Resurrecting the Rustbelt

Last year, Forbes compiled a list of the ten fastest dying cities in the United States. Shockingly, they're sprinkled across the midwest. Seems like the mayors of those cities weren't too thrilled with having their municipalities relegated to intensive care, so they banded together to create Ten Living Cities. Wall Street journal reports on the double-quintet's meeting to save their cities:

Here's an idea for saving Rust Belt cities: Tell bloggers and radio stations to stop calling your town a basket case.

That was one suggestion from representatives of eight of the 10 cities labeled last year as America's fastest dying. They met at the Dayton Convention Center last weekend to swap ideas about how to halt the long skid that's turned cities like Detroit, Cleveland and Buffalo, N.Y., into shorthand for dystopia.

Can't say all of their dialog was terribly productive or revelatory, but it's a start. One sound point they unanimously make: how you pitch a city is just as important as how you plan it.