The economy has certainly changed a lot. Even my hometown of Rochester, MN has changed dramatically. When i was a kid, IBM was a huge employer in the city. Now, they are renting the majority of the buildings to other companies, manufacturing of servers and laptops has disappeared, and thousands have lost their jobs. However, the Mayo Clinic had continued to grow and take over the city. The city of over 100,000 is now almost a single employer city. If Mayo fails, Rochester will crumble.
It's not just here, either. The town of Benaoján, in southern Spain, used to have over a dozen meat processing factories. All but one are gone, today.
Interesting article, and I love the old photo. It would be fun to take the same shot today for a then and now comparison.