Where Is The Rust Belt?

[edale]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

I don't know Youngstown at all, but perhaps being ~60 miles from both Cleveland and Pittsburgh means that it's downtown is more like Flint than Gary/ESL?

Circling back to this, for all its troubles, Youngstown's downtown is several magnitudes healthier than Flint, let alone Gary or ESL.

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.099456,-...!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?coh=205409&entry=ttu

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.1019567,...!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?coh=205409&entry=ttu

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.0997094,...!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?coh=205409&entry=ttu

It has a similar MSA population to Flint, and the city as a whole has suffered massive population loss. There are large swaths of the city that are reverting to urban prairies, but downtown has stayed largely healthy and in tact, largely due to the presence of Youngstown State University, which is right next to downtown. There are still several museums, performance venues, restaurants, shops, etc. in the greater downtown area.