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Jacksonville is a pretty hopeless place, for a city of its size. I would definitely not recommend living there.
I agree with those saying Robeson County is a pretty hopeless place as well. It's one of the poorest counties in the entire state!
Kinston, Roxboro, Henderson, and Oxford were a mess. Caswell County seemed depressing and dreary the times I went through there.
Additionally, there's a good part of Western Piedmont and Mountain areas of North Carolina that I just do not care for whatsoever. Places like Yadkinville, Elkin, Spruce Pine (or anything else in Mitchell County for that matter), Statesville and Wilkesboro. I'd also stay away from anything in Graham County, too.
Ironically, it has been my experience, at least, that some of the places on your list (specifically Wilkesboro, Kinston, and even Lumberton) actually have some pretty friendly people, while some of the areas that people on this forum think are great are more likely to yield cold, blank stares from most folks and seem rather lacking in so called "Southern hospitality" (or hospitality period). I hate to call the "best" towns/cities out on this thread, but they're frequently mentioned here and in many of the "best places" sorts of lists that float around. My theory is that many of these so called "best" places are in the more urban, affluent parts of the state where the pace of life is generally more hurried, and overall people have more of a competitive (or ambitious depending on your perspective) mindset and are rushed, transient, have more materialistic values, etc. And no, this may not apply to everyone, but the general personality of the place favors and skews towards these traits.
If "worst" means economically disadvantaged, I agree with you that many of the places above (including the three I mentioned) are economically disadvantaged, and some are pretty severely bad off. Which puts them at an obvious disadvantage in how others perceive them. And when economics are crummy, they have a hard time offering amenities that the more affluent places can.
My point is that the places that have a reputation as a "worst" place can actually be surprising in terms of how friendly and open they can be compared to some of the more favored places. I've been to some in the state though... that have a bad reputation and aren't particularly friendly or welcoming to make up for it, which really is a double whammy.
This is based on my experiences and opinions, so others' mileages may vary obviously.
Or that those places have nothing to do, rampant crime, no jobs, and are complete holes
This. Simple as that. Old, rundown, overgrown, abandoned/boarded up homes and business, poor roads, poverty, drug addiction, high ctime, poor schools, lack of jobs, in a town of 5000...I mean come on. It sucks that so many ENC towns are that way. Places like Warsaw, Lumberton, Tabor City, Rowland, did they ever have a heyday where they were "newer" safer and more desirable?
This. Simple as that. Old, rundown, overgrown, abandoned/boarded up homes and business, poor roads, poverty, drug addiction, high ctime, poor schools, lack of jobs, in a town of 5000...I mean come on. It sucks that so many ENC towns are that way. Places like Warsaw, Lumberton, Tabor City, Rowland, did they ever have a heyday where they were "newer" safer and more desirable?
Sorry, but none of what I posted was opinion - just drive through the towns to see for yourself. Doesn't take a native to see how depressed and poor these towns are.
I grew up in eastern NC and I can back up his claim about Warsaw. I used to live there and I still pass through it from time to time whenever I visit the Devotional Gardens cemetery. Warsaw is a dump. Considering the similar trashy small towns I've driven through in eastern NC, I don't have any reason to doubt his claims about the other towns he's listed. There's still a few nice small towns in eastern NC, but they're hard to find anymore.
I grew up in eastern NC and I can back up his claim about Warsaw. I used to live there and I still pass through it from time to time whenever I visit the Devotional Gardens cemetery. Warsaw is a dump. Considering the similar trashy small towns I've driven through in eastern NC, I don't have any reason to doubt his claims about the other towns he's listed. There's still a few nice small towns in eastern NC, but they're hard to find anymore.
it's different values in a lot of ways and i'm not saying rural NC isn't struggling in ways
some folks need walkable downtowns and lots of options to spend money
some people live more rurally and ya know have a tight knit church community or whatever and go hunting or whatever
for a few decades there downtowns wern't important. guess what people said the same about raleigh/dur
you only look for what's valuable to you but it doesn't say that's what's valuable to those folks
in 5+ years more of these small towns will be coming online, pittsboro, mebane, further flung wake county
its just about not appreciating rural life because you only value urb/suburb life
This. Simple as that. Old, rundown, overgrown, abandoned/boarded up homes and business, poor roads, poverty, drug addiction, high ctime, poor schools, lack of jobs, in a town of 5000...I mean come on. It sucks that so many ENC towns are that way. Places like Warsaw, Lumberton, Tabor City, Rowland, did they ever have a heyday where they were "newer" safer and more desirable?
Mill towns and houses in these communities were never the upscale, nouveau riche places like Cary, parts of Union County, etc. are today. Culturally, they were more like a place with a few "old money" mill owners and barons who saw themselves as the "town fathers" and a large population of blue collar workers who were never wealthy, but lived in modest, well-kept homes and neighborhoods and were able to put food on the table and provide for basic necessities. And even the modest mill house neighborhoods seemed to have a sense of civic pride, comfort, and hope for being able to provide what was needed for for themselves and their families.
These problems, which were really beginning to fester in the 1980's when the promise of job security in exchange for a hard day's work was really beginning to erode and into the early 1990's. The downhill slide of the economy in these places really accelerated with the passage of NAFTA in 1994. The economic turmoils faced by these communities (and similar ones across the state) has been a particularly bad blow because they're on a much smaller scale to begin with, and their economies had been built and dependent on traditional NC manufacturing (textiles and tobacco- similar to furniture in Piedmont and western NC). When NAFTA's policies made it much easier to ship manufacturing to Central and South America, these were the economies that have really suffered, and much of the population base really hasn't been equipped with the skills to fill the few higher wage jobs that exist, but the vast, vast majority of jobs in these parts of NC (when they exist at all) are low wage service jobs with few or no benefits.
What looked like a good idea in the ivory towers and inside the DC Beltway where NAFTA was concocted looks very different on the main streets of these communities and the residents of NC have had to pay a much higher price than in other states.
Mill towns and houses in these communities were never the upscale, nouveau riche places like Cary, parts of Union County, etc. are today. Culturally, they were more like a place with a few "old money" mill owners and barons who saw themselves as the "town fathers" and a large population of blue collar workers who were never wealthy, but lived in modest, well-kept homes and neighborhoods and were able to put food on the table and provide for basic necessities. And even the modest mill house neighborhoods seemed to have a sense of civic pride, comfort, and hope for being able to provide what was needed for for themselves and their families.
These problems, which were really beginning to fester in the 1980's when the promise of job security in exchange for a hard day's work was really beginning to erode and into the early 1990's. The downhill slide of the economy in these places really accelerated with the passage of NAFTA in 1994. The economic turmoils faced by these communities (and similar ones across the state) has been a particularly bad blow because they're on a much smaller scale to begin with, and their economies had been built and dependent on traditional NC manufacturing (textiles and tobacco- similar to furniture in Piedmont and western NC). When NAFTA's policies made it much easier to ship manufacturing to Central and South America, these were the economies that have really suffered, and much of the population base really hasn't been equipped with the skills to fill the few higher wage jobs that exist, but the vast, vast majority of jobs in these parts of NC (when they exist at all) are low wage service jobs with few or no benefits.
What looked like a good idea in the ivory towers and inside the DC Beltway where NAFTA was concocted looks very different on the main streets of these communities and the residents of NC have had to pay a much higher price than in other states.
The crime, drug (which exists everywhere), and school issues are all just exacerbated by this.
Thank you, Jowel.
This whole thread is very sad to me. Every town has some redeeming value to someone. I watched a program on UNC-TV last night called Our Vanishing Americana that focused on small general stores and family businesses in small towns across North Carolina. Even eastern NC towns like Wilson (which has received more than its share of criticism on this board) and Burgaw, among others, have "ordinary" residents who are deeply committed to their communities and multi-generational businesses that are local institutions.
Sure, I understand the need to provide honest impressions and experiences (warts and all) when someone is asking for relocation advice. But it seems this thread has created something of a mob mentality where too many people are taking great pleasure in negativity.
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