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About

We have a lot to learn from each other.

Pittsburgh. Cleveland. Detroit. Youngstown. St. Louis. Cincinnati. Buffalo. Milwaukee.

More than a dozen cities; the same set of problems.

This site is intended to consolidate thoughtful, constructive stories about post-industrial cities across the Rust Belt. It was developed by two former newspaper reporters with ties to five Rust Belt cities, and it is maintained with help from half a dozen others from across the region.

Our aim present a balanced, realistic view of our cities, the challenges they face and the assets they maintain.

Welcome to the site. We hope you leave a little bit better informed.

Sincerely,

Angie Schmitt & Kate Giammarise

  • http://eachlittleworld.typepad.com Mark Golbach

    Kate,

    The site looks GREAT! I like the clean simplicity of the design. Nothing to distract from the content (which, of course I haven’t read YET, but will).

    Good luck to both of you. Maybe I’ll see you March.

  • bravenewtoledo

    I was wondering what you two were up to. Love the blog. I was working on a Toledo focused blog for a couple weeks but then I flaked… Keep up the good work.

  • Judy

    Love this!! clean, easy to read ( for a senior citizen like me) and informative!! Keep up the great work and I look forward to following..

  • Special K

    Thanks for reading, all.

  • http://www.ohiocity.org Yeya Kious

    Angie,

    I got your name/website from Shaheen. I was wondering if you might be interested in helping us out with an article about the current real estate status of Ohio City for our upcoming issue of the Ohio City Argus? We’d greatly appreciate your expertise and you’d be able to put that info on your website if you like… drop me a line when you can, our deadline is May 15th.

    Thanks,
    Yeya

  • http://www.scrambleforafrica.org Steve Fake

    Hey Kate,

    I like the blog. Very well designed. So this is what you’re up to… I’ll pass this along to my rustbelt friends and fam. Keep up the good work!

    Steve

  • http://vacantpropertyurbanopportunities.blogspot.com/ Nick Helmholdt

    Great idea for a website! I am from Grand Rapids, MI and have lots of friends who would be interested in this. I will keep an eye on you for my weblog, too.
    Keep up the good work.

  • Anne Trubek

    Just discovered you guys and am thrilled! Can’t wait to read more.

    –Anne Trubek

  • http://klcesarz.wordpress.com Kevin Cesarz

    Good job, Angie and Kate. This site looks great and pretty solid content. Keep it coming.

  • Special K

    Thanks for all the compliments, readers!

  • http://www.columbusunderground.com Walker Evans

    Great site! I love it! :D

  • http://fortheloveofdayton.wordpress.com Seth

    Great site, looking forward to staying in touch!

  • http://inothernews.us jessica durkin

    Where are you based and when did you start the site?

    I am adding you to my online news directory http://inothernews.us. I’m a former newspaper reporter interested in tracking news start-ups.

    Thanks,
    Jessica Durkin
    Scranton, PA

  • http://www.rethinkdetroit.org Cooper

    I just wanted to commend the editors on a job well done. I write a blog on the revitalization of Detroit (link below), and Rust Wire has been a great resource. It always serves as a reminder that other cities across the Rust Belt are contending with the same issues.

    If you ever need a guest blogger, let me know.

    Rethink Detroit: http://www.rethinkdetroit.org

  • schmange

    We always need guest bloggers. Please let us know if you are ever interested in any content sharing. Thanks for the kind words.

  • http://diggingpitt.blogspot.com/2009/10/support-braddock-projects-on-pittsburgh.html John Morris

    You blog looks good, Cooper. I linked to it. Not an organised or clean process but the Burgh is coming back and attracting and retaining people much better than it used to.

    We need a lot more discusion and advocacy for urban type planning and walkability here.

  • Karel Rei

    I am having trouble reaching www. KateGiammarise.com.
    It flashes on then dissppears. Maybe it is meant to be
    that way. But if not you’d better check.

  • http://www.linkedin.com/in/richardrezek Richard Rezek

    What an interesting site. I grew up in Youngstown and graduated from YSU. Moved to Toledo, then Cleveland. Lived in Cleveland for 25 years. Now working during the week in Milwaukee and traveling back to Cleveland for most weekends. Also staying connected to family and a few friends in Youngstown. I missed Youngstown film in Cleveland. Thanks for the review and report.

  • Smzig

    I grew up in NE OH and am getting my MS in Community & Regional Planning from UT-Austin. I read about RustWire.com in Robert McChesney & John Nichols’ The Death and Life of American Journalism. After checking out the site I really can’t tell you how impressed and excited I am. Keep up the great, and inspiring, work!

  • http://www.springfieldinstitute.org Marcos Marrero

    Congratulations on this initiative, very impressive. We just featured you on our site for the benefit of our readers. Our communities will benefit by working together to tackle the many challenges we face in post-industrial cities.

    If possible I’d like to explore if/how we could be helpful in this project. Please reach out to us, our contact information is at http://www.springfieldinstitute.org.

    Thanks!

  • http://www.carfreebaltimore.com Mark

    Just found your site – good stuff. Even though it doesn’t technically qualify as the “rust belt”, you need more Baltimore stories! We’re dealing with many of the same issues midwestern cities are. I’ve also linked to your site from my blog.

  • AB