I hate the term Rust Belt. My profile says it--"Detester of the term Rust Belt." That's me.
My "Rust Belt Thesaurus" post is among the most-read pieces I've authored. I like to think that I've influenced some folks a little bit with my campaign of sorts to rid the planet of the pejorative.
Since I met him two years ago, Joel Kotkin seems to have taken a bite out of his throwing around the term. He stills devours "Rust Belt" every now and then, but the lighter "Great Lakes Region" is more often in his editorial diet. Deserved or not. I'll take a little credit for that.
This Richey Piiparinen guy is another story though. I actually agree with pretty much 90% of what he writes, especially about embracing our Great Lakes Region places for what they are, not something they aren't. I do wish I could put him on a use-of-the-R-word diet too. His Rust Belt Chic is probably not going away, though. That's him.
See my latest attempt at persuasion spilled over to Cleveland Magazine's September 2013 edition at a piece titled "Image Conscious." The magazine's people signed me up to be the "no" to the pro and con about whether we should just adopt the moniker "Rust Belt."
What do you think? Am I right or am I right?
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