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I hate this kind of story

23 March 2009 3 Comments

How much does negativity and a negative national perception hurt our cities and our region?

Clearly, places like Youngstown, Cleveland, Toledo, and the other cities on this list of “America’s Downsized Cities” have their problems. But we already knew that. It seems like this Forbes.com list doesn’t do much to add to the discussion.

http://www.forbes.com/2009/03/19/downsized-cities-population-lifestyle-real-estate-cities.html?partner=email

“In a way, it’s the same old story: The Rust Belt, comprised of blue-collar cities where the manufacturing industry once dominated, can’t seem to find a way to thrive.”

Exactly – it seems like the same old story, with not much new information.

The list of cities was compiled using 2008 population estimates for the 125 largest metropolitan statistical areas in the U.S., released Thursday by the Census. Forbes compared those estimates with 2007 population estimates to determine the percent change year-over-year, and looked at the percent change in population from 2000 to 2007. It combined those two rankings–weighting down the more relevant 2007-2008 percent change–for a final ranking, according to the article.

Popularity: 2% [?]

  • rustwire

    Counterpoint: Or is it better for the media to spotlight the problems in Rust Belt cities so that attention is drawn to this problem, and potentially resources?
    Sometimes I think people in Florida and New York just really have no idea what is taking place in inner-city Cleveland or Detroit.
    -Angie

  • http://stonecrop.wordpress.com/ Jim

    That Forbes article was awful in so many ways. Nothing more than a banal recitation, with a focus on meagerly contextual factoids that are too big to miss. The beat needs to be covered by someone who understands cities and has at least some insight into their significance, beyond their appeal or lack thereof to basket case mega-corporations. That doesn’t need to be a Jane Jacobs</a, but following her footsteps is a good start. It wouldn’t hurt if that someone had affection for cities too, all pretensions to “objectivity” be damned.

  • http://rustwire.com/2009/08/04/take-that-forbes-lists/ Rust Wire » Blog Archive » Take That, Forbes Lists

    [...] rants about how Forbes magazine mischaracterizes our cities with its silly and bogus lists – America’s Downsized Cities, Hardest Places to Get By, Dying Cities, and even Best Place for [...]