Dayton Home To 'Deathfest'

[American X]

Last week, Dayton proudly welcomed a conference of the Fastest Dying Cities:

Gem City Pride (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125011106498326993.html)

Not being shorthand for dystopia is an admirable goal.

Cleveland, Dayton, Canton, & Youngstown - 4 out of 10! Way to go Ohio!

I think they all just need some rocking promo videos like Cleveland.

[nuts4xu]

I love this line-

"The city representatives lunched on $6 sloppy Joes and commiserated through Power Point strategy sessions: Lure back former residents, entice entrepreneurs and artists, convert blighted pockets into parkland."

Nothing will get a group more jazzed up than a sloppy joe lunch and an afternoon of powerpoint powerpoint presentations rehashing old, tired, worn out ideas that will not work in these desperate cities. No wonder these towns are dying.

The article also talks about how Dayton has lost 1000 jobs per year since 1970. I see nothing amusing about the loss of jobs. But if this article is talking about the "fastest dying cities", I am curious to know how they define "fast".

[vee4xu]

Heading up near Youngstown tomorrow to visit my parents. It is as bad.

[Emp]

The middle class in Ohio was built on manufacturing. Legal license to stop paying middle class wages and start paying third world wages means the manufacturing jobs go to the third world.

It surprises me that Delco has ANY American plants left. Why would NCR build point of purchase computers and registers here?

As long as the sticker price is the only cost issue we base purchase decisions on, Ohio and its manufacturing cities are going to be ghost towns in 25 years.

[American X]

You say NAFTA - I say outdated labor restrictions in Ohio:

"According to data from the 2009 Economic Report of the President (http://www.gpoaccess.gov/eop/tables09.html#erp3), as gathered and reported yesterday (http://cafehayek.com/2009/08/manufacturing-error.html) by George Mason University Economics Professor Don Boudreaux, since 1987 real U.S. manufacturing output has increased by 81 percent – hardly a sign of manufacturing decline.

The facts (http://www.bea.gov/industry/gpotables/gpo_list.cfm?anon=103780&registered=0) – as reported by the Bureau of Economic Analysis – demonstrate that real manufacturing value-added reached a record high level in 2007 (the last year for which final data are available). Notwithstanding the recent recession that has affected all sectors of the economy, U.S. manufacturing has been thriving in recent years.

Second, if the United States doesn’t “make things anymore,” then nobody does. According to data (http://www.unido.org/index.php?id=o3474) from the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, U.S. factories are the world’s most prolific, accounting for 25 percent of global manufacturing value-added. By comparison, Chinese factories account for 10.6 percent.

That may be hard to fathom, given that everyone’s favorite story about shopping in retail establishments these days is that it’s impossible to find anything labeled “Made in the USA.” But that’s because, increasingly, U.S. manufacturing produces sophisticated components, such as airplane parts, not consumer goods.

American manufacturing is by no means in decline."

Source (http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2009/08/13/harold-meyerson-is-part-of-the-problem/)

[PM Thor]

Dammit what a tease. I thought this was going to be a mass assisted suicide event in dayton. Oh to dream.

I HATE dayton.

[GuyFawkes38]

I always thought Dayton was doing OK compared to other cities in the northern half of the state (Toledo, Cleveland, Akron, Youngstown, etc).

guess not.

[Jumpy]

In all fairness, though, Cincinnati isn't a very healthy, thriving town either.

[AdamtheFlyer]

In all fairness, though, Cincinnati isn't a very healthy, thriving town either.

Most medium (greater than 100,000 residents) and above towns aren't.