Talk-Polywell.org

As a City slowly dies:
http://www.mitchcope.com/projects/detroit-book/

Jane Jacobs predicted this in her book "The Economy of Cities." Death by economic specialization and sterility. The death was not helped by decades of unenlightened Progressive city governments. The thing about Detroit is that it is not unusual.

And a city grows:
Shanghai 1990-2010:
http://www.businessinsider.com/shanghai ... 010-2010-6

Until the Roman Empire, cities routinely lasted only a few hundred years and then failed due to outgrowing any hope of providing infrastructure.

That assumed their primary source of income didn't dry up. Ports going dry due to geological activity, depletion of trees used to build ships, a new trade route gives folks a better way to get the goods you were transshipping.

Once and a while a volcano would blast you to the stratosphere or bury under ash for the archeologists to find, but economic and infrastructure collapse are probably the leaders.

We are not immune.

You can now buy a 4 bedroom house built in 2004 in Phoenix for $50k. Not kidding. Phoenix is the next Detroit.

Rockford's only hope is to become a suburb of Chicago. Of course that may not help Chicago.

A rail line from Chicago is planned.