Carol Coletta has an awesome post up at GOOD. I’ve been skeptical of the concept of ‘regionalism’ for quite a while. For all the hype, all I’ve seen around me in Cleveland is suburban development at the expensive of the central city, Coletta provides some much needed clarity

Regionalism can be relatively easy to impose in regions with big, dominant core cities, such as New York and Chicago. In those regions, everyone knows what’s powering the economic engine, and no one can risk killing it off. The dominant city is favored, as it should be, in regional decisions because it’s in everyone’s clear interest to do so…

But in those regions with cities of equal size

Angie and Kate have posted about the Great Lakes Urban Exchange’s “I Will Stay If …” campaign a few times here; and as I was leafing through some of their photos recently, I noticed a number of references to bicycle unfriendliness of some of the Rust Belt cities.

With the Census Bureau’s 2008 American Community Survey data now available, I took a look at what the numbers look like throughout the Rust Belt. I should note that I used only core-city geography data, so the comparisons are not completely fair, given the arbitrary nature of political boundaries, but I think they are reasonable enough for this sake of this comparison.

David Frum of the conservative American Enterprise Institute has written an interesting (albeit pessimistic) account of what went wrong in Detroit (everyone’s favorite topic).

In his National Post article “What Killed Detroit,” Frum argues that poisonous race relations and an insufficient commitment to arts and culture sealed the city’s fate long before the auto giants crumbled.

“The collapse of the automobile industry seems the obvious answer. But is it a sufficient answer?,” he wonders. “The departure of meatpacking did not kill Chicago. Pittsburgh has staggered forward from the demise of steelmaking. New York has lost one industry after another: shipping, garment-manufacture, printing, and how many more?”

After spending a few days in Chicago and Milwaukee recently, I noticed how great a job both these cities do of utilizing their lakefront.
In both Chi-town and Milwaukee (pictured above) people have tons of direct access to Lake Michigan: miles of beautiful lakefront parks and trails for biking, walking, or just general enjoyment of the water.
It especially made me notice how poor a job Cleveland does at utilizing a similar space.
What’s on Cleveland’s lakefront? There is the beautiful Edgewater Park, but there’s also a power plant, highway, the shipping port, …

How freakin’ cool this is?

You are looking at the new observation deck on the 103rd floor of Chicago’s Sears Tower, which recently underwent renovations.
This is the view:

The balconies, more than 1,300 feet in the air, open to the public today.
More here.

The Wall Street Journal is carrying a story about growth in many big cities since the last census.
The paper reports the recession is having a chilling effect on suburban sprawl. Researchers also predict migration to the Sun Belt is cooling.
Philadelphia, St. Paul, Minneapolis, Chicago and Columbus, Ohio are among the big winners.

Detroit and Cleveland, not so much.
“Cities are showing a continued vitality as hubs of activity even as some suburban and exurban areas go through tough times,” said William H. Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution. “It emphasizes the …

  This is probably the coolest thing I’ve ever read. The Southern Poverty Law Center reports that 1,000 students from Chicago Public Schools skipped the first day of class, rode a bus to a wealthy district and tried to register as students in order to highlight the gross inequalities that exist in the Illinois’ public schools.
  The story follows Brandon, a student from Chicago’s mostly-black South Side, whose school spends about $11,000 per student per year, and Amanda, who attends one of the nation’s wealthiest schools a short distance away. …

  Gawker.com has a good roundup of a wave of violence that swept Chicago last night, claiming seven lives.
  Police are investigating a possible connection, but it’s just as likely random. 

  The deaths were the result of six incidents which took place at different sites throughout the city. Many are considered to be gang-related.
  On Thursday night, five were shot in a drive-by shooting.
  The bloodshed got little mention in the mainstream media, Gawker reports. Could it be being downplayed so as not to cramp Chicago’s Olympic hopes?
  Also last week, Chicago’s Alderman in charge of …

The city of Cleveland is considering installing a commuter bike station in downtown,Green City Blue Lake is reporting.

The plan will include covered, secure bicycle parking, a maintenance shop and shower facilities. The city is working withClevelandBikes and a nonprofit national organization called Bike Station.

Rust Wire was thrilled to be able to interview Alex Kotlowitz, one of our nation’s best journalists about urban issues and problems. Kotlowitz will be speaking Monday at Cleveland State’s Levin College Forum. Kotlowitz penned the New York Times story “All Boarded Up,’ about foreclosure in Cleveland’s Slavic Village neighborhood. He also authored “There are no Children Here,” the story of two boys growing up in one of Chicago’s toughest housing projects. Here’s the first part of our conversation: