The Measure of America and bad news for Bristol, VA/TN
Abingdon, Virginia, is the wealthiest community in the region. Touted as a tourism and retirement mecca, Abingdon has received tens of millions of tax dollars to bail out and subsidize entertainment and recreation for wealthy people. At nearby Emory & Henry College outside Abingdon, we note the following from the Bristol Herald Courier June 22, 2003:
...two groups of children were left out of the boom times of the 1990s. The robust economy did little to help children in the inner cities and in rural communities like those of far Southwest Virginia...A local political science professor believes he knows the reason for the discrepancy. "It all comes back to jobs," said Steve Fisher, director of the Appalachian Center for Community Services at Emory & Henry College. "With the decline of the coal industry, a lot of the good-paying jobs have disappeared."
A string of factory closings has affected the economy in counties along the Interstate 81 corridor, particularly Smyth County, Fisher said. And, many of the jobs that have replaced the ones in the coal mines and factories generally have been lower-paying and less likely to include benefits, he said. "Even two minimum-wage jobs together won't take a family above the poverty line," Fisher said.
As tens of millions of tax dollars have been diverted to pork-barrel waste, nothing has changed in 2008. In a new report, The Measure of America, from Columbia University research, ranks every congressional district in the nation based on the health, educational levels and economic condition of its residents. The news was bad for this region and it's easy to understand why.
Tennessee's 1st Congressional District (a safe Republican district) ranks 421st out of 436 districts. Virginia's 9th District (a safe Democratic district) does little better with a ranking of 400, mainly because of more government spending. (Virginia is a wealthier state than Tennessee.)
To quote the press (BHC July 20, 2008): "Some of the districts that fared worse included the Bronx in New York, the greater Houston area, and, not surprisingly, the coal counties in Southern West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky. In general, under performing districts had a strike or two against them. Many are rural, all are poor, and in a number of cases, they are districts where the majority of residents are racial minorities." But that isn't true in West Virginia, Kentucky, or the VA 9th or TN 1st, which are 90% plus white. So what is the problem? "In general, residents in the low-ranked districts make less money, are less educated, are sicker and die earlier than their well-off peers. The particulars for this region include:"
- "A life expectancy of 74.9 years for Tennessee's 1st District and 75.1 years for Virginia's 9th District. The national average is around 78 years." Note the region's workers have worked a lot of toxic manufacturing jobs in years past, plus coal mining, plus many are heavy smokers and/or are obese.
- "Twenty-two percent of 1st District adults don't have a high school diploma. In the 9th district, more than 25 percent of adults lack a diploma." The press discounts out migration of younger people fleeing poverty, including tens of thousands of college graduates. That drives up the "uneducated" numbers, many of them older.
- "In both districts, just 17 percent of adults have a bachelor's degree. A mere six percent of 1st District residents have a graduate degree; in the 9th, its 6.9 percent." We have colleges, etc. but it won't help unless we increase wages or provide better jobs outside poverty wage tourism and retirement industries. Most college graduates here work in government, that pays far above the private sector. In other words, it isn't we are stupid, there's just no reason to stay here and starve or flip burgers.
- "In Tennessee's 1st District, slightly less than 77 percent of children under age 18 are enrolled in school. The 9th District does better, with 86.9 percent enrolled." That should be investigated, in particular the use of multiple and questionable diplomas. But it makes no difference in income and Southwest Virginia is even lower than East Tennessee.
- "Median earnings are about the same in both districts - $21,639 in East Tennessee and $20,808 in Southwest Virginia. A family of four with an income of $21,200 or less meets federal poverty guidelines." These government figures are not realistic. See Family Income in Bristol.
Yet...
Southwest Virginia is dying while "the rest of the Tri-Cities is busting at the seems with new transplants from Florida and New England, small towns near us, and across the state line, are on the verge of collapse." From 1990 to 2006, Johnson City grew by more than 17 percent and so did Kingsport. During the same time period, towns such as Grundy, Virginia lost more than 24 percent of it's population. (BHC July 16, 2008)
Town (and county) leaders want to "tap into the tourism industry, and provide visitors passing through to check out The Crooked Road-Virginia's Music Heritage Trail, Breaks Interstate Park, and a multi-state bike route, a destination to return to on several visits, or a place to maybe make home." East Tennessee already does that, and the poverty is as bad or worse there. Note that with this retirement community growth from "Florida and New England," poverty for long term residents has changed little, in many cases has gotten worse as the above figures show.
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