Gosh, what will it be like in Janesville if GM does actually leave & people don't have them to bash anymore? I mean with Steve leaving as City Manager & all, who's left to pick on?

that's a good way to look at it, billnewbie.

Don't forget, many GM workers took early retirement packages and buyouts. There's going to be a lot of investment capital spawning new development by a number of enterprising ex-GM workers. Not all solutions flow from Washington and Madison.

The affects of the Janesville GM assembly shutting down will not be nearly as grim as they were when the same thing happened to Flint. Moreover, we have been fortunate (in an odd way) that GM has slowly reduced its workforce in Janesville so the local economy doesn’t suffer such a major shock as with other towns like Flint. However, I do think the GM Janesville plants recent shift reduction and potential closing will have negative results regardless of the so called diverse employment in Janesville. I’m finding it hard to believe that retail and health care jobs alone will replace the many good paying jobs lost due to GM’s reductions and those who supply them. Especially if less people in town have good health care coverage as a result. Will Janesville be a ghost town? No. Will Janesville suffer some tougher times ahead? Yes. I think the answer lies between Gazettes exuberant optimism and the gloom and doom Roger Moore interpretations.

You are exactly correct Janesvillean. GM is not the ony business any more and I don't believe it will be anywhere near as bad off as Flint was long ago. I guess we just wait and see what this new fresh bunch in Washington being us coming Jan. Fasten your seatbelt and hang on tight!

Anyone who believes in this probably believes in the lochness monster, which craft, the tooth fairy, and Santa Claus --->"When Janesville starts looking like Flint, with half the houses boarded up and packs of dogs roving the glass fronts of the Strip... well, then maybe we can stop saying 'it can't happen here'."

"Roger and Me" was released in 1989. Any GM references between Janesville and Flint are irrelevant.

Flint had over 10 times as many GM employees as Janesville has ever had (82,000 vs. 7500 or so). At its peak, GM employed the equivalent of 65% of the adult population of that city.
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GM employment here today is around 8% of the working-age population of Janesville.

Have any of you been to flint lately? I have been there a number of times in the last ten years. It's a nice town with new development and what looks to be a fairly good economy. A lot like Janesville.
My point? NOT EVERYONE WORKS FOR GM.

jackson1: Are you the devil in disguise? I don't quite get all of your comments where you wish bad things upon people. Didn't your mother ever teach you that if you don't have anything nice to say, you shouldn't say anything at all?

We are hardly Flint Michigan.

We are close to Milwaukee and Madison. Have many other sustainable businesses, and will not be the next Flint.