As a college sociology major, I want to seek out and experience some of the areas of the country that the economic boom has missed out. Any ideas, especially from people with real knowledge of blighted, rundown areas of the USA, would be helpful. Areas can be large city ghettos, small industrial towns or rural areas. I just want ideas. Thanks!

Vermont's Northeast Kingdom--Newport, Island Pond, Concord, St. Johnsbury. Beautiful areas, but did miss the "boom". The St. Johnsbury area is the most prosperous with some jobs(mostly manufacturing). This area of Vermont has the states highest unemployment and poverty rates.

Although it may not appear so at initial glance, there are ares in central NY state that have "missed" the boom. There isn't genuine blight evident, but these are generally small to mid sized cities with economies that were once heavy industrial or military based, lost their major employers and then failed to genuinely make tthe transition to a higher tech job base. I include Utica and also my hometown of Syracuse. As an example, note that home prices in Syracuse dropped by about 25-30% six or seven years ago and have only regained about 5% of the loss.

There was an interesting article on Austin, TX you should check out on the disparity between the new Dell millionaires and the "other" 80% of Austin who have completely missed out on the boom. US News and World Report (Feb. 21, 2000 edition)

Cheers,

Your friend, former soc. major now an underemployed college grad.

Dear Jonathan:
There's no reason why your work cannot take you to a scenic setting: You might want to check out small--former fishing and logging--towns on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula and lower Columbia River.
As I’m sure you know, you can get detailed information on local poverty levels from the US government. The Washington state and county data are stashed away at http://www.census.gov/datamap/www/53.html
The counties involved would be Clallam, Jefferson, and Grays Harbor Counties on the Olympic Peninsula (and perhaps Mason County as well, now that the Shelton mill has burned down), Pacific County on the southwest Washington coast, and Wahkiakum County just upriver.
Cities to consider include Port Angeles, Forks, and perhaps Sekiu/Callam Bay (the latter asked for and got a state prison, with mixed results) on the northern Olympic Peninsula, Aberdeen, Hoquiam, and Cosmopolis on Grays Harbor, Tokeland on Willapa Bay, Raymond on the Willapa River, Ilwaco, Skamakowa, and Cathlamet on the lower Columbia.
But do keep an open mind. While these counties and communities have suffered economic distress and turned “seedy” in places, they have not lost their spirit, and it is very heartening to see former redneck logging towns like Forks trying to pull itself up by the boot straps by luring tourists (with nothing but a seedy downtown, damp motels, bland restaurants, and very wet woods to offer) and by trying to lure high-tech industries by wiring itself with fiber optic cables (never mind that the annual rainfall averages some 150 inches!).
Oregon also has numerous former logging towns in the Cascade Mountains foothills that may be in even worse shape than Washington’s (or perhaps they just scream louder).

Your prof would probably tell you to use some census profiles to find communities with low average household incomes, but it's a big country.

However, honeychile, the South is full of such areas. North Carolina, for example, has what's supposed to be a boom in the Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham areas, and there's all that rich real estate out on the Outer Banks; but look at counties in the mountains away from Asheville or the counties in the east that don't include Fr. Bragg or other military installations (like Robeson), and you have some people in tough circumstances. And I'm sure you will find many areas in the deep South (LA, ALA, MS) that haven't participated in any economic booms since the Revolution!

At the other end of things, take a look at fishing communities in the far northeastern part of Maine -- the fish are becoming extinct and New England's wealth just doesn't make it up that far.

Your prof would probably tell you to use some census profiles to find communities with low average household incomes, but it's a big country.

However, honeychile, the South is full of such areas. North Carolina, for example, has what's supposed to be a boom in the Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham areas, and there's all that rich real estate out on the Outer Banks; but look at counties in the mountains away from Asheville or the counties in the east that don't include Fr. Bragg or other military installations (like Robeson), and you have some people in tough circumstances. And I'm sure you will find many areas in the deep South (LA, ALA, MS) that haven't participated in any economic booms since the Revolution!

At the other end of things, take a look at fishing communities in the far northeastern part of Maine -- the fish are becoming extinct and New England's wealth just doesn't make it up that far.

Hi, Jonathon,
Pick out any one or more of dozens of Indian reservations, look past (or at) the casinos if there are any, and see what chronic inattention, racism, and disinvestment can generate. Be prepared to be uplifted, too, at the determination, optimism, and self-confidence you'll find along the way.

I wonder if parts of California's Central Valley might qualify? Just south of Salinas looks pretty blighted to me, although maybe there are worse places. Think a knowledge of Spanish would help any place in California.

Try Northern Idaho. The tree huggers have been successful in virtually shutting down the logging indistry. Small cities like Sandpointe, Bonner's Ferry etc. look terribly depressed as does the rural countryside.

East New York (a part of Brooklyn).

I agree with many of the above responses. I am a teacher who has lived and traveled in many areas. As a native of Syracuse, NY I certainly agree that much of the central part of upstate has missed the boom. I also taught in N.C. for a short time. Eastern North Carolina is full of poverty stricken towns-try Halifax County. However, all over the U.S. there are many people struggling. Currently I live outside Washington D.C. in a rapidly growing and expanding area. Many of the local suburbs are full of the new wealthy. But in between the expensive sub-divisions are pockets of poverty. It is everywhere.

A couple places that come to mind are: West Virginia. Eastern Kentucky.