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In a nutshell, the urban areas are booming and the rural areas (which comprise most of the state) are largely drying up. I imagine this is true in most Southern states (GA: Atlanta booming, everything else getting more poor, etc).
Many factors at work here, including high-tech and STEM being more and more necessary for "good" jobs, while the state govt cuts education funding, reduces teaching staff, and cuts university budgets (the Universities are what made NC so "special" 50 years ago and led to RTP).
Brain drain from the rural areas to the urban areas both in NC and elsewhere, leaving less and less industry in those towns that used to be "Mayberrys" and ideal (well, if you were white).
Folks moving in from high-tax states, often doing little research other than "it's so much cheaper, wheeee!!!!!!", then realizing that lower taxes means lower services as well, and screaming for said services to increase, gradually driving up the "low taxes" in many areas. Housing prices going up in many areas for this same reason (because builders can get more for them from those coming from up North)
Ultra-Right-Wing state govt that rode in in 2010 due to Recession and disillusionment with Obama, who drew themselves super-safe districts and now preach jobs and economy all the while introducing bills mostly related to the tried-and-true hard-Right social issues such as abortion, gay marriage, etc etc. State govt is now even trying to run county governments, at least those counties that are liberal-leaning, to redistrict the county commissioner lines into safe Republican districts in Dem-majority counties.
I'm not going to get into politics because I don't think that's what you're asking about.
Whew, yes, thank you! Your post was extremely helpful, especially the migration patterns article.
I was looking for viewpoints from those educated in understanding historically how similar growth patterns in other states have affected life, and what they think will happen in NC.
For example (very simplistically speaking):
Do you think that the RTP will grow significantly to become a big technology hub, perhaps not as big as the bay area's silicon valley, but be a tech area professionals will begin to flock to?
Do you think that the modernization will create a house pricing boom where houses will become far more expensive than what they are truly worth (Vancouver BC, So Cal, Bay Area, etc. etc.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by poppydog
tech, biotech, and finance have come in.
Do you think these industries will continue to grow and that NC will be considered powerhouses in these areas?
Quote:
Originally Posted by poppydog
Gentrification definitely has had an impact in some areas. The trend nationally seems to be edging toward urban living around a walkable downtown, etc. While we still have plenty of suburban development going in on former forests and fields in the Charlotte and Triangle regions in particular, both of those areas are also seeing some gentrification of older neighborhoods and poor folks are being priced out as developers tear down and fix up old low-income neighborhoods with nicer, newer places.
With poverty being an issue, what exactly happens to poverty-stricken areas when gentrification at this speed occurs (historically speaking around the US)? Do they become slowly reduced, or do they expand and become segregated into large neighborhoods/towns?
Well, I had no idea about that. I was very glad to see that NC did not pass the ag-gag bill. We do a lot of volunteering at wildlife/animal welfare facilities and I noticed that NC ranks pretty low nationwide on animal rights/animal welfare laws but in speaking to local agencies there, there seems to be a lot going on behind the scenes to try and improve that standing.
In a nutshell, the urban areas are booming and the rural areas (which comprise most of the state) are largely drying up. I imagine this is true in most Southern states (GA: Atlanta booming, everything else getting more poor, etc).
Many factors at work here, including high-tech and STEM being more and more necessary for "good" jobs, while the state govt cuts education funding, reduces teaching staff, and cuts university budgets (the Universities are what made NC so "special" 50 years ago and led to RTP).
Brain drain from the rural areas to the urban areas both in NC and elsewhere, leaving less and less industry in those towns that used to be "Mayberrys" and ideal (well, if you were white).
Folks moving in from high-tax states, often doing little research other than "it's so much cheaper, wheeee!!!!!!", then realizing that lower taxes means lower services as well, and screaming for said services to increase, gradually driving up the "low taxes" in many areas. Housing prices going up in many areas for this same reason (because builders can get more for them from those coming from up North)
Ultra-Right-Wing state govt that rode in in 2010 due to Recession and disillusionment with Obama, who drew themselves super-safe districts and now preach jobs and economy all the while introducing bills mostly related to the tried-and-true hard-Right social issues such as abortion, gay marriage, etc etc. State govt is now even trying to run county governments, at least those counties that are liberal-leaning, to redistrict the county commissioner lines into safe Republican districts in Dem-majority counties.
Is NC considered a "southern state?" When visiting last week, I was quickly corrected and told that NC was not southern (but it's not north eastern either), so how is it best defined?
I also found something else very interesting. When visiting a lot of the new housing neighborhoods around Charlotte (the ones where models were available to visit and the construction companies were still building out or expanding lots), several had schools that were built into the development as a "selling point" for moving into the neighborhood. One such school taught students 3 languages (Mandarin, Latin, and Spanish). The curriculum was also very diverse and impressive. Another school also taught 3 different languages and 9 subjects throughout the entire high school curriculum. The friends we stayed with spoke very highly of the schools in the north Charlotte area. I don't have any children and so it's not something I've ever looked into, but I've been reading various posts on this board of growing concern on what is happening with schools/teachers/education in the state and meant to ask about this.
North Carolina VERY MUCH is Southern. I am sure it was not a native who told you that.
Quote:
Do you think that the RTP will grow significantly to become a big technology hub, perhaps not as big as the bay area's silicon valley, but be a tech area professionals will begin to flock to?
Do you think these industries will continue to grow and that NC will be considered powerhouses in these areas?
In answer to your questions, you're a little behind the curve.
RTP has been a tech hub for many years and Charlotte has been a financial headquarters for many years. RTP is not quite in the same tier as Silicon Valley, but many of the big companies there, like Cisco etc, also have a headquarters in RTP. There are 150+ companies at RTP. This doesn't include the companies headquartered in Raleigh, Cary, or Durham, like RedHat, SAS, etc. Google has a small office in Chapel Hill. Bank of America is hq'd in Charlotte. Fidelity is in RTP. These are not new. Best Performing US Cities Of 2014 - Business Insider
Quote:
Do you think that the modernization will create a house pricing boom where houses will become far more expensive than what they are truly worth (Vancouver BC, So Cal, Bay Area, etc. etc.)
No, I don't ever see our housing becoming like San Francisco, etc.
Quote:
With poverty being an issue, what exactly happens to poverty-stricken areas when gentrification at this speed occurs (historically speaking around the US)? Do they become slowly reduced, or do they expand and become segregated into large neighborhoods/towns?
Well, I'm far from an expert on gentrification, but I think what usually happens is homes in an older run-down, low-income area (typically in the center of the city, closer to the urban core) are bought up and remodeled or torn down for new builds. The low-income population is then forced to look for housing they can afford elsewhere. It may be in a nearby neighborhood if there are any low-income neighborhoods left. It may be in another part of the city. It may be in another city entirely.
Regarding the southern state comment, it was in a restaurant in Chapel Hill, and also at our hotel (the concierge at the Siena Hotel who spent over an hour chatting with us, born and raised in the Durham area). I was told that in a more traditional sense of the "south" that North Carolina isn't so much considered southern any more as it has far less of the southern feel than other southern states.
That may only be their perception living in that area, and may not be indicative of the rest of the state.
Housing will never become as expensive as places like SF, NY, or SoCal as the NC Metros don't have the geographic impediments that force people into a smaller amount of land like those places. Charlotte and Raleigh/Durham have plenty of open land to expand outward with so there will never been the sort of demand of tons of people wanting to live in a small geographic area.
Also unless you were in Cary, I don't see how one could come to the conclusion that NC isn't southern.
I don't know exactly what the folks you ran into said about the South and NC, but I'm going to guess that they were trying to say something about the influx of transplants from other parts of the country (particularly the northeast, NY/NJ, but also the Midwest, Ohio, California, the PNW) and how they are diluting the traditional southern culture of North Carolina, which may be true but that does not mean North Carolina is not part of The South.
The Siena and Il Palio are not particularly Southern, but if you go a few blocks down Franklin Street to Crook's Corner or a block over to Mama Dips I'm willing to bet your tastebuds would come to the conclusion that you are in the South.
I was born and grew up in NC and have lived in Chapel Hill for 30 years. I can assure you that North Carolina and Chapel Hill are Southern. Author Wells Tower said it much more eloquently than I can in Garden & Gun: Chapel Hill North Carolina | Garden and Gun .
they were trying to say something about the influx of transplants from other parts of the country (particularly the northeast, NY/NJ, but also the Midwest, Ohio, California, the PNW) and how they are diluting the traditional southern culture of North CarolinaThe South.
I'm sure now that was more their context (not so much geographically but culturally because of the dilution). The headhunter who organized our trip out there put us at the Siena as they have a special contractual rate. Thank you for the article, I enjoyed reading it.
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