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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

21 Comments »

  • Mark Golbach said:

    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.

    # 22 February 2009 at 6:42 pm
  • bravenewtoledo said:

    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.

    # 11 March 2009 at 6:12 pm
  • Judy said:

    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..

    # 28 April 2009 at 12:35 pm
  • Special K said:

    Thanks for reading, all.

    # 28 April 2009 at 2:46 pm
  • Yeya Kious said:

    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

    # 5 May 2009 at 7:27 pm
  • Steve Fake said:

    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

    # 13 May 2009 at 5:03 pm
  • Nick Helmholdt said:

    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.

    # 5 July 2009 at 3:42 pm
  • Anne Trubek said:

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

    –Anne Trubek

    # 24 August 2009 at 9:51 am
  • Kevin Cesarz said:

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

    # 6 September 2009 at 6:19 pm
  • Special K said:

    Thanks for all the compliments, readers!

    # 6 September 2009 at 6:31 pm
  • Walker Evans said:

    Great site! I love it! :D

    # 8 October 2009 at 7:35 pm
  • Seth said:

    Great site, looking forward to staying in touch!

    # 30 November 2009 at 7:51 pm
  • jessica durkin said:

    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

    # 6 December 2009 at 4:31 pm
  • Cooper said:

    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

    # 24 February 2010 at 2:46 pm
  • schmange said:

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

    # 24 February 2010 at 2:48 pm
  • John Morris said:

    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.

    # 25 February 2010 at 9:39 am
  • Karel Rei said:

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

    # 1 April 2010 at 12:33 pm
  • Richard Rezek said:

    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.

    # 24 April 2010 at 8:50 am
  • Smzig said:

    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!

    # 27 May 2010 at 3:01 pm
  • Marcos Marrero said:

    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!

    # 11 August 2010 at 10:41 am
  • Mark said:

    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.

    # 18 August 2010 at 7:13 pm

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