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 ...
I have never been a fan of unions. In many instance they used thuggery to keep the employees in line they were supposed to representing.
They rip off the membership for funds, then provide those funds to the people who want to destroy our nation.
They say they represent the union members, and then support bringing in illegal aliens to replace workers across this nation. In some instances those illegals actually compete with union members.
The unions actually send out people to attack Conservatives on the street. (during protests or demonstrations)
No, I’m not a big fan of unions.
When it comes to the steel industry, I do believe the unions were horrible. I can see the need to break them up, and moving steel production off-shore seemed reasoned. Steel is so vitally important, that I didn’t agree that was a great idea.
Personally, I would have rather seen more private steel firms crop up, even with worker ownership participation than see all steel imported.
OK, let me get this straight: free citizens exercising their right to live wherever they chose and that act was being made ILLEGAL?!?!? What ‘genius’ judge tried to force people to live where they no longer wanted??? I don’t remember that bit from the failed desegregation ruling and subsequent bussing disaster in Dallas. I was just 5 yrs old when we left Dallas and, of course, paid no attention to the news. In the end, white families left Dallas in large numbers and the DISD schools began their rapid slide into the toilet. Not just the schools but the city as a whole.
RIP, Dallas.
That's a strawman argument, my FRiend. Imagine if there was a tariff on them on this thread.
Looks to me like those cities should double their tax rate to make up for the loss of tax income. /s
RE: Rochester, NY?
Well, Eastman Kodak and Bausch and Lomb are still there. These are Rochester’s anchor companies. When they go, Rochester dies.
Rochester was hurt but not as much as Buffalo & Albany which relied much more heavily on the Erie Canal and heavy manufacturing.
Motown? PBS has that rapped up during their pledge drives.
Yep, $750 billion yearly “trade deficits” alone (never-mind the total volume of trade) with China, shouldn’t make anyone ponder whether trade with China might have had a negative impact on the infrastructure of the United States.
Just forget about the yearly multiplier effect of trillions of dollars in the U. S. economy rather than China’s.
Good call. (In case anyone needs it...) /s
It would put us on the road to prosperity!
RE: And what cities would that be? Name one.
well, let’s see, Charles Meeker is the Democratic Mayor of Raleigh, NC (since 2001). Raleigh has been consistently ranked by MONEY magazine among the best cities to live in in America.
I agree. Pittsburgh did not wait long for steel jobs to come back and then die. They decided they needed to expand. Medical research, tech, etc. I just can’t explain how they did that with Democrats and unions. It’s mind boggling. Well, they did have John Heinz for a while. Back when Theresa was Republican.
But, you get what you pay for. How many of us would actually want to go to Detroit and live in one of the houses we could buy for less than a Toyota Camry?
$750 billion? Are you sure it’s not eleventy jillion? /s
Those jobs aren't for us either- those jobs are for illegals; those are jobs we won't do according to our politicians. I guess that is why even with skyrocketing unemployment we need to keep the illegals and get more. I am not sure what we are supposed to do for a living- get on the dole I guess.
My guess is that a number of the “dead” cities are surrounded by reasonably prosperous suburbs, more likely populated by GOP/conservative folks.
They are supporting each other and/or there is still some kind of life in the central city.
“No, folks of your ilk come here on a daily basis in order to put words in our mouths. It’s utterly boring, and predictable.”
Now that’s funny. I think you’ve had too much Democrat government, you’ve adopted the Democrat/Alinsky way... accuse your opposition of what you do. Well played Saul.
No programs were called for from me, no government takeovers, simply some common sense, and a little intervention in leveling the playing field. Contrary to the strict libertarian thought, government does have some purpose, even if it screws up most of what it touches.
The fact that China is communist, fixes it’s currency, and manufactures supplies for our miliatry, none of that bothers you, I’m sure.
Look you won. Unrestricted free trade was the order of the day. The crumbling infrastructure, high unemployment and the contracting consumer economy, that’s nothing to worry about, even though you were warned, you got what you wanted.
It’s all good right? Have you enrolled your kids in Chinese classes?
Yes, I know we do still have some manufacturing in the United States. Look, the trade deficit with China has been in the neighborhood of $750 billion dollars yearly. That’s just the trade deficit. Total trade with China is much more than that.
Do you honestly think moving more than $750 billion dollars in manufacturing off our shores had no negative impact?
We’re talking about $750 billion dollars that would have been paid out in salaries, supported household loans, supported vehicle loans, flowed through super markets, clothing hardware auto parts and other stores.
And each step of the way that more than $750 billion would have been spurring more financial transactions.
Think of the tax revenues alone. I know we don’t like taxes as a Conservative, but when it comes to our schools, local police and fire departments, we actually do.
Have wages gone up, or has there been an absolute wage stagnation?
Look, free trade sounds great. I like the idea of reasoned trade, but with anything in life that is good, too much of it can actually be bad.
I don’t pretend to have all the answers, but if I couldn’t support staying in bed with my wife 24/7/365, there has to be a grain of truth in the idea there can actually be a down-side to too much free trade too.
Well, that’s at least our take on it.
....Until those who govern by American principles, meaning freedom loving are elected this year and in two years time.
The city was virtually dead when I was youth in the 60’s and 1970’s. I have seen much improvement since then along with a growing population. Sure it has its problems today but it is far from dying or dead.
Hardly a Republican leader in sight.
Now that’s funny. I think you’ve had too much Democrat government, you’ve adopted the Democrat/Alinsky way... accuse your opposition of what you do. Well played Saul.
I think we've reached the limit of your attention span on this thread--you've forgotton your comments. Well played, moron.
No programs were called for from me, no government takeovers, simply some common sense, and a little intervention in leveling the playing field.
Just a "little" intervention, huh? Of course the government is capable of "little" interventions. Nothing the government does ever increases in size or scope. But let's get started . . . what's the smallest wage the government should force employers to pay? In order to ensure prosperity for all of us . . . .
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