Check out the Communities of the Catawba River from last week:
Communities of the Catawba River: Where the River Begins - May 27, 2025
Communities of the Catawba River: Where Industry Rose and Power Shifted - May 29, 2025
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Across the Foothills Corridor, a region once known for its industrial ingenuity and cultural cohesion, a quieter story is unfolding. There are no headlines, no emergency declarations, and few camera crews. But if you listen closely, a deep structural shift is taking place—one that speaks volumes about what happens when the national spotlight turns away.
Once the backbone of American manufacturing, towns from Lenoir to Valdese anchored a postwar economy with furniture, textiles, and hard-earned stability. Today, many of those same towns are navigating an uneasy transition. The mills are gone. The jobs that replaced them rarely offer benefits, let alone generational security. And the connective tissue of civic life—from local journalism to youth sports leagues—is thinning with each passing year.
This is not a story of collapse. It is a story of what lingers after momentum leaves.
Many communities in the Corridor still bear the physical marks of a more prosperous era: wide brick main streets, high school auditoriums, downtown facades built to last. But the economic engine that powered them has been redirected—first offshore, then toward metropolitan hubs. Charlotte and Raleigh boom. The Corridor adapts.
But adaptation is not the same as progress.
Infrastructure tells part of the story. In places like Granite Falls and Morganton, sewer systems date back to the 1950s. Broadband remains inconsistent in outlying areas. While major cities invest in smart grids and multimodal transport, foothills towns are often left to patch what they have.
Population trends reveal another dimension. While some counties have stabilized or seen mild growth, much of it is retirement-driven. Young adults, especially those with degrees or ambition for high-wage sectors, often relocate. The communities left behind maintain a sense of identity—but must do so with fewer hands and aging volunteers.
Public governance reflects the strain. With declining revenues, towns face hard choices: maintain aging infrastructure or invest in future-facing projects? Fund parks or broadband? There are no easy answers, and in many places, no coordinated plans. Counties often work in isolation, despite shared challenges.
Yet beneath the quiet, something persistent endures. It can be seen in local farmers markets, in volunteer fire departments, in the slow but steady work of community colleges offering upskilling to those transitioning from fading industries. There is resilience here—not romanticized, not performative, just steady.
And there is opportunity.
Healthcare has emerged as a key sector. So have niche manufacturing and heritage tourism. In Valdese, a renewed focus on Waldensian history has sparked modest economic renewal. In Hickory, downtown revitalization is being attempted through streetscaping and business incubation. These efforts are real, but they exist within a context that remains structurally imbalanced.
Too often, regional strategy is reactive rather than proactive. Grants are pursued without alignment. Economic development is defined by outside recruitment rather than local incubation. And coordination between towns—despite common interests—remains limited.
This leaves a corridor of communities working hard but often working alone.
What they need is not charity. Not saviors. What they need is recognition: of their worth, of their strategic position between the Piedmont and Appalachia, of their potential as more than logistics hubs or discount retirement zones. What they need are partnerships that value place-based knowledge and localized stewardship.
The story of the Foothills Corridor is not over. But it is at risk of being written by people who have never lived here, or worse, forgotten altogether. As state and federal policy shift toward regional investment, now is the time to ensure these towns are not afterthoughts.
They do not ask for pity. They ask to be seen clearly—and dealt with honestly.
As the state looks to the next phase of economic development, the quiet durability of the Foothills Corridor deserves a seat at the table. Because in a world chasing speed and scale, there is strategic value in communities that still know how to hold the center.
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Hickory, NC News & Views | Hickory Hound | May 18, 2025
The Dirt Is Moving—But What Are We Really Building?
Across Hickory, rooftops are multiplying. The dirt is turning faster than it has in decades, and everywhere you look—on the outskirts, in tight city parcels, and even on old forgotten lots—new homes are appearing.
For a town with a history steeped in industrial factories, this level of residential development might look like a long-awaited rebound. But anyone paying attention can’t help but ask: What exactly is driving all this construction? And who is it really for?
WBTV: Are new homes in the Carolinas built to fail? WBTV to share what we’ve learned May 29, 2025
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Data Server farms in North Carolina - (Google Doc embedded in title) - I think that if Data Centers are going to have a significant impact on the Economics of our local communities, then it is high time that people start learning what they represent.
Google Document for this article. - June 1, 2025
*** I have created Google Documents for this material and Links are attached.
The Index of Hickory Hound Stories from 2025 onward
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