There's a new magazine: Belt Magazine. The introductory editorial is here.
I subscribed (the free subscription) for a few reasons. First, I live in the rust belt. Two, my interest in localism. Three, I'm fascinated that the first paragraph ranks the "rustiest" states (per an online poll) as:
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- Michigan
- Indiana
- Illinois
I don't know which state is rustiest, but when I hear "rust" I think "ugly" and "dilapidated." If the test is ugliness and dilapidation, the order among the four Great Lake states (no opinion here on Pennsylvania):
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Michigan
- Ohio
Illinois is hands-down in first place. From Chicago through the near-ghost Mississippi River towns, the place is a dump.
The other three could change places. Michigan, for instance, beats the living hell out of Ohio and Indiana in terms of natural beauty, but Ohio and Indiana don't have Detroit, though they do have Cleveland and Gary (side joke: Definition of "Cleveland": Detroit without all the glitter).
I rank Ohio the least rusty because its industry has been reviving remarkably, plus it has the north coast (along Lake Erie). As a Wolverine alumnus, it kills me to give any credibility to Ohio, but hey: give credit where it's deserved.
Anyway, the magazine looks interesting. I hope the editor adopts more of an Internet-prose approach. The lengthy paragraphs in this lead essay would make a nineteenth-century prose stylist proud and hard to read, but otherwise, I commend this new endeavor and look forward to browsing it.
