[nostrademons]

The shipping container also dramatically changed the geography of international trade, redirecting shipping away from shallow-draft ports (like in the Great Lakes, New England, or much of the American South) and from ports in heavily urbanized areas (like San Francisco or Manhattan) toward a small number of megaports like Seattle, Oakland, Long Beach, New Jersey, Houston, and Hampton Roads. When the old port was close to a new megaport (SF -> Oakland, Manhattan -> New Jersey), the city shifted from trade to financial services. When no major deep-draft container port was nearby (Great Lakes), the area's economy tended to whither and die, at leas relative to past glory.