Rust Belt resurgence

Aiming to be 'Superior'

The third series of The Times' "Rust Belt resurgence" stories was published on Sunday featuring economic revitalization and neighborhood development plans that Duluth, Minn. has embarked upon.

To read through the stories, see photos and videos, and leave comments about the series, visit http://www.nwitimes.com/news/special-section/rust-belt-resurgence/duluth/.

Iron mining and production, shipping and heavy manufacturing, helped define Duluth's economic prowess for decades as the "Zenith City" helped generate wealth in northeast Minnesota. With reductions in employment in those fields over the last 40 years, the city had to, and is still, figuring out how to return the area to vibrance. Duluthians say you have to get past the cold to understand the soul of the community. But weather aside, the hilly landscape, four seasons, and natural resources are helping make the city a tourist destination. The city lost less than 1 percent of its population over the last decade, according to 2010 Census figures. But talk to area residents and city officials, more progress has to be made to get the city on Lake Superior's shoreline to grow.

Sadly all the content that was generated from my trip to Duluth couldn't fit in print. With the seemingly unlimited space the Internet provides, I'll be posting snippets of interviews with other sources from Duluth, including advice on how Northwest Indiana can improve its lot.

For comments on the series or ideas for future angles to take, leave it on the web or contact me.

Bowdeya Tweh
Business Writer
o. 219.933.3316 | c. 219.712.3341 | e. bowdeya.tweh@nwi.com
The Times Media Co. | 601 45th Street Munster, IN 46321

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- Bow

Making Rust Belt tourism work

Home, home on the Range

DULUTH, Minn. | Employees on the east side of ArcelorMittal's Indiana Harbor complex should feel a kindred spirit with employees at the company's Minorca mine in Virginia, Minn.

All of the iron ore pellets produced from the Minnesota mine are sent by rail to Duluth, placed on a barge at a port and then shipped to East Chicago.

Who cares right? A little more than one hour north of Duluth, thousands of people who live on the Iron Range in Minnesota. Iron ore (or taconite) mining helped small towns such as Virginia, Mt. Iron, Hibbing and others grow and survive for decades through the boom-and-bust cycles. Similar to Northwest Indiana, you'd be hard pressed to find someone who either doesn't have a family member or friend who works or worked in mining. Northwest Indiana is familiar with ArcelorMittal and U.S. Steel, but the Range also has players including Cliffs Natural Resources and soon Essar Steel.

What's the financial impact? About 3,000 employees have an average wage and benefit package of $65,000 a year, according to the Iron Mining Association of Minnesota. The industry also provides millions of dollars for the right to mine taconite on the Iron Range. (Side notes: The Duluth News Tribune reported Thursday the Range's economic development agency had to cut is budget about $6.5 million -- or 35 percent -- as a result of lower taxes collected on taconite production. The board said Thursday the projects it was supporting would leverage $127.5 million in community development projects in northeast Minnesota) 

Talking to guys working at the mine, they said one of the biggest misconceptions is that the iron ore can be easily picked up, loaded on a railcar and sent to a steel mill to be used in production. It's not so simple.

Producing an iron product for steel mills involves a complex process that starts with identifying and extracting iron-laden rock from the Earth and ends with a round pellet being able to be used as a blast furnace feedstock.

It's also a pretty expensive process. Blasting through subsurface rock layers to access iron-containing material costs money. Fueling the trucks to separate the material costs money. Creating the pellets also takes a large amount of water and heat and electricity to power large crushers, furnaces and separators.

Making pellets is different from making steel, but to me, it is equally interesting. Seeing the 50-foot-high, 100-foot-wide piles of iron-containing rock turn into pellets the size of your finger nail is pretty impressive. It takes skill to operate machinery safely to generate material with the right chemistry so that the steelmakers can create a solid product. Employees say deer, moose and bears can wander near the mining area, which provides an interesting juxtaposition to the heavy industry in the area. Looking in the distance in every direction, there's a significant amount of green space filled with trees and plant life.

The Range helped define Duluth, which has helped define da Region. How's that for a homecoming?

- Bow

All the pretty pictures

People may disagree about politics, the city budget and the level of attention being paid to boost tourism in Duluth, Minn.

But in my short visit, one thing they do not complain about is the scenery, terrain and majestic views from the top or bottom of major hills in the city.

As a matter of fact, here's a view that I captured with my handy cell phone looking downhill from what appears to be one of the highest points above sea level in the city. I'm in the Enger Park Tower in Duluth, which interestingly enough is home to an ongoing beautification project and a pristine golf course bearing the park's name. This spot, along with other green spaces around the city, work to solidify a sense of place among Duluth's 84,000-plus residents.

Murals may be the source of angst from one set of community members currently, but no one argues about the rolling terrain. The city figured out years ago that it would have to balance its aesthetic appeal to visitors and expand the appeal that among current residents. VisitorsIt's a

It would be so nice if life were like postcards.

- Bow

The Northland is No. 3....

on my list of cities to visit as part of The Times Media Co.'s "Rust Belt resurgence" project.

To be honest, when my editors discussed the possibility of coming to Duluth, Minn. to write about urban revitalization, I wasn't sure how the city fit in to the project. The population is pretty close to Northwest Indiana's largest cities and has a similar heritage in manufacturing. Duluth, like Gary, is also located on a Great Lake (Lake Superior, instead of Lake Michigan in this case). But there are some large demographic differences that make Duluth vastly different from region cities and towns.

So is there anything to learn? I say yes, and hopefully in the next few days I prove that.

Duluth is an interesting place. But then I say that about every place I visit and it's my first to Minnesota. As a visitor, there appears to have been significant investments over the years to revitalize the lakefront to make it friendly, safe and engaging for visitors and residents. Census data shows Duluth has an aging population, but at night, there seems to be a large number of youth hanging out in parks and walking around the central business district. Similar to Northwest Indiana, you don't have to look very far to find someone who is impacted by the steel industry, mining or other manufacturing venture.

And since Congress has been on recess, Minnesota has been the epicenter of major political happenings in recent days. Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty ended his campaign to seek the Republican nomination to run against President Barack Obama in 2012 after a weak showing in the Ames (Iowa) Straw Poll. Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, an Iowa native, won the straw poll and provided a controversial interview to David Gregory of "Meet the Press" on Sunday. President Obama was in Cannon Falls, Minn. Monday afternoon for a town hall meeting where he talked about rebuilding the economy how Washington's political gridlock about brought the country to its knees during the deficit battle.

So needless to say there's a lot going on in the Northland. Now let's get the road on the show.

On a lighter note, traveling can be so stressful and it's easy to see when things don't go as planned. I left my boarding pass to catch a bus to the airport at home, my United flight boarding pass at home, brought the incorrect computer charger with me on the trip, my work phone can't get email messages, and found out my GPS isn't working correctly. Then the flight takes off from Chicago today heading to Duluth and I wake up back in Chicago. Apparently Doc was helping the pilot, who set the DeLorean to travel at 88 miles per hour. (Yep, "Back to the Future" was a great movie.) But eventually we landed, got settled, talked to some folks and are planning for more interviews tomorrow. Lesson: When ever you are preparing to travel, think about Murphy's Law and then plan accordingly.

-- Bow

Rebuilding "The Vehicle City"

A few months ago, I made a trip to Flint, Mich. to continue The Times' "Rust Belt resurgence" series. There were three stories featured from this leg of the reporting voyage.

States need to change work force strategies

Leaders in former auto powerhouse work through recovery process

Patience, effort are keys to restoring Flint, residents say

The story doesn't stop here. More posts will be coming as a result of the voyage and later I will be drawing linkages between Northwest Indiana, Youngstown, Ohio, Flint and potentially others.

- Bow

On to the next one

I want to start out this post with an apology. I didn't adequately close my last trip to Youngstown, Ohio properly.

Sparse blog posts. I didn't thank the people who showed me around the Mahoning Valley. Terrible. At the last post, Youngstown was buzzing because the Pittsburgh Steelers were headed to the Super Bowl. Well... the game ended better for the Green Bay Packers if case you forgot.

Here's the stories that were featured in The Times about the city of Youngstown.

Now we're (Tim, the photographer, and I) taking our notepads and cameras to Flint, Mich. to see what Gary, Ind. could possibly learn from a city that helped General Motors become a company of global importance.

I will be at a conference Wednesday on highlighting economic and neighborhood development initiatives that could help Flint and other Midwest cities. Here's the deets.

I've done a few interesting interviews earlier today at the Flint Farmers Market, which provided to be a great place near the hotel to talk to people and eat lunch. More interviews -- and posts -- to come tomorrow.

- Bow

Black and yellow in Ohio

While Chicagoland is still licking its wounds after the Chicago Bears lost the NFC championship game Sunday, Youngstown (or at least some of it) is buzzing Monday after the Pittsburgh Steelers clinched the AFC title and a trip to the Super Bowl XLV.

Some bars in the (Mahoning) Valley and western Pennsylvania were packed Sunday with fans rooting for the Steelers. It's interesting that before I got here, I didn't pay attention to other split affiliation areas for football. In Northwest Indiana, there's loyalty to the Bears, the Indianapolis Colts, the Steelers (can't give up the steel industry roots), or other teams such as the Green Bay Packers, also headed to the Super Bowl. Northeast Ohio has loyalty to the Steelers and the Cleveland Browns. 

On interviews during the day, the football conversation couldn't be escaped as offices as fan gleefully let anyone willing to listen, especially Browns fans, about their favorite football team.

For an ode to the Steelers, here's Pittsburgh rapper Wiz Khalifa's song "Black and Yellow"

Why Youngstown?

I don't know if I've adequately described why Youngstown is relevant to our coverage -- or why we thought there may be lessons Gary could learn.

Youngstown Sheet & Tube created wealth for residents in Youngstown and Gary in Northwest Indiana for decades as the steel company helped illustrate both cities' manufacturing prowess. Both areas felt the impact of the  contractions in the steel industry in the last 50 years and the industry consolidation helped accelerate declines in the cities' populations and employment levels.

Between 1990 and 2009, the city of Youngstown has lost 24 percent of its population, according to the Census Bureau. In a 2009 population estimate, it had 72,425 residents. Gary has lost about 18 percent of its population over the same period to stand at 95,707 in 2009.

In 2009, Youngstown and Gary had owner-occupied median home values signficantly below the U.S. average of $185,400. The median value in Gary was $69,400 and in Youngstown it was $52,900.

Looking for wealth disparities, see U.S. median household income in 2009: $51,425. Gary was at $27,637, while Youngstown stood at slightly more than $25,000. The median household income in Merrillville, which borders Gary, was slightly more than $50,000. The median household income in the city of Gerard, which borders Youngstown, was slightly more than $40,000.

Both areas also have significant amounts of park land in the city with Mill Creek MetroParks in Youngstown and Marquette Park in Gary.

Youngstown and Gary also have had famous songs made about them. Here's Bruce Springsteen crooning "Youngstown." Here's a rendition of "Gary, Indiana" from the 1960s film "The Music Man." And for a bonus song from "Gary, 2300 Jackson Street," made by the Jacksons.

All of these reasons helped make the case. And now, I'm off to bed because there's much more to learn later.

A tale of two -- or three or four -- cities

Similar to the Charles Dickens novel and many other places in the country, there's a stark contrast between the well-to-do and poverty-stricken neighborhoods in the city of Youngstown.

Local blogger John Slanina led multimedia journalist Tim Hunt and I to see neighborhoods with colonial mansions overlooking a waterfall to those with two bungalows on a city block designed for many more. 

Different strategies in community development converge in Youngstown: Stabilize neighborhoods in jeopardy of falling into disrepair, reduce the city's footprint, tear down homes in disrepair and make them clean sites, and invest in projects that could be catalyze growth. In conversations with residents regardless of where they live, everyone is concerned with the quality of their neighborhood. But they also understand with limited resources available, all neighborhoods can't be saved at the same time or at the same rate. In a couple weeks, stories I write documenting the Youngstown experiences will describe how people feel about neighborhoods in the city and the suburbs.

Random lesson: As I continue to have more conversations with people living in Youngstown, I see that so much of the city's cultural heritage is grounded in traditions surrounding what people eat. Local traditions such as Brier Hill pizza, Italian wedding soup, barbecued and roasted meats, and cookie tables help define the city's culinary tradition. Local restaurants appear to understand what people like and are more than willing to serve them their favorites.