Hickory, NC News & Views | Hickory Hound | May 25, 2025

 

 

Hickory vs. Charlotte Contrasting Views on the Catawba River’s Challenges

The Catawba River, a vital lifeline for North Carolina’s Piedmont region, sustains both the bustling metropolis of Charlotte and the growing community of Hickory in Catawba County. Yet, these two cities view the river’s challenges—growth-driven water demand, water quality, infrastructure needs, and regional equity—through distinct lenses shaped by their unique realities. Charlotte, with its 2025 population of 935,017 and rapid urban expansion, grapples with escalating water consumption and infrastructure strain. Hickory, a smaller  hub community, faces similar pressures but with heightened concerns about downstream impacts and equitable access. By comparing and contrasting these perspectives, as detailed in “Charlotte’s Water Challenge - Balancing Growth with Sustainability” and “Hickory’s Water Woes: Balancing Growth, Drought, and Equity on the Catawba River,” we uncover the shared and divergent priorities of these communities and the urgent need for regional cooperation to secure the Catawba River’s future.

Population Growth and Water Demand: Scale vs. Sustainability

Charlotte’s booming population, projected at 935,017 in 2025 with a 1.28% annual growth rate, drives a massive water demand that strains the Catawba River; Charlotte withdraws 120 million gallons daily (MGD) of water for treatment (possibly up to 160mgd per sources). The city’s growth, fueled by economic opportunities in hospitality and construction, amplifies both domestic and commercial water use. A single-family home in Mecklenburg County can consume up to 200 gallons daily, and commercial sectors like hotels and construction sites add millions more gallons to the tally. This scale of demand, aligned with national per capita trends of 80-100 gallons daily, poses a sustainability challenge, with the Catawba-Wateree Water Management Group (CWWMG) projecting a 20% demand increase by 2050 if trends persist.

Hickory, by contrast, faces a more modest but still significant growth trajectory. Catawba County’s population has grown by 1.2% annually, with Hickory’s urban core driving economic expansion through projects like Apple’s data center in Maiden. The city’s water demand, averaging 12 MGD, is a fraction of Charlotte’s but critical for its residential, commercial, and industrial needs. Hickory’s concerns center on sustainability rather than sheer scale. Local planners worry that water shortages could limit new housing and business permits, stalling economic progress. As one X user noted, “We can’t keep building without ensuring our water supply,” reflecting a community anxious about growth outpacing the river’s capacity.

The contrast is clear: Charlotte’s view is dominated by managing an overwhelming demand driven by its size, while Hickory’s focus is on ensuring growth doesn’t compromise its more limited resources. Both cities rely on the Catawba River, but Hickory’s upstream position makes it particularly vulnerable to Charlotte’s downstream withdrawals, amplifying concerns about equitable access.

Water Quality: Public Perception and Local Impacts

Water quality, particularly algae blooms and sediment pollution, is a shared concern, but the cities’ perspectives differ due to their positions in the river basin and community priorities. In Charlotte, public sentiment on X highlights frustration with algae blooms in the Catawba River, with posts about “green water” or “funny-tasting tap water” signaling distrust in water safety. These blooms, fueled by nutrient runoff and warm temperatures, prompt Charlotte Water to deploy advanced treatments like activated carbon filtration. However, public discourse often focuses on immediate symptoms—taste and odor—rather than systemic issues like infrastructure upgrades. This gap suggests a need for better public education to connect quality concerns to long-term solutions.

Hickory, upstream from Charlotte, faces compounded water quality challenges. Sediment pollution from rapid development, including housing and industrial projects, clouds the Catawba River and Lake Hickory, the city’s primary water source. The Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation reports that sediment runoff, exacerbated by construction, increases turbidity and treatment costs, directly impacting Hickory’s residents through potential utility rate hikes. Additionally, the foundation’s 2024 State of the River report notes 460 permitted wastewater discharges across the basin, with upstream pollutants flowing into Hickory’s water supply. Local X posts echo these concerns, with residents decrying muddy creeks and worrying about long-term impacts on drinking water and ecosystems.

While both cities grapple with water quality, Charlotte’s focus is on managing public perception and treatment costs for a large urban population, whereas Hickory’s view is shaped by the tangible downstream effects of upstream pollution and development. Hickory’s residents feel the brunt of regional activities, fostering a sense of urgency to address pollution sources beyond their control.

Infrastructure and Innovation: Investment vs. Constraint

Both cities rely on innovative infrastructure to manage water challenges, but their approaches reflect their differing resources and priorities. Charlotte Water has implemented standout programs like biosolids management, using kenaf to transform wastewater byproducts into fertilizer, and advanced algae control to ensure safe drinking water. These initiatives address the pressures of a growing population but face significant hurdles, including a $2 billion funding gap for regional water projects through 2050 and aging pipes leaking millions of gallons annually. Charlotte’s scale allows for ambitious programs, but the pace of upgrades lags behind its rapid growth.

Hickory, with fewer financial resources, focuses on practical, incremental solutions. The city has leveraged a recent NCDEQ grant for leak detection programs and collaborates with the CWWMG and USGS for enhanced streamflow monitoring to manage drought risks. The Low Inflow Protocol (LIP), activated during the 2023 drought, reduced Hickory’s water use by 10%, showcasing effective regional coordination with Duke Energy and other utilities. However, Hickory’s infrastructure challenges mirror Charlotte’s on a smaller scale, with aging systems and budget constraints limiting progress. The city’s proactive measures, like advocating for erosion control on construction sites, aim to mitigate sediment pollution but struggle against inconsistent enforcement.

Charlotte’s infrastructure view is one of large-scale innovation tempered by funding gaps, while Hickory’s is defined by resource constraints and a reliance on regional data and cooperation. Both cities face the challenge of modernizing aging systems, but Hickory’s smaller tax base heightens the urgency of cost-effective solutions.

Regional Equity: Cooperation vs. Competition

The most striking contrast lies in the cities’ views on regional water management, particularly regarding Charlotte’s proposed interbasin transfer of 30 MGD to the Yadkin-Pee Dee Basin. Charlotte sees the transfer as essential to support its population and industrial growth, arguing that its economic contributions benefit the region. However, this proposal has sparked fierce opposition in Hickory, where residents and officials, backed by the Catawba Riverkeeper, view it as a threat to upstream water security. Removing 30 MGD—equivalent to a quarter of the basin’s flow during droughts—could lower Lake Hickory’s levels, impacting drinking water, recreation, and hydropower. A Hickory resident’s X post captured the sentiment: “Why should Hickory sacrifice water so Charlotte can grow?”

This tension underscores a broader divide: Charlotte’s urban-centric perspective prioritizes its own growth, while Hickory’s upstream view emphasizes equity and regional fairness. The CWWMG offers a framework for cooperation, but Hickory’s opposition to the transfer highlights a lack of trust in equitable resource allocation. Hickory advocates for alternatives, like Charlotte investing in water recycling, to reduce basin-wide strain, reflecting a community fighting to protect its share of a shared resource.

A Shared Path Forward

Despite their differences, Charlotte and Hickory share a dependence on the Catawba River and face similar pressures from growth, water quality, and infrastructure needs. Charlotte’s challenges—massive demand, public distrust, and funding gaps—require large-scale solutions and public engagement. Hickory’s realities—vulnerability to upstream pollution, limited resources, and concerns over regional water equity—demand proactive advocacy and collaboration. Both cities can learn from each other: Charlotte’s innovative programs, like biosolids management, could inspire Hickory, while Hickory’s focus on conservation and monitoring offers lessons for sustainable growth.

For Hickory Hound readers, the Catawba River’s future hinges on unity. Residents can support conservation, advocate for stricter pollution controls, and push for fair water policies through platforms like the NCDEQ’s public hearings. Charlotte’s residents, meanwhile, must recognize their upstream impact and support regional solutions like the CWWMG. As one X user in Hickory aptly stated, “The Catawba River is our future—let’s protect it.” By bridging their perspectives, Charlotte and Hickory can ensure the river remains a lifeline for all.

•  “Charlotte’s Water Challenge - Balancing Growth with Sustainability” (worldpopulationreview.com, USGS 2015 report, cltwaterblog.org, nchstats.com, X posts, Catawba-Wateree Water Management Group)
• “Hickory’s Water Woes: Balancing Growth, Drought, and Equity on the Catawba River” (NC Office of State Budget and Management, NCDEQ Catawba River Basin Plan, Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation 2024 report, WCNC, X posts)

 

 

https://thehoundssignal.substack.com/

 

 

The Index of Hickory Hound Stories from 2025 onward

Faces of the Shrinking Center, Vol. 8 - The Quiet Collapse of America’s Middle Class

Faces of the Shrinking Center, Vol. 7 - The Quiet Collapse of America’s Middle Class

Faces of the Shrinking Center, Vol. 6 - The Quiet Collapse of America’s Middle Class

Faces of the Shrinking Center, Vol. 5 -  The Quiet Collapse of America’s Middle Class - Fri May 16, 2025

Faces of the Shrinking Center, Vol. 4 - The Quiet Collapse of America’s Middle Class - Wed May 14, 2025

Faces of the Shrinking Center, Vol. 3 - The Quiet Collapse of America’s Middle Class - Thu, May 8, 2025 

Faces of the Shrinking Center, Vol. 2 - The Quiet Collapse of America’s Middle Class - Tue, May 6, 2025 

Hickory, NC News & Views | Hickory Hound | May 4, 2025 - Includes Vol. 1 of this series

🎭 Faces of the Shrinking Center, Vol. 8 - The Quiet Collapse of America’s Middle Class

 

Theme: Fallout, Fracture, and the Edges of Survival

Not everyone makes it. Some fall through. Some get pushed. Others find ways to survive on margins the system refuses to acknowledge. Volume 8 closes the series by confronting the aftermath—the raw edge of American decline.

These final archetypes don’t fit the redemption story. They’re not rebuilding. They’re still in it. What they reveal is not hopelessness, but consequence: of policy, abandonment, and public silence.

This volume is about reckoning—not with who we failed to become, but with who we refused to see.

---

🧱 Archetype #22: The Witness

 

 

“He remembers what they’d rather forget.”

He’s worked the hardest jobs. Paid the highest prices. And watched as the stories of his labor—and his community—were erased from the mainstream narrative.

The Witness is the Black working-class moral anchor who saw the same decline others did, but without the cushion. He knows collapse. He lived it under different names, in different eras.

He stays because leaving would mean surrendering history. His presence demands recognition—not just of injustice, but of endurance.

---

💊 Archetype #23: The Addicted

 

 

“It started with pain. It ended with a label.”

He didn’t set out to ruin his life. He set out to treat something: a back injury, anxiety, a void. What followed was prescription, addiction, and exile.

The Junkie is not a caricature. He is a reflection of regional despair—the human cost of economic collapse, medical predation, and cultural denial. His name is never said aloud, but everyone knows someone like him.

This archetype asks us to look at the wreckage we criminalized instead of healed.

---

🏚️ Archetype #24: The Evicted / Displaced Tenant

 

 

“She did everything right—and still got pushed out.”

She worked. Paid rent. Played by the rules. But the rules changed. A rent hike. A building sale. A no-fault eviction notice. And suddenly, she was out.

The Evicted Tenant represents the brittle housing ecosystem of post-industrial towns: where wages stagnate, landlords consolidate, and stability disappears. Her story isn’t about poor choices—it’s about a rigged system.

This archetype closes the series with a hard truth: the American dream now has an entry fee—and she couldn’t afford it.

---

📌 Final Note for This Drop—and the Series

The Witness. The Addicted. The Displaced Tenant.

They are not metaphors. They are the consequence.
The ones who held the line. The ones who got lost. The ones who never made the cut.

This is Volume 8—and the final chapter of Faces of the Shrinking Center.
We end where truth lives: on the edge of survival.

 

The Index of Hickory Hound Stories from 2025 onward

Faces of the Shrinking Center, Vol. 7 - The Quiet Collapse of America’s Middle Class

Faces of the Shrinking Center, Vol. 6 - The Quiet Collapse of America’s Middle Class

Faces of the Shrinking Center, Vol. 5 -  The Quiet Collapse of America’s Middle Class - Fri May 16, 2025

Faces of the Shrinking Center, Vol. 4 - The Quiet Collapse of America’s Middle Class - Wed May 14, 2025

Faces of the Shrinking Center, Vol. 3 - The Quiet Collapse of America’s Middle Class - Thu, May 8, 2025 

Faces of the Shrinking Center, Vol. 2 - The Quiet Collapse of America’s Middle Class - Tue, May 6, 2025 

Hickory, NC News & Views | Hickory Hound | May 4, 2025 - Includes Vol. 1 of this series

🎭 Faces of the Shrinking Center, Vol. 7 - The Quiet Collapse of America’s Middle Class

Theme: Legacy, Loss, and the Systems We Inherit

Collapse doesn’t just fall on the living. It haunts the landscape through legacy—through what was built, what was broken, and what remains embedded in the bones of a place. Volume 7 is about inherited consequence. These archetypes didn’t just live through change—they embody it.

This trio captures a regional trajectory in three acts: the pride of what once was, the managerial class who facilitated decline under a different name, and the forgotten lives reshaped by disability and chronic illness—left to navigate a system that forgot them in its push for efficiency.

Together, they don’t just show what happened. They explain how.

---

🔨 Archetype #19: The Builders

 

 

“They raised the town with callused hands—and watched it be sold off with clean ones.”

They weren’t CEOs. They were foremen, craftspeople, small-time entrepreneurs, and proud laborers who laid the physical and cultural foundations of their towns. Roads, churches, schools, factories—they built it all.

But the Builders didn’t just shape infrastructure. They shaped identity. Theirs was an era when work meant community stature, and local legacy had currency.

Now, their names are on plaques while their descendants are priced out of the neighborhoods they once constructed. This archetype is about origin—and how easily origin stories get rewritten when power changes hands.

---

👔 Archetype #20: The Outsourced Executive

 

 

“He stayed behind—but the jobs didn’t.”

He never left the region. But his decisions did. The Outsourced Executive was the loyal insider—the one who signed the memo, approved the cuts, hosted the farewell party, and stayed on while the factory shut down.

He tells himself it was strategy, not sabotage. That market trends, not morality, made the calls. But behind his local investments and civic awards lies a deep complicity: he was part of the chain that severed his community’s future.

This archetype is a reminder that decline isn’t always imposed from outside. Sometimes it’s executed from the inside—with a handshake and a bonus.

---

♿ Archetype #21: The Chronically Ill / Disabled

 

 

“The system broke—and then told her to wait in line.”

She didn’t get a diagnosis. She got disqualified. In a country obsessed with productivity, her worth is measured by what she can no longer do. She navigates paperwork instead of treatment, skepticism instead of support.

This archetype represents the quiet majority that our institutions pretend aren’t there. She’s not just a patient. She’s a survivor of bureaucratic indifference, economic abandonment, and social erasure.

She’s not invisible because she’s ill. She’s invisible because we made her that way.

---

📌 Final Note for This Drop

The Builders. The Outsourced Executive. The Chronically Ill.
One gave us roots. One gave us away. One reminds us what we ignore.

This is Volume 7 of The Shrinking Center—and it’s not about nostalgia.
It’s about unfinished business.

🎭 Faces of the Shrinking Center, Vol. 6 - The Quiet Collapse of America’s Middle Class

Theme: Resilience, Rebuilding, and Regional Stakes

Not all resilience is visible—and not all rebuilding is welcome. Volume 6 explores the fault lines between recovery and control, between reinvention and consolidation. It features three archetypes locked in a regional tug-of-war over identity, power, and future ownership.

One is a quiet innovator—a Gen-X bridge between analog grit and digital grind. One is a returner, trying to breathe life back into the place that raised them. And one is already in control—an oligarch who profited from the vacuum others couldn’t fill.

This is a volume about stakes: who stays, who comes back, and who builds the future in their own image.

---

🧠 Archetype #16: The Creative Gen-Xer

 

 

“Too young to quit. Too old to pretend.”

They came up through mixtapes and modem speeds. Now they work in Canva, Zoom, and burnout. The Creative Gen-Xer doesn’t fit any box. They’re not hip enough to trend, but not old enough to retire.

They adapt by necessity, create out of habit, and endure without applause. They’re the ones still showing up—with skills no one wants to pay for, and insight everyone seems to ignore.

This archetype captures the tension of a generation stretched thin: sandwiched between fading industries and digital disruption, still trying to matter in a world they helped build.

---

🏡 Archetype #17: The Young Returner

 

 

“He left to find a future—and came back to build one.”

He didn’t return because he failed. He returned because he saw something worth saving. The Young Returner could’ve stayed gone—but chose to bring energy home. He plants roots where others uproot.

But coming back isn’t easy. The jobs aren’t always there. The networks are old. The skepticism is real.

This archetype represents a new form of rural hope: not nostalgia, but intentional revival. His presence asks a bold question—what if home isn’t what you escaped, but what you create?

---

🏦 Archetype #18: The Local Oligarch

 

 

“He didn’t save the town. He acquired it.”

While others grieved, he brokered. While others left, he bought. The Local Oligarch isn’t flashy—he’s strategic. He owns the buildings, funds the events, shapes the narrative.

He tells himself he’s preserving heritage. Others see a monopoly on memory.

This archetype isn’t about cartoon villains. It’s about soft power in plain sight—the quiet consolidation that defines who gets a voice, who gets a lease, and who gets left out.

---

📌 Final Note for This Drop

The Creative Gen-Xer. The Young Returner. The Local Oligarch.
Three faces of recovery. One builds. One returns. One controls.

This is Volume 6 of The Shrinking Center.
And the future they shape isn’t neutral—it’s negotiated.

 

The Index of Hickory Hound Stories from 2025 onward

Faces of the Shrinking Center, Vol. 7 - The Quiet Collapse of America’s Middle Class

Faces of the Shrinking Center, Vol. 5 -  The Quiet Collapse of America’s Middle Class - Fri May 16, 2025

Faces of the Shrinking Center, Vol. 4 - The Quiet Collapse of America’s Middle Class - Wed May 14, 2025

Faces of the Shrinking Center, Vol. 3 - The Quiet Collapse of America’s Middle Class - Thu, May 8, 2025 

Faces of the Shrinking Center, Vol. 2 - The Quiet Collapse of America’s Middle Class - Tue, May 6, 2025 

Hickory, NC News & Views | Hickory Hound | May 4, 2025 - Includes Vol. 1 of this series

Hickory, NC News & Views | Hickory Hound | May 17, 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?

These houses aren’t rising from a surge in local wages or an influx of new residents in the present tense. They aren’t being built because our younger residents are returning home in droves. I haven’t seen any specific long-term plans that would lead to dynamic population growth.

What we’re seeing feels like pure speculation.

The lots are tight. The homes are nearly identical. The build times are rapid. With the issues we’ve seen over the past 25 years, I’m wondering if our current infrastructure can even sustain what’s being built—water and sewer lines, the electrical grid, road access. All of it.

You don’t have to be an engineer to see it. These builds aren’t rooted in community. They’re drawn from playbooks written elsewhere. Smaller yards. Faster flips. Units, not neighborhoods. Modern-day tract houses.

There seems to be an assumption that people are coming. From where? For what? We’ve been growing at less than 1% per year since 2000.

If there’s a reason for this, then I’m all for it. I’m just asking. And I’ve heard murmurs from others—so it isn’t just me.

Why are so many of these homes clustered so tightly—when this region was never known for density? Why do so few seem integrated with transit, parks, schools, or the broader economic direction of the community?

I see these things going up so fast. Are they quality builds? How long will these homes last before repair costs exceed the mortgage—especially with what people are paying these days?

We’ve seen what happens when development chases short-term gains. The structures go up fast, but the costs come due later—in road repairs, failing utilities, and stagnant neighborhoods that never became what they were promised to be.

I’m all in favor of growth. I’m just asking questions.

Is the construction money and sales benefiting our local construction and real estate industry? Is this a Hickory-centric development engine?

These new subdivisions seem prefabricated—rushed. Slap ‘em up and sell ‘em. Or maybe rent them? I’m thinking ten years from now. Will these areas be fully integrated into the community?

Like I said, I’m in favor of growth. I’m just curious about what’s really going on. We’ve been told growth needs a plan—but maybe that only applies to certain parts of the city.

The dirt is moving. The places are rising fast.

The question remains:
What are we building—and why?

 

 

Ground Level Report – May 17, 2025 - (Link to Deep Dive)

Quiet Stories. Real Impact. Underreported Truth.

This month’s Ground Level Report highlights several significant developments in Hickory and surrounding areas that have slipped past the mainstream media but reveal critical cracks in infrastructure, accountability, and community trust.

1. Pedestrian Bridge Arch Collapse – Accountability Without Answers

The City of Hickory received a $1.325 million settlement in October 2023 following the collapse of the wooden arches over the City Walk pedestrian bridge on Highway 127. Originally installed in 2021 as part of a $14.7 million project, the arches collapsed in early 2022 under relatively mild wind conditions. The settlement resolved legal claims but left deeper questions unanswered. No independent investigation was conducted, and no public safeguards have been clearly outlined to prevent similar failures. The incident highlights the need for stronger infrastructure oversight and public accountability.

2. Catawba County Humane Society – Trust Erodes Amid Investigation

In April 2025, the Humane Society placed its executive director on leave following allegations of animal abuse and toxic management. Though briefly covered by local news, the story has seen no follow-up. As a cornerstone nonprofit in the community, its silence is breeding mistrust. In an era when transparency is essential, the lack of clear communication and resolution is damaging public faith.

3. Whataburger Comes to Hickory – Growth or Creep?

The announcement that Texas-based Whataburger will open a 24/7 location in Hickory is framed as economic growth—but the story is more complex. While national press has covered the chain’s broader North Carolina expansion, little attention has been paid to how it will affect Hickory’s local businesses, traffic flow, and commercial zoning. The company’s sponsorship of a Hurricane Helene benefit concert shows effort to integrate—but long-term community impact remains uncertain.

4. FEMA Trailer Delays – A Quiet Crisis

After Hurricane Helene, Hickory served as a regional staging point for FEMA resources. By November 2024, whistleblowers reported that aid trailers were sitting unused—while displaced residents faced winter in tents. Six months later, no detailed timeline has been released, and the issue remains largely invisible in public discourse. The delay reveals deeper flaws in federal-local coordination and highlights gaps in disaster response logistics.

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Bigger Picture: What It All Tells Us

• Hickory faces a crisis of oversight—in infrastructure, disaster relief, and nonprofit governance.
• National brand expansions test the region’s local identity and economic self-determination.
• Media silence and public indifference allow these trends to fester without accountability.

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Why You Haven’t Heard About This

These issues lack flash but carry weight. They don’t make headlines because they demand follow-through—not just attention. Most newsrooms aren’t equipped to track them, and many readers scroll past until it’s too late.

---

 

 

Early Signal Report – May 16, 2025 - (Link to Deep Dive)

Emerging Trends in the Foothills Corridor

Beneath the surface of headlines and institutional noise, early signals are forming that suggest deeper shifts across the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton-Marion MSA. These aren't front-page stories yet, but they point to changing dynamics in commerce, labor, culture, and resilience.

1. Micro-Retail Models Are Gaining Ground

Downtowns in Hickory and Morganton are seeing an increase in short-term vendor spaces, pop-up shops, and collaborative storefronts. These low-overhead ventures allow entrepreneurs to test concepts without long leases and are activating underused retail footprints. It signals a pivot away from traditional retail permanence toward a more flexible, adaptive economy.

2. Apprenticeship Programs Expand Quietly

Major employers are introducing or expanding apprenticeships in healthcare and manufacturing. These programs are a direct response to automation risk and workforce shortages. They provide structured, skill-based pathways for both young workers and adults seeking career changes. This may be the foundation of a modern regional workforce model.

3. Home Gardening Networks Are Strengthening

Seed exchanges, backyard gardening, and informal produce trading are growing in popularity. While not centralized, the activity—visible on social media and neighborhood circles—suggests a desire for food security, self-reliance, and shared knowledge after recent supply chain disruptions and climate events.

4. Grassroots Wellness Businesses Are Appearing

Outdoor yoga classes, herbal remedy vendors, and non-traditional health offerings are spreading across the region. These efforts are often part-time or informal, but reflect shifting values toward preventive, locally-based health solutions—particularly among younger demographics.

5. Volunteer Environmental Cleanup Is Quietly Increasing

In Burke and McDowell Counties, residents are organizing small-scale cleanups along trails and rivers affected by storm damage and neglect. These efforts aren’t tied to large nonprofits or public grants. They're organic responses to real conditions—and a signal of rising environmental stewardship.

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The Hound’s Signal: Built on the Backbone of the Hound

Late last week, I created and implemented The Hound’s Signal Substack page.

I can’t change the perception of what The Hickory Hound is. You can’t take the Hickory out of the Hickory Hound—and I wouldn’t want to. That name carries a certain meaning to the people who have visited here over the past 17 years. The Hound was born out of frustration—but it endures because it’s rooted in truth.

But The Hound’s Signal is a new dimension to the overall mission. It carries the same message and mindset—but it steps outside the local footprint to speak to a broader audience. It’s about how everything we’ve faced here—economic decline, institutional failure, cultural erosion—connects to what’s happening across the state, the region, and the country.

We’re scaling the mindset, not changing the mission.

The issue I’ve faced in growing this platform relates to people’s comfort zones. Older folks are used to the old forms of media—physical newspapers they can hold, televisions with remotes, radios with dials. They don’t want to give that up.

The generations behind me? They’re hooked on their phones. For many, the phone is their computer. But that device limits how deeply they can engage—especially with iPhone’s app-specific constraints. Depth gets sacrificed for convenience.

What am I saying?
The public has a limited attention span. They want it simple. Quick. Entertaining. If it doesn’t land in a soundbite, they swipe past. That’s the noise.

I need to get those people’s attention sometimes—but they’re not the difference-makers. We’re after the ones who care. The ones who are engaged in the world around them. The ones whose pineal gland still works. They see the big picture. They’re not locked into Normieville.

They are the builders. The connectors. The can-doers.
And that’s who The Hound’s Signal is for.

The Hickory Hound is my journal—of the land where I was born and raised.
The Hound’s Signal is where we break free. It’s about growth.

Same voice. Same foundation. Wider field.
If you’ve followed The Hound, you’ll feel The Signal.

That’s all for this week. We’ll see you soon.

If you’ve got feedback, questions, or want to engage with the work directly:
📬 hickoryhoundfeedback@gmail.com

Let’s keep pushing the signal forward.

— James Thomas Shell
Publisher, The Hickory Hound / The Hound’s Signal

 

The Index of Hickory Hound Stories from 2025 onward

Faces of the Shrinking Center, Vol. 5 -  The Quiet Collapse of America’s Middle Class - Fri May 16, 2025

Faces of the Shrinking Center, Vol. 4 - The Quiet Collapse of America’s Middle Class - Wed May 14, 2025

Faces of the Shrinking Center, Vol. 3 - The Quiet Collapse of America’s Middle Class - Thu, May 8, 2025 

Faces of the Shrinking Center, Vol. 2 - The Quiet Collapse of America’s Middle Class - Tue, May 6, 2025 

Hickory, NC News & Views | Hickory Hound | May 4, 2025 - Includes Vol. 1 of this series

 

Faces of the Shrinking Center is a portrait series documenting the unraveling of the American middle class—by tracing who gets left behind and who walks away clean.