Neal Peirce on America's "Legacy" Cities, Roberta Gratz on Hydrofracking III

For Release Sunday, February 5, 2012
(c) 2012 Washington Post Writers Group

"Rustbelt" is out. "Legacy" is in.

For years we've needed a new word for the arc of cities and regions, stretching from the Northeast to the Great Lakes and so deeply damaged by decades of vanishing factories, abandoned properties and alarming population loss.

Now, a new report and book, "Rebuilding America's Legacy Cities," gives us a way out. Looking deeply into the plights of our Youngstowns and Toledos, Detroits and Flints, it's the report of the 110th session of the American Assembly, the non-partisan political forum founded 62 years ago by Dwight D. Eisenhower when he was president of Columbia University.

The Assembly, held last spring in Detroit, actually had a spirited debate about applying the "legacy" word to the hard-hit cities. Some suggested "legacy" meant something from the past that's outdated, such as "legacy software," outmoded cost structures, or fragmented governance.

But Henry Cisneros, the Assembly co-chair and former former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, painted a highly positive view of these cities' legacy at a late January Brookings Institution forum on release of the session's report. Many of these historic industrial cities, he noted, gave the North the arms and men it needed to win the Civil War. The factories of Akron, Flint, Buffalo and Rochester were critical to America triumphing in World War II. Detroit was long synonymous with American industrial strength.

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For Release Saturday, February 4, 2012
Citiwire.net

Hydrofracking's vast grid of pipelines is having an enormous impact on the rural Northeastern landscape -- the topic of my prior two columns in this Citiwire series. But what's the impact on local economies, jobs and real estate?

The experience of slow, bumper-to-bumper traffic entering the historic Bradford County (Pa.) seat of Towanda, could discourage any resident or visitor. One local businessman reported that his daily commute escalated from 20 to 45 minutes. From a window table at a Main Street café in Towanda, one observes the non-stop freight train quantity of huge, rumbling trucks. One wonders what the vibrations must be doing to structures along all routes, from 100-year-old Main Street buildings to older roadside churches.

One shopkeeper reported the loss of most local customers unwilling to face downtown traffic. She gained onetime customers from the families visiting gas workers.

Experienced engineers, technicians, geologists, surveyors and drill rig operators come from elsewhere. Training programs exist in upstate New York but it will be years before locals in either Pennsylvania or New York will be qualified. Passing the drug test for applicants is often a problem. The high local employment -- Bradford has only a 6 percent unemployment rate -- is mostly the ancillary businesses created by the gas companies, such as restaurants, hotels, supply companies and some truckers.

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‘Rustbelt’ to ‘Legacy’ — Rethinking Old Cities’ Potential

Hydrofracking and the Rural Future