Awww

A beaver has been spotted in the Detroit River for the first time in 75 years or more, signaling to ecologists that efforts to rehabilitate the river have been successful.
The semi-aquatic rodent has taken up residence in an intake canal at a Detroit Edison plant within city limits, The Free Press reports. A plant employee first noticed signs of the beaver last year. In November, a motion-sensitive camera captured the proof. The story was not made public until last week because of concerns about the beaver’s safety.
Experts say beavers aren’t the …

Awww

A beaver has been spotted in the Detroit River for the first time in 75 years or more, signaling to ecologists that efforts to rehabilitate the river have been successful.
The semi-aquatic rodent has taken up residence in an intake canal at a Detroit Edison plant within city limits, The Free Press reports. A plant employee first noticed signs of the beaver last year. In November, a motion-sensitive camera captured the proof. The story was not made public until last week because of concerns about the beaver’s safety.
Experts say beavers aren’t the …

This site is intended to consolidate and develop news and information about post-industrial Great Lakes cities. It was developed by two former newspaper reporters with ties to Cleveland, Toledo and Youngstown, Ohio and Erie and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. We’ve noted that there is a lot of good information about Rust Belt issues coming from blogs and the mainstream media. We hope to sort out the good stuff and summarize it for problem solvers and concerned citizens from Buffalo to St. Louis.
We also intend to develop some original stories and photography. Any …

Famed urban scholar Richard Florida writes in The Atlantic that the economic crisis will drastically reshape America, dividing cities into winners and losers. Not surprisingly Florida writes, Rust Belt cities, those with economies traditionally based on manufacturing, will be among the hardest hit.
Detroit, he postulates, could reach a tipping point and become a “ghost town.” Although, he says, the exodus could attract some of the “creative class,” (which he extols the virtues of in his book “Who’s Your City?”) seeking to take advantage of low real estate prices. Sun Belt …

 I’ve always thought Pittsburgh was a cool city. But I have to admit I was surprised to see The New York Times mention it in a positive light, much less devote a whole article its resilience.
The Times presents Pittsburgh as a model for Rust Belt cities in this cautiously optimistic article. About thirty years after the collapse of the local steel industry, The Times notes, unemployment is low, construction is humming and prominent companies are thriving in Pittsburgh.
While manufacturing continues to decline, education and healthcare have taken over as the top …

Buffalo has been selected as the site of the 2011 National Trust for Historic Preservation convention.

“The interweaving of great architecture, landscape architecture and important historic sites makes Buffalo a must-see destination for preservationists, designers, history buffs and anyone wishing to see an inspiring example of American design,” Richard Moe, National Trust president, said in announcing Buffalo’s designation.
Spokesman Ed Healy said significant changes in recent years, including the opening of Erie Canal Harbor, improvements to the Roycroft Campus and the restoration of the Darwin Martin House, likely enhanced the city’s …

This Monthly Review story tells about the post-industrial devastation in Braddock, PA, and describes the efforts of its unconventional mayor at revitalization. Mayor John Fetterman is a Harvard Graduate who looks like a professional wrestler. He’s taken up the task of trying to revitalize this  city of 3,000 outside Pittsburgh, which has lost 90 percent of its population since it was imagined as a neighborhood for employees of  Edgar Thompson Steel Works in the late 1800s. Mayor Fetterman is working to establish artists’ spaces and urban gardens.
http://monthlyreview.org/081222straub.php

(Full disclosure: I’m friends with …