<P> The Rust Belt begins in western New York and traverses west through Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, and the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, ending in northern Illinois, eastern Iowa, and southeastern Wisconsin . New England was also hard hit by industrial decline during the same era . Previously known as the industrial heartland of America, industry has been declining in the region since the mid-20th century due to a variety of economic factors, such as the transfer of manufacturing further West, increased automation, and the decline of the US steel and coal industries . While some cities and towns have managed to adapt by shifting focus towards services and high - tech industries, others have not fared as well, witnessing rising poverty and declining populations . </P> <P> In the 20th century, local economies in these states specialized in large - scale manufacturing of finished medium to heavy industrial and consumer products, as well as the transportation and processing of the raw materials required for heavy industry . The area was referred to as the Manufacturing Belt, Factory Belt, or Steel Belt as distinct from the agricultural Midwestern states forming the so - called Corn Belt and Great Plains states that are often called the "bread - basket of America". </P> <P> The flourishing of industrial manufacturing in the region was caused in part by the close proximity to the Great Lakes waterways, and abundance of paved roads, water canals and railroads . After the transportation infrastructure linked the iron ore found in northern Minnesota, Wisconsin and Upper Michigan with the coal mined from Appalachian Mountains, the Steel Belt was born . Soon it developed into the Factory Belt with its great American manufacturing cities: Chicago, Buffalo, Detroit, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, Toledo, Cleveland, St. Louis, and Pittsburgh among others . This region for decades served as a magnet for immigrants from Austria - Hungary, Poland and Russia who provided the industrial facilities with inexpensive labor . </P> <P> Following several "boom" periods from the late - 19th to the mid-20th century, cities in this area struggled to adapt to a variety of adverse economic and social conditions . From 1979 to 1982, the US Federal Reserve decided to raise the base interest rate in the United States to 19% . High interest rates attracted wealthy foreign "hot money" into US banks and caused the US dollar to appreciate . This made US products more expensive for foreigners to buy and also made imports much cheaper for Americans to purchase . The misaligned exchange rate was not rectified until 1986, by which time Japanese imports in particular had made rapid inroads into US markets . From 1987 to 1999, the US stock market went into stratospheric rise, and this continued to pull wealthy foreign money into US banks, which biased the exchange rate against manufactured goods . Related issues include the decline of the iron and steel industry, the movement of manufacturing to the southeastern states with their lower labor costs, the layoffs due to the rise of automation in industrial processes, the decreased need for labor in making steel products, the internationalization of American business, and the liberalization of foreign trade policies due to globalization . Cities struggling with these conditions shared several difficulties, including population loss, lack of education, declining tax revenues, high unemployment and crime, drugs, swelling welfare rolls, deficit spending, and poor municipal credit ratings . </P>

Where has the us manufacturing belt been traditionally located (specific cities)