Great Lakes Goldmine?

C

cjb56

Well-known member
I'm a firm believer that with the proper leadership, vision and investment, the Great Lakes post-industrial major cities of Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit and Milwaukee can become destination cities for a new migration to the Midwest. With the lakefronts, available inexpensive real estate, still "developable" downtowns, nice suburbs in all price ranges and many other amenities, these four metro areas are all ripe for a new population influx IMO...if things are done to attract a new stream of 18-40 year olds.

Any fellow believers or naysayers? Any ideas on how it can be done?
 
 
arizonawildcat said:
Uh, maybe if global warming makes those cities habitable in the winter months?
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They are habitable in winter. Millions of people once were fine living in these cities when there were good jobs to sustain them.

Boston, Chicago, Philly, NYC, Denver, Salt Lake City, Columbus, Indianapolis, heck even Minneaplolis/St. Paul, are all northern cities that are doing okay.
 
BobcatBomber said:
Pretty disappointed in this thread. Was hoping it was about beer. :rolleyes: #justsayin
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Hmmmm. Maybe I can hit on a recipe for a high-powered lager to sell to Great Lakes Brewery in Cleveland and call it Great Lakes Goldmine? ;)

Okay. That was about beer.
 
We got the cold without the skiing and the heat without the beaches. For the most part, the only ones that are going to migrate here for low property and cost of business opportunities are those that come up here for school or from out of the country.

We do not have an abundance of raw mineralss others do not have. We are primarily agricultural with a good location for transport. That's where the opportunities are: warehousing, transportation, and bacon. With the right laws, I suppose we could become a banking and insurance center but that's tough competition. Findlay is making good use of their position in the oil business.

We also do the "fat-education" thing reasonably well. Most fat states have really poor educational systems and most top level educational systems are in low-fat areas. With an investment in wider desks, I think there's a market to be cornered.
 
eastisbest said:
We got the cold without the skiing and the heat without the beaches. For the most part, the only ones that are going to migrate here for low property and cost of business opportunities are those that come up here for school or from out of the country.

We do not have an abundance of raw mineralss others do not have. We are primarily agricultural with a good location for transport. That's where the opportunities are: warehousing, transportation, and bacon. With the right laws, I suppose we could become a banking and insurance center but that's tough competition. Findlay is making good use of their position in the oil business.

We also do the "fat-education" thing reasonably well. Most fat states have really poor educational systems and most top level educational systems are in low-fat areas. With an investment in wider desks, I think there's a market to be cornered.
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People will always follow job opportunities. These four cities need to transform themselves to business and industry centers that are vital for the 21st century. It's up to each city which way they want to go with it.
 
eastisbest said:
We do not have an abundance of raw minerals others do not have. ..... Findlay is making good use of their position in the oil business.
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The east central Ohio Utica shale play is going to be pretty significant. Oil, wet gas and so much natural gas they don't want to extract it with prices depressed. The downstream facilities are just starting to come on line. In Carroll County, they will soon start construction of a gas fired electric plant.
 
All of those booms will bust in a couple decades. Don't waste your time ruining the landscape and poisoning water for it.

These cities will probably never be as big as they once were, but they can still rebound a bit and be nice places for the people who are there. There's a lot to be done in order to make that happen. Downsizing these cities would be a good start; tearing down old, dilapidated buildings and housing, tearing out underused roads, etc.. Getting rid a blight and unnecessary costs is a good first step.
 
cjb56 said:
I'm a firm believer that with the proper leadership, vision and investment, the Great Lakes post-industrial major cities of Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit and Milwaukee can become destination cities for a new migration to the Midwest. With the lakefronts, available inexpensive real estate, still "developable" downtowns, nice suburbs in all price ranges and many other amenities, these four metro areas are all ripe for a new population influx IMO...if things are done to attract a new stream of 18-40 year olds.

Any fellow believers or naysayers? Any ideas on how it can be done?
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It's possible, but the bolded is why I question if it will happen anytime soon. I personally think there is still a ton of potential in all four of those cities, although I don't see them growing to the size they once were in any of our lifetimes.

As Crusaders mentioned, all four probably need to do some downsizing in the actual cities, especially Detroit. Reducing blight and making it more cost-effective for these cities to provide essential services would be a good start.
 
The Butler said:
We have water.
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And water may one day be the "new" gold! The Great lakes hold 22% of the worlds available fresh water and combine this with reliable year round precipitation of 30 - 45 inches you may be looking at a very attractive region in the not so distant future.

On the negative side, as a former "great laker" (Western NY) you will need a significant change in "culture" to make this region "buzz" again. At the risk of starting a big political debate on this thread the Great Lakes Region needs to dump it's liberal/democrat/union centered politics in favor of a more libertarian, less annaly regulated environment. Just my opinion with relatives still living up there.
 
nwwarrior09 said:
It's possible, but the bolded is why I question if it will happen anytime soon. I personally think there is still a ton of potential in all four of those cities, although I don't see them growing to the size they once were in any of our lifetimes.

As Crusaders mentioned, all four probably need to do some downsizing in the actual cities, especially Detroit. Reducing blight and making it more cost-effective for these cities to provide essential services would be a good start.
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The slow gentrification of downtown renewal will lead to new politicians, eventually. The vision will come.

Jackson in Cleveland has a bit of a caretaker mentality. If Cleveland can ever get the useless entities off it's lakefront and get significant residential development there, the young people entering the law and accounting firms and the hospitals will choose to live there. Then they will actually vote in Cleveland elections.
 
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