http://rustwire.com News from the Rustbelt Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:50:45 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Next American City is carrying a very interesting story about Cleveland's battle to return vacant land to productive use. A collection of foundations, government agencies, nonprofit organizations and private citizens are collaborating to return agriculture to the city. What's unique about Cleveland's efforts, however, is the level or coordination and the ... http://rustwire.com/2010/03/12/clevelands-land-use-metamorphasis/ Rust Wire has previously highlighted Donald Carter, the David Lewis Director of the Remaking Cities Institute at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. (Take a look at our prior post on Carter's efforts to trade the term "Rust Belt" for "Water Belt" and change "Sun Belt" into "Drought Belt.") Here's a piece ... http://rustwire.com/2010/03/09/lessons-on-city-design/ The Ohio Public Transit Association is asking supporters to demand more state support for public transportation from their legislators. The organization has launched fundohiotransitnow.org with links to legislators home pages' and contact information. Just fill in your name and address, and the site will send a letter to all your elected ... http://rustwire.com/2010/03/03/the-fund-ohio-transit-now-campaign/ I've seen a lot of photo collections that pay homage to the city of Cleveland. Often times they focus on Cleveland's grand monuments: the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Quicken Loans Arena, the skyline over the lake. They don't show abandoned buildings. They don't show poor neighborhoods. These are ... http://rustwire.com/2010/03/02/big-urban-photography-project-presents-cleveland-sgs/ Why not Detroit? Or Cleveland? Or a more compact, less-sprawled out city like Pittsburgh? This Reuters story says Houston, the "petro metro" is aiming to be the electric car capital of America. Stories like this make me so mad. A city in the Great Lakes region would be much better suited to this, ... http://rustwire.com/2010/02/28/why-is-houston-going-to-be-the-electric-car-capital/ Rust Wire is very excited to share this newly released, original documentary by our own contributor, graduate student and photographer Sean Posey. The past three decades have erased much of the city of Youngstown that my father and grandfather knew: An area once known as " the city of homes" became known for ... http://rustwire.com/2010/02/25/original-documentary-a-dream-of-youngstown/ USA Today is carrying an article about Declaration Detroit, an online campaign by a group of activists to revitalize the city. The group has published a manifesto based on 12 principles, in graphic form below: The group is asking visitors to sign a pledge to support these policies and get involved by ... http://rustwire.com/2010/02/23/signing-on-to-something-different-declaration-detroit/ Greater Ohio and the Brookings Institutional have released their long-awaited report, Restoring Prosperity: Transforming Ohio's Communities for the Next Economy. Among the findings, Ohio should consolidate local governments and school districts to reduce the local tax burden. The state should redirect manufacturing strength toward new technologies and maximize federal investment. To compete, ... http://rustwire.com/2010/02/22/restoring-prosperity-greater-ohios-report/ Check out the new Metro Matters podcast, from the folks at Next American City magazine and the Brookings Institution. If you listen to this inaugural edition, you can hear about everything from the stimulus, to US exports, Richard Florida and manufacturing. There's a good bit of Rust-Belt related discussion as well. -KG http://rustwire.com/2010/02/21/urban-podcasting/ The city of Cleveland's residential tax abatement program has been a boon for the city, according to a study by researchers at Cleveland State University. A series of tax abatements for new home construction and rehabilitation begun in 1987, jumpstarted new home construction in the city from a virtual standstill in ... http://rustwire.com/2010/02/17/study-clevelands-residential-tax-abatements-paying-off/