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Center For Population Dynamics Quarterly Brief October 2015: A Reason To Be- The "Upskilling" Of Cleveland's Workforce, Richey Piiparinen, Jim Russell, Charlie Post

Richey Piiparinen

Not having a reason to be is the human crisis. Developing worth is the cure. Such is the case not just for people, but for cities. Cities without uses become ghost towns, with a midway existence called “the shrinking city”. Cleveland, like many Rust Belt cities, is a so-called shrinking city. For decades now the region has fought against the anticipation of disappearing. This fight is called “economic development”. Often, development policies are more instinctive than strategic. Cleveland has lost jobs, mostly manufacturing jobs. The solution, then, is to simply go get those jobs back. But manufacturing as a share …