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I saw this article posted on another forum today and was a little surprised that the crown went to Mount Olive. The surprising part (to me) isn’t that it’s economically depressed, but that it’s ranked lower than surrounding towns. Any thoughts on this?
Well, Mt. Olive (south of Goldsboro) is located in a fairly poor part of the state. However, there's a small private university there (University of Mt. Olive), which has over 3,000 students and the town is just over 4,000 population. Typically, a college town has lower reported incomes because college students aren't working full time jobs and off campus students also skew poverty rates upward, making a place seem poorer and more destitute than it really is.
However, the MSN article fails to mention any of this, which is what I find irritating about the sloppiness and half truths in how these kinds of nationally written "best and worst" lists are compiled. I'm not from Mt. Olive and don't really know of anyone there so it's not like I have a dog in the fight, but it's irritating because these small towns have to work so hard to stay viable, only to have a poorly presented list taint their reputation. And this is coming from a national reporter who probably hasn't even been to the town they're reporting on. I've seen this play out in other places as well, so sorry for the soapbox but it hits a nerve. Due care is needed in interpreting these kinds of articles even if due care wasn't used in writing them.
On a separate note, it's not my call but why is their mascot not a pickle, or even an olive?
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[quote=Jowel;52793500]Well, Mt. Olive (south of Goldsboro) is located in a fairly poor part of the state. However, there's a small private university there (University of Mt. Olive), which has over 3,000 students and the town is just over 4,000 population. Typically, a college town has lower reported incomes because college students aren't working full time jobs and off campus students also skew poverty rates upward, making a place seem poorer and more destitute than it really is.
However, the MSN article fails to mention any of this, which is what I find irritating about the sloppiness and half truths in how these kinds of nationally written "best and worst" lists are compiled. I'm not from Mt. Olive and don't really know of anyone there so it's not like I have a dog in the fight, but it's irritating because these small towns have to work so hard to stay viable, only to have a poorly presented list taint their reputation. And this is coming from a national reporter who probably hasn't even been to the town they're reporting on. I've seen this play out in other places as well, so sorry for the soapbox but it hits a nerve. Due care is needed in interpreting these kinds of articles even if due care wasn't used in writing them.
I drive through Mt Olive fairly often on the way to Topsail Island. I hate this type of negative publicity, which I don't think is warranted, for reasons mentioned previously. There might not be all that much happening in Mt Olive, but there are many far-worse off areas.
With Mt Olive getting penalized by having a college in an economically depressed part of the state, I wouldn’t be surprised if Pembroke is second on the list.
Columbus/Robeson County, Roanoke Rapids and the counties surrounding it, possibly some mountain counties... all are easily worse off than Mt Olive
That was my initial thought as well when I saw the article. You don’t even need to go outside of Wayne County to find places that are worse off. Other than Goldsboro, it’s the only town in Wayne County that’s had any growth at all in the last 10 years. Meanwhile, the northern half of the county (Fremont, Pikeville, Eureka) looks virtually the same as it did when we first moved there in 1995 when I was 6. Seven Springs is close to Mount Olive and it’s in a bad way, even moreso now because of Hurricane Matthew.
Now when I think about it, I think Jowel makes a good point regarding the incomes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jowel
On a separate note, it's not my call but why is their mascot not a pickle, or even an olive?
My vote would be Tabor City, but that's just cause my radiator overheated there once when I took a wrong turn.
I agree that plenty of towns are worse off than Mt Olive.
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Due care is needed in interpreting these kinds of articles even if due care wasn't used in writing them. 
