On Ferguson, media outrage, and #blacktwitter:
“Decades ago, when unrest and police responses broke out in cities, the measurable civilian response was limited to what the media could capture. Local Philadelphians talked to reporters about what it was like to live near the MOVE siege; residents of Cincinnati did the same when their neighbors protested the killing of Timothy Thomas. The reaction to Ferguson (or #Ferguson) is happening on social media, everywhere, shaped by conservatives who want to blame Democrats, police state critics who want to talk about militarization, and foreigners who wonder what the hell is wrong with America.”
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On cash sales and the housing market:
“In six metro areas—Las Vegas, Detroit, Kansas City, Philadelphia, Cleveland, and New York—almost half the new single-family and condo sales were all-cash sales. Which is incredible. Cash buyers are picking up homes at the high and low ends of the spectrum. They account for nearly half the luxury homes sold, but also well more than half of homes sold for under six figures.”
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Speaking of cash sales, wanna buy a house in Buffalo for $1?
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“But there is something magical about Pittsburgh.” Can struggling Rust Belt cities emulate the humble steel town’s tech growth, innovation, and entrepreneurship?
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Unlikely headlines — “The Browns Are Playing This Perfectly“:
“The true Cleveland move here would’ve been to turn the team over to Manziel, ask him to be a savior, and then when it all went to hell by Week 6, turn around and wonder why the Browns always have such horrible luck with quarterbacks. They would have to give Hoyer a shot at that point, benching Manziel, and creating a real setback with his development and confidence. And they’d still have zero chance at the playoffs.”
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A Wisconsin chair factory’s role in the history of the blues:
“These are Mississippi bluesmen, being brought to this white rural town in Wisconsin, and you can’t imagine how foreign it must have been to them to see that landscape. Sometimes the performers would record for Paramount in Chicago, but later in Paramount’s history, the company built a studio right in Grafton, and it was a notoriously bad studio… But as I said, they captured some of the best performers in American history, folks like Skip James, Charley Patton, Blind Lemon Jefferson, and Geeshie Wiley—all these really incredible singers. At the time, Paramount didn’t know what it was doing. It hasn’t been until now that people are like, “Oh my God, this label rewrote American history.” I don’t think Paramount was remotely cognizant of the significance of the work that was being recorded in their studio. They were just trying to land on a hit.”
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The Rust Belt may be a big winner in climate change:
“Millennials’ safest climates are New England and the Rust Belt… ‘The question then becomes: Can climate change drive people back north, and shift the economic incentives around the country? Can we start to see a revitalization of the Rust Belt?’ asks Preston.”
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Depending on the statistic examined, Cleveland is either 25th in the nation for young adults holding a college degree (meh) or 8th in the nation for young adults in the workforce with an advanced degree (best of the Midwest).
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A map of the frequency with which names of American cities appeared in print over the last two centuries shows the unsurprising geography of America’s cultural development:
“Omaha, Kansas City, Cleveland, and Detroit … these were the towns whose mystique and economic vitality seemed to vanish when the highways reached them.”
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Columbus native Zack “Danger” Brown — ie, potato salad Kickstarter guy — is putting the money to good use:
“PotatoStock itself will feature music and, naturally, potato salad (which costs money) but Brown is donating most of the proceeds to create a fund at the Columbus Foundation. ‘This will create a permanent fund to help Central Ohio’s non-profits end hunger and homelessness,’ he wrote. ‘These types of funds gain interest every year and grow over time, so, while our little internet joke will one day be forgotten, the impact will be felt forever.'”
Image “CATTLE ROUNDUP – NARA – 543634” by Gillette, Bill, 1932-, Photographer (NARA record: 8464444). Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.
