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Economic Recovery in North Carolina Mainly Concentrated in Urban Areas

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Rural Counties still lag behind

Despite gains in unemployment rates, North Carolina’s rural counties are still lagging behind their urban counterparts. Much of the economic recovery is based in counties with large urban cities. Meanwhile, rural counties have not returned to their pre-Great Recession states. Half of North Carolina’s counties have seen declines in population since 2010.

According to Jeff Michael, director of the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute:

The area’s small communities can boost their recoveries if they strengthen their supply, transportation and even educational linkages to Charlotte, Michael said. “Their success is going to be tied to those growing urban areas,” he added. During the region’s textile production era, he noted, the small communities were better connected to Charlotte and each other than they are now. The connection among growers, suppliers and manufacturers formed “incredible linkages within that industry,” Michael said.

Michael goes on to cite Asheville, North Carolina’s success in creating a complementary “cluster of services” as one of the ways industry-minded rural counties can maintain economic stability.

Charlotte Business Journal | Recovery bypassing Carolinas’ small, rural communities in favor of the urban centers

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Rural Oregon Struggles to Keep Up with Urban Portland

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Last week at the Oregon Leadership Summit in Portland, local leaders in both the private and public sector discussed how to address the state’s slow recovery in rural areas. In a piece by The Oregonian, local leaders considered a range of strategies “from unlocking timber to expanding the growing market for drones.” Presently, Oregon’s economic recovery is dependent on urban Portland, which has not only regained its job base, but has also expanded it. As a result, young people are leaving Oregon’s rural areas for urban centers like Portland.

According to the Oregonian:

Rural incomes also are on a dismal trend line. Per capita income in rural Oregon was above the U.S. average in the 1970s, but now only comes to to three-fourths of the national figure, said John Carter, chairman of Schnitzer Steel and the Oregon Business Plan, which backed Tuesday’s summit.

Also on discussed was the development of industrial land and helping already existing rural businesses as ways of jump-starting Oregon’s rural economy.

Oregon Live – The Oregonian | Rural Oregon economic struggles gain increasing attention statewide