geog chap 8
Climate
The Great Lakes and Corn Belt region is characterized by a humid continental climate. Winters are cool to cold summers are hot, with rainfall evenly distributed throughout the year. As might be expected, winters are colder and summers are cooler in the northern portion of the region.
Ottowa
located east of Toronto bilingual metropolitan area of 1.2 million people, has a stable economy owing to its importance as the federal capital and its burgeoning high-tech industry. one of the wealthiest populations in Canada (based on disposable income) and is the most educated city (with the highest proportion of baccalaureate and Ph.D.s per 1000 residents) of any city in North America except Raleigh, North Carolina. Ottawa is often referred to as the Silicon Valley of the North
farms in the contemporary
highly mechanized, capital-intensive operations. Most commercial farmers invest heavily in machinery, fertilizers, pesticides, high-yield crops, and other technological innovations.
The perfect storm 2010
125-year-old snowfall records were broken. A total of 1600 airline flights were canceled, as were many sports and other public events, wind gusts sometimes exceeded 50 miles per hour, and almost all schools and major roadways were closed. accident rates and calls for emergency services did not significantly increase, and crime rates went down.
European Settlement
1763:Britain obtained sovereignty over that portion of the region east of the Mississippi River. The Treaty of Paris, signed in 1783 to end the American Revolution, clarified the boundary between British and American territory. The British gave control of the territory bounded on the north by the Great Lakes, the west by the Mississippi, and the south by the Ohio River. This area became known at that time as the Old Northwest.
Louisiana Purchase
1803: France secured western part of the region government extended the township and range system of land survey to these newly acquired lands Native Americans were continually pushed westward lands east of the Mississippi were ceded to the government by the tribes between 1812 and 1832. Today, only northern Wisconsin and Minnesota within the U.S. portion of the Great Lakes and Corn Belt region have significant populations of Native Americans.
Youngstown post rust-belt
1869, Youngstown grew quickly through the first half of the 20th century to become the third largest producer of steel in the United States. September 19, 1977, the steel giant Campbell Works closed down its manufacturing operations in the city, laying off more than 5000 workers. During the next decade and a half, the people of Youngstown faced a long list of other plant closures as production moved overseas and technology replaced laborers. Youngstown 2010 plan:To change the town, 200 community leaders with the help of toronto developers created a plan of attracting new business and fill empty factories/warehouses. Four section statement: two parts dealt with urban form, third vision dealt with diversifying the businesses, fourth vision called on local community resources.
Toronto population growth
1976-1991:total population of the Toronto metropolitan area increased by over a million people -it expanded to the north, west, and east onto previously productive farmland. -Thousands of acres of cherry orchards and other fruit trees have been cut down and converted to suburban developments. -As Toronto has expanded to the west and north, it has merged into a large conurbation reminiscent of the Megalopolis -The city of Hamilton, a traditional center for the production of steel and other heavy industry, has become integrated into this metropolitan complex.
Great Migration
500,000 African Americans left the rural South for the industrial centers of Chicago, New York, Detroit, Cleveland, Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Kansas City
Canada portion of the great lakes
7 of 20 largest metro areas in Canada with major industrial and agricultural impact are in the golden horseshoe; gound around western end of lake ontario Oshawa, Toronto, Hamilton, and St. Catherine's-Niagara
Driftless area
A region in the American Midwest noted mainly for its deeply carved river valleys. While primarily in southwestern Wisconsin, it includes areas of southeastern Minnesota, northeastern Iowa, and extreme northwestern Illinois.
Southern Ontario Migration
African-American slaves escaped from their masters and fled northward with the support of the Underground Railroad. Some of these slaves made it as far as southern Ontario and Nova Scotia in Canada happened before great migration
silver carp invasive species
By 2010, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed construction of an electric fish barrier in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, the only aquatic link between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River drainage basins.
Industrial industry effect on cities
Detroit with automobiles, Pittsburgh with steel, Milwaukee with beer. Although production has generally declined, images are commemorated in many ways, Detroit Pistons, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Milwaukee Brewers, and in such icons of popular culture as Motown Records that reflects its home in the "Motor City" of Detroit
Financial drop in agriculture
Great Lakes and Corn Belt is the world's most profitable agricultural region the number of farms in the region has declined steadily over the past century percentage of persons employed in farming also continues to drop. Less profitable lands are no longer used as intensively as before Agricultural land near metropolitan areas like chicago are being sold to developers
foreign-based investors
Honda and Toyota have invested huge amounts of capital in the region more than half of all Japanese direct investment in the United States is concentrated in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky Factors that attract foreign investors:strong skilled labor force, economies of scale, transportation, and ready access to local, national, and international markets.
Region
Integrated region+economy agriculture, industry, and services into a unified and highly cohesive regional economy.
Pre-European Settlement
Pre 1600's: Great Lakes, was inhabited by Native Americans who belonged to the Eastern Woodland cultural complex. French, with the help of their Algonquin and Huron allies, originally explored and claimed much of this region.
Push and Pull factors
Push factors=issues encouraging people to migrate away from their areas of origin. African Americans from the South=institutionalized racism and segregation, lynchings, beatings, and limited educational and economic opportunities. Pull factors are issues encouraging migrants to select particular destinations. Pull factors in the industrial cities of the Great Lakes and Corn Belt =jobs at much higher wages than were prevalent in the South, along with a call to freedom and a much sought-after opportunity for equality.
Rust Belt
The general abandonment of steel mills and manufacturers
Chicago
Third largest city in America, largest city in corn belt region. Located on lake Michigan unparalleled transportation connections soon made Chicago a primary industrial center North America's leading meatpacking center, and many other industries, including furniture, clothing, and consumer durables
Constitutional convention
Thirteen Colonies agreed to give up any claims to their territories to the west of the Appalachians. These territories, would be administered by the federal government and make up new states
1780's
United States was governed under the Articles of Confederation. Northwest Ordinance of 1785: provided a system for surveying and settling this region. The township and range land survey system was put into effect under this ordinance. land in the Old Northwest was surveyed into square townships of 36 square miles, with each divided into 36 single square-mile (14.6 kilometer) This procedure allowed land to be bought, sold, and transferred and also encouraged the development of roads and other thoroughfares on a grid system oriented to the cardinal direction. Airplines crossing over rural portions of the Corn Belt can see the impacts of the township and range system the rectangular pattern of highways, secondary roads, and fields.
climate cont.
affected by the Great Lakes. Areas immediately east and south of the lakes tend to be relatively cloudy and humid, with cooler summers and milder winters than are experienced further inland. In western Michigan, the proximity of the lake results in a longer growing season. The relative frequency of frost-free days has made this area an important producer of: grapes, tomatoes, and other fruits and vegetables. south and east of the Great Lakes experience heavy winter snowfalls as winds blowing across the lakes in winter pick up moisture and deposit it in the form of snow on cities, towns, and rural areas. Buffalo, Cleveland, and Grand Rapids are among the Great Lakes communities well known for high annual snowfalls. The Great Lakes and Corn Belt region is occasionally affected by strong winter storms, both on land and in the lakes themselves. Blizzards and snowstorms sometimes tie up traffic
different types of farms
cash-grain farms:grow corn, soybeans, and other crops that are sold directly to food-processing companies. mixed farms: Most of the crops are fed to livestock. Prevalent in the Corn Belt, specialize particularly in the production of cattle and hogs. large majority of region's grain crops are fed to cattle and hogs, which are then marketed. Hog production in the United States is especially concentrated in the Corn Belt—there are about five hogs in Iowa for every person—although an increasing number of hogs are being produced elsewhere. Dairy farming:prevalent in the northern part of the region,in Wisconsin, whose cooler climate and short growing season preclude competitive corn, cattle, and hog production.
Tertiary and quaternary sector
communities that have widely diversified their economies and replaced traditional agriculture and manufacturing with tertiary- and quaternary-sector activities Government and Health care are important aspects in the communities The Mayo Clinic, for example, is the linchpin of the economy of Rochester in southeastern Minnesota In contrast to other parts of the United States and Canada, neither tourism nor military activity plays much of a role in the economy of the Great Lakes and Corn Belt as a region. Only a few areas have become tourist centers.
Chicago river flow reversal
early 20th century Chicago engineers reversed the flow of the Chicago River, which flowed naturally into Lake Michigan. This reversal allowed the Chicago River to flow from Lake Michigan into the Illinois River, thus connecting to the Mississippi River Basin and enhancing an already extensive water transportation network.
Toronto economic+ population history
economic power shifted to the wealthy British Scots and Irish fleeing the potato famine and problems in the highlands contirbuted to cities pop. in early 19th cent. After WW11 the city pop. grew rapidly, immigrants arriving from all over the world 1981 Toronto surpassed Montreal in population Now cultural diversity compared to U.S. cities like Chicago Over half of population is from outside canada
Lakes and Rivers
glaciers retreated and the ice melted, the Great Lakes were formed. Among the world's largest natural lakes, they drain eastward into the Atlantic and into the St. Lawrence River. South of the Great Lakes, rivers flow southward to the Mississippi River and its numerous tributaries. Here, human landscape modification has created a water connection between the Mississippi drainage basin and the Great Lakes.
topography of the Great Lakes and Corn Belt region
has little relief: much of the area has been shaped by periodic glaciation over the past 2 million years. The most recent glacial episode ended approximately 10,000 years ago. During this period, ice sheets covered most of the region, including the present- day Great Lakes. The ice advanced as far southward as central Indiana, central Illinois, and southern Iowa. The areas south of this southernmost limit of glaciation are hillier and the soils are less fertile, making these areas less suitable for commercial agriculture than the areas to the north.
Industrial period
late 19th century:Great Lakes and Corn Belt had become the leading heavy-industry region of North America. Steel, automobiles, vehicles, heavy machinery, and other industrial products were produced in large quantities. Manufacturing activity quickly caused dramatic population increases Many of these cities populations increased because of workers and cities specialized in the production of a fairly small number of products
North American central lowland
lies between the Appalachian Mountain province to the east and the younger and higher Rocky Mountains to the west
Toronto
located on the site of an old Huron community whose name meant "meeting place. Huron people, and the French fur traders considered the site an important link in the land chain connecting Lake Ontario with Lake Huron. British, who took over following the Seven Years' War, were slow to recognize the supremacy of its location or its potential for growth.
Family farms
majority of farms in the Great Lakes and Corn Belt are family farms run by an individual family as opposed to a corporation several hundred acres main crop=corn U.S. exports 20% of corn to other countries
Great Migration impacts
massive and long-lasting, both on African Americans and on the cities where they made their new home significantly expanded the populations of industrial cities north of the Mason-Dixon Line and in the Midwest. The cities of the Great Lakes and Corn Belt, notably Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis, and Kansas City, soon became well-known African-American cultural centers
Agriculture
one of the most productive farming areas in the entire world. combination of factors: fertile soils, adequate water availability, excellent transportation, technology, favorable government policy, and the work ethic and sheer experience of so many of its farmers.
Transportation by water
the construction of locks and dams on the rivers and canals, the building of the Erie Canal in 1825, and later the dredging of the Chicago River, providing a navigable connection between the Mississippi drainage basin and the Great Lakes. Beginning in the early 19th century, steam railroads were built, and these too provided for easy movement of people and goods.
Specialized industry decline
the population of McKeesport, Pennsylvania, which was a steel-producing city south of Pittsburgh, has declined from nearly 55,000 in 1950 to about 22,000 by 2010. The population of the city of Detroit was over 1.8 million in 1950 but barely 900,000 in 2010. However, much of this decline has been due to suburbanization.
Post industrial economy migration impact
the transition from an industrial to a postindustrial economy, however, most of the region's smaller metropolitan areas have become home to far fewer international and domestic migrants during the past two decades or so, especially compared to cities of comparable size in the Sun Belt and other parts of North America.
topography+elevations
varies from flat to gently rolling hills. Elevations throughout the region are low relative to many other parts of the North American continent For example, all of Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio are less than 2000 feet above sea level.
