Midwest auto industry: Tough times ahead for towns across region

In tattered and gray industrial towns across the Midwest, no one knows exactly where the ax will swing next. But there is no doubt the forced downsizing of General Motors and Chrysler, which will begin to take shape in the coming weeks, will fundamentally change the quality of life in communities and the region for years to come.Even if both automakers survive, economists say, they will be smaller and will pay lower wages and benefits. More communities will lose production and parts plants, and the states that have relied heavily on those manufacturing jobs—especially Michigan, Indiana and Ohio — will take a big hit that, economists warn, will take years and perhaps decades to overcome, according to an April 12 article in Chicago Tribune.

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