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Cleveland Lawsuit Thrown Out

A federal judge has thrown out the city of Cleveland’s lawsuit against a number of large banks that the city believes contributed to the crisis in foreclosures.

The city is appealing, according to this Plain Dealer blog post.

Braddock, Pa. Mayor Fetterman Wins Primary

Despite some criticism and a tough campaign, Braddock’s unconventional mayor won in Tuesday’s primary, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

He captured 294 votes to his rival’s 103 votes.

“Mr. Fetterman’s detractors were vocal in their criticism of him, accusing him of trying to become ‘Braddock’s landlord,’” the Post-Gazette reported.

Follow Jane’s Rust Belt Road Trip

Read about this group of urban planning students and their travels (so far) to Pittsburgh and Youngstown.

They’re on the road this week and still headed to Cleveland, Detroit, and Flint!

From Mills…To Malls?

This article in yesterday’s Pittsburgh Post-Gazette discusses the redevelopment of the Carrie Furnace site – “an expanse of blast furnaces that once produced as much as 1,200 tons of iron per day for the former Homestead Works of U.S. Steel.”

The 168-acre parcel is now owned by the county and is close to being ready for development, the article states, in the final stages of environmental cleanup.

What will replace the furnaces, which operated for 102 years?

The Architecture of St. Louis

Welcome to the Gateway City, St. Louis, Missouri, home to Nelly, William S. Bowdern and some fabulous architecture. Above is the city’s modest city hall. The city built this building in 1890, when it outgrew “the municipal barn,” according to the city’s urban design and planning agency.

Toledoan Crosses Country on Vegetable Oil

Toledo resident Stacy Jurich, 23, traveled 10,000 miles across the United States this winter on a Mercedez Benz powered by vegetable oil.

Marcy Kaptur Shares My Bank Rage

Representative Marcy Kaptur (D-Toledo) made the headlines at Politico today for “exploding” on AIG officials.

Following a hearing of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Wednesday, Kaptur reportedly accused an AIG trustee of sending money to banks that are exploiting her constituents.

“They hire outside people to come in and rape us,” Kaptur said, her voice rising. “It’s outrageous.”

Outrage. I like it!

Laughing With Us Vs. Laughing At Us

Last month, Rust Wire had a brief post about a fake “promotional” video for Cleveland posted on YouTube. The video sparked quite a discussion, both on this web site and within Cleveland.

I thought it was somewhat humorous, but many didn’t like it. Some Rust Wire readers pointed out that humor like this can hurt the city and its image, others said we should be able to laugh at ourselves once in awhile. (It even prompted Cleveland’s tourism and promotional agency, Positively Cleveland, to launch a contest to make a more positive video.)

Well, if you didn’t like the video, be prepared to hate this article from humor publication The Onion, titled, “Detroit Mayor Throws First Brick in Glass-Breaking Ceremony for New Slum.”

A Look Inside an Old Steel Casting Plant

Check out this view of the old, abandoned Fort Pitt Steel Casting plant in McKeesport, Pa. (outside Pittsburgh).

White-Collar Unemployment

A sad story about Toledo in Sunday’s Washington Post.

The article describes how the downturn in the economy is hitting white-collar workers- hard. (I should know, I’m one of them!)

“In this corner of Ohio, the workforce is contracting at an alarming speed, with unemployment climbing to rates more typical of counties in Appalachia,” the article states. “In March, unemployment in Toledo reached 12.6 percent, an increase of more than 50 percent over March 2008.”

Why We’re Staying

Amber Arellano says it better than I ever could in today’s Detroit News.

“It’s tough for some folks to understand that many of us want to be here [in Detroit]. We didn’t end up here by inertia or lack of vision or better options. We’re educated and mobile; we can live anywhere. We choose to stay — or to return.”

“We return because we love the people and the culture. We stay because we’re proud of our roots, of who we are. We’re not naïve about this region’s daunting challenges; we’re choosing to tackle them. We’re committed to our families and communities.”

Dayton to Host “Dying Cities” Symposium

Upset with being named to Forbes’ “10 Fastest Dying Cities” list, Daytonians are taking action, The Dayton Daily News reports.

Grim News for Manufacturing

Today’s Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has an article describing a bad outlook for manufacturing.

“The decline in the numbers of manufacturing jobs lost in April may be a sign of even worse news: The country is running out of manufacturing jobs to lose,” the article states.

Jim and Pam Wedding in Youngstown?

I didn’t catch this week’s episode of “The Office,” and now look what happened.

Apparently, Jim and Pam were planning to get married in Youngstown, which proves definitively, according to this blog, that the show’s writers have no knowledge of Rust Belt geography.

Jim + Pam = Jam

Don’t Jump! Akron’s Suicide Bridge and the Stimulus Bill

All the big national media sources are clucking about the city of Akron’s decision to spend more than $1 million in stimulus money to prevent people from jumping off a bridge.

The New York Times ran a story today about the so-called “Suicide Bridge,” or Y-bridge, as it is known for its distinctive fork. Almost 30 people have taken a final plunge over the its side since 1997, The Times reports.

Akron's All-American/"Y"/Suicide Bridge

Connecting Local Farmers with Buyers

Cleveland resident Trevor Clatterbuck has a new model for the food industry: one that connects a local mother and her a grocery list with a farmer located a few miles away, all via home computer.

Clatterbuck, the 23-year-old founder of Fresh Fork Market, is using the power of the internet and social networking to revolutionize the way people buy produce in the Cleveland area.

 

Ohio fresh strawberries delivered via Fresh Fork

 

Pennsylvania’s Emptiest Town

The Philadelphia Inquirer published an interesting piece today about Pennsylvania’s emptiest town: Monessen.

A view of downtown Monessen, Pennsylvania, towards the coke plant.

Once a bustling steel town that packed gambling halls and pizza parlors, Monessen has dwindled from 12,000 to about 8,000 today.

Check Out Events

I want to make sure to point out we have added an Events page at the top of our site.

If you know of an event you think we should post, shoot us an e-mail, or put it on our Facebook page.

-KG

John Fetterman: “The Pissed-Off Avenging Angel of the Rust Belt”

It looks like Braddock, Pa. Mayor John Fetterman is shaping up to be a national spokesman for the Rust Belt region.

Or, as this story puts it, “the pissed-off avenging angel of the Rust Belt.”

He recently spoke at the University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, so this article focuses on his message for cities in Michigan.