Forbes: Ohio has most 'dying cities'

NEW YORK, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- Ohio has four entries on Forbes Magazine's list of the top 10 dying U.S. cities, Forbes said Monday.

Despite what Forbes called "a decade of national prosperity," the Rust Belt -- where U.S. manufacturing was centered for decades -- has yet to find a way to replace the economic activity that was lost with the disappearance of smokestack industries.

Youngstown, Canton, Dayton and Cleveland all made the list of 10 dying cities. Michigan had two cities on the list, Detroit and Flint.

The cities on the Forbes list are experiencing population reduction, unemployment and minimal economic growth.

Economic troubles at General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. have resulted in unemployment rates approaching 10 percent in Detroit and Flint, Forbes said.

Cleveland has lost 115,000 residents since 2000 and nearly 30,000 have left Youngstown without being replaced by immigrants or new births, the report said.

In addition to population loss, cities are also experiencing aging populations -- with 45 percent of Scranton, Pa., residents over age 45.

None of the cities has been hit with the kinds of declining real estate prices noted in Phoenix, Miami and Las Vegas, but that is largely because prices did not escalate in the first place, Forbes said.

The rest of the Forbes list: Springfield, Mass.; Buffalo, N.Y.; and Charleston, W.Va.