We at Rust Wire don’t like to toot our own horn that much.
But I just couldn’t help it after seeing this recent story in The New York Times about Buffalo’s lower west side neighborhood.
The story notes that this historically blue-collar Italian section of the city has recently become home to a number of different immigrant groups, such as people from Puerto Rico, Myamar and Somalia.
In a post about Buffalo back in March 2009, Rust Wire made this observation about the area:
“Our next stop was Niagara Street, on the city’s West …

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

Readers of Rust Wire (and citizens of the Rust Belt in general) may know that some of Buffalo’s strongest assets are its spectacular architectural treasures.
The city is wisely trying to capitalize on these structures for tourism and economic development purposes.
Take a look at this video from The Buffalo News about efforts to restore the Richardson- Olmsted complex (formerly the Buffalo State Asylum for the Insane).
I’ve driven by this building before, I’m eager to see what the inside is like.
What asset or piece of unusual architecture do you think your city …

Rust Wire is pleased to share an interview with Greg Ames, the author of Buffalo Lockjaw, a fantastic novel mostly set in Buffalo.
Here’s a passage:
“Turned out that Buffalonians loved talking about Buffalo, especially during happy hour, which lasted from five o’clock to midnight. Many of them felt an immense tenderness for this town. They were proud and protective of Buffalo. They dipped their pizza crusts in puddles of blue cheese and argued about where to find the best chicken wings in the city. They celebrated happy hour most nights and …

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?”

CNN is reporting that many cities that were hard hit by the recession early on are starting to recover, while economic conditions continue to decline Sun Belt cities in Florida, California, Nevada and Arizona.

RealtyTrac and The Federal Reserve Bank are reporting that the recession appears to be ending in the Northeast and Midwest but is continuing to ravage the Southwest.

Photographer Camilo Jose Vergara has been photographing the desperately poor neighborhoods of New York, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles and 16 other cities for more than 30 years.
The creator of “How the Other Half Lives” maintains a Web site called Invincible Cities, which allows readers to interactively tour Camden, Harlem and Richmond, Calif.
A lot of this poverty and blight looks familiar.
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Let’s have a discussion. First, I wanted to announce that Rust Wire has purchased a domain. We can now be accessed simply by visiting www.rustwire.com. Also, in the coming weeks we will be undertaking some improvements to our site. The content will remain the same or, hopefully, will improve as we reach larger audiences and expand our partnerships. Thanks to Youngstown’s Tyler Clark for the assistance.
Secondly, this got me thinking.

I’ve often heard people refer to Rust Belt cities as “dying.” This has always made me bristle.
I lived in Youngstown for …