If you were to walk down a street in Steubenville, you wouldn't realize the changes going on, unless you lived there your whole life. The buildings are decaying and the streets are getting quieter and quieter. The population of Steubenville, according to the census bureau, is approximately 18,303. For a city, that is a low number, especially compared for its size. According to records, provided by the New York Times, there is half less a population than there was sixty years ago. "From 1980 to 2000, census figures show, the Steubenville-Weirton population dropped faster than that of any urban area in that nation" (NYTIMES). What is changing? Why are people leaving?
Well from one perspective, it can be said that it has to do with the decline in industrial work/production. In a 1990 article by the Chicago Tribune, author Tom Hundley says that Steubenville can be considered part of the Rust Belt. I did not know what this mean, so I looked it up online. Basically what the Rust Belt is referring to any upper Northeastern United States, the Great Lakes, and Midwest States, that have suffered economic decline, population loss, and urban decay due to the shrinking of its once powerful industrial sector. This is relevant, because "9 of 10 steel jobs have vanished" (NYTIMES). For the industrial jobs that are left, a lot of those employees are only temporary residences. Hence, when the job is done, a lot of those employees leave in large numbers, affecting the total population.
This is leading into another perspective as to why the population is suffering. The younger generation does not want to stay in the former little steel city. And it's not just them, it is the parents too. "I think it's because our young people are the ones that are leaving," Martins Ferry's Tom Long said. "I see it in the churches, the school system, the child-bearing people are leaving because of work. That's primarily it." (WTOV9). The Chicago Tribune also had something to say about parents' decisions, ``Working couples have to make a joint decision about where they want to work. It`s usually more attractive to go to the big city where there are more alternatives,`` said Morton Marcus, an economist at Indiana University.
This younger generation does not want to work in service jobs, because they want to make more of an income without having to do much of the labor. "There are jobs here, but a lot of them are service jobs," Wheeling's Stephanie Joseph said. "They aren't jobs where you can pay for an apartment, utilities, car payment and save and that's probably it." A Mingo junction resident, not far from Steubenville, was interview in the Chicago Tribune, his name was Mike Czoka. He talked about how his dad worked for Carnegie, as did his father, and how he started at Carnegie as a water boy at the age of 7. The then went on to say, "I'm Wheeling-Pittsburgh, and I'm the end of it. MY boy won't go in the mills. He's in the Air force now, and I doubt he'll ever be back here."
Basically, everyone is leaving for better opportunities job wise.
http://blog.theamericanguide.org/post/129839784428/little-chicago-the-city-of-murals-steubenville
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1990-03-25/news/9001240837_1_steel-industry-metropolitan-areas-rust-belt
http://wtov9.com/news/local/population-on-the-decline-in-the-ohio-valley
http://wtov9.com/news/local/population-declining-in-ohio-valley
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/27/us/27steubenville.html?_r=0
Well from one perspective, it can be said that it has to do with the decline in industrial work/production. In a 1990 article by the Chicago Tribune, author Tom Hundley says that Steubenville can be considered part of the Rust Belt. I did not know what this mean, so I looked it up online. Basically what the Rust Belt is referring to any upper Northeastern United States, the Great Lakes, and Midwest States, that have suffered economic decline, population loss, and urban decay due to the shrinking of its once powerful industrial sector. This is relevant, because "9 of 10 steel jobs have vanished" (NYTIMES). For the industrial jobs that are left, a lot of those employees are only temporary residences. Hence, when the job is done, a lot of those employees leave in large numbers, affecting the total population.
This is leading into another perspective as to why the population is suffering. The younger generation does not want to stay in the former little steel city. And it's not just them, it is the parents too. "I think it's because our young people are the ones that are leaving," Martins Ferry's Tom Long said. "I see it in the churches, the school system, the child-bearing people are leaving because of work. That's primarily it." (WTOV9). The Chicago Tribune also had something to say about parents' decisions, ``Working couples have to make a joint decision about where they want to work. It`s usually more attractive to go to the big city where there are more alternatives,`` said Morton Marcus, an economist at Indiana University.
This younger generation does not want to work in service jobs, because they want to make more of an income without having to do much of the labor. "There are jobs here, but a lot of them are service jobs," Wheeling's Stephanie Joseph said. "They aren't jobs where you can pay for an apartment, utilities, car payment and save and that's probably it." A Mingo junction resident, not far from Steubenville, was interview in the Chicago Tribune, his name was Mike Czoka. He talked about how his dad worked for Carnegie, as did his father, and how he started at Carnegie as a water boy at the age of 7. The then went on to say, "I'm Wheeling-Pittsburgh, and I'm the end of it. MY boy won't go in the mills. He's in the Air force now, and I doubt he'll ever be back here."
Basically, everyone is leaving for better opportunities job wise.
http://blog.theamericanguide.org/post/129839784428/little-chicago-the-city-of-murals-steubenville
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1990-03-25/news/9001240837_1_steel-industry-metropolitan-areas-rust-belt
http://wtov9.com/news/local/population-on-the-decline-in-the-ohio-valley
http://wtov9.com/news/local/population-declining-in-ohio-valley
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/27/us/27steubenville.html?_r=0