Eastern North Carolina Has The Potential To Do Better
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Agree that the politics has stopped the Lumbees from getting a casino, as well as the deep prejudices against them.
I am not pointing fingers are a specific group, but Robeson County is really corrupt. That is about the only county I am really on edge in. I am not sure if something like a Casino would flush out the bad, or entrench it even more.
We have 3 big boys greensboro/winston-salem, raleigh, and charlotte and that's ok. What enc needs is a PROSPEROUS coastal city that doesn't just rely on tourist $$$. If people don't like rural enc they can move and that's still ok. Every nc city doesn't have to be a charlotte like city. Now what enc need is regional cooperation in the area by picking a city to be its hub for serious economic growth. I think wilmington seems like the smart candidate for the regions hub. The region focus should be on wilmington's growth and not some wasteful retirement haven for just old folks. Wilmington has the potential to be the enc's new orleans (& I don't mean the criminal aspect like most people refer to)
Wilmington is a good candidate, and is definitely the hub of Southeastern NC, but wouldn't serve as much of a hub of the whole of eastern NC. Folks from the Northeastern section of NC couldn't/shouldn't have drive 4+ hours just to go to a Chipotle, or get a decent job . I don't see why there can't be multiple "hubs" just like we have in the Central and Western parts of the state. Not every city has to have a million people living there, but I don't see why there can't be at least 3-4 cities with 150,000 population or more.
It's pretty crazy to me that the two largest cities east of I-95 (Greenville and Wilmington) are not connected at all by a 4 lane highway. There should be a 4 lane highway running south and southwest to I-40 from Greenville.
Right now there is a way to get to Greenville to Wilmington in about 2 hours. a highway could easily cut that trip by 20-30 minutes, making it much better for people to travel in between the two cities. My dream would be that Greenville has a spur of 95 on what's now US 264 from the West(I-595), and a spur from I40 starting near Wallace that runs straight through Kinston and approaches Greenville from the south(I-840).
ENC's problem is the low education rate, high poverty rate, and the inability to develop a new industry to replace the textile industry that left for Asia in the 80s, 90s. Add in the 'brain drain' effect of most of the young people who do become educated and it's just an endless cycle of failure. No one wants to invest because there aren't enough people or disposable income. No one wants to build their industry there because there isn't a large skilled workforce. If I were to start a business in NC right now, why build in ENC when Raleigh/Charlotte have similar startup costs but a much higher income base and educated workforce? I really don't know what can be done to fix this part of the state.
I think Wilmington is too far away from the other cities to act as the 'hub' of this part of the state. Greenville is in a better location to be such but as others have said, the 20K+ population towns in ENC tend to compete fiercely with each other for resources rather than work together. None of them want Greenville or any other city to be the 'anchor city' of their region. Each one wants to be on top. There is no group identity like the 'Triangle', 'Triad', or 'Charlotte Metro', to help bring things to the region as a whole.
We certainly can do better but I don't really see the area as broken. Maybe because I live in the Greenville area, I don't know. The only truly bad city is Kinston. Jacksonville and Havelock are sort of ugly but most military cities are.
ENC will remain extremely rural for a long time. Let's not act like people don't travel far for work its ok it happens all the time. Wilmington has the infrastucture for serious economic opportunities that I don't see cool developments coming to greenville or any other city in the area for a very long time.
Yea of course Eastern NC will be very rural for a long time. But no one from Ahoskie, NC or Rocky Mount is going to drive 2.5-3 hours to Wilmington for a job when they can drive 45 minutes to Greenville for the same job.
Greenville is growing rapidly and should be over 100,000 people within the next 3-5 years. Major developments are announced for Greenville on a monthly basis. Greenville is in the process of completely revitalizing a big section of their downtown area.
Wilmington is a wonderful city and I enjoy going there. But to think it should be the only hub for the entire region of Eastern NC is a bit silly. Greenville is already the "hub" of Eastern NC. Wilmington clearly rules Southeastern NC.
Yea of course Eastern NC will be very rural for a long time. But no one from Ahoskie, NC or Rocky Mount is going to drive 2.5-3 hours to Wilmington for a job when they can drive 45 minutes to Greenville for the same job.
Greenville is growing rapidly and should be over 100,000 people within the next 3-5 years. Major developments are announced for Greenville on a monthly basis. Greenville is in the process of completely revitalizing a big section of their downtown area.
Wilmington is a wonderful city and I enjoy going there. But to think it should be the only hub for the entire region of Eastern NC is a bit silly. Greenville is already the "hub" of Eastern NC. Wilmington clearly rules Southeastern NC.
A question is, will these smaller, historically significant-ish towns in ENC yield to Greenville. There is a history of Kinston, Rocky Mount, Wilson, Greenville, etc "knocking" each others knees out. So we have GTP doing nothing in Kinston, for example.
If Greenville was able to unleash its potential, I think all other ENC towns would benefit more.
Where I live near Ahoskie, folks do travel to Greenville for shopping and such but since the southern part of Hampton Roads is only an hour away, I prefer going that way. There's just way more to see and do.
I can't see Hertford County changing very much in my lifetime.
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eastern nc is very rural and its ok!
