The New American Pioneer

Back in the early days of this country, one of the best ways to start a new life and make a name for yourself was to pack up the few belongings you had and move your family out to the vast frontier of America. The land was cheap to settle and there was plenty of it for everybody to carve out their section of the American Dream.

Today there is a need for a new type of American pioneer. We have settled and developed enough of the hospitable regions of the land but have neglected urban and suburban areas in the Rust Belt that have been economically devastated by the departure of large industries and manufacturing jobs.  These once bustling centers of commerce have transformed into neglected and sometimes even dangerous areas that seem to have little hope in sight.

But giving up hope is not a part of what makes this country great. As I type this blog post there are concerned activists trying to get downtrodden communities back on track all across America. John Fetterman, the mayor of the once prosperous steel town Braddock, PA, is starting a new trend of urban pioneering in order to breathe life back into some of the places the industrial exodus ravaged. 

Throughout his tenure, Fetterman has started projects dedicated to urban renewal, green buildings, greenways, urban agriculture, and other revitalization projects. He is also personally buying property, renovating it, and renting it out at low-rates in order to attract artists, businesses, and potential residents.

Local activists like Fetterman are not the only ones taking notice of the new American frontier.  Major corporations and businesses are using the unbridled spirit of these urban pioneers and creating brand awareness not only for themselves, but    Levis has recently had marketing success using Braddock, PA in an ad campaign by Wieden + Kennedy titled “Back to Work” which features residents optimistically renovating abandoned buildings and starting urban gardens. The spots seem to have worked positively for Braddock, as the town received a $1.5 million contract with Levi-Strauss and has been used to for film-production marketing purposes.  

Blue-Collar workers aren’t the only pioneers claiming a piece of the urban frontier, a start-up in Detroit called Loveland Technologies owned by Jerry Paffendorf is building online maps and mobile apps which let residents of the city know who owns what property in the city. This is an important tool for residents who wish to develop in urban Detroit, where over 1/3 of properties are vacant. Paffendorf hopes to ignite the pioneer spirit and reinvigorate the former automobile capitol of the world.

This year’s edition of the MLB Postseason featured two teams whose cities are steady placeholders in the American Rust Belt, Detroit and Baltimore. Sports fans always love a good underdog story and the Tigers and Orioles, two teams in relatively smaller media markets, made a run towards the annual Fall Classic and bringing in much needed revenue and excitement into their respective cities. It also doesn’t hurt that TBS used “We Take Care of Our Own” by Bruce Springsteen in their promo packages. 

Will it take hard work? Yes. Will these areas be redeveloped overnight? No. Can these struggling communities persevere and overcome economic hardship? Yes. The pioneer spirit lives deep within the collective unconscious of all Americans and the time has come for it to reemerge in a big way.