The Evidence Is There — If You Can Get to It
Before I share the findings below, I want to be transparent: in the main section every one of the articles cited to validate my research is locked behind a paywall. That’s the reality of our current media ecosystem — quality reporting exists, but access often comes at a cost. I don’t fault the journalists; I fault the system that limits public access to information that should be widely known.
That’s the world we live in—information that affects your job prospects, your kid’s future, or your community’s survival is often hidden behind a subscription button. So unless you’ve got an account with The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Bloomberg, Reuters, or The New York Times, you’ll have to take my word for what’s inside. Or better yet—read the work I’ve already made free to the public.
So, if you want to verify these insights for yourself, you may need to lean on your local library, educational institution, or a subscription service — or you can trust that I’ve done my homework.
What I’m showing here isn't just theory. It's confirmation. Confirmation that what I’ve laid out in my soon available books The Foothills Corridor and The Shrinking Center — the deindustrialization, the slow grind of reinvention, the fragility of our middle class — is now being recognized on a national scale. These are issues I spoke of years ago.
News and Views
Big US cities are sinking. This map shows where the problem is the worst. - USA Today - Doyle Rice - 5/8/25 - A new study shows 28 major U.S. cities are sinking — Houston fastest, San Antonio most at-risk structurally. Charlotte, our regional giant, made the list. The causes? Groundwater overuse, building weight, and poor land management. The result? Flood risk, infrastructure damage, and a reminder that environmental instability is accelerating just as our region grapples with economic fragility. This connects directly to the Catawba River Water Crisis — one that still lacks a proactive response from state leadership... Why it matters: If our land is physically sinking beneath us, and our economic foundation has already crumbled once before, we can't afford to ignore converging crises. It's not just climate. It’s policy. It's planning. Or the lack thereof.
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The Main Section:
I’m currently working on two books: The Foothills Corridor and The Shrinking Center. Both explore how deindustrialization dismantled the economic base of western North Carolina—and what it will actually take to build something better.
Some claim we’ve recovered. Others say we’re on our way. But where we stand now is clear: we’re plateaued in a stalled, brittle version of progress that amounts to a “new normal.” It’s not enough.
Real recovery will require reindustrializing our economy around modern, precision-based manufacturing—something I publicly called for in The Wall Street Journal back in 2009. It will also demand cultivating a creative economy rooted in entrepreneurship, design, technology, and culture—all themes I began writing about over a decade ago and have pushed consistently ever since on this site.
The core argument is simple: we cannot revitalize by appearance alone. We need structural renewal—hard infrastructure, broadband, workforce development, and scalable industries that create real middle-class jobs. I’ve laid out these strategies for years. If I have anything to say about it, we will achieve them. But I also know this mission is bigger than me. It will take others to help carry it forward.
To underscore how accurate these claims remain today, I’ve compiled five recent national news articles—all published within the past two weeks—that directly support what’s laid out in The Foothills Corridor and The Shrinking Center. Each confirms a different part of the story: the aging population, the broadband imperative, the limits of cosmetic revitalization, the labor mismatch in high-tech manufacturing, and the shrinking middle class.
You may not be able to access these sources without a subscription—but the relevance is clear.
The Foothills Corridor is a strategic, sobering, and deeply personal chronicle of western North Carolina’s economic unraveling and future potential. Authored by James Thomas Shell, it documents the region’s collapse under globalization and civic erosion, then outlines a path toward renewal through local grit, infrastructure, and innovation. Divided into themed sections, it blends historical analysis, regional data, and tactical foresight to serve as both a reckoning and a roadmap for rural reinvention.
The Shrinking Center explores how Hickory, North Carolina reflects the broader erosion of the American middle class. Through historical analysis, economic data, and regional comparisons, James Thomas Shell dissects the collapse of industrial job centers and the uneven attempts at recovery. The manuscript connects Hickory’s trajectory to towns across the South, Midwest, and Northeast, revealing shared struggles, unique adaptations, and the broader implications for policy, workforce development, and middle-class survival in post-industrial America.
1. Youth Outmigration: The Vanishing Future
Source: Rural America Is Losing Young People. Can It Recover?
Publication: Wall Street Journal
Date: May 2, 2025
Referenced in: The Shrinking Center – Section: Youth Outmigration and Aging
The Wall Street Journal confirms what I documented: young adults are leaving small cities like Hickory in large numbers. Nationally, 40–60% of rural youth leave for education or work and don’t return. The Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton metro area has a median age of 43.4, significantly older than the U.S. average. Even within Hickory city limits, the median age is 37.7 and rising. In The Shrinking Center, I show how this demographic shift is hollowing out our civic base, school systems, and future workforce.
2. Broadband and the Digital Lifeline
Source: Broadband Expansion Fuels Economic Growth in Rural South
Publication: Forbes
Date: April 28, 2025
Referenced in: The Foothills Corridor – Chapter 12: Trails, Broadband, and Food Hubs as Infrastructure
Forbes highlights how fiber infrastructure is revitalizing parts of the rural South—something I detailed years ago. Hickory is home to major manufacturers like CommScope and Corning, which together produce a large share of the country’s fiber-optic cable. In 2021, CommScope donated $275,000 for free Wi-Fi in Union Square. Meanwhile, BEAD federal funding is driving high-speed expansion across North Carolina. In The Foothills Corridor, I connect this infrastructure to workforce opportunity, showing how digital access isn’t just convenience—it’s survival.
3. Downtown Revitalization: Surface Without Substance
Source: Small Cities Bet on Downtown Revival to Stem Decline
Publication: Bloomberg
Date: April 30, 2025
Referenced in: The Foothills Corridor – Chapter 10: City Walk, Riverwalk, and the Hickory Bet
Bloomberg suggests that walkable downtowns and beautification projects are reversing decline in small cities. I disagree—at least in how it played out here. Hickory’s $40 million bond funded City Walk, Riverwalk, and other surface-level improvements. But as I argue in Chapter 10 of The Foothills Corridor, these projects were not backed by economic anchors. I was critical of the approach when it launched and remain so now. Walkability without workforce, retail without reinvestment—it’s a tourist shell if you don’t fix the foundation.
4. Advanced Manufacturing: A Narrow Lifeline
Source: Manufacturing Rebound in the South Faces Labor Challenges
Publication: Reuters
Date: May 5, 2025
Referenced in: The Shrinking Center – Section: Diversification into Technology
Reuters reports that manufacturing is returning to the South—but finding skilled labor is tough. That echoes what I said in The Shrinking Center. Hickory didn’t just lose jobs; it lost a generation of industrial know-how. The shift from furniture to fiber optics brought more technical, higher-paying roles, but fewer of them—and most required specialized training. While CommScope and Corning gave us a foothold in the tech sector, I’ve cautioned that unless we invest deeply in training and talent pipelines, this rebound risks being too small and too late.
5. Middle-Class Squeeze: A National Mirror
Source: Middle Class Squeeze: Why Small-Town America Is Falling Behind
Publication: New York Times
Date: May 7, 2025
Referenced in: The Shrinking Center – Bonus Essay / Prompt #11
Prompt #11 in The Shrinking Center asks a simple question: What does Hickory tell us about the American middle class? The New York Times provides the national backdrop. It reports that the share of Americans in middle-income households fell from 61% in 1971 to 50% by 2015—and Hickory reflects that same fall. Over 50% of our manufacturing jobs disappeared between 2000 and 2009. Wage growth stagnated. And our civic institutions weakened. This wasn’t just economic—it was cultural. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Hickory isn’t the exception. It’s the early warning.
- Time Frame: All articles are from the past two weeks (April 25–May 9, 2025), ensuring recency.
- Validation: These sources do not always mention Hickory directly but corroborate the broader economic, demographic, and policy trends (e.g., deindustrialization, broadband expansion, downtown revitalization, youth outmigration) that the documents attribute to Hickory and its peers. This approach is necessary given the specificity of Hickory’s story and the short time frame for recent articles.
Hickory, NC News & Views | Hickory Hound | May 4, 2025 - Contains Vol.1 of Faces of the Shrinking Center
Faces of the Shrinking Center, Vol. 2 - The Quiet Collapse of America’s Middle Class
Faces of the Shrinking Center, Vol. 3 - The Quiet Collapse of America’s Middle Class
I will continue with the Shrinking Center Archetypes in the next article.
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