Eastern N.C. Needs Attention

Rob Christianson of the News and Observer writes about a new report from the N.C. Center for Public Policy Research. The report reiterates an oft-overlooked, yet persistent concern for state’s economic health and society; Eastern North Carolina is suffering.

If Eastern North Carolina were a separate state, it would be drawing comparisons to Mississippi and Arkansas. Mississippi has a median household income of $31,330; areas in the east without military bases have a median of $31,903.Things are so bad that the idea of taking New York's garbage in large regional landfills was not laughed off. Neither is a Branson, Mo.-style hub for country music in Roanoke Rapids, or a giant new port facility near Southport. Falling tobacco barns might make a pretty Bob Timberlake painting. But you can't say the same thing for shuttered textile mills or vacant storefronts.

The problems of the east are similar to those of the rural Deep South. The disparity between the urban, suburban, and rural eastern North Carolina can serve as a metaphor for the problems arising from Southern growth and change across the region. Solutions for the plight of the east can be applied to the South as a whole.

Three of four workers in the east work in the service or retail sector, mostly in low-paying jobs. In eight counties, Wal-Mart is the largest private employer. In four counties, meat-packing plants reign supreme. The region has lost half its farms in the past 30 years. Recruiting new industry is difficult. As the center notes, economic development goes "one step forward, two steps back." While Nash County gets a $16 million Cheesecake Factory bakery, nearby Glenoit Fabrics Corp. lays off workers and Glenoit Universal Ltd. closes its rug factory. The east has so many needs it's hard to know where to begin -- but better schools, roads and utilities are a start.