Why This Region Is STILL The Manufacturing Heart Of The US

Listen to the new podcast and video series: Around The World With Geoff, available July 17th on this channel and ALL major podcast apps!

The Great Lakes Megaregion is a geographic marvel! All told, the cities in this region have direct access to the largest single source of freshwater of any other place on the planet. In a warming world, that freshwater could prove to be quite the bounty. But more than that, the region has carved itself out a unique niche in manufacturing! Something that might have waned over the last few decades, but continues to be a major economic driver for this region, and the United States in general.

In today's video, we'll cover the geography, history, and economics of the region, as well as make the argument that Toronto (and it's surrounding Canadian region) should be included... mostly!

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Video editing support provided by Kat Olsen

[kloss]

Should be a part of this map. Ports of Duluth and Superior in Wisconsin are considered the world's largest freshwater ports. They're located on Lake Superior and connect to the Atlantic Ocean through the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway. The Port of Duluth-Superior is the largest tonnage port on the Great Lakes, handling around 35 million tons of cargo and almost 900 ships each year. It also supports more than 7, 800 jobs and generates over $1.4 billion in business revenue

[chirsd]

Yes, Toronto or more appropriately, Southern Ontario should be included in the "North American" factory. The auto and manufacturing sector of the region is fully integrated with factories of the Great Lakes "Mega-Region". One only has to look at the number of ON licensed tractor trailers occupying space on the interstate highways to see this.

[jakestreiff-bishop]

If St. Louis is a Great Lakes Metro then failing to have the Twin Cities or Twin Ports seems weird...

[RossyMM]

As a native to this area, really looking forward to this! An area filled with blue-collar, hard-working people, that's for sure.

[lscanlon]

You could take a boat from Denver, CO to the Atlantic Ocean via the Platte River, the Missouri River, the Mississippi River, the Illinois River, the Des Plaines River, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, and the St Lawrence River. In the route, you would pass Omaha, Kansas City, St. Louis, Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo, Toronto and Montreal. What a journey.

I think the US, Germany and UK are great examples of how extensive internal waterways=industrialization.

[ckprogressive]

I would include Toronto, as well as all of Southern Ontario as part of the Great Lakes Megaregion. Canada is America's biggest trading partner with 25% of that trade going through the Detroit-Windsor border crossing. That alone would make Southern Ontario an integral, if not critical, part of how the megaregion has become so successful and will continue to do so in the foreseeable future.

[nathenzavada]

Ohio academic here - we also sometimes refer to the Great Lakes region as the ‘Brain Belt’ (a play on Rust Belt). The Great Lakes house some of the world’s top medical and research facilities: Cleveland Clinic, Mayo Clinic, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, University of Chicago, Northwestern University, University of Pittsburgh, University of Michigan, and The Ohio State University, among others are all world leaders across fields of science, engineering & medicine. Their close proximity to each other drives collaboration and innovation among some of the countries best minds!

Not to mention that 6 of the 11 U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory directorates are headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, OH: The 711th Human Performance Wing, The School of Aerospace Medicine, Materials and Manufacturing, Sensors, Aerospace Systems, and Airman Systems. Researchers at these directorates collaborate with Wright State University (which is right across the street) making it a major hub for aerospace engineering, aerospace medicine, materials, and defense research.

So much going on in the Great Lakes!

[tRavis]

I'm only 4 minutes in, but not highlighting Lake Superior is driving me bonkers. It's the most superior lake!!

[djexpo]

Of course Toronto should be included! Any time I meet someone from Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, etc., I say that we're "Great Lakes People". Forget the border, it's the same place in the world with the same climate, geography and vegetation. As a Torontonian, I sometimes think it's funny how mentally we see ourselves as more "Eastern" (AL East, Eastern Conference, Atlantic Divison) instead of what we truly are, which is Midwestern.

[deborahhebblethwaite]

The Gordie Howe bridge is just being finished up between Windsor and Detroit. It attests to the amount of goods and services and traffic that cross this area from Canada to the United States. During Covid, the borders were shut and this caused a great financial hardship for both our countries. The bridge is named after our famous hockey player Gordie Howe. And one of Canada’s sports has been taken up by the United States with great enthusiasm. I would also like to include Hamilton Ontario. It is just around the bay from Toronto, but for many years was the powerhouse of the steel industry. It now seems to have become a hub of Toronto but it is a different city. Anyway, great video. Thanks, a bunch from Ottawa.🇨🇦

[matto]

Hey Geoff. Enjoy your channel. I live in Detroit. Met my husband in Toronto. The border is not an obstacle. We have many friends in Canada. Toronto is definitely a Great Lakes powerhouse city.

[RedWingsninetyone]

Another underrated point about the Great Lakes region has to do with shipping. Ships move raw materials and cargo on the lakes throughout the year extremely efficiently. Also, because of the lack of salt, many of these ships are 50-100 years old and have lots of service life left so resources arent being wasted on cutting them up for scrap/recycling anywhere near as often as ocean-going ships. People also often don't realize that, when needed, ships can get to the ocean from the Great Lakes as well if needed.

[AuthenticHD]

It’s not a major metro but I would think Duluth, Minnesota would be included in this zone, since so much of the iron production in that area was moved via ship on Lake Superior

[brianhamel]

as a michigander, I commend you for this! the great lakes are beautiful, powerful and influential

[mrnosaj]

I'm also native here, thank you for showing the strength of those wonderful lakes, we share a lot of fresh water from the retreating glaciers. Winter and our wonderful rivers are a pride here and yes Toronto is very much a part of us, culturally, historically and they are further south than Seattle and Minneapolis!

[VanguardShags]

It's literally the most populated Megaregion in the United States, and yes, Toronto is recognized as being a part of it.
The most commonly accepted list of cities considered to be part of The Great Lakes Megaregion includes:
Buffalo, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, Erie, Fox Cities, Grand Rapids, Hamilton, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Louisville, Madison, Milwaukee, Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Montreal, Ottawa, Pittsburgh, Quebec City, Rochester (MN), Rochester (NY), Sarnia, Sault Ste. Marie, Niagara Falls, St. Louis, Sudbury, Syracuse, Toledo, Toronto, Twin Ports, Wheeling, and Windsor.

[MrPriebster]

Dang you left out Duluth and the Iron range of Minnesota

[ajerjavec]

Why didn’t you talk about Minneapolis/Saint Paul metro area isn’t that traditionally connected to the Great Lakes region?

[michaelchen]

That part of Ontario was just Laurentian Peninsula from Toronto on down to Detroit and into Buffalo. Yes, that should be included into the same built as the United States even though it’s another country it’s economy is intricate linked, and in many cases, most of the heavy industry in Canada is located there.

[krisfrederick]

Now we're a Megaregion? That's funny, they were calling us the rust belt.

💙 From Detroit