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Cleveland Prepares For Trouble At The Republican Convention [Maclean’s]
“I would hope that there will be protests, because all voices need to be heard. Do I think it will shut down the city? No. Am I afraid of it? No. Are we prepared for it? No.”
Garbage Entrepreneurs Are Turning Food Waste Into A Business [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
Compost Crusader is bidding in the City of Milwaukee to run a one-year test to study the possibility of a residential organics collection program. The study will be conducted in Bay View and on the east side, where residents, for a fee, will be offered the option of separate collection of organic waste such as food and garden debris.
Best Of Indianapolis: Neighborhoods, Restaurants, Art [Billings Gazette]
One thing’s for sure. Indy’s old nickname, Naptown, is now best used ironically, with a hashtag, because this city has woken up.
Donald Trump And The Idea Of The Rust Belt [The New Yorker]
Certain places that used to be central to the global economy now are not. You wouldn’t say the Midwest is thriving, exactly. But neither is it in collapse. The region has not actually rusted.
Hard-Pressed Rust Belt Cities Go Green To Aid Urban Revival [Yale Environment 360]
“It’s easy to be cynical, because Gary has been planned to death, and people have had their hearts broken before. The people who have decided to stay are ready for a positive reincarnation.”
Main Street Retailers Starting To See Persistence Pay Off [The Buffalo News]
Just a few years ago, the idea of opening a store on the desolate downtown stretch would have seemed a fool’s errand. But slowly, those abandoned storefronts with long-gone names have been giving way to new activity. Main Street has begun crackling back to life.
Portrait Of The Social Crisis In America: Rockford, Illinois [wsws.org]
According to one analysis of the last 20 years, Rockford’s job growth peaked in 2000 with 165,700 people employed. There has been negative net job growth in the area since then, with 12,200 jobs lost between 2000 and 2009. By 2009, Rockford employment leveled out at 142,200, with only 11,300 jobs added since then.
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Banner photo of Rockford, Illinios by KB Digital.
