Economic priorities in the Great Lakes are shifting away from heavy industrial uses to tourism and real estate development.
"The conflict in Waukegan symbolizes the dramatic changes sweeping across the five Great Lakes, a region that is trying to reinvent itself in a way that could have major implications for the nation. Attitudes about the Great Lakes have changed so drastically during the past three decades that manufacturers are finding themselves unwelcome even in cities they once ruled."
"The five lakes - Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario - cover an area equal in size to New England and half of New York state. Some heavy industry is still attracted to the lakes. Two oil companies want to spend $10 billion on mammoth refinery expansions, one on the shore of Lake Michigan, the other on Lake Superior. What's changed the region, however, are foreign competition, politics and lifestyles."
"Today, the political and economic clout of tourism and real estate development is rising, especially at the state and local level. The influence of heavy industry has been sapped by the decline of industrial jobs through factory closings, automation and foreign competition."
"In all, the eight Great Lakes states have lost 1.2 million manufacturing jobs since 2001. During that time, the hospitality industry added 300,000 jobs. The trend is even more extreme close to the water."
FULL STORY: Great Lakes see a future beyond industry

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Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees
More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?

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Contrary to popular assumptions, public transportation has far lower crash and crime rates than automobile travel. For safer communities, improve and encourage transit travel.

Report: Zoning Reforms Should Complement Nashville’s Ambitious Transit Plan
Without reform, restrictive zoning codes will limit the impact of the city’s planned transit expansion and could exclude some of the residents who depend on transit the most.

Judge Orders Release of Frozen IRA, IIJA Funding
The decision is a victory for environmental groups who charged that freezing funds for critical infrastructure and disaster response programs caused “real and irreparable harm” to communities.
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