 1950 to 2000 with estimates for 2007. Detroit, for example, had 1.9 million people in 1950 and was the fifth largest city in the nation. By 2000, the figure was 951,000. The city was not even on the top ten list in 2007.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
“Service sector jobs is where it’s at. $12 dollars an hour is the new $20 per hour. Excellent...”
You didn’t get it exactly right, but you’re close. The free traders say that shipping those jobs offshore frees us to do more important, and better jobs.
While I think Obama is a large factor in our economy withering, there is more to it. We have a smaller manufacturing base, and that is what pulls you out of recession. I think we’re witnessing the contraction of the American economy. Contrary to what the free traders told us, you can’t exist as a service economy only, and not everyone is capable of being an entrepeneur. The world’s largest consumer economy is contracting, and there is little chance it will ever regain it’s once robust characteristics.
Could not agree more.
As far as the People’s Republic of New York, I have been saying this for many years. There is no reason, no economic advantage nor driving inspiration for anyone to live more than 1/2 HR outside New York City. (except easier to obtain CC permits)
Today also, there is little reason to live IN NYC. Everything can be done less expensively, more cleanly and with more future viability OUTSIDE of NYC. Wall Street is doomed.
Once the United Nations is pushed off the the edge of Manhattan island, turn off the lights, the partys over.
East St. Louis and Gary Indiana?
Not sure how Albany belongs on the list since it is a state capitol and inevitably grows with the state government.
I also expected St. Louis to be on the list. The metro area is growing, but the city proper is a shell of it’s former self.
Look, I don’t have to put an “/s” after the obvious do I?
Reread it and take it in the proper context.
These are not my views. They are the views that were spoon fed us to justify destroying our infrastructure.
“Too much sociology, psychology, victimology, pseudo-environmentalism (pretending to fix things that aren’t broke).”
And artsy degrees, film schools, and other pointless courses that don’t really build a nation and teach practical skills. I sometimes think that courses like these should be relegated to academies that deal specifically with these subjects and not part of the general curriculum of colleges and universities. And student loans shouldn’t loan money to people taking these courses.
Man oh man, this thread is turning into virtual parade of strawmen.
Lessons learnt: low quality can sink whole cities, you can have a huge port and still not have a great city around because of politics, and gambling can only bail you out for so long.
Galveston 10 of 10
Yawn...
Okay, the Free Traitor brigade has been heard from.
Actually, an American named W. Edwards Deming built the Japanese up after WWII. Deming had a manufacturing philosophy of statistical monitoring and incremental improvements that the big American companies shunned, but the Japanese embraced wholeheartedly. Looks like he was right.
There are two that I think miss the boat. Allentown is really not a stand alone city any longer. Instead it is regarded as part of the larger “Lehigh Valley” region. Due to the high taxes in NJ and NY, the Lehigh Valley has boomed in recent years.
I saw Albany during the early to mid 70’s and it was a true disaster. It is nothing like that today and is really reverting to what it should have always been, a capital city for a state. Still, the irony of being on this list is too priceless. If there is a reason for a decline in the region Schnectady, Troy, Syracuse, Buffalo, etc. one need look no further than what goes on in the State Capital.
If he's converting them to anything, it shoudl be garden allotments.
Psalm 9:17
The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.
Just an unintended result of the desegregation of DISD schools in the ‘70’s. Parents fled Dallas rather than have their children attend inner-city schools, only after being bussed halfway across the city. The DemocRATS are reaping what they have been sowing for the last 40 years.
What was good about Dallas has moved to Fort Worth. It’s a minor relocation of 20 miles, compared to shipping business overseas.
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