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Rust-Belt Cities And Moving To Opportunity: It's Time To Get Back On The 'Hillbilly Highway'
https://www.forbes.com/sites/adammillsap/2016/10/18/rust-belt-cities-and-moving-to-opportunity-its-time-to-get-back-on-the-hillbilly-highway/#860d8e27d82a
One of the most discussed events this presidential election has been the emergence of the white, blue-collar voter and its connection to Donald Trump’s political success. Several people have commented on this phenomenon, including J.D. Vance, author of the New York Times bestseller Hillbilly Elegy, a memoir about Mr. Vance’s life growing up in the Rust Belt city of Middletown, OH and his family’s eastern Kentucky, 'hillbilly' roots. Mr. Vance’s story presents Middletown as a city that is not only struggling economically, but socially and culturally as well.
Middletown is located in southwestern Ohio, south of Dayton and north of Cincinnati near the middle of the once navigable portion of the Great Miami River. It is primarily located in Butler County, with the remainder lying within Warren County. Both counties are part of the Cincinnati Metropolitan Area (MSA), which delineates a common labor market. Like other cities in the region, Middletown’s economy has historically been based on manufacturing. One of its largest employers is AK Steel, which still has a mill in the city.
Throughout the latter half of the 20th century, manufacturing declined in the area. The figure below shows manufacturing employment in the Cincinnati MSA from 1969 to 2014. During this period manufacturing employment fell from over 206,000 workers to 113,000 workers, a 45% decline.
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The story of America is one of moving to opportunity. European immigrants from England, Scotland, Ireland, Poland and Italy, as well as Asian immigrants from China, Vietnam and India, along with many others, have come to the U.S. looking for a better life. Once here moving continued, from the coast to the heartland, east to west and south to north and back again.
Today the U.S. has one of the most mobile populations in the world, and natives and immigrants alike often move to places with more economic opportunity. In the early to mid-20th century there was the northward rural to urban migration along the "Hillbilly Highway," which is how Mr. Vance’s family—and my own—ended up in Ohio. For the last 40 years or so the opposite has occurred. Cities such as Charlotte, Atlanta, Houston and Dallas have experienced population booms while Dayton, Buffalo and others have been declining. These types of population fluctuations are a normal occurrence in the U.S.
One of the most discussed events this presidential election has been the emergence of the white, blue-collar voter and its connection to Donald Trump’s political success. Several people have commented on this phenomenon, including J.D. Vance, author of the New York Times bestseller Hillbilly Elegy, a memoir about Mr. Vance’s life growing up in the Rust Belt city of Middletown, OH and his family’s eastern Kentucky, 'hillbilly' roots. Mr. Vance’s story presents Middletown as a city that is not only struggling economically, but socially and culturally as well.
Middletown is located in southwestern Ohio, south of Dayton and north of Cincinnati near the middle of the once navigable portion of the Great Miami River. It is primarily located in Butler County, with the remainder lying within Warren County. Both counties are part of the Cincinnati Metropolitan Area (MSA), which delineates a common labor market. Like other cities in the region, Middletown’s economy has historically been based on manufacturing. One of its largest employers is AK Steel, which still has a mill in the city.
Throughout the latter half of the 20th century, manufacturing declined in the area. The figure below shows manufacturing employment in the Cincinnati MSA from 1969 to 2014. During this period manufacturing employment fell from over 206,000 workers to 113,000 workers, a 45% decline.
?width=960
The story of America is one of moving to opportunity. European immigrants from England, Scotland, Ireland, Poland and Italy, as well as Asian immigrants from China, Vietnam and India, along with many others, have come to the U.S. looking for a better life. Once here moving continued, from the coast to the heartland, east to west and south to north and back again.
Today the U.S. has one of the most mobile populations in the world, and natives and immigrants alike often move to places with more economic opportunity. In the early to mid-20th century there was the northward rural to urban migration along the "Hillbilly Highway," which is how Mr. Vance’s family—and my own—ended up in Ohio. For the last 40 years or so the opposite has occurred. Cities such as Charlotte, Atlanta, Houston and Dallas have experienced population booms while Dayton, Buffalo and others have been declining. These types of population fluctuations are a normal occurrence in the U.S.
America exists because people moved here from somewhere else. Americans move for jobs. Moving is as American as apple pie. And it affects elections. Dems can pick up some Sun belt states.
