Bacon's Rebellion

Democracy Thrives in Sunlight

Virginia Has Lost Its Mojo — Appalachia Edition

—

by

James A. Bacon
in ,

A new report, “The Future of Appalachia,” outlines economic development strategies for one of the most intractably poor regions in the country. Drawing a distinction between “southern” and “northern” Appalachia, the study observes that southern Appalachia has achieved far more economic success than its northern counterpart. Unfortunately, for purposes of this analysis, Virginia is deemed part of “northern” Appalachia.

The difference in dynamism can be seen in the map above, which shows net in-migration between 2021 and 2022. Each dot represents 100 people. The mountains of Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama are experiencing significant in-migration — Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky almost none.

Alas, I do not have the time to explore this study in any detail. I’ll settle for filing this under, “Virginia has lost its mojo.” I invite readers to dip into the study and report their observations. — JAB

Share this article

ADVERTISEMENT

(comments below)

ADVERTISEMENT

(comments below)

Comments

24 responses to “Virginia Has Lost Its Mojo — Appalachia Edition”

  1. dsmithuva75 Avatar
    dsmithuva75

    Yes, that is an interesting map, with interesting results. Gov. Youngkin could do more to attract businesses to the region.

    1. Nancy Naive Avatar
      Nancy Naive

      Like, oh say, uh, battery factories maybe?

      1. how_it_works Avatar
        how_it_works

        I thought for sure that all those industrial parks in the middle of nowhere (built with the tobacco settlement money) would be just the thing to make that region an economic miracle.

        1. Nancy Naive Avatar
          Nancy Naive

          They’re waiting for the opioid money… WV got a ton of it and built a huge university spending it like water…

          1. how_it_works Avatar
            how_it_works

            One thing I wonder is what percentage of opioid prescriptions are paid for by Medicaid. I don’t expect that answer is easily found.

          2. WayneS Avatar
            WayneS

            Where do I sign up for opioid money? I’m running low on hydrocodone and the price has really skyrocketed recently…

          3. Nancy Naive Avatar
            Nancy Naive

            Send a postcard to the Sackler Cartel. Didn’t VW get bundles from 3 of the biggest distributors of pharmaceuticals?

          4. how_it_works Avatar
            how_it_works

            You might be able to con an emergency room doc into giving you a prescription for some. Dilaudid seems to be the opioid of choice for ER drug seekers, from what I’ve read.

  2. dsmithuva75 Avatar
    dsmithuva75

    What that map shows me, surprisingly, is a different conclusion — people are LEAVING Tidewater AND Northern Virginia in droves! While the out-migration from NoVa is not a bad thing, from Tidewater and, to a lesser extent, Richmond, is alarming!

  3. Eric the half a troll Avatar
    Eric the half a troll

    State-level population changes across the entire study area range from about +1.5% to -0.4%. Hardly earth shattering…

  4. James Wyatt Whitehead Avatar
    James Wyatt Whitehead

    Fascinating report that is probably just the tip of the iceberg. Having travelled this past month between Atlanta, Chattanooga, and Nashville it was easy to see the prosperity of this corridor. Transportation stood out as a major factor for growth. Once you break out of Atlanta, I 75 is superior highway with a thriving railroad network. I 24 is also a good road between Nashville and Chattanooga. While Nashville and Atlanta metro areas boom, Chattanooga seems stuck in the doldrums. Reminded me of Roanoke.

    Good transportation networks and access to cheap energy are likely driving factors for growth. Virginia and West Virginia will spend a generation attempting to catch up to Tennessee and Georgia.

    1. how_it_works Avatar
      how_it_works

      They’ve been talking about widening I-81 for over 20 years now.

      In Virginia, however, the lips move a lot more than the dirt does.

  5. WayneS Avatar
    WayneS

    I’d agree with you regarding the demise of Virginia’s “mojo” if outmigration significantly exceeded inmigration . However, the population of Appalachian Virginia looks pretty stable. Not a lot in, but not a lot out either.

    Perhaps Virginia’s mojo is merely resting..

    …

    ….or maybe it’s pining for the fjords.

  6. Stephen Haner Avatar
    Stephen Haner

    I see a map showing where there are low or no income taxes (TN, NC), as opposed to places that are tax happy. Most of those dots are retirees or those approaching retirement. And Governor Youngkin did try again to persuade the high taxers in both parties to make us more competitive, to no avail.

    I thought you’d bring up this when I saw the headline: https://cardinalnews.org/2023/08/31/glove-factory-set-to-bring-2500-jobs-to-wythe-county-on-hold-with-funding-uncertain/

    1. Nancy Naive Avatar
      Nancy Naive

      I see Boomers retiring and finding weather. Escaping those places where they pay $5000 in taxes and $1000 in insurance premiums to places where they pay $1000 in taxes and $7000 in insurance premiums.

      The tell is life expectancy and health. Appalachia? Uh… no.

      https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/23/heres-a-map-of-where-rural-hospital-closures-are-happening-in-the-us.html

      1. Stephen Haner Avatar
        Stephen Haner

        Agreed, weather is also a factor in going south…even if choosing the mountains.

        1. Nancy Naive Avatar
          Nancy Naive

          As pointed out by others, it’s small numbers. Relatively speaking Boomers capable and willing to relocate could easily account for a lot of it. I’m tired of being 5 hours from the daughterial unit. There’s a lake 45 minutes from her house. When the right place pops up. It’d be fun going back to a sailing dingy.

    2. WayneS Avatar
      WayneS

      Alabama does not tax retirement income from pensions, or social security.

      1. Stephen Haner Avatar
        Stephen Haner

        https://www.kiplinger.com/retirement/600892/state-by-state-guide-to-taxes-on-retirees

      2. Matt Adams Avatar
        Matt Adams

        Outside of the random hurricane, the Gulf Coast would be a lovely place to retire.

  7. f/k/a_tmtfairfax Avatar
    f/k/a_tmtfairfax

    If one works for or with the federal government, NoVA is the place to be. It has a much better business climate than the District or Maryland, most especially Montgomery County.

    On the other hand, NoVA is a very expensive place to live with relatively high taxes and terrible traffic.

    Our house in Wake Forest (Wake County) is about 40% larger than the house in McLean. Our new lot is about 7 times as large as the one in McLean. Our property taxes (Town of Wake Forest and Wake County) are about 54% of what the purchaser of our McLean house pays this year. We live about 27 miles from the airport. Even in rush hour, it’s never taken more than 40-45 minutes to drive, more like 30 minutes other times of the day.

    The population of Wake County is about 1.1 million. Fairfax County is about 1.2 million. I also suspect that more higher income people are moving into Wake County than into Fairfax County.

    I forgot to add the income tax rate in NC is 4.75% (single rate) while VA’s is 5.75% (top rate). Fairfax County beats Wake County on the sales tax rate, 6% versus 7.25%. Both have a car tax, but I pay considerably less on my 2023 Honda CRV in NC than I paid on my 2011 Honda CRV in VA.

    1. how_it_works Avatar
      how_it_works

      “NoVA is a very expensive place to live with relatively high taxes and terrible traffic”

      A very transient population, too.

    2. how_it_works Avatar
      how_it_works

      I’ve been thinking about it, and it seems to me that there’s a huge disparity between the cost of living in NoVA and the quality of life.

      It shouldn’t cost as much to live there for what it is.

      I base this on the idea that there ARE reasons to want to live someplace OTHER than for the jobs that are available.

      Even considering jobs, NoVA isn’t the place to be unless you REALLY like working for the Feds.

      In my view, that’s barely one step up from working for Initech (from the movie Office Space).

      Some people really like it. I think. I’ve never heard anyone tell me that they just LOVE their government contracting job, though.

    3. how_it_works Avatar
      how_it_works

      I’ve been thinking about it, and it seems to me that there’s a huge disparity between the cost of living in NoVA and the quality of life.

      It shouldn’t cost as much to live there for what it is.

      I base this on the idea that there ARE reasons to want to live someplace OTHER than for the jobs that are available.

      Even considering jobs, NoVA isn’t the place to be unless you REALLY like working for the Feds.

      In my view, that’s barely one step up from working for Initech (from the movie Office Space).

      Some people really like it. I think. I’ve never heard anyone tell me that they just LOVE their government contracting job, though.

Leave a Reply

Read More