Nananwell, I suspect a lot of your frustration is based in local government and people. Take a look on the web for what other Alabama Counties have done. DeKalb County has a series of promotional websites that are excellent in luring businesses and people to the area. Athens City chamber of commerce has an online video touting their nationally high scoring schools, and other aspects of life in the area. Birmingham is an economic engine that can't be stopped.
Just for kicks, my wife and I stopped at the Alabama welcome center on I-59 south of Chattanooga, and were greeted very professionally by the women working there, who made every attempt to answer questions about Alabama and be helpful. The brochures from cities and towns in the state were numerous, but most of those were from locations in north and central Alabama. I did see a flyer from Foley, and a few from Mobile and around the gulf, but to be honest, the southern Alabama towns and counties were under-represented, to the point of being lost.
I had to look Washington County up on the map before responding here. IIRC, there are pine forests around that area and a lot of lumbering, but I can't think of much else it has to offer, and if there is, it isn't being advertised.
Yeah, the Alabama state government has problems, but be thankful it doesn't have the types of problems that many other states have. Florida state government representatives came through heavily populated south Florida and ripped out every orange and grapefruit tree on private property, supposedly to protect growers further north from citrus canker (it didn't). Until the court battles, the homeowners weren't even offered a glass of orange juice in compensation, and guess what huge market of thirsty hot people familiar with certain fruits suddenly opened up to the commercial citrus growers? My blood boils every time I think of how that transparently greedy and uncaring group was able to manipulate the Florida government.
Corruption and mismanagement are in almost every governmental body. Alabama, thankfully, hasn't yet shown the desire to kill every catfish in every private Alabama fish pond, and has minimal government compared to nanny states like California and Massachusetts.
How do you eliminate the problems that you see? Exposure to light withers a lot of it. Complain. If the newspapers and tv won't listen, start a web blog. Run for an elected office yourself. You might not win first time around, but the election process is a pulpit.
You can also educate your self on Alabama law. You can do text searches at
http://www.legislature.state.al.us/S...SearchText.htm and find out if some of the problems you have seen might be illegal.
Somewhere here you'll find my comments on education. Education is key in boosting an area, but the materials have to be there. Libraries need a wide range of books, and cannot be introverted to a few non-threatening subjects. Do like my wife's sister in Louisiana has done, and start a reading circle as a social group.
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