Closed store fronts. Abandoned factories. Cracked streets. Desperation. That is what I witnessed on a trip to Michigan's tri-cities region this past weekend.
The Tri-cities region of Michigan was always a manufacturing hub; globalization has hit it hard. There has been a slow attrition of jobs over the past few decades, and a shrinking middle class.
In spite of that trend, mom and pop stores were still a common sight, and people were surviving. State facilities also kept people employed. Now, the region has become ground zero of the economic downturn.
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