Welcome to the Brutally Honest Aspie segment! Join writer Nathan Young as he talks about what is on his mind. Anything from politics, news, current topics, or just whatever is happening can be talked about and discussed. See what is on Nathan’s mind below!
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On the day before my birthday, I wanted to really talk about something that’s been on my mind for a while. And I know it’s going to piss off a lot of people where I live at, but it needs to be talked about.
The Milken Institute, each year puts out a list of the best performing metro areas in the country. They rank every metro area in the United States based on 13 indicators that cover labor market conditions, high-tech impact, and access to economic opportunities. And for 2024, they incorporated into the index: community resilience and income inequality.
Here in Alabama, several metro areas are performing very well, including Huntsville, Decatur, Auburn-Opelika, and Baldwin County.
But sadly, there are metro areas in Alabama that are among the worst in the entire United States. Two of the worst performing metro areas in the United States are Anniston-Oxford-Jacksonville, and Gadsden.
Among the 203 small metro areas in the United States, the Gadsden Metro is the 4th worst in America.
And for Anniston-Oxford-Jacksonville, they are the 6th worst in America.
So why is East Alabama one of the worst performing areas in the United States?
Since I’ve been living here a good chunk of my life. I have a few thoughts.
For starters, there is too much corruption all across Alabama including East Alabama. Alabama is known as the most corrupt state in the country, and good ole boy politics reigns supreme here.
You have to know people, and most of the time get dirty to get ahead here.
Another issue is the lack of good jobs in this part of the country. It seems like our leaders are only concentrating on low-wage jobs, including restaurants, retail, and hotels.
Attracting only low-wage jobs will not help an area grow. East Alabama has lost a lot of industry jobs, including over 120 people that just lost their jobs on Monday.
I wonder why that is? We should be focusing on attracting better-paying jobs here, and not worrying about low-wage service sector jobs.
Another problem, many communities across East Alabama look like they are run-down abandoned cities. All across Anniston and Gadsden, you will find abandoned houses, abandoned buildings, overgrown Lots, neglected infrastructure, and I can go on and on. Many communities in East Alabama do not look nice. And also have issues with crime.
On the Milken Institute website, The Anniston and Gadsden areas all rank near the bottom in many metrics including job growth, wage growth GDP Growth, high-tech industries, community resilience, inequality, and broadband coverage.
The only thing Anniston and Gadsden ranks high in, is housing affordability. And I can see this, when communities across East Alabama do not put the effort in to attract better paying jobs and only worry about low-wage work.
And with people continuing to move out of East Alabama including Anniston and Gadsden, It seems like our community and political leaders just do not care.
And I see this on a daily basis. People who just do not care to make East Alabama a better place to live. It seems like corruption and kickbacks reigns supreme.
Until people living in East Alabama elect better people, nothing will change, and we will continue to end up on the bottom of all these community lists and among the worst metro areas in the United States.
Maybe its time to try something new in East Alabama?
Categories: Brutally Honest Aspie Stuff
