ITR - Detroit USA - Read All About It...from Pip in California for ITR (UK & GLOBAL)

Scroll down and read about Detroit ....

Back from the dead

The decline of major American industries such as steel, textiles, and tobacco threatened to turn these six towns into economic wastelands. Instead, local officials sought out new industries, reinventing their towns as meccas for biotech, software development, and telecoms.

1).Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

This former steel city is remodeling itself into a high-tech player. Manufacturing giant Bethlehem Steel, once one of the largest steel producers in the U.S. , employed as many as 167,000 people in its heyday. By the mid-`80s that number had plummeted to 35,000 as the cost of doing business and competition from foreign producers took their toll. The company shut down its Bethlehem plant in 1995 and closed for good in 2003. The town has since transitioned to a tech-based economy, nurtured by the presence of major hospitals and colleges. The state aggressively courts new businesses via programs like Ben Franklin Technology Partners, which helps start-ups find funding and qualified staff. Meanwhile, the old Bethlehem Steel property is being converted into a luxury entertainment complex that will feature shopping, dining, a hotel and casino.

2). Worcester , Massachusetts

New England's second-largest city, Worcester was known in its previous economic incarnation as a manufacturing powerhouse, producing everything from textiles to machine parts. Although the city has made an effort to preserve its manufacturing capabilities, it's best known now as a hub of biotechnology. The founding of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Research Park in 1985 by the city's development corporation and the presence of 15 area colleges and universities fostered this new industry; Worcester is now home to more than a hundred biotech companies. The city strives to blend the green space and affordable housing options of a small town with the arts and culture of a big city: Worcester 's well-known museums and libraries include the Higgins Armory Museum and the American Antiquarian Society.

3). Bend , Oregon

Situated among central Oregon 's lush forests, lakes, rivers, and mountains, Bend 's economy thrives on outdoor recreation. Bend was once a logging town, but decades of unsustainable harvesting eventually depleted the timberland, driving the lumber companies out of business. Brooks-Scanlon, at one time a major employer, closed its doors in 1994. Since then, the city has become a tourist town, although smaller mills continue to produce some wood products. Mt. Bachelor , a popular ski destination, is Bend 's second-largest employer. Tourists and the rapidly growing local population also enjoy kayaking, hiking, fishing, and rock climbing.

4). Manchester , New Hampshire

The largest city in New Hampshire , Manchester was a pioneer in the Industrial Revolution, home to Amoskeag Manufacturing Company, at one time the world's largest textile manufacturer. Other factories in town produced a variety of goods such as cigars, sewing machines, and rifles. As cheaper foreign goods became more readily available in the `60s and `70s, the city's manufacturing industry declined - replaced by high-tech fields such as telecommunications and software development. Verizon is one of the city's largest employers, but small businesses make their homes here, too. While property taxes are high, there's no income tax and no sales tax; affordable real estate options range from modern lofts to elegant Victorians. Locals enjoy close proximity to ski trails, beaches, and nearby Boston .

5). Durham , North Carolina

Once a robust tobacco town, Durham 's economic outlook began to decline as people started smoking less. At the height of its popularity in 1947, local companies produced 50 million pounds of tobacco; in 1986, the number decreased to just 4 million. To fill the void, the city, along with its neighbors Raleigh and Chapel Hill, established Research Triangle Park , a commercial complex that now houses more than 130 tech and healthcare businesses. Nearby universities share resources and provide a highly educated workforce. Downtown Durham boasts a growing entertainment district. The historic American Tobacco factory, which closed in 1987, has been converted into luxury housing, restaurants, and retail stores, sandwiched between a new performing arts center and the Durham Bulls Athletic Park .

6). Winston-Salem , North Carolina

Faced with a declining tobacco market, Winston-Salem , like Durham , made a deliberate effort to cultivate tech industries such as biotech and software development. RJ Reynolds, the country's second-largest tobacco company, is still headquartered in Winston-Salem , but it's no longer the city's leading employer: Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center now occupies that role. In the early 1990s, the Chamber of Commerce's Technology Council spearheaded the foundation of Piedmont Triad Research Park to encourage the development of high-tech businesses, drawing on the well-educated labor pool generated by nearby colleges and universities.

7). Detroit , Michigan

Once the automobile capital of the world, this city drew population (once numbering 2.4 million strong) from throughout the United States and led the nation into prosperity. With the decline in manufaturing occurring over the last 3 decades, Detroit was hard hit. Through the inginuity of the Detroit Mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick (son of State Representative Carolyn Kilpatrick), and a hard working City Council, they replaced it's former manufacturing glory with a new culture of nepotism, crime, poverty, law suits and other new municipal activities. Thanks to their hard work we have completed the task of stripping the city dry of any remaining positive attributes. Welcome to new Detroit ....

This above, is the Detroit School Book Depository by the way.

For those of you that think these pictures are just of selected areas, guess again. This is what the great majority of Detroit is. There a few areas (very few) that are not like this. Notice all the empty space where there at one time was solid houses. Now below is a picture of Bagdad , Iraq after 4 years of war... a little ragged, but not nearly as bad as Detroit ......

Obviously, Kwame and team Detroit have outdone the the US Armed forces with all the state-of-the-art weaponry in destroying a city. Please forward this email to George W. Bush and tell him to fire the entire Pentagon and put Kwame Kilpatrick and the Detroit City Council in charge. If we go to war with Iran , the advantage would be overwhelming!! Besides, it would get him the hell out of here and make Michigan a better place.

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