The South Can Rise Again

Once we get through the current economic mess, certain cities and places will emerge winners and losers. The government can pour endless taxpayer dollars to prop up the Midwest car companies, but turning Detroit around looks like a fools errand. The downward spiral began decades ago--precipitated by union unreality and management short-sightedness. Overseas competitors now set up shop in Southern right to work states, paying assembly line employees less in more state-of-the-art factories without cumbersome work rules. GM, Chrysler and to a lesser extent Ford kept lobbying and forestalling higher fuel efficiency standards, while building gas guzzlers in aging factories. These companies have been managed as if their leaders fiddle in a "That Seventies Show" time warp
 
People, meanwhile, will continue to move away from colder climes. Many blue collar workers won't be picky as long as they can find a job. And increasingly that means heading south to states like Alabama.
 
I was in Mobile, home to the original American Mardi Gras, over the weekend. Now the local economy is not hopping, but a German company is building a huge new steel mill north of town. The city still hopes to keep its share of the Air Force's contract to build midair jet fueling tankers (fighting off Boeing and Seattle). The container port has received a boost with new facilities and existing freight rail lines lead north. Folks are worried about the national economy, no doubt, but recent activity provides hope and some measure of buoyancy in these rough times, a real contrast to many other places today. If Mobile can link into regional global pathway centers like Atlanta or Houston over the next generation, it's fortunes could be enhanced greatly. High speed rail connections would be a boon.
 
The South can rise again--this once sleepy region certainly has better prospects than the Great Lakes Rust Land.      

Comments

[David]

I agree that prospects for the South look better than those of the Midwest or Northeast, but what exactly is a high speed rail line through Mobile going to offer the surrounding area of Mobile? The cost would be enormous. Who will foot the bill? Who will ride the train? Autoworkers? Unlikely, there is plenty of land to build new homes next door to all the new industry. Outsourcing of jobs from the Midwest and Northeast to the South will continue, and likely pick up in pace, over the next 10 years, however, there is no utopia created by high speed rail lines and condos in downtowns just because developers throw them up and ULI leaders sing their praises. What Mobile and other southern cities need is better local infastructure and better, more intelligent, government leaders that force smarter growth. Sprawl, in and of itself, is not the problem, not everyone wants a condo downtown overlooking the city, some people actually want to live in a suburb. So, leaders need to find better ways to plan to allow for this growth in the South. Running a high speed line from Atlanta to Houston with a stop in Mobile might make a ULI zealot, or consultant for that matter, overjoyed, but really, we could spend the billions elsewhere and create much more liveable, sprawling communities.

[Marc]

Nice article, and spot-on. Mobile is precisely the kind of community that gives a great economic return on an investment in high-speed rail. Its port (the U.S.’s 11th largest), unparalleled logistics infrastructure and new container terminal serve growing regional steel, auto, health care, high tech and aerospace industries. I-65 connects it to the Great Lakes and I-10 to the Atlantic and Pacific. It offers an optimal blend of commercial opportunity and quality of life to attract and nurture the kind of vibrant and cosmopolitan culture that sustains this country’s only competitive advantage - entrepreneurism. It’s not about today; it’s about tomorrow and 30 years from now.

[David]

The same things can be said about most every port in the south, both air and seaports. Savannah has I-95 and Atlanta nearby. Jacksonville has I-95 and I-10 and a large city to feed. Both have a strong quality of life. Then there is Charleston, or Norfolk, or Kansas City with it's link to Mexico. Let's throw up a high speed rail line for all those cities. I'm still not sure who will use these lines or what kind of cargo will be running on them, or the biggest question, who will pay for them?

[Marc]

Exactly! High-speed rail, small city center to major city center for all of them. As in Europe, the rail moves people cheaper, more conveniently and faster than flying. Taxes pay, as they do for roads and airports.