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Rust Belt Romance: How the Ace Hotel Fell Hard for Pittsburgh [Vogue]
It is a measure of the brand’s cachet that its arrival here is being seen as a turning point, a moment when Pittsburgh completed its transition from Rust Belt legacy town to upcycled capital of cool. Plenty of people will take issue with that characterization, but those people are not magazine editors.

Why Haven’t Flint Residents Fled? [The Washington Post]
Flint residents are still in shock, unsure of how to proceed. Things still might go to hell in Flint and in other American cities, causing thousands to seek a better life elsewhere.

In An Improving Economy, Places In Distress [New York Times]
A new report by the Economic Innovation Group, based on an analysis of Census Bureau data, found that a number of cities in the old industrial heartland are still among the worst even as surrounding areas have improved markedly.

Buffalo, New York: After The Jazz Age [Mint]
None of my Buffalonian friends had actually been to this century-old jazz club that now stands alone, peerless, at 145 Broadway. Reason enough to visit, I thought.

Snyder Lawyer Called Flint Water ‘Scary’ Before Lead Crisis [Associated Press]
A full year before his administration helped the city reconnect to Lake Huron water after lead contamination was exposed, two top advisers were already advocating the move, citing E. coli and a General Motors plant’s rusting parts.

With Widening Of I-75, Michigan DOT Will Deliver Another Blow To Detroit [Streetsblog USA]
Everyone agrees the highway needs to get repaired, but widening it is a different matter. A bigger road will siphon residents and economic activity from the city and close-in suburbs. Transit riders, environmental groups, and representatives of inner ring suburbs are protesting that the project will fuel sprawl, squander resources, and lead to more inequality.

Why Your Next Homemade Pizza Should Hail From The Midwest, Not New York [The Washington Post]
If you’re looking for pizzas that are focused on flavor and highlight truly American ingredients, look to the industrialized cities of the Rust Belt, where pizza is not a tourist attraction: It’s a meal.

PREMIERE: The Flats’ “Machinery” Is A ’90s Dream-Pop Throwback [Substream]
When you think of “dream pop,” you probably don’t think of Toledo, Ohio. It’s not exactly a place known for much of anything outside of being Detroit’s little brother to the south, a blue-collar city in the rust belt that hasn’t had much of an opportunity to shine. The Flats hope to change all of that.

Banner photo of St. Louis-style pizza by Ch473, via Wikimedia Commons.

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