So small town America is bitter.
Well, people in many of these rural industrial outposts have every reason to be. Every four years politicians of all stripes come around, and tell the locals they are the backbone of the country. They promise hope, but after election day the locals don't see the pols again until the next campaign season. This year has been a little different -- McCain told Michigan jobs aren't coming back and Obama made his "bitter" comments, but now Hillary stirs the pot with more traditional feel good talk -- "we'll help you with job training."
No news, places like Wilkes Barre and Scranton in Pennsylvania have been slowly dying for 50 years or more, and despite the political pandering, there really is no hope for them on the horizon. How many small cities can be turned into theme towns of a bygone era? At least, Lancaster has Amish Country to attract tourists and State College has Penn State.
America has been the world's high cost producer, and other countries can manufacture what we do at fractions of our cost, because of their low labor rates. As a result, the standard of living for many Americans (the middle class) is eroding, particularly for blue collar workers without college degrees who see high pay union jobs vanishing. The Rustland belt from Schenectady to Gary loses increasing numbers of young people who must look for jobs elsewhere. Populations stagnate and gray as many older people can't afford to move and just age in place. The region withers.
And how many readers on this site are making real estate investments in Stubenville or Buffalo? Can I sell you a brownfield on a value enhancement play?
Plenty of people have and will keep making beau-coup bucks in this country, but in brainpower industries -- high tech, bio tech, healthcare and finance. These companies headquarter in the prime global gateway markets along the coasts and in warmer hot growth Sunbelt suburban cities, whose more temperate climates trump the interior north's. But to do really well, workers need college degrees or better. Job training today means going to university and graduate school.
This all leaves small town American left out in the "bitter" cold.
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Jonathan D. Miller
A marketing communication strategist who turned to real estate analysis, Jonathan D. Miller is a foremost interpreter of 21st citistate futures – cities and suburbs alike – seen through the lens of lifestyles and market realities. For more than 20 years (1992-2013), Miller authored Emerging Trends in Real Estate, the leading commercial real estate industry outlook report, published annually by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Urban Land Institute (ULI). He has lectures frequently on trends in real estate, including the future of America's major 24-hour urban centers and sprawling suburbs. He also has been author of ULI’s annual forecasts on infrastructure and its What’s Next? series of forecasts. On a weekly basis, he writes the Trendczar blog for GlobeStreet.com, the real estate news website. Outside his published forecasting work, Miller is a prominent communications/institutional investor-marketing strategist and partner in Miller Ryan LLC, helping corporate clients develop and execute branding and communications programs. He led the re-branding of GMAC Commercial Mortgage to Capmark Financial Group Inc. and he was part of the management team that helped build Equitable Real Estate Investment Management, Inc. (subsequently Lend Lease Real Estate Investments, Inc.) into the leading real estate advisor to pension funds and other real institutional investors. He joined the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the U.S. in 1981, moving to Equitable Real Estate in 1984 as head of Corporate/Marketing Communications. In the 1980's he managed relations for several of the country's most prominent real estate developments including New York's Trump Tower and the Equitable Center. Earlier in his career, Miller was a reporter for Gannett Newspapers. He is a member of the Citistates Group and a board member of NYC Outward Bound Schools and the Center for Employment Opportunities.
