LORAIN, OHIO — When Mary Porter arrived here in the 1950s, she and her family were drawn to this prosperous stretch of northeastern Ohio, where miles of industrial smokestacks and brick factories are a short drive from quiet neighborhoods of wooden American Foursquare homes and plentiful rose gardens.
It was a time and a town of such plenty, she said, "you only had to be able to breathe to get a good-paying job."
For 30 years, her husband, Glen, worked on the line at the Ford Motor Co. assembly plant. But by December 2005, when Ford shut down the plant, most of the factories in Lorain -- once a thriving center for steel, auto parts and shipbuilding -- already sat empty.
More than two decades after hard times hit American manufacturing, this city of nearly 68,000 is developing into more than a simple economic cautionary tale. Lorain -- located about 30 miles west of Cleveland -- has become an example of how life perseveres in a dying town.
"We've spent years learning how to do with less, have less, be less," said Porter, 75, who relies on her now-deceased husband's auto pension.
"What's bad about tightening your belt?" Lorain Mayor Craig Foltin said. "We're making the most of what we have."
Since May 2005, the domestic auto industry has eliminated or proposed cutting 132,000 manufacturing jobs and the Big Three -- Ford, General Motors Corp. and Chrysler Group -- have outlined plans to eliminate at least 100,000 more manufacturing and salaried jobs in the U.S. and Canada by 2009. The vast majority of the cuts have been in the Midwest, with Michigan leading the pack and Ohio coming in second.
In addition to the Ford closure in Lorain, there are more losses ahead in this part of Ohio. Chrysler, a unit of DaimlerChrysler, plans to cut jobs in Streetsboro and Twinsburg over the next few years. General Motors cut 770 jobs at an assembly plant in Lordstown. Ford plans to close a stamping plant in Maumee with 680 employees and to either sell or close a 1,700-worker plant near Sandusky.
According to the nonprofit Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich., the elimination of one automaking job causes the loss of four jobs in related industries.
What's happening in Lorain, economists and regional lawmakers say, could offer a glimpse into what similar communities across the country can expect in the years to come.
