2.4 The post-war years and the present day

            The post-war years, the beginning of the 1950s were a time of improvement of the situation for the Lasowiackie region. Although the times of the PRL are generally criticized and condemned, it was a period of rapid development of areas at the confluence of the Vistula and San rivers. Various cooperatives, new industrial centers, and a sulfur basin were established based on local craft environments. As a result, the villages adjacent to the towns developed slowly, especially those whose inhabitants found employment in industry. Many people undertook cottage production related to handicrafts, mainly basketry, toy making and pottery.

            By the end of the 1960s, agriculture ceased to be an important part of the economy of villages in Lasowiacy. Electrification, gas, new roads, water - all these introduced gradually changed and facilitated the hitherto hard life of the Lasowiaks. General education, the ability to move around, drawing on the culture of other Polish regions, contributed to a slow departure from the past - the roots of Lasowiak.

            The area of the former forest is not a separate region today, both geographically and administratively. The mining industry is developing (sulfur, natural gas, rock raw materials, sand), the machine and metal industry (Stalowa Wola, Tarnobrzeg, Nowa Dęba, Dębica), chemical, mainly rubber (Tarnobrzeg), means of transport (Mielec), furniture (in Kolbuszowa , the Kolbuszowa furniture industry experienced its heyday in the 17th and 18th centuries) and in the food industry (Ropczyce, Leżajsk). In the present Podkarpackie Voivodeship, two special economic zones have been operating for several years within organized industrial areas: Tarnobrzeg Special Economic Zone WISŁOSAN and Special Economic Zone EURO-PARK Mielec, established as the first of this type in Poland.

SOURCES:

Fudyna J., Lasowiacy. Wiejski dom mieszkalny w widłach Wisły i Sanu. Forma i Funkcja, Mielec 2014

Ruszel K., Lasowiacy, Rzeszów 1994

Kłos S., Leżajsk i powiat leżajski, Sightseeing guide

Regionalne Obserwatorium Terytorialne, Diagnoza sytuacji społeczno – gospodarczej województwa podkarpackiego, Rzeszów 2013.