"Rustbelt heartland" memories....

[addyguy]

The recent thread on whether America needs an industrial base got me to researching what exactly the 'rustbelt' is - I just thought it was the northern part of the US, where there was snow, and cars rusted. I didn't realize it specifically referred the manufacturing area around the Great Lakes, or that it was SO 'concentrated' with industries, that are now...well, gone.

I found this great site with photos of abondoned industrial sites throughout this area:

http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=ht...l%3Den%26sa%3DG

Did anyone on here work in one of these places, or have family friends that did during their heyday? Its hard to believe, looking at the pictures, that these were once busy, noisy, workplaces, with vibrant communities around them....very sad!

Please share your stories and experiences here!

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

Gary, Indiana used to be a busy hub of steelworkers. Now it's mostly a ghost town, downtrodden, drug infested, & undesirable.

I used to work in I.T. for a metal forging shop in Chicago's south side, we bought our steel from Gary. It's sooooo different than it was 20...or even 10 years ago. Sad.

 

[John_K]

Having grown up in Youngstown and Toledo, I can say that these photos are great but they don't totally capture the sadness their closings brought to the area.

John

 

[kingrob]

I had an Uncle that left NC years back to go work at the Gibson plant in Kalamazoo. When they shut down in the early eighties his family migrated west.

I had family that lived in the Delray section until the factories started shutting down. Caught up in the white flight of the early seventies they ended up in Royal Oak. All of the plants that they worked at have since shut down.

 

[doitmyself]

Hey Addyguy and T&N,

I grew up in NW Indiana and worked at US Steel in Gary for one year to make enough money to put me through college. Back then (mid 70's) a high school graduate could get a factory job in the blink of an eye that would pay today's equivalent of $60 to $80K.

Indeed it is sad to revisit these areas that once were boom towns. I've told Kestas that I get the same bad feeling when I visit Detroit and see the skeleton of once prosperous neighborhoods.

As a teen and young adult, I despised the blue collar attitudes of the Chicagoland region. Seems like many of my peers succummed to the idea of making big bucks, but leading a miserable life....too much "stuff", too much debt., keeping up with the Jones, etc..

The movie "Rudy" catches the feeling of the factory towns around Chicago and NW Indiana. In fact, a high school friend and next door neighbor of mine played for Notre Dame with Rudy.....

Chant....Rudy, Rudy, Rudy...Rudy

Luckily, I escaped to a low/moderate paying, wonderful career.

 

[dhise]

Here's a nice site for the Fabulous Ruins of Detroit!

Detroit Ruins