''Now That the Factories Are Closed, It’s Tee Time in Benton Harbor, Mich.''

thanks NAFTA............read more........from nytimes.......

"On the northern edge of Benton Harbor, just beyond the grim grid of housing projects, shuttered storefronts, boarded-up homes and junk-laden yards that dominate much of the town, sits an emerald oasis known as Harbor Shores. As the name suggests, Harbor Shores is a resort development. At its heart is a pristine Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course that meanders along a river and creek; through woods and wetlands; and, most striking, across tall, white sand dunes overlooking Lake Michigan."


"The scale of poverty in Benton Harbor is extreme, but in a general sense, the town’s woes are hardly unique for Michigan, which has been especially hard hit by the disappearance of manufacturing jobs in America. The state’s decline has been slow and steady. In the 1950s, its per capita income was 13 percent above the national average; today, it’s 7 percent below it. Michigan is the only state whose population has decreased since 2000. With the nation in the midst of a historic joblessness crisis that has left a record number of Americans living below the poverty line, only Nevada and California have higher rates of unemployment."