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Old 02-03-2018, 09:00 AM
 
Location: Danville, VA
7,181 posts, read 6,754,786 times
Reputation: 4814

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Sounds good to me. From Feb. 1:

https://governor.nc.gov/news/governo...al-communities

Quote:
Today, Governor Cooper announced Hometown Strong, a new initiative to partner with local governments to support local economies, improve infrastructure, and strengthen rural communities.

“Small communities like the one I grew up in have a special character and so much to offer. They deserve a real partner in state government and a chance to thrive,” Gov. Cooper said. “That’s Hometown Strong.”

Hometown Strong will work with local leaders to stimulate economies and help businesses thrive in North Carolina’s rural communities by focusing on projects such as infrastructure improvements, broadband access, and workforce training.

Through existing and new partnerships with local leaders from government, business, non-profit organizations, the philanthropic community and others, Hometown Strong will seek to leverage state and local resources to help complete local development projects, convene conversations between state and local agencies, and identify long-term projects that can encourage prosperity in rural communities.

“Helping rural North Carolina thrive is one of my top priorities,” Gov. Cooper said. “Families in rural communities aren’t looking for mandates from Raleigh – they want state government to listen and help when asked. We’ll listen to local leaders to make sure they’re getting the support they need to help their communities prosper.”

Gov. Cooper has appointed Pryor Gibson and Mary Penny Kelley to lead Hometown Strong. Initial partnerships between rural counties and Hometown Strong will be announced this spring.

Pryor Gibson is a former member of the North Carolina General Assembly who represented House District 96, which includes Anson, Montgomery, and Union counties. He also served as executive vice president of the North Carolina Forestry Association and as senior adviser for governmental affairs for Governor Bev Perdue. Gibson is a Wadesboro native.

Mary Penny Kelley formerly served as senior advisor for policy and innovation at the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, where she had also served as an executive attorney for nearly a decade. Additionally, she served as an Assistant Attorney General within the North Carolina Department of Justice and as an attorney in private practice. Kelley is a resident of Spring Hope.

“When you face a challenge in small towns like mine, you solve it by bringing everyone around the table. That’s an idea that state government could use more of,” said Gibson. “There is so much to be excited about in North Carolina’s rural communities and Governor Cooper has made it clear that they should have a real partner in Raleigh. I look forward to getting to work.

Last edited by LM117; 02-03-2018 at 09:25 AM..
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Old 02-03-2018, 04:26 PM
 
Location: North Carolina
6,081 posts, read 4,569,565 times
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It sounds like positive leadership and is definitely needed to help the areas of the state that have slipped, or at the very least stagnated somewhat, over the last few decades, as others like Wake and Mecklenburg have been in their own bubble of prosperity that's not spread across the state evenly (and is less even than it was perhaps 2-3 decades ago). Its success will depend on:

1.) The scope of a plan like this: Is this going to be focused on only the worst of the worst, when it comes to economically depressed places that are going to demand much more aggressive resources? The choice may be between providing more intensive assistance to those areas in the worst shape, but less assistance for those areas that aren't the worst but economically mediocre. Or the assistance could be spread wider but thinner.

2.) How well this idea is actually executed: Does the amount and type of assistance provided match the needs of these areas?

3.) Will political ideological issues be a stumbling block, as some of the Legislature has demonstrated a track record of becoming obsessed with their own pet "culture war" social issues rather than the core issues they are supposed to be focusing on, such as public health/safety/economics/infrastructure, etc.
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Old 02-05-2018, 08:19 AM
 
3,071 posts, read 4,815,900 times
Reputation: 1943
Raleigh is not serious about re-creating the rural communities in NC. For a few decades they refused to even acknowledge the decline of the rural communities, whose economies were only propped up by a generation that was almost retirement age. And then there is the ever increasing disparity between NC's major cities and the rural communities that were not located within easy access of them. You drive a hour from a major city and its like going back in time...except the past in decline.

Raleigh pushes for stuff like...

1) Infrastructure. Infrastructure is already in place, its not a reason for a declining rural economy. Hell the small towns will give you a free water/sewer tap if you open a business.
2) Job training. For who? The young folks have all left so they could get a job. They aren't coming back until you address the inadequate schools and quality of life. There are small rural communities with prison jobs that cant fill them, even with training programs.
3) Affordable housing. This is the biggest laughingstock. All these communities have is affordable housing. Those programs are for big prospering cities that keep pricing low income folks out. I'm sure you can get a nice house for 100K in Wadesboro, that same house in Charlotte is 200K. So Wadesboro is already affordable.

Expanding Interstate access is a nice start, but that will take decades to build. The State was shown that issue when it built the GTP in Kinston in the early 90's and no one came because of lack of interstate access.

The State could provide "Clean up" money. As in clean up the mess that has been left by the decline. Creating downtown plans, clear parcels, make the communities more walkable, give small communities money for code enforcement. Re-develop the public housing (and have less of it). The reality is that these communities have to tear down and come back with what is needed to support the population it has. Create value. Tear down the old dilapidated school that is not used anymore. Create park spaces, build sidewalks and walking trails. Make the town LOOK better. That will encourage small business investment.

Whats even crazier is the cellphones and the internet give people the ability to work from anywhere...so there is no reason for the rural decline except that the State focused all of its attention on incentives to businesses locating in big cities...because they were more interested in competing with other states. Not that they shouldn't have done that, but they should have been rebuilding their small towns at the same time because jobs weren't coming there and jobs were leaving there.

Or they can keep building infrastructure to build shell buildings on the outskirts of town that sit vacant with no employer. And expand community colleges to train people who have left. Note I highlighted small business. Doing all I listed doesn't create the headline like..."500 jobs coming to wherever" does. The politicians aren't serious, unless its about saying stuff to get re-elected.

Last edited by HP91; 02-05-2018 at 09:14 AM..
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Old 02-05-2018, 12:59 PM
 
870 posts, read 1,007,776 times
Reputation: 1893
Quote:
Originally Posted by HP91 View Post
Raleigh is not serious about re-creating the rural communities in NC. For a few decades they refused to even acknowledge the decline of the rural communities, whose economies were only propped up by a generation that was almost retirement age. And then there is the ever increasing disparity between NC's major cities and the rural communities that were not located within easy access of them. You drive a hour from a major city and its like going back in time...except the past in decline.

Raleigh pushes for stuff like...

1) Infrastructure. Infrastructure is already in place, its not a reason for a declining rural economy. Hell the small towns will give you a free water/sewer tap if you open a business.
2) Job training. For who? The young folks have all left so they could get a job. They aren't coming back until you address the inadequate schools and quality of life. There are small rural communities with prison jobs that cant fill them, even with training programs.
3) Affordable housing. This is the biggest laughingstock. All these communities have is affordable housing. Those programs are for big prospering cities that keep pricing low income folks out. I'm sure you can get a nice house for 100K in Wadesboro, that same house in Charlotte is 200K. So Wadesboro is already affordable.

Expanding Interstate access is a nice start, but that will take decades to build. The State was shown that issue when it built the GTP in Kinston in the early 90's and no one came because of lack of interstate access.

The State could provide "Clean up" money. As in clean up the mess that has been left by the decline. Creating downtown plans, clear parcels, make the communities more walkable, give small communities money for code enforcement. Re-develop the public housing (and have less of it). The reality is that these communities have to tear down and come back with what is needed to support the population it has. Create value. Tear down the old dilapidated school that is not used anymore. Create park spaces, build sidewalks and walking trails. Make the town LOOK better. That will encourage small business investment.

Whats even crazier is the cellphones and the internet give people the ability to work from anywhere...so there is no reason for the rural decline except that the State focused all of its attention on incentives to businesses locating in big cities...because they were more interested in competing with other states. Not that they shouldn't have done that, but they should have been rebuilding their small towns at the same time because jobs weren't coming there and jobs were leaving there.

Or they can keep building infrastructure to build shell buildings on the outskirts of town that sit vacant with no employer. And expand community colleges to train people who have left. Note I highlighted small business. Doing all I listed doesn't create the headline like..."500 jobs coming to wherever" does. The politicians aren't serious, unless its about saying stuff to get re-elected.
Good points, HP91. I would only caution that interstate access is by no means a guarantee of economic success for North Carolina counties. For example, I-95 runs through Halifax and Northampton counties and I-85 through Warren and Vance counties, yet their ability to capitalize on that access has proven to be limited at best so far.

Having said that, renovating downtowns would be a great help indeed in rebuilding these towns. I've lost track of the number of times I've gone through them and felt depressed just looking at the rundown storefronts alone. And maybe considering offering economic incentives to develop cultural attractions in these towns would be a big boost to reach newcomers and tourists as well. It's not just millennials who enjoy libraries, museums and the like. I know a friend who got a great job offer in Tarboro but turned it down because there simply wasn't any nightlife available for him there or anywhere around there within a half hour's drive to make it bearable for him despite the plentiful cash flashed in front of him.

What's clear is that we can't keep doing the same old things now. Yes, it's dirt cheap to live in these places, but we have to give people a reason why to live there beyond that. That's going to take some adjustment by the natives as well. No, our rural communities don't have to be Charlotte, Raleigh, Wilmington, Asheville or even Greenville, but just offering chain restaurants and stores aren't enough amenities to cut it with people looking to relocate. People nowadays expect strong and plentiful opportunities in education, recreation and education, and until everyone gets serious about having those in our rural as well as urban communities, our small towns are only going to get smaller and poorer.
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Old 02-05-2018, 01:08 PM
 
6,799 posts, read 7,322,215 times
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By far the best thing that can be done to help revitalize our small towns is improve the public schools. If they are good enough to make people want to move there, they would. And every other problem begins to then solve itself.
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Old 02-05-2018, 02:16 PM
 
555 posts, read 497,305 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BC1960 View Post
By far the best thing that can be done to help revitalize our small towns is improve the public schools. If they are good enough to make people want to move there, they would. And every other problem begins to then solve itself.
Absolutely true. And this is not a recent problem. Rural education has its struggles nearly everywhere, but it hasn't been a priority in NC for decades, if ever. People would be much more interested in living in a small town and investing in the community if they felt their children were getting a decent education.

I also agree that this is initiative is probably not much more than lip service by politicians. I hope I'm wrong. But part of the problem is that significant portions of the population within the core metros are rather new and have historically had little to nothing to do with rural NC. Naturally, they aren't truly interested in improving other parts of the state. Thus, the disparities will likely continue to grow. It's just the way the state's economy is set up.
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Old 02-05-2018, 04:02 PM
 
Location: Danville, VA
7,181 posts, read 6,754,786 times
Reputation: 4814
Thom Tillis railroading the state-wide ban on municipal-owned internet services and preventing Wilson from expanding theirs didn't do the rural counties any favors, either. It blows my mind that the same people that sent those clowns to the General Assembly are the same ones that get screwed over by the people they sent into office and have yet to realize it.

I don't think Wilson has ever forgiven Tillis...
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Old 02-06-2018, 12:17 AM
 
Location: North Carolina
6,957 posts, read 8,455,418 times
Reputation: 6777
Quote:
Originally Posted by LM117 View Post
Thom Tillis railroading the state-wide ban on municipal-owned internet services and preventing Wilson from expanding theirs didn't do the rural counties any favors, either. It blows my mind that the same people that sent those clowns to the General Assembly are the same ones that get screwed over by the people they sent into office and have yet to realize it.

I don't think Wilson has ever forgiven Tillis...
I wonder how much Time-Warner (Spectrum) contributed to the Tillis campaign?
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Old 02-06-2018, 01:36 AM
 
Location: Danville, VA
7,181 posts, read 6,754,786 times
Reputation: 4814
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheEmissary View Post
I wonder how much Time-Warner (Spectrum) contributed to the Tillis campaign?
They were in balls deep, no doubt. Time Warner had a hissy fit when Wilson cut into their share with better customer service and pricing. Wilson also had the fastest internet in the state at the time (1Gbps). Once Time Warner began taking a hit in Wilson County, they lobbied hard to Tillis to put a stop to it rather than improve and expand their own services. Next thing you know, the ban happened. Wilson has wanted Tillis's head on a silver platter ever since.
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Old 02-06-2018, 06:53 AM
 
3,071 posts, read 4,815,900 times
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I find it interesting that the State of NC has a history of putting its municipalities in its place. Not allowing them to enact individual laws affecting them, and taking a broad brush on many issues affecting them.

And, with every initiative pushed to fix them, the same broad brush exists. Call the Dept of Commerce and see if you can find a grant program to help build a mixed use building in a small town downtown or tear down a dilapidated building. They don't exist. Whats crazy is, in these small towns, that small expense would go a long way...and potentially kickstart small business investment. The NC Department of Commerce Economic Development programs and the state legislature that funds them has failed NC's small rural towns. And the legislature gives the towns virtually no authority, control to do much. Everything has to be run through Raleigh.

How about the State ask the municipalities what they need without any mandates? What would make them actually "stronger"? And then set aside money to do that.
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