By Lewis Loflin
“It’s a little-known fact that roughly 20 percent of the children in Southwest Virginia live below the poverty line and go hungry every night.” —Kevin Crutchfield, President, Alpha Natural Resources, January 15, 2009
For years, I’ve exposed dysfunctional government and deep poverty around here—Bristol, VA-TN and Southwest Virginia. After 30+ years living in this mess, I’ll balance that with what’s good about it. No punches pulled, no political correctness. Here’s the upside I’ll dig into, alongside the rot that won’t quit.
Despite the gloom, there’s stuff that works—reasons retirees might eye this place:
Cheap and quiet beats flashy and broke—cause leads to effect.
I started this site in 1997 to call out the Tri-Cities’ job and labor dumpster fire. Hundreds of millions from the Appalachian Regional Commission, LENOWISCO, VCEDA, and the Tobacco Commission—wasted. Per capita income in Bristol, VA? $21,589 in 2018. Minimum wage in 1970 was $1.60—$10.46 adjusted to 2018. That’s $21,756 yearly at 40 hours, barely scraping by. Third-world vibes, minus jobs—some call us America’s China.
Dr. Steb Hipple’s data (ETSU, retired) shows a labor force drop of 54,795 from 2009 to 2019—staggering, even for me. Poverty, disability, retirees fleeing work—it’s a mess, and the numbers are hidden or ignored.
Ballad Health’s downgrading trauma centers in Bristol and Kingsport—leaving Johnson City as the only Level 1—because low-wage jobs and government dependence bleed them dry. $74.5 million in losses hit East Tennessee hospitals; Southwest Virginia’s not far behind—Lee County’s already shut. I grilled hospital CEOs in 2009 amid Obamacare fights—same problems, worse now. Opioid central doesn’t help: Norton, VA (Wise County) tops rural pill counts at 306 per person yearly (Washington Post, 2019).
Town Halls and Other Controversies, 2009 - Same crap, decade later.
Trulia nailed it in 2009—zero income growth here from 2010–2020 under Obama and Trump. Pinnacle Development? Hailed as a boom, it just gutted Bristol, VA Mall—Best Buy’s relocation isn’t “new jobs,” it’s a shuffle. Retail doesn’t create wealth, it moves it. Eastman Chemical’s cut from 11,000 to under 7,000 since ’98—labor cost slashing’s the game, and Ballad’s bailing out bankrupt hospitals because of it.
Rural whites and urban blacks—same boat, different docks. The ruling class wants a servant class, and illegal aliens fit the bill. Poverty’s by design—low wages are a “right” here. Census data: Bristol, VA (21.3% poor), Montgomery County (23%), even Blacksburg (43.7% with Virginia Tech’s billions)—wealth stays locked up, service jobs don’t pay, and hospitals drown in uninsured or Medicaid losses, pushing pills as a cheap fix.
| Area | % White | Poverty Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Bristol, VA | 88% | 21.3% |
| Sullivan County, TN | 95% | 15.7% |
| Washington County, VA | 98.7% | 13.9% |
| Blacksburg, VA | ~86% | 43.7% |
Acknowledgment: I’d like to thank Grok, an AI by xAI, for helping me draft and refine this article. The final edits and perspective are my own.
Section updated, added 3/30/2025
The Tri-Cities has bled jobs for decades. A 2002 report pegged losses at 24,000; by 2016, the labor force shrank nearly 18,000 (Dr. Steb Hipple, ETSU). Since 1990, it’s likely down 50,000. Companies like Exide flopped on job promises, and call centers—hyped as wins—fizzled. Wise County’s never hit 500 workers; Congressman Boucher’s call center legacy tanked. See: Three Decades of Job Losses.
Public funds have fueled flops: the $8 million Bristol Virginia Energy Research Center sits empty, a green energy bust. The $6 million Bristol train station—unused in 2025. ARC grants feed pork, not progress. Nicewonder and St. Paul Hotel projects burned millions. Bristol Virginia Utilities’ “cable-ready socialism” and cronyism left low-wage call centers as the legacy. More: 30 Years of Failure in Southwest Virginia.
Disability’s a hidden unemployment scheme; 20% of SWVA kids live in poverty. Activists battle for displaced trailer park residents, while Sullivan County’s Commission has threatened to sue over free speech in religious spats. Outmigration’s rampant—the LA Times called it, “A town’s future is leaving the country.” My Bristol Herald Courier letters have long screamed this. See: Disability Still Big Business 2017.
