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10 America's Fastest-Dying Towns (Middle Town Ohio #10)

Rumble In the Jungle

By Rumble In the Jungle
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[quote][size=3][b]1. Bensenville, Ill.[/b] [/size]
Chicago's inner suburbs were a major post-World War II growth center. Manufacturing and warehousing provided jobs for newly minted suburbanites. Today those jobs are leaving the inner suburbs, heading overseas or to new exurban or rural spots that can offer less congestion, cheaper land and cheaper housing. Incomes in Bensenville declined 11.4% from 2000 to 2007, and it has the lowest rate of in-migration in the country.

[size=3][b]2. Candler-McAfee, Ga.[/b][/size]
Since 2000, Atlanta has been one of the nation's growth capitals and has attracted new residents from all over the country. But out-of-towners and corporations have avoided Candler-McAfee, and as a result the city has fallen into poverty at an alarming rate. In 2000, 13.6% of residents were living below the poverty line, about the national average. By 2007 the poverty rate had exploded to 27.5%, one of the highest rates in the country.

[size=3][b]3. Kokomo, Ind.[/b][/size]
The best way to understand Kokomo's decline is to look at Chrysler. The auto company is the city's key employer, and as it has fallen, so have Kokomo's fortunes. From 2000 to 2007, incomes dropped 1.75% (not adjusted for inflation). Back then, 7.4% of residents had relocated to Kokomo from out of state in the previous year. By 2007, Americans no longer regarded it as an opportunity center; the in-migration rate fell to 1.3%.

[size=3][b]4. Asheboro, N.C.[/b][/size]
Asheboro is one of the few places in North Carolina where domestic migration rates fell between 2000 and 2007, from 10.5% to 1.9%. Poverty surged from 15.7% to 26.7% as incomes declined by 9.5%. The city, built on manufacturing and heavy industry for everything from batteries to tires, has yet to find a new niche

[size=3][b]5. Austintown, Ohio[/b][/size]
It's a major problem for small towns when their economy is tied to a larger city in decline. Such is the case for Austintown, a western suburb of collapsing Youngstown. Like its big brother, Austintown has seen jobs drop since 2000. In-migration has fallen drastically, from 5% in 2000 to 0.6% in 2007, and the area has gone from a middle-class suburb with a moderate poverty rate of 8.8% to one with 13.8%.

[size=3][b]6. Spanish Lake, Mo.[/b][/size]
To the north of St. Louis, Spanish Lake has been unable to attract highly skilled, high-salaried jobs. Only 14.7% of residents there have a bachelor's degree or better, one of the lower rates for cities measured. Without jobs to attract the highly educated, incomes have fallen by 7.75% in the last seven years.

[b][size=3]7. Hamtramck, Mich.[/size][/b]
Cars, cars, cars. This town, just outside of Detroit, depends on the Motor City. After World War II, it rose alongside Detroit as a vibrant manufacturing center. Now the two are hampered by failing economies. Hamtramck has a dizzying unemployment rate of 36.1%, one of the highest in the country. Incomes have dropped by 12.4% in the last seven years thanks to a mass exodus of workers and companies from the area.

[size=3][b]8. Grandview, Mo.[/b][/size]
To the south of Kansas City, Grandview, along with some of its neighbors in Jackson County, has lost a lot of economic ground since 2000. Poverty has doubled while incomes have remained flat, and have fallen when adjusted for inflation. What's more, the housing market has deteriorated, with prices falling 10% in the last year, according to Trulia.com. With few buyers, and no one moving in, home prices have dropped to $78,000 at the median level, off from $122,000 in 2003.

[size=3][b]9. Burton, Mich.[/b][/size]
Burton, like its neighbor Flint, has been a major casualty of America's declining auto industry. Due to disappearing manufacturing and industrial jobs, household incomes fell 1.8% from 2000 to 2007 (before adjusting for inflation). Poverty rates have doubled in the last seven years, surging from 8.6% in 2000 to 15.4% in 2007.

[size=3][b]10. Middletown, Ohio[/b][/size]
Situated between Dayton and Cincinnati, Middletown has declined in step with much of Greater Ohio. The town's median household income is $37,000, and its poverty level has jumped from 12% in 2000 to 22% in 2007. And it's not likely to get better anytime soon. With only 12.2% of residents possessing bachelor's degrees or better, the city isn't a prime candidate to attract highly skilled jobs that have lifted some other post-industrial cities.[/quote]

[url="http://www.forbes.com/home/2008/12/08/towns-ten-economy-forbeslife-cx_mw_1209dying.html"]http://www.forbes.com/home/2008/12/08/town..._1209dying.html[/url]

i've lived in ohio the last 18 yrs. and i think i've been to middletown once to get gas. right off of the exit, never even ever gone to middletown or knew anyone from there. just had no business being there. i've been to hamilton a bunch and i heard it's very similar.
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[quote name='BengalBacker' post='731295' date='Dec 10 2008, 03:58 AM']Those were all "towns", Dayton is a "city".

A dying city, :sadd: but still a city.[/quote]

ah yes...

[url="http://www.forbes.com/2008/08/04/economy-ohio-michigan-biz_cx_jz_0805dying_slide_2.html?thisspeed=25000"]http://www.forbes.com/2008/08/04/economy-o...thisspeed=25000[/url]


ohio is very good at producing these dying cities.
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