The folks at Brookings released a report Monday on the importance of exports to the economies of Great Lakes cities.
Among the findings:
- Exports support 1.95 million jobs in Great Lakes metros
- Cities in this region have some of the highest volumes (dollar-wise) of exports and the greatest reliance on exports. Out of the nation’s top 100 metro areas, Chicago ranks third and Detroit ranks ninth in total dollar volumes of exports. Minneapolis, St. Louis, and Indianapolis all rank in the top 20, the study states.
How does your city compare?
“Now …

A troubling article from The New York Times via ClimateWire: Lake Superior, the largest, deepest and coldest of the Great Lakes is on track to have its warmest year ever.
“(T)he warming shows no sign of abatement,” the story reports. “This year, the waters in Lake Superior are on track to reach — and potentially exceed — the lake’s record-high temperatures of 68 degrees Fahrenheit, which occurred in 1998.”
The trend appears to be going on in the other lakes as well, the story states.
This is problematic because it …

Today, the Great Lakes Cities: Urban Laboratories conference kicks off in Cleveland. The program promises a mix of policy discussions, neighborhood tours of Cleveland and lots more.
Read what Bruce Fisher has to say about it in his column in Buffalo’s ArtVoice. He’s very enthused about “the hopeful, the engaged and the talented” who will convene in Cleveland. And he gives Rust Wire a shout out!
-KG
Tweet

Check out the Great Lakes Law blog from The Great Lakes Environmental Law Center in Detroit.
Here, you can read information about how invasive species (Asian Carp), global climate change and more can impact the Great Lakes.
-KG
Tweet

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, yet some folks in Houston are showing more leadership on this issue. For instance, Houston has signed a deal to build public charging stations. “Such agreements are key to easing skeptical consumers’ fears of running out of juice if their …

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, …

We all know how critical the Great Lakes are to our region – for shipping and industry, drinking water, recreation, tourism, and more.
This story from Monday’s Plain Dealer details how scientists are seeing a decline in winter ice on the Great Lakes, a change driven by global warming.
http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/03/great_lakes_ice_cover_shows_cl.html
“And that’s not good for the lakes, scientists and environmentalists say.
Ice cover generally protects the lakes from significant winter evaporation. Open water, on the other hand, is easily sucked up by colder air above — which we experience all too often as heavy …

Hard figures beginning to shake out of the President’s stimulus bill. What does this mean for Rust Belt cities? Money. Lots of money.
More than $417 million is being sent to Ohio by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
$475 million has been earmarked for Great Lakes clean-up, 10-times larger than any previous award.
$23 million will be delivered to the Gary, Ind. area.
Milwaukee is getting $22.6 million.
The Cleveland Metropolitan Housing Authority will receive $35 million.
The Erie Housing Authority: $4.6 million.
Minneapolis is getting $20 million for light rail, plus a great …