Rust Belt
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The Rust Belt, sometimes called the Manufacturing Belt, is an area in parts of the Northeastern United States, Mid-Atlantic States, and portions of the Upper Midwest. The region can be broadly defined as the region beginning west of the BosWash corridor and running west to Minnesota, particularly the city of Duluth and the Iron Range. Because the area's economy was defined by the steel industry and other heavy manufacturing, Minnesota – with its massive iron mining operations integral to steel – is often considered to be "where the Rust Belt begins". The area immediate to Lake Erie is considered to be the "hub" of the Rust Belt. The region extends southward to the beginnings of the coal-mining regions of Appalachia, north to the Great Lakes and includes manufacturing regions of southern Ontario and Quebec in Canada.
Economic activity in the Rust Belt forms a significant part of the heavy industry and manufacturing sectors of the American economy. The term Rust Belt signified the collapse of the steel industry and the restructuring of industry, with the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs in the region. Contraction of manufacturing jobs has dislocated many workers in this region, particularly in Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Duluth, the Twin Cities, Detroit, Toledo, Cleveland, Youngstown, Ohio, Erie and Gary, Indiana, forcing the area — the focal point on the continent for the automobile industry — to diversify or decay. Emerging technologies in this region — including hydrogen fuel cell development, nanotechnology, biotechnology, and information technology — may help revitalize the economy of affected communities.
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[edit] Geographic definition
Although manufacturing exists nationwide, the region is roughly defined as comprising the northern sections of Illinois (particularly the South Side of Chicago), Indiana, and Ohio; the Lower Peninsula of Michigan; New York, especially around Buffalo; New York City and Northern New Jersey; most of <a href="/wiki