Why do we have ghost towns in the Midwest?
Richard Longworth answers this by examining transportation……the movement of resources from supply origin to demand destination.
Chroniceling the growth of the Midwest from its earliest times, Longworth traces the history of transportation from water transport, to rail and then highway.
As the Midwest moved from one mode to another there were winners and loser communities, some grew and other became “ghost towns”.
He suggests that human intellect “manufactured” by some 17 global and nationally known higher education institutions is the Midwest resource of the future.
This resource is mobile via the internet and is easily transportable evidenced by the exodus of highly educated young people from the Midwest to other locals viewed as better places to live.
Longworth suggests “Place Matters”. To retain this resource communities with “Power of Place” – ”territorial endowments” and “social capital” will succeed in capturing this resource. Others may not succeed and be future ghost towns.
A must read for every community planner and economic developer.
Chuck Eckenstahler
Tags: Chuck Eckenstahler, Midwest economic development, Richard Longworth
October 19, 2010 at 9:10 am |
[...] (For more information on the importance of transportation and how lost transportation connectivity created Midwest ghost towns see Richard C. Longworth’s Caught in the Middle – America’s Heartland in the Age of Globalization and my commentary at http://chuckeckenstahler.wordpress.com/2009/11/22/why-we-have-gost-towns-in-the-midwest/) [...]