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Two cities, one industry. Libonia in the U.S. state of Michigan was prosperous town up until the 1980s thanks to the booming auto industry in nearby Detroit. Thousands of employees for the Big Three -- General Motors, Ford and Chrysler -- were living there in comfortable residential areas and commuted to work in Detroit 32 km away. New shopping malls in Plymouth and Wayne sold Hermes clothes and Chanel cosmetics. But 10 years ago it was over. The Big Three shut down factories and laid off staff, left behind by Japanese competitors like Toyota and Honda and burdened by belligerent unions and pension and medical costs.
The Libonia the Chosun Ilbo saw on Monday was no longer the city that once boasted ¡°55 years of prosperity.¡± Schoolcraft Road, where factories, offices and labs are concentrated, and commercial and residential areas along Ravine, Plymouth and Wayne were filled with ¡°For Sale¡± or ¡°For Lease¡± boards. Realtor Jeff Grover says property prices plunged more than 10 percent from half a year ago and will plummet even further when a Ford plant in northern Libonia closes in two to three months. In front of the Wonderland Shopping Mall on Plymouth, the city¡¯s erstwhile commercial heart, a dozen construction union members are protesting that their company should hire local workers instead of Mexican immigrants. An expensive Italian restaurant here reopened as a sports bar two months ago.
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Construction union members demonstrate for their company to hire local workers instead of foreign immigrants, at the Wonderland Shopping Mall in Libonia, Michigan.
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Among some 80 cars parked in front of a shopping mall, 15 are Japanese, four Korean and five German. Jason (23), who works for electronics chain Best Buy, says he owns a Honda Civic. Foreign carmakers, he points out, offer a whopping 100,000 mile (160,000 km) warranty, while U.S. car makers only give a 30,000 mile warranty.
Home to 120,000 people until the mid-70s, the town now has fewer than 100,000. Seven elementary schools closed due to student shortages last fall. Declining tax revenue cut the city's budget by US$5 million, and the traditional annual festival was stopped three years ago.
Some 480 km south of Libonia lies Georgetown, Kentucky, home to Bourbon and horseracing. Until about 20 years ago, it was a sleepy place with some 10,000 residents. The single MacDonalds was its only concession to modernity. But since then governor Martha Layne Collins succeeded in attracting a Toyota Camry and Avalon plant that hired 7,500 staff in the mid-1980s, things have changed completely. When the Chosun Ilbo entered the Country Inn on Darby Drive near the Toyota Plant at 11 p.m. on Tuesday, there was only one room left. ¡°You are lucky," the owner said and gave us the key. He says the area used to be a ¡°wasteland¡± but Toyota changed everything.
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The football stadium in Georgetown College, built thanks to contributions form Toyota. Andrew (20), a Georgetown College student, says the his college friends ¡®love¡¯ Toyota.
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The Japanese automaker invested US$5 billion in the plant and also helped build schools and hotels. While the number of auto workers plunged 34 percent over the last two decades in Michigan, it surged 152 percent in Kentucky thanks to Toyota. Toyota chose a country town that welcomed foreign companies and had no trade unions over Detroit, where U.S. competitors made things difficult for newcomers and trade unions were powerful.
George Russel says after Toyota came here, the city's population doubled and even has genuine traffic jams now. There are a dozen new residential areas with housing complexes, recreation centers and an outdoor skateboarding park. Toyota built a stadium for Georgetown College and new elementary, junior high and high schools there over the last few years. As population and income grew, antique shops, cafes and restaurants spruced themselves up to attract new customers. The Wal-Mart Super Center in the city has plenty of customers even on a weekday morning. Residents want Toyota, the world's second largest automaker, to outdo America¡¯s own GM and come top in the world, because they believe that they will then be able to attract a Toyota plant to produce SUVs and the firm¡¯s high-end Lexus models as well. Mike Eggert says residents hope Toyota creates even more jobs in the city.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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