Appalachia is Dying. Pikeville is Not. (2016)

Whenever I visit Appalachia, I ask how would I view this city if I were in China.The comparison is apt because the light industry mountain towns feel a lot like their equivalents in the PRC.

As a county level city , Chinese Pikeville would be quite prosperous : education and healthcare steer it away from heavily polluting industries, it’s location on the river and highways make trade much easier than other parts of Eastern KY and its age demographics / poverty load / opiate abuse are comparatively good to the region. http://censusreporter.org/profiles/16000US2160852-pikeville-...

The trouble comes when you compare it to other cities in Kentucky : particularly Ashland or Richmond. Pikeville’s location is a serious liability and it’s flat population growth over the last decade suggest even if it’s not dying it’s not growing.

Stable regional centers are nothing to balk at - but the future does not look like Pikeville.

The author is surprised that this small town is denser than most, given that it only has 7000 residents.

Does he not realize that it's a college town? Of course it will be dense.

I find it difficult to trust an article about the future of a town written by a person who has apparently never visited that town or nearby areas and instead relied entirely on Google Street View photos and official statistics.