The Detroit comeback, such as it is, has caught the attention of the nation and now the Motor City has been pegged as a leading destination for young people seeking “Rust Belt chic.”
The rise of the Midtown area, with new homes and shops and employers, is similar to renaissance areas in several struggling Midwest cities.
Here’s a portion of a piece in Salon that examines the new trend:
“According to a recent analysis, the population of downtown Cleveland is surging,
doubling in the past 20 years. What’s more, the majority of the growth
occurred in the 22-to-34-year-old demo, those coveted “knowledge
economy” workers for whom every city is competing. Pittsburgh, too, has unexpectedly reversed
its out-migration of young people. The number of 18-to-24-year-olds was
declining there until 2000, but has since climbed by 16 percent. St.
Louis attracted more young people
than it lost in each of the past three years. And as a mountain of
“Viva Detroit!” news stories have made clear, Motor City is now the official cool-kids destination, adding thousands of young artists, entrepreneurs and urban farmers, even as its general population evaporates.
doubling in the past 20 years. What’s more, the majority of the growth
occurred in the 22-to-34-year-old demo, those coveted “knowledge
economy” workers for whom every city is competing. Pittsburgh, too, has unexpectedly reversed
its out-migration of young people. The number of 18-to-24-year-olds was
declining there until 2000, but has since climbed by 16 percent. St.
Louis attracted more young people
than it lost in each of the past three years. And as a mountain of
“Viva Detroit!” news stories have made clear, Motor City is now the official cool-kids destination, adding thousands of young artists, entrepreneurs and urban farmers, even as its general population evaporates.
“It’s a surprising demographic shift that has some in the Rust Belt
wondering if these cities should trumpet their gritty, hardscrabble
personas, rather than try to pretend that they’re just like Chicago or
Brooklyn, N.Y., but cheaper. Detroit has certainly proven that a city’s
hard knocks can be marketed, from “ruin porn” coffee table books to award-winning Chrysler ads to “Detroit Hustles Harder”
hoodies. Could other Midwestern cities go all-in on their own
up-by-your-bootstraps appeal? “I think there’s a backlash in the
American psyche that’s longing for that,” says Cleveland native Richey
Piiparinen. “Look at Miami. We’ve learned that all that glitters isn’t
gold.”
wondering if these cities should trumpet their gritty, hardscrabble
personas, rather than try to pretend that they’re just like Chicago or
Brooklyn, N.Y., but cheaper. Detroit has certainly proven that a city’s
hard knocks can be marketed, from “ruin porn” coffee table books to award-winning Chrysler ads to “Detroit Hustles Harder”
hoodies. Could other Midwestern cities go all-in on their own
up-by-your-bootstraps appeal? “I think there’s a backlash in the
American psyche that’s longing for that,” says Cleveland native Richey
Piiparinen. “Look at Miami. We’ve learned that all that glitters isn’t
gold.”
“Piiparinen recently referenced this trend as “Rust Belt chic”
in a post on the blog Rust Wire, describing its allure as “the warmth
of the faded, and the edge in old iron and steel … part old-world,
working culture, like the simple pleasures associated with bagged lunch meat and beaten boots in the corner. And then there is grit, one of
the main genes in the DNA of American coolness.”
in a post on the blog Rust Wire, describing its allure as “the warmth
of the faded, and the edge in old iron and steel … part old-world,
working culture, like the simple pleasures associated with bagged lunch meat and beaten boots in the corner. And then there is grit, one of
the main genes in the DNA of American coolness.”
You can read more here.
