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The Biggest Story About Cleveland Not Being Told [Rust Wire]
The places that are fared the worst are the blackest. The places that fared the best are among the whitest.

The Rust Belt Law School Crisis [The Wall Street Journal]
“This clear trend means that many of the ‘lesser’ law schools in the Great Lakes/Midwest region are largely left ‘out in the cold’ in relation to being able to attract significant cohorts of well-qualified applicants and students. Several law schools are likely to simply wither away.”

A Silver Lining On The Rust Belt: Manufacturing Jobs On The Rise In Southern Illinois [Southern Business Journal]
“I would say we have been very successful in Illinois. There are some difficult differences between other states and the state of Illinois. But at the end of the day, we’ve had a business friendly environment here. We haven’t really faced many challenges.”

A Gigafactory Is Rising in Buffalo, And It May Change the Solar Energy Industry [Curbed]
…when it starts operation next summer, the SolarCity Gigafactory will eventually manufacture a gigawatt’s worth of next-generation solar panels every year — just shy of Doc Brown DeLorean levels, and a significant addition to the national energy supply — helping to further develop domestic sources of clean power.

Pulling Pittsburgh Into The Future [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]
Pittsburgh has evolved over the centuries from a pristine gateway to the West, to the engine of America, to the poster child of Rust Belt decline and, most recently, to a phoenix of reinvention. Accordingly, it’s time to pause and consider an important question: Is this just another chapter in the evolving story of Pittsburgh or a unique moment to impact our destiny?

This Is The New ‘Brain Belt’ [Maclean’s]
Ask most people about rust belts and they will describe scenes of abandoned factory buildings and cars standing on cinder blocks between peeling houses … But for the authors of this book, a financier and a journalist, this is a landscape of opportunity and innovation — the place new businesses and new business models grow.

Banner photo by Moto “Club4AG” Miwa.

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