North Central

Cities in the North Central region – particularly those around the Great Lakes – have an abundance of formerly industrial land that must be redeveloped.

Pivoting from industrial manufacturing to professional services brings some unique challenges, primarily that offices do not need the same kind of space as factories. The central question facing cities across the region is, therefore, what do we do with all this land?

The largest cities in the region, Chicago and Minneapolis, have answered this question by redeveloping industrial land into new communities. Federal creation of a tech hub in the Chicagoland area also helps with attracting developments to the area. Some of the largest projects here are exactly this – turning former factories and warehouses close to downtown into mixed-use office and residential developments. Land further out in the suburbs is mostly staying industrial but is instead being devoted to higher-end manufacturing like semiconductors or electric vehicle batteries.

The region is also contending with broad trends in where people live and work. Cities in the Southeast have seen massive population increases – due in part to people in the Midwest looking for warmer (and more tax-friendly) places to live. This has pushed the median age of people who stay in the region up and caused the market to pivot towards services like healthcare. Upgrading infrastructure is also set to be a major theme going forward, as the region is a historic hub for highway and rail transit.

* Other structures include religious buildings, amusement, government communications, and public recreation projects.