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 ...
Sad, hartford was considered a Jewel of a city by Samuel Clemmons at the turn of the 20th century. It now needs a thorough cleaning and criminals locked up.
Because nothing, but nothing, beats the business appeal of dirt-cheap, rock-bottom labor.
Beating people to death in their pay packets and driving them down the ladder of existence is one of the biggest, fattest, margin-plumpingest, ego-chuffingest perks available in the world of business. It's beyond catnip. It's just the cat's ass and the bee's knees. You will never, ever get businessmen to leave that alone, no more than you'll stop old Chinese fat guys from buying girls' virginities, rhino horns, and tiger bones.
Screwing your employees is corner-office Viagra. A lot of office Napoleons would tip out to management and work for free.
“I’m putting forward the idea that something on that scale would go a long way into fixing many of today’s problems. “
Thanks for the reply. Sorry if I seemed argumentative. I wasn’t sure where you were coming from. This was a pretty wild thread. Lots of debating going on.
Heres a link to a map I got off FreeRepublic
http://www.forbes.com/2010/06/04/migration-moving-wealthy-interactive-counties-map.html
Map: Where Americans Are Moving
Jon Bruner
More than 10 million Americans moved from one county to another during 2008. The map below visualizes those moves. Click on any county to see comings and goings: black lines indicate net inward movement, red lines net outward movement.
Sometimes you’re right, sometimes you’re wrong...
His explanation of the town’s demise is as follows:
The cause of Galveston’s demise is unique. It had become something of the Sodom and Gomorrah of the southern US. There was a large gambling industry there, some of it illegal, which was controlled by criminals.
In the late 1950s,Texas state authorities successfully attacked local organized crime. The regulated tourist trade could not replace the illegal business.
Galveston’s port and hospitality industries had begun to improve, but where trampled by the effects of Hurricane Ike in 2008. The event destroyed a large part of the city’s tax base, and set back the tourism industry once again.
I don't think the author understands Galveston. Here is a Houston Chronicle article written a year after Ike: Link. From that link:
... slowly healing, but it may take a decade to fully recover.
About 75 percent of Galveston's businesses are back, and officials say those that left are being replaced by new enterprises.
Tourism, the island's lifeblood, has rebounded, although it's suffering from the depressed national economy.
The city's Hotel Occupancy Tax is down an average of 31 percent this year, reflecting the lower room rates. Gaskins said nationally hotel occupancy rates are down 40 percent, but the occupancy rate has averaged about 80 percent in Galveston. Any effect Ike had on tourism has disappeared by now, Schultz said. “I don't think there is anything that has to do with Ike,” he said.
I gather Colonel Bubbies on the Strand is open. Link. Why else would tourists come to Galveston?
No problem! Debate is good!
“Sorry Ace You lose for being the grammar queen!”
Nah. You lose for not having a sense of humor.
“Sorry Ace You lose for being the grammar queen!”
Nah. You lose for not having a sense of humor.”
Try this the next time \s So I will not confuse you with the sissies. Regards.
Add Harrisburg, PA. to the list. Since they elected a black female mayor, they are sinking faster than the Titanic!
“Try this the next time \s So I will not confuse you with the sissies. Regards.”
Maybe I should have used \h ?
Anyways, my tag line explains it all.
Cheers!
“Sometimes you’re right, sometimes you’re wrong...”
You’re right.
“Try this the next time \s So I will not confuse you with the sissies. Regards.”
Maybe I should have used \h ?
Anyways, my tag line explains it all.
Cheers!”
That is cool.
Why isn’t Bridgeport CT on the list?
Yup, and this morning watching the news I heard that the next industry Hussain is attacking is private tech schools.
Gee, if I were the cynical type I'd almost think Hussain wants the country to fail.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.