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Rust Belt
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The Rust Belt, sometimes called the Manufacturing Belt, 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 term Rust Belt signified the collapse of the steel industry and restructuring of industry, with the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs in the region. The area immediate to Lake Erie is considered to be the "hub" of the Manufacturing 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.
Economic activity in the Manufacturing Belt forms a significant part of the heavy industry and manufacturing sectors of the American economy. Contraction of manufacturing jobs has dislocated many workers in this region, particularly in Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Duluth, the Twin Cities, Detroit, Toledo, Cleveland, Youngstown, Ohio, Erie and Gary, Indiana, forcing the area — the focal point on the continent for the automobile industry — to diversify. Emerging technologies in this region — including hydrogen fuel cell development, nanotechnology, biotechnology, and information technology — may help revitalize the economy of affected communities.
Geographic definition Although manufacturing exists nationwide, the region is roughly defined as comprising the northern sections of Indiana and Ohio; the Lower Peninsula of Michigan; New York, especially around Buffalo; New York City and Northern New Jersey; most of Pennsylvania; eastern and northern Minnesota; and the northern part of West Virginia, particularly the Northern Panhandle. Other cities such as Baltimore, Maryland, and Wilmington, Delaware which share important economic characteristics are sometimes included. Saint Louis, Missouri may be considered a manufacturing center, although the surrounding parts of Missouri and Illinois are not part of the region.
Sometimes the adjacent portions of the Canadian province of Ontario (particularly the southern and southwestern parts) are included as well, giving the concept an international dimension. This portion includes heavily industrial centers such as Hamilton, St. Catharines and Windsor.
History The area emerged as a primary center of manufacturing and industry due to access to resources and its proximity to navigable waterways. Ready sources of coal lay just to the south in West Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky, as well as in western and northeastern Pennsylvania; an immigration-driven population boom in the late 19th century provided workers for expanding industries; and easy access to shipping on the Great Lakes, and to the East Coast was possible via canals, and later railroads. The region was one of the first in the United States to build railroad service (i.e. the Allegheny Portage Railroad). Coal, iron ore and other raw materials were shipped in from surrounding regions to cities such as Pittsburgh and Gary, which became centers of the steel industry. Duluth, Chicago, Cleveland, Buffalo, Detroit, and Toledo emerged as major ports on the Great Lakes and served as transportation hubs for the region with a proximity to railroad lines.
Outsourcing of manufacturing jobs is a hotly debated topic in the region. One popular culprit has been globalization and the expansion of worldwide free trade agreements. Anti-globalization groups argue that trade with developing countries has resulted in stiff competition from countries with much lower prevailing wages, forcing domestic wages to drift downward to compete.Another likely (but less commonly discussed) cause has been the increased transportation integration and migratory patterns within the United States, as proximity to energy sources has become less important and access to the booming populations and lower-wage labor markets of the Sunbelt has shifted a large share of new US manufacturing investment to these locations. A centuries-old trend to replace expensive labor with cheap technology has reduced the number of unskilled workers necessary to manufacture goods. Much of the manufacturing once done by workers is now done more efficiently by robots, reducing the total number of manufacturing jobs needed for a given level of output.
Despite the decline in overall manufacturing employment, manufacturing output in the U.S. rises steadily. Manufacturing in Michigan grew 6.6% from 2001 to 2006. Although there have been decreases in the output of some tradeable goods since 2000, resulting in part from trade issues, the U.S. remains one of the world's preeminent manufacturing areas. American manufacturing has moved away from labor-intensive processes (which are cheaper in low-wage countries) and toward high-value products and advanced robotized manufacturing. Despite its difficulties, the area is the center of the number one exporting region in the US.
In the second half of the 20th century, many of the cities had an expansion in their suburban populations. Examples from the 2000 U.S. Census include Detroit, Flint, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Erie, Duluth, Niagara Falls, which is an important center for the chemical industry, Buffalo, Binghamton, Rochester, Minneapolis and St. Paul, Akron, Toledo, Syracuse, St. Louis (since 2002 has had slow population growth, about 1000 per year) and many more, despite revitalized downtown areas. Northern states have mounted a "Cool Cities" initiative to reverse the trend. The 2004 population estimate showed Manufacturing Belt states averaged around 2% net growth even as many of those in retirement age moved southward.
Because the politically pivotal states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin are in this region, presidential candidates have been asked to respond to the economic challenges of these communities.
See also
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