Sunbelt and Frostbelt

Sunbelt and Frostbelt, popular terms designating, respectively, the southern tier of states stretching from North Carolina to California and the states of the Northeast and Midwest. The Frostbelt states, besides their more rigorous climate, are characterized by aging industrial plants and urban infrastructures, unionized labor, high rates of unemployment and poverty, static or declining populations, and the severe fiscal problems these conditions impose on state and local governments. By contrast, the Sunbelt states are usually characterized by burgeoning economic development, expanding cities, rising populations (due to migration from the Frostbelt states), and increasing political importance.