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Us born and raised West Virginians like to truly live in peace. We don't care what outsiders think about us. We just want to make a living, love our families, and serve The Lord doing it!
Living in Small Towns, the Locals are Intentionally Nightmares! And if their Bloodline has enough Local Status they can Attack you and Have you Arrested! And they Just Ruin their Undesirables Out of Town! Directly Tell You To Leave, and Scream at you about being an Out of Stater, and I've always been their Whipping Boy! They Wouldn't Even Educate Me! You can Tell How Mad these Locals are that People not from their Blood are Moving In! And it's Disgusting! They are Horrible People! And if they can Get their Claws into you, they will never Stop, Problem is they Dig Into Kids! And you don't even Understand why they are doing it, but you Get Older, and have to Be Disgusted with Locals!
My mother was the head of the Avery County N.C. Building Inspection Department and wrote the proposal which became "The Ridge Law" aka the "Mountain Ridge Protection Act" that was passed in 1983. A tiny 95lb 5'2" tall lady (Aleta Daniels-Field) was the driving force behind the law that prohibits any structure over 40' tall being built on the top of any mountain. I'm very proud of her for fighting for the beauty of the mountains we call HOME!!!
Let's hope money and corruption doesn't make certain people look the other way. Sadly it happens. You mother was a force to be reckoned with. What a wonderful lady. 🌻
The local born and raised Appalachian people don't have any problems with outside folks coming in and wanting to live here. The major problem is the people who are coming and buying up property do so because they love the atmosphere and beauty of this place, BUT when they do get here they seem to want to change it to the way it was where they came from. If you ask any locals the majority agree on that.
That could be stopped with the type of regulations that Appalachians tend to vote against. It's hard to see things change, I struggle with the gentrification of Florida where it's negatively impacted our economy, but I lived in Appalachia for a time and I wonder if anything is better than the poverty and almost complete lack of opportunity that exists now in much of the region
I’ve recently discovered your channel. I am a Canadian. I am enjoying your reporting so so much and I am very impressed with the local man and woman in the interview. They are so down to earth and real!!!
He needs to talk to Tipper Pressley, celebrating Appalachia is her channel. The blind pig and the acorn is her blog. Shes keeping Appalachia anlive and down to earth, just made a top selling cookbook. Music, history , stories, language, truly keeping it ALL alive. She’s in my area over Brasstown NC.
As a Watauga local, it breaks my heart to be forced out of my hometown due to rising costs (coughAppstatecough) and people buying second and third vacation homes. The entitlement of people moving into their 6,000 sq foot homes and demanding local change is astounding. Thanks for highlighting the issues.
Same thing is happening to Florida. Sure my house is worth 3 times what it was but can’t afford to move up to a better house because so many are moving here from other states.
@@benztech2262 Arguably, it's occurring everywhere. Unfortunately, this is due to a lack of being properly informed about the area(s) and a pure disregard for local establishment. But hats off to Peter for providing significant coverage and initiating change. The best we can do is support him in those efforts and try to do the same ourselves.
This is definitely happening everywhere, including my hometown in AZ. People born and raised here no longer able to afford it after rents raised 50% in the course of two years. People from coastal areas have a big effect on the places they move to, which is basically everywhere.
All I can say is ; look to the 1st Nation peoples. There will always be someone coming for what you have come to call home, the only guarantee is that things will continue to change.
@@ravenkitty1960 Absolutely. Someone always "owned" some land first. Obviously it's awful that people have been slaughtered in the past over land - but someone, or something (if not people, then animals and nature) were there first. At least these days we're mostly just dealing with gentrification, not genocide.
Im born and raised NC! I live on my familys 220 acre farm and people and businesses are sending offers monthly to buy our land at hardly no cost. Us and All the farmers in the community stand together on keeping this the country side. We stand with yall as well💪🏼. Some of us just want to be left alone and stop dealing with business men and government
That's such a great attitude and I agree, to live on a farm with that kind of beauty and freedom surrounding you, if you and your families are doing well, who cares about money and greed, it doesn't buy joy or peace or health. God Bless you and your land and farms and families!
@@rambo.69 depends on where he is from and how the land lays but 1,500 to 4,000 a acre is typical. Sometimes people from out of state/or cities will pay higher prices.
I sure hope yall don't sell. I was born in Raleigh but grew up in Myrtle Beach. It's more like NYC here now. It's ruined. There is no amount of money I'd take if I could make it like it once was. It's awfully sad.
As a son of a man who grew up in Appalachia (W.Va), this video is amazing and I love her accent! There are some wonderful ppl here. My dad was raised in Bluefield from a small town called Bramwell. It’s always been about community. I know what a holler is lol. I may need to visit. This was emotional for me as my father has passed. What an amazing video
@@BAFFLED-u4o I did. If your neighbor sell out then it’s on them. Boomers are greedy in all parts of this country. I bought 50 acres in Appalachia from a boomer who sold off family land bit by bit. I will keep it a farm. But they are all too willing to sell out their communities.
Being originally from Southern Kentucky I could tell people one thing. Some of the nicest and even some of the smartest people I've ever met have lived in broken down trailers and little broken down cabins. Most of them will give you the shirt off their back if you need it. Never ever judge a book by its cover.
You are correct. I am a mechanic and always impressed by the abilities and attitude of people I met there that could fix anything and get by with very little and also the generosity of people. I have always said don't judge a book by its cover.
This is happening everywhere. The rich move into beautiful areas and make it so the locals can no longer afford to live there. The gap between the rich and poor gets bigger every day.
Same in France, Belgian, German, British and Parisian people came in the south and transformed it in an unaffordable area for the locals. I honestly don't know if I'll be able to buy a house one day and I'm 30.
Don't stop here... I only discovered Peter a couple of months ago and have binge-watching his videos ever since. He's so good with every place he visits.
Actual journalism. The comments among those not familiar with the US should be evidence alone. He could focus entirely on the Appalachia series and I'd be happy. I've learned more from this series than actually living here.
Just an FYI, the big field they stop at around the 5 min mark has been cleared as pasture land for as long as I can remember and I’m in my 40s. My Grandmother’s house is about a half mile up the road from that. Her property also has an entire mountain top that is cleared and has been used as pasture land for over 100 years. It was never cleared for the view.
Hasn't most the land been cleared and then abandoned and trees and brush taken it back over? That area is so lush twenty years a cleared field will be forest again.
I think he was just using that field and its size as an example of the scale of land being cleared in some cases for "the view." He could clearly see the cows right in frame and he isn't an idiot.
As a Australian, I’m fascinated with the cultures of other places, the diversity of people’s lives but unfortunately the world over this story is happening. I love the variety, we don’t want everything the same.
Thank you for the Appalachia series. I've enjoyed them. I moved to a nearby county to these people during the vid, but it was a house that was on the market. I've been immersing myself in the community and love everyone around here. Even joined the local volunteer fire department to help give back to the community that has been so welcoming.
I've been stuck in the hospital for 3 months now and discovered this epically amazing person exploring real issues with real people from a non bias, open minded standpoint. I have utmost respect for Peter Santenello for everything he is showing, the way he shows it, and the drive for knowledge. Big ups!! And thank you.
I just went home after 62 days in the hospital and this was the best series to help me cope with long nights and horrendous pain. I wish you well. Peter keep it up!!
I recently broke my hip and stayed 3.5 weeks in rehab. I don't watch TV but the facility has fun things to do. Arts and crafts, music, bingo etc. Was fun and the food was really good.
You should watch Tipper Presley at Celebrating Appalachia… her blog is , the blind pig and the acorn. She’s been keeping Appalachia alive for a very long time. Every bit of it….. She has years of stuff that you can’t ever get through it all. A plethora of videos and information
Klaus Schwab is the Global problem. He and his rich minions. Old saying goes, “Money can’t buy you happiness.” I’d rather be broke and poor. Than cold hearted rich❤😊
Even in some of the most rural states like Nebraska, 99% of the land is owned by investors like Bill Gates. You can't build a small ranch in the countryside, don't even think about going off of a paved trail to hike down to a creek, that creek is owned by someone, and they'll shoot you on sight.
You're probably aware but the Scots-Irish had been embittered by life in England and Scotland and so came to America for a free life. Many of them settled in Appalachia. I'm a descendant of them and proud to be. It's amazing to think that some of my family may be in Australia!
Yup. All my kin in Hayesville don't take to jaspers. They think God chose them to come and "fix us". We don't need fixin', y'un's do. If life is so grand for y'all then WTH y'uns keep movin' down here! More than a few x's I've taking these bossy butholes to my 2 post grad degrees making me more educated than nary a 1 of these catty wampus hostiles. Yup, I'en made a choice long ago to speak my family's Appalachian English but careful! you say the wrong thing we gonna get madder than a wet hen. The poets wrote of our ethereal, verdant and pristine scenery. However, we find most visitors show complete ignoration to be a grand demonstration of their nescient minds' failure to differentiate intentionally living traditional ways from their own obtuse shallow ignorance. 🔥 Now! Did I prevaricate my accomplishments? A hillbilly with a PhD who has been hunting and trapping her own dinner since age 5 yo causes them to suddenly become reticent with their egos. So I'm pert near privileged to keep up the oldin' ways. Bet most wouldn't know a poke of beans from a jar of kerosene! I'm well aware of NZ vs Aussie. Yet! Kia Ora, whanau. tuturu whakamaua kia tena, houmi e, hui e taiki e. Nau mai haere mai. (indeed, fear the hillbillies! Do you want to tango with a lady who has both a PhD and a loaded rifle?
Ivy is a beautiful woman with a lovely accent. Peter, thank you for showing these films to help bring down stereotypes, and witness parts of America we rarely see.
Indeed. Everything is greed driven now. The 0.0001% class of greedy individuals continues to amass wealth and ruin the world while the other 99% of us get poorer and poorer. If I was rich I would be helping THE PEOPLE. Not building mansions on other people's land.
As a millennial who spent their entire preteen and early teen years destroying anything within me that made me Appalachian and running away as soon as I turned 18. I'm 30 now and I moved back recently and I literally mourn for Appalachia and how much of us abandoned it
I am from Appalachia, I love the series Peter! I am also glad they mentioned the wildlife, it is critical we protect trees for animals and the environment
Appalachia has a lot of old growth trees doesn’t it? The trees where I live are all really old oaks. Some could easily be older than this country. They won’t come back in 50 years like pine forests.
The sad thing is, everybody’s going to learn the hard way. We have this issues happening here in Oregon too but we’re much more protected. Luckily because it’s such a blue state and environment is so important. But this is tragic.😢
national forest typically do, but alot of land was farmed so the trees are not that 300+ year old ones. Where I moved the land was farmed for a good 60+ years and we figure most the trees are about 80-100 years old from when they fully stopped in the 30's. There are a few red oaks that are property markers that are definitely old growth though. @@13_cmi
The point when you stopped to look at the beautiful scenery with the farm and cows, looks exactly like my village in Rukungiri, Western Uganda. All the way down to the narrow, but tarmacked 2-lane road.
My medical doctor is from Uganda. Dr Umana. She is AWESOME! And welcome from a hillbilly in Western North Carolina. I don't take to jaspers (outsiders) but you sir can bring your family to stay with my kin anytime at all. 🌏 My neighbors are from the Congo. There are a lot of videos which attempt to make us look like backwoods ignorant racists. Just plz know, those tend to be rednecks, not hillbillies. All the mountain folk I know around here have had multi-racial families since about 1950's including mine which has African Americans, Asian Americans, Latino and white. I've never met a racist hillbilly. So anyone from Western or Sub-Saharan Africa just come on over. It's safe for you but not safe for the condescending Californians.
You mentioned north eastern Tennessee. That area has also grown in population with people moving in from Florida, California and many northern states as well. The growth has pushed housing prices to an all time high in East Tennessee. The area is becoming unrecognizable to people that have lived in the area their entire lives
As a 6th generation Texan, I feel this so much. This is exactly what has happened here. Kids moved away and didn’t want the grandparents ranch and sold them off. Whole ranches have had all their trees stripped and are nothing but ugly roof tops now. My house value has more than triples in a decade. We joke with people who are thinking of moving, saying well if you do you won’t be able to afford your house if you want to move back. Old Texans cared for the land and green spaces. They’re now ruined. Trash everywhere. Trees gone. No culture - all that is mostly torn down. We are running out of water because there are no laws around putting in a well and watering your whole vineyard or distillery that just moved in. It’s disgusting. I have so much more to say and to warn these people of. Get your laws in order now. Get people in office that are from there, otherwise…. It’s coming.
If you were to develope Texas to the level of Manhatten the whole world could live in just 1/3 of Texas. I'm a truck driver. It takes a whole day to drive across Texas. Most of it is empty.
@@jamesedmonds9946 Not the I-35 corridor from San Antonio to Austin to Georgetown. Prices have tripled in the last decade and taxes gone up. Your talking about West Texas, which is lots of dessert and low population because there are few jobs. Dallas, Houston and even farther south in Corpus Christi are booming.
@@StarreLabell drive 10 miles in any directions from I 35 and then where are all the people. I'm sitting in Laredo right now. Think your living in an urban area and complaining that it's urban... Drive from Laredo to corpus Cristy and you see more roadkill then people.
This series has been so eye opening about the little known people of Appalachia. This video is another home run of historical information and up to date happenings in that region. I will never see Appalachia the same way again after watching this incredible series. Well done Peter!
All my kin in Hayesville don't take to jaspers. They think God chose them to come and "fix us". We don't need fixin', y'un's do. If life is so grand for y'all then WTH y'uns keep movin' down here! More than a few x's I've taking these bossy butholes to my 2 post grad degrees making me more educated than nary a 1 of these catty wampus hostiles. Yup, I'en made a choice long ago to speak my family's Appalachian English but careful! you say the wrong thing we gonna get madder than a wet hen. The poets wrote of our ethereal, verdant and pristine scenery. However, we find most visitors show complete ignoration to be a grand demonstration of their nescient minds' failure to differentiate intentionally living traditional ways from their own obtuse shallow ignorance. 🔥 Now! Did I prevaricate my accomplishments? A hillbilly with a PhD who has been hunting and trapping her own dinner since age 5 yo causes them to suddenly become reticent with their egos. So I'm pert near privileged to keep up the oldin' ways. Bet most wouldn't know a poke of beans from a jar of kerosene!
It'll only get worse as inequality skyrockets. Most of the billionaire class eventually wants to turn this country into an Ayn Rand inspired hellscape. No regulations to stop them from doing (and buying) whatever they want. In their ideal America there will be only two classes. Owner class (them) and worker class/serfs (everyone else). They're leveraging their capital to pull this off with think tanks ran by the Koch brothers, Peter Thiel, etc, etc.
I really felt it when Nick said he was concerned about the rapid rate of change while overlooking that spectacular valley. He's knows what a precarious point Appalachia is at. Everyone should take Ivy's final piece of advice to heart when going anywhere, whether it's visiting or moving there: learn the culture, be kind and respectful, and protect the land. Watching this series from the other side of the world in New Zealand, I've really appreciated the insights this series has provided. What strikes me, is that while the extent of the concerns may vary, the issues are the same the world over: affordable housing, drugs, gentrification, social media are affecting the average joe.
@@thewalkingjed4893 They should explicitly have one subject in school (worldwide) which only repeats a few sentences for the whole year : You simply cannot eat money. You need the environment to be healthy. You need sunshine and greenery to not be depressed. Without water you cannot last a week. In fact the situation today is actually so dire that we need to put those 4 sentences in every country's national anthem and song.
I really think you make great points. I would just add, I live in Portland, OR in the USA which is also at a precarious point-just a totally different version of precarious, I suppose. And there are so many other variations in so many other places now that I think on it.
It’s happening here in Henderson County, NC too. Driving home prices to insane levels. Just saw new condos starting at 400,000 to over 1 million. No local person could ever afford that here.
That same "lokal" person will sell it for most overpriced value in that area. You can't make a clap without both hands. Locals are as guilty as people buying homes. Stop crying and out up with it. It's how world has always been. European settlers literally genocide whole Indians and stole this land and now complaining about rich people . The irony
That's the same in SoCal. Lol Most people that own nice homes or even rent aren't local...Though older people do still own homes that are worth a lot by proxy. Our parents often could afford homes in cheaper areas, but the ripple affect of the 90s and early 2000s carried through to now. I don't know anyone of my generation working less than 40 hrs per week- most work 50+ and no matter the industry are struggling to afford rent. Too many taxes and the rent goes up and up. We are lucky we weren't scared of the COVId and got good prices during the first shutdowns; so we pay a little less than other people moving into these apartments. Nicer area but still old and plenty of break ins etc. For a 1000 ft² 2 bedroom it's $3000/month if you're new. Lol I still can't believe how many small homes I have seen in ghetto areas going for $850k+ and new track homes have ignorant young ppl from other areas, many times sother countries buying them and they fall apart in a few years. For $1-2 million a piece that's unfortunate. I know this because my husband works in plumbing. He has been to amazing residences in nearby cities that have homes worth tens of millions and a few over 100M. They tend to be owned by foreigners, and the ones that are closer to 9-12 mill range are often vacation homes. We have "affordable housing" built with tax aide that we don't approve. It's always expensive and usually for elderly only. The idea is apparently that the people with money (usually criminals if not from elsewhere) will move into the nice new places and the people just out of poverty will struggle to move into those places, leaving the older places and poor people will move into their old places which will be barely affordable. Lol Also I get sick of ppl saying we voted for this. A lot of people here are not for blue govt. But our votes aren't counting....we've almost removed Newsome twice and he gets votes last min each time....and our policy votes don't seem to count either. It's a part of the bigger problems in this country. But we know who wins in the end. John 3:16❤ Keep your armor maintained. Ephesians 6:10 ❤
I live in southern Ontario Canada - our entire province is struggling with this issue. There's literally nowhere a person not already owning property, someone looking for a rental, etc can find affordable housing. I live in a rural town and local families can't afford to stay and new condos etc going up for wealthier people moving in. Sad.
I just finished your Border series & worked my way through this series. I’ve determined that you’re the only journalist we have left in the country! You have no bias/narrative to push. You let the people and places speak for themselves. Refreshing!
So true. It is beautiful to have the unbiased truth. Also, Mark from the soft white underbelly is also great. Peter did a video with him not too long aho.
I live in TN a mile from the NC line. It breaks my heart every time I see a big fancy house on top of the mountain. Also all of the street lights that run 24/7 drives me nuts. I do agree that the cost of things has at least doubled if not tripled since 2020. The outsiders moving in hasn't made any thing better or easier for us.
i also live in TN very close to the NC border, and this entire video made me so sad about how near my house, a lot of pasture land got sold after an old farmer died. His children sold off the land, and they took these really beautiful hills of cow pasture and covered them in these hideous, modern style McMansions for rich people to move into. They also cut down a lot of trees in the area to put in power lines, and every time I drive through that area, it just makes me so sad. I wish at the very least when rich people want to move into the area they actually try to build houses that are smaller and match the style of the surrounding houses
Conservation of natural resources is so important. Self indulgent clearing of land speaks to a "me" mindset. It's prevalent in every booming community. Love your videos, Peter!
You can always find interesting and intelligent people when you spend a lot of time talking to people. The other thing is that the media has skewed our perceptions about the world to such a degree that we often think in terms of stereotypes about other people and regions.
It’s interesting to see how similar things are between Appalachia and Hawaii. From the natives, to the farm camps, to a depressed economy, to a tourist economy, to people wanting to live there, with all the tension that brings.
People are priced out of home and heritage .Sad that things have to change. Glad that there is no need for money in heaven and o'boy the views will be great.
Thank you again for speaking on such a painful, complicated topic. Born and raised NC and it hurts those of us that have seen all the changes. The culture and media paints rural southern folks badly and yet the rich/companies keep moving in - benefiting from exploiting our resources, spoiling our land, changing our culture and pushing locals out. Generations and generations back and it's all gone. We love people, we're so welcoming and don't mind sharing our communities and space. We're just wanting it done the right way, in a respectful way and that's just not happening. So many talk trash about the south but they are so quick to move down here and take over.
How about us folks that are from the South that badmouth it? Look - these rural places are beautiful and poor, but they're not beautiful BECAUSE they're poor, and they're not poor BECAUSE they live somewhere beautiful. They're JUST generationally poor. There's a persistent culture around here that celebrates a certain kind of poverty, which is why they haven't grown out of it. Nobody is stealing anything from these folks because they're too poor to own it. They never owned it. They're only out there because a rich man built a mill or a mine in the first place. It's a terrible cycle of pride and ignorance, and it's nearly identical to inner-cities. I've lived in both while in deep poverty and the only real difference is that there are no trees to cut down for firewood or to hunt in, so city folks sell drugs to the suburbs instead.
We have some similar issues here in Iowa. I live in Des Moines. The suburban cities surrounding the city don't have building code regulations, so developers are building ridiculously expensive (cheaply built) homes on rich farmland (that could be used for agriculture). People who work in these suburban cities cannot afford to live there and live in DSM, and DSM doesn't have enough housing because suburbs aren't building affordable housing. Those expensive houses have upped the prices of homes because we are in the same county. And rental companies are coming in and buying homes, but renters and landlords don't care for homes like a homeowner would. We don't have disposable income here for most of the population. You're right - this is all over.
So impressed! What well-spoken, knowledgable and insightful representatives these people are! This couple should run for office. We need more young people like these in government today. Wonderful interview! Thank you so much.
I’m from the area. Why does someone being well spoken seem to surprise you? Like she alludes to, we aren’t characters from The Deliverance. We even have universities and hospitals! Lol
@@VitalityMassageexactly and the two young people that are being interviewed are making things up as they go. Someone a little older that has really lived in Avery should've been interviewed.
I grew up in the South. I now live in the Midwest for work. There are 3-4-5-6 generations of families here too. I don’t recognize the south they describe in this series. Thank you all that live there and posted this is a blinder-on micro view these individuals are presenting. EDIT: half way through now and it seems there is a-lot of jealously I’m hearing. They don’t own the property, don’t work jobs that would allow them to buy the property, but all say they would like to live on the property. Entitlement, like drugs, knows no class, race, education, or geographical lines.
Great interview. This gal is extremely well spoken and explains what is really happening all over the country but she highlights very well her state/community. Thank you.
No! They want to Protect Land they don't Own and have No Right to from Americans owning it, because they are not From Small Rural Areas! You People are Insane! You think you have the Right to All you Survey because you were Born There! You think you have a Hereditary Right over other Americans, when in Reality the only thing you have is a Trailer Home and a Pick Up Truck!
People work there Whole Lives started at Childhood and Education to be able to Own a Home with a Few Acres, than some Lazy Country Folk who won't get Educated and won't Work Hard, gets to give them a Hard Time, and Try to Say No and Stop Them! It's Awful!
@@sharongillespIn lalaland, sure. In reality, the vast majority of humanity has accepted the concept of land ownership. If no one owned land then why would someone ever bother to BUILD anything if the land it’s on can be trespassed on by anyone? The idea that land shouldn’t be owned doesn’t fit with reality, and you can’t change reality. Stop whining about things you literally can’t change- you have plenty of things in your own life that are 10000000x more important than the strange and impossible battle of making everything and everywhere free to everyone.
Ivy's accent is fabulous! - there are so many links & commonalities between us Scots & the Appalachian people that I'd probably fit in no problem. The friendliness & sense of community is so familiar to me. We also have similar issues with incomers, tourism & house prices so I can fully sympathise with the quandry of balancing jobs & income vs. the way of life being altered.
Only time I've ever heard anyone make fun of an Appalachian accent was one time on SNL, other than that I've never heard of such a thing. By the way, my nephew is married to someone with that accent, I think of her as a southern bell b/c of her lovely accent.
@@doloresreichhardt1485 Sadly it happens quite often. It is not necessarily making fun of but more of treating someone like they are uneducated simply due to their accent. I have personally been hit with the comment "oh wow you are actually way smarter than you sound".... I guess having a southern accent means your IQ is lower than room temp.
Watching videos like these really makes you realize so many stretches of America, urban and rural, are really the same. Of course the nuances are very different, but the conversations are so similar. I swear I’ve heard my older neighbor in Chicago voice 90% of these same concerns
Peter you've changed my life. I have completly adopted your open minded mentality and it brings me so much truth and joy wherever i go. I make friends everywhere.
I bought the house next door to my parents. We are both almost 1/4 mile off the road. I would love to build a couple houses on the property for my kids. I think the idea of hollars, family compounds, multigenerational households, whatever you want to call them is coming back. Or growing
I think that is the natural way. Grandma is supposed to be with the little kids every day, she teaches them and looks after their booboos and they thread her needle and trim her toenails. The whole of society suffers when families are fractured and everybody has lost their place and responsibility.
But what kind of work will your kids do to live on the same land ? What if they don’t want to farm? There’s a whole world of places and professions , what’s wrong with that? This kind of thinking is called prairie living with blinders on, cant see the forest for the trees , the world must be flat because I can see clear to the edge of the property 😂
@Moms1958 Who said I was a farmer? The tractors lol I'm in real estate. I own, manage, sell, flip and maintain real estate. My kids can do whatever they want. They wouldn't want to be city dwellers.
Tipper, My heart is broken and I have been praying for everyone. I live in Alabama and I can’t imagine what the people in these areas are going through. I have never seen so much devastation. Do not let these people get to you. It’s people like you that I look up to. I love your family so much. You keep doing what your heart tells you and do not let these people get to you. You are a blessing to so many people. I am praying and going to donate as much as I can. We all have to help each other and love one another. That’s what Jesus tells us to do. Please know I am praying for you and the people that are in these devastated communities. My heart has definitely been broken. That could have been any of us. God Bless you and your family. Don’t stop your videos. These people need you! You are the voice of so many in need! Love you Mrs. Tipper! ❤️🙏🏻❤️
I live in Avery county NC and it's absolutely ridiculous- this video really is shedding light on a serious issue we have. Can't find anywhere to live. Every bit of land is being bought up by corps. I see that damn condo on the mountain ridge AND Eaglesnest everyday. Amazing people live here, but they're being forced out of the area for more Floridian 2nd homes. You either work for them or cater to them.
I'm down the road a bit (upstate SC) and prices are being insanely inflated by people who are willing to live among us "ignorant rednecks", buying up the lake and mountain properties we've saved all our lives to hope to afford.
@@zchris87v80that is the part that infuriates me. From Charlotte. I lived in Spartanburg. Moved to Holden Beach. I can’t get away from the snobs who hate us and are making it impossible for us to live in our home area
This gentrification is even going on where I live, in the mountains of East Tennessee. I can't believe, every time I drive down the road, how many people from California and Texas are building these huge, multi-million dollar homes on our mountain. It blows my mind. These are mostly second and third homes for these million/billionaires. So sad. We are losing our culture.
I live in elizabethton, I renovated a house here wit my friend n his wife. We’re all from jersey.. none of us have big houses tho. I do see what your saying when I’ve done deliveries.
@@bhaveshpatel9626 No, I'm north of Chattanooga, but not as far north as Johnson City. The area that I was specifically referencing is a tiny little mountain town called Hendon or "Flat Top" in Bledsoe County.
@@johndsouza842 haha oh ok, well cool! I hope you're enjoying our beautiful area 😊 (even though I don't live in that particular part of the state lol.) I'm practically in Chattanooga.. about 30 mins. away from Chatt. actually. I've grown up in these mountains for 31 years, and in the last 5 we have seen an ENORMOUS influx of people from states like California, New York, Texas etc. who are coming to what was once our tiny little mtn village, and building gigantic homes on huge plots of land. Renovation is great 👍 at least y'all revived something 😂 These people that I am referring to just come (or hire someone) to build these homes, then rarely ever visit them, and don even rent them out! Therefore, they aren't really contributing to our local economy... Just taking up our farm land. I appreciate your input though.
Great video again. Born and raised in NC. Grew up in the Triad (Winston, Greensboro, High Point), went to school in Boone/Banner Elk, now live in Wilmington on the coast. The same issues that plague Avery and Watauga Counties in the western part of NC are the same we're dealing with on the coast of NC. Too many people, prices have exploded and locals are feeling the brunt. Would love to see you do a story about the NC coast. What used to be a sleepy little coastal area has now become a major hub for development and transplants.
Building a large residential property on a mountain and calling it "the Eagles Nest" is pretty wild. The rich owner who did this was surely aware of the historical reference to this back to Hitlers mountain retreat.
Being a native of western North Carolina and having traveled extensively in the state, I believe our woes regarding development can be condensed to one word…. GREED. Those who have much want more and they do not care who or what is hurt in the process. The only hope is for locals to remain strong and say, No More! People cannot gentrify the area unless locals give permission. We welcome you to visit us as we are.
7:12 just did a week bike trip through WV, had to see it before its all gone. We were approached to buy land/property with the promise of huge return in the tourism industry. How sad. Regulation and decisions made about fuel use are killing the entire area.
@@Rootiga if their backs are up against a wall and the poverty and disparity of need vs income prospects is a survival situation what are the choices 🤔 rock meet hard place.
The locals need incomes, which they might not get (according to the video), if the wealthy didn't enter and offer jobs. Plus, land owners sell to the rich, because… Double-edged sword.
So true. Peter definitely is nothing but a kind person. He keeps his take on whatever he sees to himself. That’s why he has so many great interviews. People talk their true story when they are treated with dignity and kindness. Have thoroughly enjoyed this visit to Appalachia.
Thank you for showing the truth about Appalachia and doing with respect. My family has lived in the mountains over 250 years. Sadly my father's family had to move to the "foothills;" but kept all of the traditions, accent, and family connections. They made sure we knew the families of the Mountain, Lewis Chapel, in southeast Tennessee. My father moved us to Los Angeles County when I was seven to be able to support our family. I was cruelly teased for my accent so worked hard to lose it. Unfortunately mt grandmother made sure that we took home remedies with us, I hated "yellow root," used to cure a sore throat. I'm now back in southeast Tennessee and visit our families cemetery anytime a relative passes away. We still have family reunions on the mountain, our family is so large that we introduce ourselves starting will our great grandfathers name down to our own parent. I love the traditions that we keep. Thank you
All my kin in Hayesville don't take to jaspers. They think God chose them to come and "fix us". We don't need fixin', y'un's do. If life is so grand for y'all then WTH y'uns keep movin' down here! More than a few x's I've taking these bossy butholes to my 2 post grad degrees making me more educated than nary a 1 of these catty wampus hostiles. Yup, I'en made a choice long ago to speak my family's Appalachian English but careful! you say the wrong thing we gonna get madder than a wet hen. The poets wrote of our ethereal, verdant and pristine scenery. However, we find most visitors show complete ignoration to be a grand demonstration of their nescient minds' failure to differentiate intentionally living traditional ways from their own obtuse shallow ignorance. 🔥 Now! Did I prevaricate my accomplishments? A hillbilly with a PhD who has been hunting and trapping her own dinner since age 5 yo causes them to suddenly become reticent with their egos. So I'm pert near privileged to keep up the oldin' ways. Bet most wouldn't know a poke of beans from a jar of kerosene!
As a 46 yo native Tennessean, I love your work on anything Appalachia, Peter. We live on the border of middle and eastern TN, about an hour north of Chattanooga, on the Cumberland Plateau. Our little town suffered a similar "fate" in the early 2000s. A couple of developers from FL and started buying up acreage that, when we were kids, wasn't worth 700$ an acre. You couldn't even get city utilities. It was sink a well and hope for the best. In any event, these lots were sold for $50,000-$100,000 a piece. Then most people put up "kit" log homes. Granted, these are beautiful red cedar homes, 2-3 stories, and 3000 sq ft. Those folks could sell out in FL (at the time) for a cool 1.5 million and roll up here and get the lot and brand new log home for under $500,000. That's a good return on your money...if you have that much. Short story long, the Great Recession of 2008 hit, and tons of homes were foreclosed on. The locals couldn't afford to buy anything back, for sure. The county commissioners, in a panic of being left holding the bag with substandard roads, literally enacted, word for word, the building codes from Brentwood, TN...for a town with under 2,000 people. Our taxes have increased, access to "community land" (meaning anyone in the community could use it, so long as you respected it) is decimated, and I can't put so much as a pre-built Amish storage "barn" on my own property without the approval of the "building commission". My wife and I were lucky enough to end up as fourth generation owners of what was my great paternal grandparents' 70 acre cattle farm. Yet despite owning it free and clear, it took us 2 years and $3,000 to simply sub divide off a .7 acre plot...all because we wanted to have the ability to offer one or both of our daughters a lot on which to build. They can't even build anything on our existing 70 acres. Every new structure requires a sub division with soil studies, surveying, drainage survey and an corresponding doubling of property taxes for the exact same piece of dirt, only now it has a separate deed. The developers that ended up kicking off this original snowball...? They were long gone, money in hand, before the real estate crash even really hit deep. I'm in no way opposed to new people, new ideas, and new economies. But when a handful of people end up tilting the balance in their favor, and the locals have little to no recourse for generations to come...I get upset, and I'll be the first to own up to that fact. There's gotta be a better way. As Capt. Kirk said in Star Trek - The Undiscovered Country, "reality is probably somewhere in the middle." Love your work, brother, keep it up! And Ivy, you keep that accent going! I'm as country as cornbread and proud of it.
@user-zk5rt3gb3e I’m happy to share! I will be the first to admit that all my problems are still very much first world problems but they are still real and still irritating. The local, common man here doesn’t have the financial resources to waste on such silliness…yet here we are.
I feel you! Native Rhea Countian here. My folks live up on the mountain. My husband and I came back home after his military service to retire, but we can't afford to buy anything! My folks just sold their house for 415k. We've been priced out of our home just like a lot of folks. We've had to resort to living in our rv, and its not just us. Wealthy retirees moving in and driving up prices-can't even rent a trailer for under $1k, but you can't make more than $20 p/h in this town. Families I grew up with are being forced out. Its horrible how our communities are being destroyed.
I love these videos that you do. They help us all to understand each other better. I was born and raised in Pennsylvania. I come from a long line of farmers, coalminers, and bootleggers in Pennsylvania's Appalachian Mountains. I moved to Tennessee about 8 years ago. I LOVE the people of Appalachia. I love the southern history, the family ties, the mindset, the people,....everything about them and their culture. I may be an "outsider" but they are my adoptive family and I would do everything to protect them. I thank God every day that He sent me here to live in the "hollars" of Tennessee. And I am one of those that bought an old southern farmhouse. It was rundown, and we are slowiy fixing it up. We honor the folks that lived here before us! And I'm going to add that I bought my old rundown farm of 80 acres for $100,000 back in 2014. I get offers daily to sell it. I wouldn't sell it for any price in the world. it is priceless to me, and I want to preserve it for the next generation.
Learning a lot here. Grateful that these folks were willing to share their thoughts with you. Both of them have put a lot of thought and feeling into where they stand in this time of change for their county. Great episode, thank you.
I miss watching Anthony Bourdain’s show and I love this web series. You get great guides, a good history of the location, what’s important to the locals and every once in a while some good local eats. Thank you.
I don’t ever want these videos to end of Appalachia. I want to move to the mountains so bad and these videos have been a slice of heaven for me. I can watch and take myself out of the world I live in and picture myself right there. I need to find the courage to pick up and just go.
I moved to Southeastern Kentucky 20 miles south of Somerset 2 years ago from Florida. I came here not because I had money but because I didn't. I've never met a more accepting and kind people. I live off grid on 17 acres using rainwater and solar energy. I also happen to frequent the gas station that you were in in the last video. I will say this, if you do move here embrace the culture. I left Florida because New Yorkers ruined it. I will not leave here. Thank you for doing this series. I appreciate how you tried to look at it from every angle. I believe this is the most beautiful part of the country and some of the most beautiful people in the country. I hope it can be preserved.
I did something similar. I grew up in the woods, then developments came and removed all the woods and built stuff. If I had the money( I was young), I would have bought the land to keep the woods… That being said, I did finally find and buy 19 acres of woods in Appalachian area, with 1600 foot of stream, eventually want hydro power, 4 springs, one tapped with a well, and two mountain tops. I’ve made miles of trails throughout the property and enjoy simply going into the woods with my dog and enjoying nature and the solitude and peace that comes with it.
Unfortunately, people like you that move in are few, more often than not they come in and destroy our forest and farm land to build excessively large homes & drive up cost of living for everyone else. They destroying Appalachia and our way of life after destroying the hell holes they are escaping from. Big corps just see $ and care not to preserve our natural treasures.
I’m from Southern West Virginia and it’s surreal seeing this. I’ve been playing the banjo on the porch for years and everyone loves it around here. We don’t have as much money but we have a lot more land in our families even with all our problems. It’s like post Appalachia where they’re at.
It really sucks here in southern Appalachia, calling yourself an Appalachian person here in southern Appalachia is starting to not mean anything because people who’ve been here 10 minutes start calling themselves local and outsiders can’t tell who actually from here because everyone who moves here now say they are from here
I’ve lived in WV almost all my life, and I lived in Logan county for 5 years. When I first moved there people were initially very hesitant about me, but once I stuck around long enough they became some of the closest and best people I have the pleasure to call my friends. I’m not a Logan countian, and would never tell someone I am. But the people there treated me with such love that I felt like one while I was there
I live in the Spruce Pine area, grew up in Avery County and in my opinion there are two different types of people who come here. There are those who love and appreciate the way Appalachian people live and want to be a part of that. They don’t want to change things, they assimilate, become our friends and neighbors and understand the reason this place is so special is because of the way Appalachian people live and how much we love this land and mountains. Then there are those who come here who want to have their cake and eat it too. They want to own a piece of the beauty here just for them to enjoy and have sole access to when they want but then want everything and everyone surrounding to be modern and convenient for them. They buy up and gate off as much land as they can get their hands on, not to enjoy it or do anything with it, more like they just want to own these mountains for themselves . And because it is land that locals have had access to and been able to enjoy , hunt , wild craft and have taken good care of for hundreds of years, to have an outsider come in with no understanding of that and take that away so nobody can enjoy it, not even them because they never set foot on most of it, people coming in and doing that will ruin this magical place for everyone. Now we have developers trying to buy up everything to sell off in lots only the rich can afford to buy and build on. What happens then? When all the mountains and valleys are covered in housing developments and thousands more people here with no understanding of what makes this place special who wants to change everything? We do not want that and there is a lot of resentment building among the locals and developers who only see $ signs when they look at these mountains
@@robcooke2854There is a happy medium to be had. Far as your very narrow minded assumption as to what Patriot means or that being a capitalist is all it means, you are so far off! One can love and appreciate this beautiful country and it’s freedom loving citizens and the family , community values we have while at the same time despising what our government has turned into. Educate yourself before you speak
That is what the settlers did to the Native Americans. Colonization has a trickle effect. Like the game of Pac-Man, those at the top gobble up everything in their way.
@@funk-n-groovin6779 What government and some of those who migrated here did to Native Americans and how the lands they lived on and respected and loved were taken was absolutely wrong and cruel. Centuries later , there is no way to undo it only learn from it. The vast majority of Appalachian people have many of the same values Native Americans lived by. We love and respect the land and nature, try to take great care of it , preserve it, very community and family minded. Native Americans and the ways of living they taught our ancestors are revered and respected by Appalachians. Their culture and values are still alive here.
I really enjoyed this series so much. Peter, you are so respectful of everyone you interview and that is what makes your subjects open up. The interviews are awsome as is the scenery. Many many thanks!
I have enjoyed your series on Appalachia and thank you for the respect shown to everyone interviewed. I'm a 9th generation NCer who is just asking for respect for our ways, culture, people, and environment. Please give back to our communities where you live. We can't keep it so beautiful and attractive without the help of those who come to enjoy it too.
I can relate to their experience. I live in Asheville, NC, and the rich began their takeover here about 10 years ago. People can't even afford to rent a studio or one bedroom anymore unless they're married or can split rent with someone. Those of us who prefer to live alone and don't make triple digits are screwed. Landlords have become so greedy and uncompromising, it disgusts me. What's so upsetting is how the rich can just buy a beautiful home/property, create an air BNB or 10--or leave it empty 10 months out of the year--then move back to Malibu or Manhattan and get richer while the average person who works their ass off continues to suffer. I get the principle with the 'money doesn't buy happiness' saying; but it buys security and comfort, and those things make me very happy. I do understand wanting to spend your money however you want, since all of us do and that is your right. But when people can't survive in their homes anymore, it's not ok. Thanks for highlighting the sad realities of gentrification.
I was born in Asheville in 1958 and the Metropolitan population was 66,000 people, now it’s 370,000 people, I want to go home because Florida is now going to trash but I really miss my mountains, my father had retired in Brevard and what I remember of it was a little town probably unaffordable by now and you know I almost moved back 45 years ago when it was affordable with my dad, I should’ve took the offer and I cannot imagine Asheville with it growing to 400,000 people! where are they going to put them all?
I live in Texas, and there was a ballot measure for increased property taxes for a soccer stadium worth $40,000,000. This town is only 26,000 people. $40,000,000 for a place that does not even have a professional soccer team. THAT is where my TRIPLED property taxes are going, and it really pisses me off because most people don't even play or watch soccer.
49:00 he echos this sentiment that the mountains were cared for better in the past... what past? Most of the history of appalachia (post cherokees) was mining, deforestation, ecological destruction, burning trash and dumping sewers directly into the creek. Also, it's Newland NC not "newald"
What an incredible series.....absolutely loved every minute of it....what stunning views...and hard working tough and kind people...big hug from Amsterdam,the Netherlands! Keep them comming and we keep on watchin'!
Same Love back to you.... as pay goes around this neck of the woods....5 year ago I got paid 14 dollars a hour being a A.S.E. mechanic at local Gov. hard to make it with 2 kids/wife....newest truck I own is a 95 chevy 1/2 truck..you just learn to manage.
@@chrishensley6745 I swear if it wasn't for peter's videos I would have known nothing on that region...only what the stereotype and what the garbage media gives us here in Europe...don't worry....life is hard here in Europe also...not bad,but we have our problems also...
@@sirbuandrei7387 I'm glad you're a European who can admit this, that European media can give slanted depictions of what America or Americans live each day here. I say this all the time, and people laugh it off. It's annoying, honestly. So, thanks.
Those two beautiful people are among the best I have enjoyed on this journey through Appalachia - kudos to them both! And of course to you Peter for another exceptional episode!
My family has roots that date back farther than the town we live in. The town we live near/in was founded in 1925 and my family has been in this same county since 1850
My husband is a North Carolina Hollarboy. Many generations born and raised there. We live in Northeastern Georgia, just below N.C.. His grown kids, brother and cousins still live up there. He talks about his childhood there and Grandfather mountain. I have enjoyed this series so much.
My whole family is from Ellijay Ga. My parents, my grandparents and great grandparents. Ppl only see the land as something to profit off of. The mountains are dotted with houses and it looks terrible. True Appalachian folks never lived up on the mountain tops lookin for views. They was always in the hollers, in a tucked away spot in the hills away from the world. And Appalachia isn't the only place this is happening unfortunately. But Appalachia is truly a magical place that is sadly getting exposed and exploited. 😔😔😔
Dude i just wanna say, you have opened my mind so much with your videos. Its sooooooo refreshing to see such undocumented info with no type of Bias or agenda. What you are doing is so important for our society. Thank you so much Peter, and all the everyday people that help lead these videos
She is right able not being welcome there. The gated entrance shows us that. I am surprised nobody stopped & questioned you guys. This is happening all over the U.S.A. Once again another great video. Thanks.
I'm loving this Appalachia series as much as I loved the tribes! Edit to add- she's not wrong about the bullying. I'm from southern Oklahoma. I have a thick country accent. My mom does too. And my grandmother did. I don't mind it, now. It's something I try to keep to a minimum. If something real hick slips out, my kids will tease me. In a good hearted way. I'm almost 50, I don't care what anyone thinks of me. I ain't got the time for no nonsense.
I ain’t neither. We don’t even realize we have an accent until we talk to someone from different areas. For the most part people love my southern speak 😅
Ya I moved away from Southern WV 10 times including serving in the active army for 6 years where there is people from every state in the country. I was the only one who was made fun of in regards to the way I spoke. It's like people would say oh I must be married to my sister and I still have an outhouse etc
My mom was from California and my dad was from Texas. We lived in Texas most of my life. If my accent started to slip out she would slap my mouth and say you'll never get a job sounding like that. I worked in HR and during a meeting a woman older than me, I was in my early twenties, said "it's not fixin', it is about to." Luckily, my boss said "this isn't up north and it is very common here." Many teachers and other people have tried to remove the way southerners speak.
Peter you have a great way of communicating with people and interviewing these great people of Appalachia. You’re doing an awesome thing trying to bring their voices to light.
Appalachia is being destroyed by gentrification. In my hometown rent was always $300-$450 a month. Even ten years ago it was. But since 2017, when they started rehabbing houses and moving in yuppies, the rent has gone up from $450 all day to $1,000 for a studio. They bought out all the family corner stores and laundry mats and put in coffee shops and pilates gyms, effectively driving the local poor into starvation and homelessness cause they got no car and can't get out to an actual grocery store and they can no longer afford rent. You say it's cleaning places up and making it better but all it does is wreck the ability for the poor who are from there to survive. This ain't your playground it's my LIFE 🙄💩
Who sold those places?? boomers. Your friends and families Boomers sold those places. That’s on that older real estate owning generation. Or their kids. If you don’t protect your home nobody will.
I empathize with you. But you can't leave a place to run down to cater to the poor. As much as I often dislike it you can't stop progress. Also, let's be honest, West Virginians made some poor choices & didn't look to the future. I'm from one of the rare Jewish West Virginia families. Why aren't there Jewish poor trapped in poverty in West Virginia? Because the children were brought up in an environment of going to college and becoming a Doctor, Lawyer, Accountant, etc. They didn't want their children to follow them in the mines or steel mills or even take over the small business they owned which made them at best middle class. West Virginia needs to stop crying Victim & start moving forward on its own terms.
You sound really ignorant to me not everyone can be a doctor or lawyer or accountant…and even if they could there wouldn’t be a job for everyone. There are always going to be poor people no matter if they get an education or not. We need people to be miners too. If we had no miners we’d be in more trouble than if we didn’t have lawyers and maybe even doctors. As long as someone is working even if they don’t make much money they deserve to afford housing.
@@Bulvan123 You realise society would collapse pretty quickly without miners, mill workers, and small business owners? They are literally essential and have a right to life as much as anyone else.
Brilliant report! I can’t help thinking that what’s happening here has already happened in places like Hawaii and Puerto Rico where land developers and outsiders have ruined the local area and disrespected local culture. Bottom line respect the land and the culture and they will respect you.
I live in Puerto Rico, born and raised here. You are 100% correct rent of a 3 bed house years ago was like 500$ now its 1200 plus. While median income its 20,000 a year. Also local areas are being changed a lot because of outsiders
Exactly...I'm Native Hawaiian. Also Paradise, CA where the service oriented people lived, farmed, serviced tourists, but wouldn't sell their old homes...then the 🔥
It is literally all about controlling you while stealing your land, and charging you lots of money for "taxes". They do nothing for the community, they pocket the tax funds or send it off to Ukraine and China it's pure corruption.
This happens EVERYWHERE! It’s happening in jersey, nyc, Hawaii, Puerto Rico,the south, Florida, WV,Tennessee,NC, Virginia, Texas etc….. This is nothing new
I stop in WV on my way to Ohio from Florida. I love the WV vibe,the people are friendly, its a shame the drug problem many young folks got into. These are a strong people,they'll pull through it . This series is you're best work Peter. I'm sure you're wife is a big part of that so shout out to her.
As a kid and a teen my friend and I would visit her godparents in WV and I loved it there. The mountain, so many trees and beautiful views. Plus they had horses. I also saw some really rundown places on the way. I loved spending time with their family but always wondered if I would have fit in and been accepted by the community at large being that I wasn't from there. That's the main reason I haven't tried to move to any rural mountainous area, I don't want to live with people who don't want me there, never accept me. It's good reading the comments saying that it wouldn't be a problem for someone who enjoys it for what it is.
I grew up in Bat Cave, NC once considered deep Appalachia. As kids we were free to wonder and explore the mountains and the hollers, hunt the woods, fish the streams and swim in the lakes…it was a nature lovers wonderland. Everyone knew everyone, we all helped each other in times of need, it was a strong community…Now thats all gone….Now its all subdivided up for second or third homes. I cant even access my old swimming hole anymore, Blackrock owns it now.
What’s up neighbor. Same here. Now I’m priced out of my home county, and starting to be priced out of the big city I live in now. Not sure where I’m supposed to go
I'm from the city unfortunately. Denver. Bat Cave NC sounds like the coolest place ever. I'm sorry to hear about Blackrock. That's sucks. At least you had a great childhood in what sounds like a great place!! I'm jealous. Denver is a great place because the Rocky Mountains are close, but it is a BIG LIBERAL CITY.
Hey Peter, watching this from a small town named Jalpaiguri in the state of West Bengal, India. Same things are happening in my district too. Politicians are colluding with the big time real estate developers to build apartment buildings in literally middle of the forest & almost all the apertments are being bought over by outsiders having money. It really pisses me off that how they are ruining our landscape & nature!! Great video by the way & more power to the people of Appalachia.
Peter, this has been an impressive series. Honest and intimate inquiry where you let people tell their stories with little editorial judgement. Very well done. I'm new to your channel but I'm very glad I found it.
I am not from Appalachia but you as usual introduced all of us to great people, beautiful geography and sad or at least very worrisome situations. The divide from inflation, and lack of interest in the “ culture” and people who live in this beautiful place. You did another fabulous job of introducing us. Thank you Peter. Loved this series.
I drove out into the Blue Ridge Mountains 25 years ago on a trip to the East side of the US on a business trip from the UK and my camera was lost so I have no record of that time. It was beautiful then and thanks for this video and the comments from the local people. It is good to hear their stories and I wish them well and hope they can keep their world intact.
My mother's family is from Watauga area (Valle Crucius, Sugar Grove area) and I only first visited October 2019 and fell in love with it. I had virtually nothing in common with family there, but I felt so connected. The landscape is of course beautiful, but it's the people (total strangers too) that did it for me. The real tragedy here is that these people are being forced out. Also that hilltop condo is awful, how in the world was that ever allowed. The people of Appalachia deserve better!
Most of the counties above the escarpment do not have countywide zoning. Regulation is put in place on an ordinance basis which has resulted in less land use regulation than the majority of NC. The existence of mountaintop condos was such a threat that the counties acted swiftly to prevent them from ever being built again. Even where zoning exists in rural counties, like Madison county, the restrictions are fairly loose and try to allow for people to live off the land. This is the opposite of what happened to the Shenandoah region, where zoning ordinances can exceed 90,000 words (bigger than most novels), and county officials have been known to act like tiny tyrants. Where I live in PA, it’s closer to WNC, mainly because the township doesn’t enforce a lot of the zoning laws and just does it’s own thing. From my afar PoV, the county governments in WNC don’t act like tiny tyrannies. And the same can be said for the southern blue ridge as a whole. I wonder if it’s that libertarian culture of being left alone that’s keeping these places free. I think if it can be kept that way, it will allow people to come in and build new rural economies outside of tourism. When zoning restricts the heck out of rural land it’s hard for people to live off the land, hence, rural depopulation and movement to cities.
This entire Appalachia series is absolutely praiseworthy, Peter. So much pure humanity. So much promise and so much spirit, courage and hope. We should all follow and support the local residents' efforts to conserve their regional culture and environment in a respectful and sustainable way while they bring in the changes they need and on their terms. I hope Jake will get the funds to rebuild his home. Thank you for posting the GFM link, and many thanks again to everyone in each chapter of the series who welcomed you in so you could help us better understand and appreciate Appalachia.
I live in North Georgia and man oh man. This video felt like watching what is happening in our community. Us locals are struggling to stay in an area where our families have been for hundreds of years.
It's insane how fast the Atlanta metro sprawl is spreading like a cancer up 400/60. The same thing keeps happening in all these counties and towns and unfortunately a lot of it can be laid at the feet of prominent families that do go back a long ways and who control local councils and boards. They usually have personal stakes in the real estate developments that happen and sell communities out to benefit themselves. They will use reasoning like "people need the jobs and homes" but the jobs are nothing but low wage retail and restaurants, and the "homes" are increasingly apartments and poorly built stick homes on the tiniest lots possible. A lot of these jobs and homes end up filled by people from elsewhere in the end anyway.
I live in northeast TN and the gentrification of my hometown as a kid and now where i live as an adult is frustrating as all hell. It's getting harder and harder to stay, but I can't imagine leaving my mountains
I have just really enjoyed this series so much Peter, you have done justice to a region that has been so misunderstood and under appreciated. You have broken the barriers, I think the rest of us can now begin to understand and have empathy for the obstacles these Americans face and why they struggle to hold on to what culture and traditions remain. Thanks Peter for putting so much effort into shining a light and these wonderful folks. And thanks to your interview subjects for sharing their beautiful home places with all of us. You did it justice in every way, good on you Peter!
Thanks for watching! This is part of our greater Appalachia series: th-cam.com/play/PLEyPgwIPkHo5If6xyrkr-s2I6yz23o0av.html
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Appreciate you Peter
Us born and raised West Virginians like to truly live in peace. We don't care what outsiders think about us. We just want to make a living, love our families, and serve The Lord doing it!
Love waking up to a new Video from you Peter! The Appalachian series is among my very favorite!
Living in Small Towns, the Locals are Intentionally Nightmares! And if their Bloodline has enough Local Status they can Attack you and Have you Arrested! And they Just Ruin their Undesirables Out of Town! Directly Tell You To Leave, and Scream at you about being an Out of Stater, and I've always been their Whipping Boy! They Wouldn't Even Educate Me! You can Tell How Mad these Locals are that People not from their Blood are Moving In! And it's Disgusting! They are Horrible People! And if they can Get their Claws into you, they will never Stop, Problem is they Dig Into Kids! And you don't even Understand why they are doing it, but you Get Older, and have to Be Disgusted with Locals!
@PeterSantenello I hope you went to Swain County and learned the story of the Road to Nowhere and the broken promise to the people that were removed
My mother was the head of the Avery County N.C. Building Inspection Department and wrote the proposal which became "The Ridge Law" aka the "Mountain Ridge Protection Act" that was passed in 1983. A tiny 95lb 5'2" tall lady (Aleta Daniels-Field) was the driving force behind the law that prohibits any structure over 40' tall being built on the top of any mountain. I'm very proud of her for fighting for the beauty of the mountains we call HOME!!!
Wow! That is amazing. You are right to be proud of your dear mother❤
Let's hope money and corruption doesn't make certain people look the other way.
Sadly it happens.
You mother was a force to be reckoned with. What a wonderful lady. 🌻
That is so cool, thank you for sharing!
Glad your mom took the "bull by the horns" and shut that down.
That’s an epic win. I remember when that hideous hotel went up on the ridge. Such an eyesore.
The local born and raised Appalachian people don't have any problems with outside folks coming in and wanting to live here. The major problem is the people who are coming and buying up property do so because they love the atmosphere and beauty of this place, BUT when they do get here they seem to want to change it to the way it was where they came from. If you ask any locals the majority agree on that.
Yup and they ruin the culture
That could be stopped with the type of regulations that Appalachians tend to vote against. It's hard to see things change, I struggle with the gentrification of Florida where it's negatively impacted our economy, but I lived in Appalachia for a time and I wonder if anything is better than the poverty and almost complete lack of opportunity that exists now in much of the region
everywhere could stand some change and improvement
they built a hotel directly on top of the mountain. bunch of idiots if you ask me.
My daughter in law my son and gbaby live in Brea, Kentucky. She was born in hazard county some where in haller. Best wishes
That condo on the top of the mountain is a disgrace
It's truly horrific. What an eye sore but also a great lesson to build with nature not destroy it.
The Sugar Cube 👌
its a ski resort. I live here. its ugly as shit
I live in Huntington WV where are these condos?
@@sonjacollier7910 it's in sugar mountain, NC 🤷♂️ but Huntington , now there's a sheet hole
I’ve recently discovered your channel.
I am a Canadian. I am enjoying your reporting so so much and I am very impressed with the local man and woman in the interview. They are so down to earth and real!!!
This Appalachia series is literally the best
Yes! I love the respect you give them
He needs to talk to Tipper Pressley, celebrating Appalachia is her channel. The blind pig and the acorn is her blog. Shes keeping Appalachia anlive and down to earth, just made a top selling cookbook. Music, history , stories, language, truly keeping it ALL alive. She’s in my area over Brasstown NC.
Just came to say the Same thing! 🙌
Quit overusing the word literally. There was no reason for it in your sentence.
Agee! 100 percent
As a Watauga local, it breaks my heart to be forced out of my hometown due to rising costs (coughAppstatecough) and people buying second and third vacation homes. The entitlement of people moving into their 6,000 sq foot homes and demanding local change is astounding. Thanks for highlighting the issues.
Same thing is happening to Florida. Sure my house is worth 3 times what it was but can’t afford to move up to a better house because so many are moving here from other states.
@@benztech2262 Arguably, it's occurring everywhere. Unfortunately, this is due to a lack of being properly informed about the area(s) and a pure disregard for local establishment. But hats off to Peter for providing significant coverage and initiating change. The best we can do is support him in those efforts and try to do the same ourselves.
This is definitely happening everywhere, including my hometown in AZ. People born and raised here no longer able to afford it after rents raised 50% in the course of two years. People from coastal areas have a big effect on the places they move to, which is basically everywhere.
All I can say is ; look to the 1st Nation peoples. There will always be someone coming for what you have come to call home, the only guarantee is that things will continue to change.
@@ravenkitty1960 Absolutely. Someone always "owned" some land first. Obviously it's awful that people have been slaughtered in the past over land - but someone, or something (if not people, then animals and nature) were there first. At least these days we're mostly just dealing with gentrification, not genocide.
Im born and raised NC! I live on my familys 220 acre farm and people and businesses are sending offers monthly to buy our land at hardly no cost. Us and All the farmers in the community stand together on keeping this the country side. We stand with yall as well💪🏼. Some of us just want to be left alone and stop dealing with business men and government
God bless you all
🙏❤🙏
What's a 200 acre plot go for out there?
I'm from England, and 200 acre of woodland with a bit of arable is multi millions £
That's such a great attitude and I agree, to live on a farm with that kind of beauty and freedom surrounding you, if you and your families are doing well, who cares about money and greed, it doesn't buy joy or peace or health. God Bless you and your land and farms and families!
@@rambo.69 depends on where he is from and how the land lays but 1,500 to 4,000 a acre is typical. Sometimes people from out of state/or cities will pay higher prices.
I sure hope yall don't sell. I was born in Raleigh but grew up in Myrtle Beach. It's more like NYC here now. It's ruined. There is no amount of money I'd take if I could make it like it once was. It's awfully sad.
As a son of a man who grew up in Appalachia (W.Va), this video is amazing and I love her accent! There are some wonderful ppl here. My dad was raised in Bluefield from a small town called Bramwell. It’s always been about community. I know what a holler is lol. I may need to visit. This was emotional for me as my father has passed. What an amazing video
Born and raised in Brushfork here.
that's a southern accent. it isn't appalachian.
Rich people fleeing the problems they caused seems to be a problem all over
It’s called Capitalism…the great societal ill - going back to Colonialism.
Who sold them those farms ?
@@daveshore8671 Listen to the video.
Why I will win the 2024 US Presidential election by a landslide victory as a write in party free candidate.
@@BAFFLED-u4o I did. If your neighbor sell out then it’s on them. Boomers are greedy in all parts of this country. I bought 50 acres in Appalachia from a boomer who sold off family land bit by bit. I will keep it a farm. But they are all too willing to sell out their communities.
"Respect the views, the environment, and the people", WELL SAID!!!
I agree with the statement. The man that said it should practice what he preaches. His place was definitely an environmental blight.
Yep, but greed exploits that mindset
Being originally from Southern Kentucky I could tell people one thing. Some of the nicest and even some of the smartest people I've ever met have lived in broken down trailers and little broken down cabins. Most of them will give you the shirt off their back if you need it. Never ever judge a book by its cover.
@cocomarineblu993 because they choose
You are correct. I am a mechanic and always impressed by the abilities and attitude of people I met there that could fix anything and get by with very little and also the generosity of people. I have always said don't judge a book by its cover.
@cocomarineblu993There are also very dumb and stupid people who are ultra rich. Think about that.
@cocomarineblu993Just like black folk, they dont have much choice or many opportunities to get out of it; not easy to do.
@@twodigitscout9800the blacks have affirmative action for all manner of jobs. Just having a pulse is enough to get hired.
This is happening everywhere. The rich move into beautiful areas and make it so the locals can no longer afford to live there. The gap between the rich and poor gets bigger every day.
Same in Ireland
@@beatusqui Same in Australia.
Extremely shameful how the locals are being FORCED OUT!!
That is exactly what has/is happening in Maui Hawaii.
Same in France, Belgian, German, British and Parisian people came in the south and transformed it in an unaffordable area for the locals. I honestly don't know if I'll be able to buy a house one day and I'm 30.
I hope Peter gets an award for this documentary. It is so well done.
Don't stop here... I only discovered Peter a couple of months ago and have binge-watching his videos ever since. He's so good with every place he visits.
Actual journalism. The comments among those not familiar with the US should be evidence alone. He could focus entirely on the Appalachia series and I'd be happy. I've learned more from this series than actually living here.
That’s exactly what happened to my home town in PA once it starts there’s no stopping it. It’s depressing
He should. I am enjoying his videos. Talk about an education!
Deserving
Just an FYI, the big field they stop at around the 5 min mark has been cleared as pasture land for as long as I can remember and I’m in my 40s. My Grandmother’s house is about a half mile up the road from that. Her property also has an entire mountain top that is cleared and has been used as pasture land for over 100 years. It was never cleared for the view.
Are you single haha
Hasn't most the land been cleared and then abandoned and trees and brush taken it back over? That area is so lush twenty years a cleared field will be forest again.
I think he was just using that field and its size as an example of the scale of land being cleared in some cases for "the view." He could clearly see the cows right in frame and he isn't an idiot.
@@GM6.7 It takes quite a bit longer than 20 years for the big trees to grow back.
@@fzr1000981my man!
You are hands down one of the best freelance journalists out there Peter! Don’t ever change, you’re the man✌️
As a Australian, I’m fascinated with the cultures of other places, the diversity of people’s lives but unfortunately the world over this story is happening. I love the variety, we don’t want everything the same.
This is what real journalism is. This is a lost art
Thank you for the Appalachia series. I've enjoyed them. I moved to a nearby county to these people during the vid, but it was a house that was on the market. I've been immersing myself in the community and love everyone around here. Even joined the local volunteer fire department to help give back to the community that has been so welcoming.
I've been stuck in the hospital for 3 months now and discovered this epically amazing person exploring real issues with real people from a non bias, open minded standpoint. I have utmost respect for Peter Santenello for everything he is showing, the way he shows it, and the drive for knowledge. Big ups!! And thank you.
I just went home after 62 days in the hospital and this was the best series to help me cope with long nights and horrendous pain. I wish you well. Peter keep it up!!
Sending all of you healthy healing vibes. God Bless.
Best to you. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
I recently broke my hip and stayed 3.5 weeks in rehab. I don't watch TV but the facility has fun things to do. Arts and crafts, music, bingo etc. Was fun and the food was really good.
You should watch Tipper Presley at Celebrating Appalachia… her blog is , the blind pig and the acorn. She’s been keeping Appalachia alive for a very long time. Every bit of it…..
She has years of stuff that you can’t ever get through it all. A plethora of videos and information
I can so identify with the problems that these sweet people are experiencing! I was born and raised in Hawaii and it seems this problem is global!
Not a globe, 😂😂😂😂😂😂
Klaus Schwab is the Global problem. He and his rich minions. Old saying goes, “Money can’t buy you happiness.” I’d rather be broke and poor. Than cold hearted rich❤😊
Hawaii is this dialed up to 1000 on this. Yall have the worst housing costs in the country, godspeed man.
Even in some of the most rural states like Nebraska, 99% of the land is owned by investors like Bill Gates. You can't build a small ranch in the countryside, don't even think about going off of a paved trail to hike down to a creek, that creek is owned by someone, and they'll shoot you on sight.
Well, if the government didn't create disasters and then gobble up the land from the deceased ...
I'm an Aussie and I love you're accent! It's got this unmistakable feeling of home, of family.
Be proud of it!
It's beautiful
Well said
You're probably aware but the Scots-Irish had been embittered by life in England and Scotland and so came to America for a free life. Many of them settled in Appalachia.
I'm a descendant of them and proud to be.
It's amazing to think that some of my family may be in Australia!
Yessir. My Scottish great grandgather said har, not hair. Same. Southern Ky.
Love the accent too. I think it’s cool that you can kind of tell where she’s from.
Yup. All my kin in Hayesville don't take to jaspers. They think God chose them to come and "fix us". We don't need fixin', y'un's do. If life is so grand for y'all then WTH y'uns keep movin' down here! More than a few x's I've taking these bossy butholes to my 2 post grad degrees making me more educated than nary a 1 of these catty wampus hostiles. Yup, I'en made a choice long ago to speak my family's Appalachian English but careful! you say the wrong thing we gonna get madder than a wet hen.
The poets wrote of our ethereal, verdant and pristine scenery. However, we find most visitors show complete ignoration to be a grand demonstration of their nescient minds' failure to differentiate intentionally living traditional ways from their own obtuse shallow ignorance. 🔥 Now! Did I prevaricate my accomplishments? A hillbilly with a PhD who has been hunting and trapping her own dinner since age 5 yo causes them to suddenly become reticent with their egos.
So I'm pert near privileged to keep up the oldin' ways. Bet most wouldn't know a poke of beans from a jar of kerosene!
I'm well aware of NZ vs Aussie. Yet! Kia Ora, whanau. tuturu whakamaua kia tena, houmi e, hui e taiki e. Nau mai haere mai. (indeed, fear the hillbillies! Do you want to tango with a lady who has both a PhD and a loaded rifle?
Ivy is a beautiful woman with a lovely accent. Peter, thank you for showing these films to help bring down stereotypes, and witness parts of America we rarely see.
Modesty needs to be praised and placed upon a pedestal, not the rich and greedy
Indeed. Everything is greed driven now. The 0.0001% class of greedy individuals continues to amass wealth and ruin the world while the other 99% of us get poorer and poorer. If I was rich I would be helping THE PEOPLE. Not building mansions on other people's land.
I'll just buy a taller pedestal, I'll make my pedestal out of a redwood. I'll park my bugatti and raptor in the base.
@@rambo.69 no doubt you will
@@rambo.69
Money is like salt water the more you drink the thirstier you get.
In other words you lose.
@@Chris-yo6wx just buy a desalination unit
As a millennial who spent their entire preteen and early teen years destroying anything within me that made me Appalachian and running away as soon as I turned 18. I'm 30 now and I moved back recently and I literally mourn for Appalachia and how much of us abandoned it
then revitalize it... and sell crafts to the outsiders at bazaars in spring and fall. sell art to them. be sure to mark it up ridiculously.
I liked it all up until the last part smh@@christigoth
Can relate, but just coming from the country side in Finland 🇫🇮
@@christigothadd a zero, you gotta make sure they don't think they're getting a deal
I’m in the same spot.
I am from Appalachia, I love the series Peter! I am also glad they mentioned the wildlife, it is critical we protect trees for animals and the environment
Appalachia has a lot of old growth trees doesn’t it? The trees where I live are all really old oaks. Some could easily be older than this country. They won’t come back in 50 years like pine forests.
The sad thing is, everybody’s going to learn the hard way. We have this issues happening here in Oregon too but we’re much more protected. Luckily because it’s such a blue state and environment is so important. But this is tragic.😢
national forest typically do, but alot of land was farmed so the trees are not that 300+ year old ones. Where I moved the land was farmed for a good 60+ years and we figure most the trees are about 80-100 years old from when they fully stopped in the 30's. There are a few red oaks that are property markers that are definitely old growth though. @@13_cmi
The point when you stopped to look at the beautiful scenery with the farm and cows, looks exactly like my village in Rukungiri, Western Uganda. All the way down to the narrow, but tarmacked 2-lane road.
My medical doctor is from Uganda. Dr Umana. She is AWESOME! And welcome from a hillbilly in Western North Carolina. I don't take to jaspers (outsiders) but you sir can bring your family to stay with my kin anytime at all. 🌏
My neighbors are from the Congo.
There are a lot of videos which attempt to make us look like backwoods ignorant racists. Just plz know, those tend to be rednecks, not hillbillies. All the mountain folk I know around here have had multi-racial families since about 1950's including mine which has African Americans, Asian Americans, Latino and white. I've never met a racist hillbilly.
So anyone from Western or Sub-Saharan Africa just come on over. It's safe for you but not safe for the condescending Californians.
You mentioned north eastern Tennessee. That area has also grown in population with people moving in from Florida, California and many northern states as well. The growth has pushed housing prices to an all time high in East Tennessee. The area is becoming unrecognizable to people that have lived in the area their entire lives
in the county in east Tennessee where my friend lives, airbnbs outnumber normal houses now
As a 6th generation Texan, I feel this so much. This is exactly what has happened here. Kids moved away and didn’t want the grandparents ranch and sold them off. Whole ranches have had all their trees stripped and are nothing but ugly roof tops now. My house value has more than triples in a decade. We joke with people who are thinking of moving, saying well if you do you won’t be able to afford your house if you want to move back. Old Texans cared for the land and green spaces. They’re now ruined. Trash everywhere. Trees gone. No culture - all that is mostly torn down. We are running out of water because there are no laws around putting in a well and watering your whole vineyard or distillery that just moved in. It’s disgusting. I have so much more to say and to warn these people of. Get your laws in order now. Get people in office that are from there, otherwise…. It’s coming.
If you were to develope Texas to the level of Manhatten the whole world could live in just 1/3 of Texas. I'm a truck driver. It takes a whole day to drive across Texas. Most of it is empty.
@@jamesedmonds9946
Not the I-35 corridor from San Antonio to Austin to Georgetown. Prices have tripled in the last decade and taxes gone up. Your talking about West Texas, which is lots of dessert and low population because there are few jobs. Dallas, Houston and even farther south in Corpus Christi are booming.
@@StarreLabell drive 10 miles in any directions from I 35 and then where are all the people. I'm sitting in Laredo right now. Think your living in an urban area and complaining that it's urban... Drive from Laredo to corpus Cristy and you see more roadkill then people.
Happens in the.uk.secind holiday homes drive prices up in coastal holiday resorts
I'm a 6th generation Texan, too. Fancy there being two of us on this thread.
This series has been so eye opening about the little known people of Appalachia. This video is another home run of historical information and up to date happenings in that region. I will never see Appalachia the same way again after watching this incredible series. Well done Peter!
🎉🎉🎉
All my kin in Hayesville don't take to jaspers. They think God chose them to come and "fix us". We don't need fixin', y'un's do. If life is so grand for y'all then WTH y'uns keep movin' down here! More than a few x's I've taking these bossy butholes to my 2 post grad degrees making me more educated than nary a 1 of these catty wampus hostiles. Yup, I'en made a choice long ago to speak my family's Appalachian English but careful! you say the wrong thing we gonna get madder than a wet hen.
The poets wrote of our ethereal, verdant and pristine scenery. However, we find most visitors show complete ignoration to be a grand demonstration of their nescient minds' failure to differentiate intentionally living traditional ways from their own obtuse shallow ignorance. 🔥 Now! Did I prevaricate my accomplishments? A hillbilly with a PhD who has been hunting and trapping her own dinner since age 5 yo causes them to suddenly become reticent with their egos.
So I'm pert near privileged to keep up the oldin' ways. Bet most wouldn't know a poke of beans from a jar of kerosene!
This perfectly encapsulates the "Missing Middle" I feel that a lot of Americans are experiencing.
It'll only get worse as inequality skyrockets. Most of the billionaire class eventually wants to turn this country into an Ayn Rand inspired hellscape. No regulations to stop them from doing (and buying) whatever they want. In their ideal America there will be only two classes. Owner class (them) and worker class/serfs (everyone else).
They're leveraging their capital to pull this off with think tanks ran by the Koch brothers, Peter Thiel, etc, etc.
I really felt it when Nick said he was concerned about the rapid rate of change while overlooking that spectacular valley. He's knows what a precarious point Appalachia is at. Everyone should take Ivy's final piece of advice to heart when going anywhere, whether it's visiting or moving there: learn the culture, be kind and respectful, and protect the land. Watching this series from the other side of the world in New Zealand, I've really appreciated the insights this series has provided. What strikes me, is that while the extent of the concerns may vary, the issues are the same the world over: affordable housing, drugs, gentrification, social media are affecting the average joe.
Those city slickers don't deserve to live there!
@@thewalkingjed4893 They should explicitly have one subject in school (worldwide) which only repeats a few sentences for the whole year : You simply cannot eat money. You need the environment to be healthy. You need sunshine and greenery to not be depressed. Without water you cannot last a week.
In fact the situation today is actually so dire that we need to put those 4 sentences in every country's national anthem and song.
But does that mean you have to live in a dump like the guy next door?
I really think you make great points. I would just add, I live in Portland, OR in the USA which is also at a precarious point-just a totally different version of precarious, I suppose. And there are so many other variations in so many other places now that I think on it.
Kiora from the mighty otipoti! Jeez humans are a strange breed lol. Live and let live I say. Either that or the alternative... Nut up or shut up lol.
It’s happening here in Henderson County, NC too. Driving home prices to insane levels. Just saw new condos starting at 400,000 to over 1 million. No local person could ever afford that here.
That same "lokal" person will sell it for most overpriced value in that area. You can't make a clap without both hands. Locals are as guilty as people buying homes. Stop crying and out up with it. It's how world has always been. European settlers literally genocide whole Indians and stole this land and now complaining about rich people . The irony
That's the same in SoCal. Lol Most people that own nice homes or even rent aren't local...Though older people do still own homes that are worth a lot by proxy. Our parents often could afford homes in cheaper areas, but the ripple affect of the 90s and early 2000s carried through to now.
I don't know anyone of my generation working less than 40 hrs per week- most work 50+ and no matter the industry are struggling to afford rent. Too many taxes and the rent goes up and up. We are lucky we weren't scared of the COVId and got good prices during the first shutdowns; so we pay a little less than other people moving into these apartments. Nicer area but still old and plenty of break ins etc.
For a 1000 ft² 2 bedroom it's $3000/month if you're new. Lol
I still can't believe how many small homes I have seen in ghetto areas going for $850k+ and new track homes have ignorant young ppl from other areas, many times sother countries buying them and they fall apart in a few years. For $1-2 million a piece that's unfortunate.
I know this because my husband works in plumbing. He has been to amazing residences in nearby cities that have homes worth tens of millions and a few over 100M. They tend to be owned by foreigners, and the ones that are closer to 9-12 mill range are often vacation homes.
We have "affordable housing" built with tax aide that we don't approve. It's always expensive and usually for elderly only. The idea is apparently that the people with money (usually criminals if not from elsewhere) will move into the nice new places and the people just out of poverty will struggle to move into those places, leaving the older places and poor people will move into their old places which will be barely affordable. Lol
Also I get sick of ppl saying we voted for this. A lot of people here are not for blue govt. But our votes aren't counting....we've almost removed Newsome twice and he gets votes last min each time....and our policy votes don't seem to count either.
It's a part of the bigger problems in this country.
But we know who wins in the end. John 3:16❤
Keep your armor maintained.
Ephesians 6:10 ❤
Seems to be the same on almost every corner of the US and world for that matter. Idk how anyone anywhere affords housing right now.
@@TheSterlingArcher16How do people afford a new car either?
I live in southern Ontario Canada - our entire province is struggling with this issue. There's literally nowhere a person not already owning property, someone looking for a rental, etc can find affordable housing. I live in a rural town and local families can't afford to stay and new condos etc going up for wealthier people moving in. Sad.
I just finished your Border series & worked my way through this series. I’ve determined that you’re the only journalist we have left in the country! You have no bias/narrative to push. You let the people and places speak for themselves. Refreshing!
I agree 💯
So true. It is beautiful to have the unbiased truth. Also, Mark from the soft white underbelly is also great. Peter did a video with him not too long aho.
Agreed
I live in TN a mile from the NC line. It breaks my heart every time I see a big fancy house on top of the mountain. Also all of the street lights that run 24/7 drives me nuts.
I do agree that the cost of things has at least doubled if not tripled since 2020.
The outsiders moving in hasn't made any thing better or easier for us.
i also live in TN very close to the NC border, and this entire video made me so sad about how near my house, a lot of pasture land got sold after an old farmer died. His children sold off the land, and they took these really beautiful hills of cow pasture and covered them in these hideous, modern style McMansions for rich people to move into. They also cut down a lot of trees in the area to put in power lines, and every time I drive through that area, it just makes me so sad. I wish at the very least when rich people want to move into the area they actually try to build houses that are smaller and match the style of the surrounding houses
Can you see that big condo on sugar top from where you live?
The mountains shouldn’t have any light pollution, ruins the beauty of these places.
@@chaples_well said
And I’m so sorry - I can hear the sorrow in your words 😔
Conservation of natural resources is so important. Self indulgent clearing of land speaks to a "me" mindset. It's prevalent in every booming community. Love your videos, Peter!
How does he always get such well-spoken people to interview? These are valuable interviews. Thank you for the great content to open our minds.
I could listen to that girl's accent all day
They were so knowledgeable and well spoken. I was impressed.
Texans nearly sound the same
Do you think it is difficult to find intelligent southerners?
You can always find interesting and intelligent people when you spend a lot of time talking to people. The other thing is that the media has skewed our perceptions about the world to such a degree that we often think in terms of stereotypes about other people and regions.
It’s interesting to see how similar things are between Appalachia and Hawaii. From the natives, to the farm camps, to a depressed economy, to a tourist economy, to people wanting to live there, with all the tension that brings.
People are priced out of home and heritage .Sad that things have to change. Glad that there is no need for money in heaven and o'boy the views will be great.
I noticed that too. It sucks. Coming from a poor man west of Richmond.
@@janetbeam3087 Amen Janet.
There is always the revolutionary option, if it gets bad enough. But they have the poor hoodwinked into fighting each other not their class enemy.
These people are clearly not natives
Thank you again for speaking on such a painful, complicated topic. Born and raised NC and it hurts those of us that have seen all the changes. The culture and media paints rural southern folks badly and yet the rich/companies keep moving in - benefiting from exploiting our resources, spoiling our land, changing our culture and pushing locals out. Generations and generations back and it's all gone. We love people, we're so welcoming and don't mind sharing our communities and space. We're just wanting it done the right way, in a respectful way and that's just not happening. So many talk trash about the south but they are so quick to move down here and take over.
How about us folks that are from the South that badmouth it?
Look - these rural places are beautiful and poor, but they're not beautiful BECAUSE they're poor, and they're not poor BECAUSE they live somewhere beautiful.
They're JUST generationally poor. There's a persistent culture around here that celebrates a certain kind of poverty, which is why they haven't grown out of it. Nobody is stealing anything from these folks because they're too poor to own it. They never owned it.
They're only out there because a rich man built a mill or a mine in the first place.
It's a terrible cycle of pride and ignorance, and it's nearly identical to inner-cities. I've lived in both while in deep poverty and the only real difference is that there are no trees to cut down for firewood or to hunt in, so city folks sell drugs to the suburbs instead.
Peter, it’s amazing how much your channel has grown. Bravo! You’ve done more to introduce Americans to Americans than anyone else. So, so needed. 🤗
Thanks so much! So much more in the US to discover.
well said
This makes me realize what is happening to our world, it happening to everyone at the same time.
And that’s what is so scary to me. It’s not organic population growth it’s turbocharged inflation, too.
We have some similar issues here in Iowa. I live in Des Moines. The suburban cities surrounding the city don't have building code regulations, so developers are building ridiculously expensive (cheaply built) homes on rich farmland (that could be used for agriculture). People who work in these suburban cities cannot afford to live there and live in DSM, and DSM doesn't have enough housing because suburbs aren't building affordable housing. Those expensive houses have upped the prices of homes because we are in the same county. And rental companies are coming in and buying homes, but renters and landlords don't care for homes like a homeowner would. We don't have disposable income here for most of the population. You're right - this is all over.
So impressed! What well-spoken, knowledgable and insightful representatives these people are!
This couple should run for office. We need more young people like these in government today.
Wonderful interview! Thank you so much.
I thought the very same thing. They should run for office.
I’m from the area. Why does someone being well spoken seem to surprise you? Like she alludes to, we aren’t characters from The Deliverance. We even have universities and hospitals! Lol
@@becorations1 THIS
@@becorations1😂😂😂
Peter --Excellent reporting! Many thanks to the people who were so willing to talk to you!
I’m really enjoying learning about Appalachia. This is a great series.
Ha ha. You should live here.
@@VitalityMassageexactly and the two young people that are being interviewed are making things up as they go. Someone a little older that has really lived in Avery should've been interviewed.
@@S.O.S64 they seemed a little off.
@@VitalityMassage what a shame if they’re misrepresenting the area.
I grew up in the South. I now live in the Midwest for work. There are 3-4-5-6 generations of families here too. I don’t recognize the south they describe in this series. Thank you all that live there and posted this is a blinder-on micro view these individuals are presenting.
EDIT: half way through now and it seems there is a-lot of jealously I’m hearing. They don’t own the property, don’t work jobs that would allow them to buy the property, but all say they would like to live on the property. Entitlement, like drugs, knows no class, race, education, or geographical lines.
Great interview.
This gal is extremely well spoken and explains what is really happening all over the country but she highlights very well her state/community.
Thank you.
I love the people who want to protect their land not just because they own it, but by respecting it.
Right on!
No! They want to Protect Land they don't Own and have No Right to from Americans owning it, because they are not From Small Rural Areas! You People are Insane! You think you have the Right to All you Survey because you were Born There! You think you have a Hereditary Right over other Americans, when in Reality the only thing you have is a Trailer Home and a Pick Up Truck!
People work there Whole Lives started at Childhood and Education to be able to Own a Home with a Few Acres, than some Lazy Country Folk who won't get Educated and won't Work Hard, gets to give them a Hard Time, and Try to Say No and Stop Them! It's Awful!
Land … ALL LAND … needs to be respected and NOT OWNED.
@@sharongillespIn lalaland, sure. In reality, the vast majority of humanity has accepted the concept of land ownership. If no one owned land then why would someone ever bother to BUILD anything if the land it’s on can be trespassed on by anyone? The idea that land shouldn’t be owned doesn’t fit with reality, and you can’t change reality. Stop whining about things you literally can’t change- you have plenty of things in your own life that are 10000000x more important than the strange and impossible battle of making everything and everywhere free to everyone.
Ivy's accent is fabulous! - there are so many links & commonalities between us Scots & the Appalachian people that I'd probably fit in no problem. The friendliness & sense of community is so familiar to me.
We also have similar issues with incomers, tourism & house prices so I can fully sympathise with the quandry of balancing jobs & income vs. the way of life being altered.
The area they are in actually has an annual “Highland Games” festival yearly to honor Scottish roots in the area!!!!!!
Only time I've ever heard anyone make fun of an Appalachian accent was one time on SNL, other than that I've never heard of such a thing. By the way, my nephew is married to someone with that accent, I think of her as a southern bell b/c of her lovely accent.
@@doloresreichhardt1485 Sadly it happens quite often. It is not necessarily making fun of but more of treating someone like they are uneducated simply due to their accent. I have personally been hit with the comment "oh wow you are actually way smarter than you sound".... I guess having a southern accent means your IQ is lower than room temp.
Watching videos like these really makes you realize so many stretches of America, urban and rural, are really the same. Of course the nuances are very different, but the conversations are so similar. I swear I’ve heard my older neighbor in Chicago voice 90% of these same concerns
Exactly my thought
it almost seems like the real enemies were the rich assholes who destroyed our planet, ruined our cities, and now eating up our towns
Peter you've changed my life. I have completly adopted your open minded mentality and it brings me so much truth and joy wherever i go. I make friends everywhere.
So cool!
I bought the house next door to my parents. We are both almost 1/4 mile off the road. I would love to build a couple houses on the property for my kids.
I think the idea of hollars, family compounds, multigenerational households, whatever you want to call them is coming back. Or growing
I think that is the natural way. Grandma is supposed to be with the little kids every day, she teaches them and looks after their booboos and they thread her needle and trim her toenails. The whole of society suffers when families are fractured and everybody has lost their place and responsibility.
But what kind of work will your kids do to live on the same land ? What if they don’t want to farm? There’s a whole world of places and professions , what’s wrong with that? This kind of thinking is called prairie living with blinders on, cant see the forest for the trees , the world must be flat because I can see clear to the edge of the property 😂
@Moms1958
Who said I was a farmer?
The tractors lol
I'm in real estate. I own, manage, sell, flip and maintain real estate.
My kids can do whatever they want. They wouldn't want to be city dwellers.
@@dand33911I agree my family owns the whole block .My great grandfather bought it . I am in Florida . We don't farm we all have different Jobs .
A smart way to live with the way things are going.
Tipper, My heart is broken and I have been praying for everyone. I live in Alabama and I can’t imagine what the people in these areas are going through. I have never seen so much devastation. Do not let these people get to you. It’s people like you that I look up to. I love your family so much. You keep doing what your heart tells you and do not let these people get to you. You are a blessing to so many people. I am praying and going to donate as much as I can. We all have to help each other and love one another. That’s what Jesus tells us to do. Please know I am praying for you and the people that are in these devastated communities. My heart has definitely been broken. That could have been any of us. God Bless you and your family. Don’t stop your videos. These people need you! You are the voice of so many in need! Love you Mrs. Tipper! ❤️🙏🏻❤️
I live in Avery county NC and it's absolutely ridiculous- this video really is shedding light on a serious issue we have. Can't find anywhere to live. Every bit of land is being bought up by corps. I see that damn condo on the mountain ridge AND Eaglesnest everyday. Amazing people live here, but they're being forced out of the area for more Floridian 2nd homes. You either work for them or cater to them.
Amen brother
dont think they are all floridians some are half backs
I'm down the road a bit (upstate SC) and prices are being insanely inflated by people who are willing to live among us "ignorant rednecks", buying up the lake and mountain properties we've saved all our lives to hope to afford.
@@zchris87v80that is the part that infuriates me. From Charlotte. I lived in Spartanburg. Moved to Holden Beach. I can’t get away from the snobs who hate us and are making it impossible for us to live in our home area
@@terrijohnson6347what are half backs?
This gentrification is even going on where I live, in the mountains of East Tennessee. I can't believe, every time I drive down the road, how many people from California and Texas are building these huge, multi-million dollar homes on our mountain. It blows my mind. These are mostly second and third homes for these million/billionaires. So sad. We are losing our culture.
Are you by Johnson City?
I live in elizabethton, I renovated a house here wit my friend n his wife. We’re all from jersey.. none of us have big houses tho. I do see what your saying when I’ve done deliveries.
@@bhaveshpatel9626 No, I'm north of Chattanooga, but not as far north as Johnson City. The area that I was specifically referencing is a tiny little mountain town called Hendon or "Flat Top" in Bledsoe County.
@@johndsouza842 haha oh ok, well cool! I hope you're enjoying our beautiful area 😊 (even though I don't live in that particular part of the state lol.) I'm practically in Chattanooga.. about 30 mins. away from Chatt. actually. I've grown up in these mountains for 31 years, and in the last 5 we have seen an ENORMOUS influx of people from states like California, New York, Texas etc. who are coming to what was once our tiny little mtn village, and building gigantic homes on huge plots of land. Renovation is great 👍 at least y'all revived something 😂 These people that I am referring to just come (or hire someone) to build these homes, then rarely ever visit them, and don even rent them out! Therefore, they aren't really contributing to our local economy... Just taking up our farm land. I appreciate your input though.
I know Flat Top! I went to high school in Chattanooga (Hixson) and college in Johnson City (ETSU). I miss the mountains!!!!!
Great video again. Born and raised in NC. Grew up in the Triad (Winston, Greensboro, High Point), went to school in Boone/Banner Elk, now live in Wilmington on the coast. The same issues that plague Avery and Watauga Counties in the western part of NC are the same we're dealing with on the coast of NC. Too many people, prices have exploded and locals are feeling the brunt. Would love to see you do a story about the NC coast. What used to be a sleepy little coastal area has now become a major hub for development and transplants.
I'm from Greensboro and very few farms/rural places exist in Guilford County now.
Wilmington has changed so much, its completely nuts.
Building a large residential property on a mountain and calling it "the Eagles Nest" is pretty wild. The rich owner who did this was surely aware of the historical reference to this back to Hitlers mountain retreat.
This Appalachia series has been absolutely incredible Peter. You inspire so much creativity and positivity in the world. Lots of love!
Being a native of western North Carolina and having traveled extensively in the state, I believe our woes regarding development can be condensed to one word…. GREED. Those who have much want more and they do not care who or what is hurt in the process. The only hope is for locals to remain strong and say, No More! People cannot gentrify the area unless locals give permission. We welcome you to visit us as we are.
Welcome to the world economy...
Damn thing sucks
7:12 just did a week bike trip through WV, had to see it before its all gone. We were approached to buy land/property with the promise of huge return in the tourism industry. How sad. Regulation and decisions made about fuel use are killing the entire area.
does greed apply to the people selling their land to these "big bad evil rich people" then?
@@Rootiga if their backs are up against a wall and the poverty and disparity of need vs income prospects is a survival situation what are the choices 🤔 rock meet hard place.
The locals need incomes, which they might not get (according to the video), if the wealthy didn't enter and offer jobs. Plus, land owners sell to the rich, because… Double-edged sword.
So true. Peter definitely is nothing but a kind person. He keeps his take on whatever he sees to himself. That’s why he has so many great interviews. People talk their true story when they are treated with dignity and kindness. Have thoroughly enjoyed this visit to Appalachia.
Thank you for showing the truth about Appalachia and doing with respect. My family has lived in the mountains over 250 years. Sadly my father's family had to move to the "foothills;" but kept all of the traditions, accent, and family connections. They made sure we knew the families of the Mountain, Lewis Chapel, in southeast Tennessee. My father moved us to Los Angeles County when I was seven to be able to support our family. I was cruelly teased for my accent so worked hard to lose it. Unfortunately mt grandmother made sure that we took home remedies with us, I hated "yellow root," used to cure a sore throat. I'm now back in southeast Tennessee and visit our families cemetery anytime a relative passes away. We still have family reunions on the mountain, our family is so large that we introduce ourselves starting will our great grandfathers name down to our own parent. I love the traditions that we keep. Thank you
U should right a book on Appalachian remedies
All my kin in Hayesville don't take to jaspers. They think God chose them to come and "fix us". We don't need fixin', y'un's do. If life is so grand for y'all then WTH y'uns keep movin' down here! More than a few x's I've taking these bossy butholes to my 2 post grad degrees making me more educated than nary a 1 of these catty wampus hostiles. Yup, I'en made a choice long ago to speak my family's Appalachian English but careful! you say the wrong thing we gonna get madder than a wet hen.
The poets wrote of our ethereal, verdant and pristine scenery. However, we find most visitors show complete ignoration to be a grand demonstration of their nescient minds' failure to differentiate intentionally living traditional ways from their own obtuse shallow ignorance. 🔥 Now! Did I prevaricate my accomplishments? A hillbilly with a PhD who has been hunting and trapping her own dinner since age 5 yo causes them to suddenly become reticent with their egos.
So I'm pert near privileged to keep up the oldin' ways. Bet most wouldn't know a poke of beans from a jar of kerosene!
As a 46 yo native Tennessean, I love your work on anything Appalachia, Peter. We live on the border of middle and eastern TN, about an hour north of Chattanooga, on the Cumberland Plateau. Our little town suffered a similar "fate" in the early 2000s. A couple of developers from FL and started buying up acreage that, when we were kids, wasn't worth 700$ an acre. You couldn't even get city utilities. It was sink a well and hope for the best. In any event, these lots were sold for $50,000-$100,000 a piece. Then most people put up "kit" log homes. Granted, these are beautiful red cedar homes, 2-3 stories, and 3000 sq ft. Those folks could sell out in FL (at the time) for a cool 1.5 million and roll up here and get the lot and brand new log home for under $500,000. That's a good return on your money...if you have that much. Short story long, the Great Recession of 2008 hit, and tons of homes were foreclosed on. The locals couldn't afford to buy anything back, for sure. The county commissioners, in a panic of being left holding the bag with substandard roads, literally enacted, word for word, the building codes from Brentwood, TN...for a town with under 2,000 people. Our taxes have increased, access to "community land" (meaning anyone in the community could use it, so long as you respected it) is decimated, and I can't put so much as a pre-built Amish storage "barn" on my own property without the approval of the "building commission". My wife and I were lucky enough to end up as fourth generation owners of what was my great paternal grandparents' 70 acre cattle farm. Yet despite owning it free and clear, it took us 2 years and $3,000 to simply sub divide off a .7 acre plot...all because we wanted to have the ability to offer one or both of our daughters a lot on which to build. They can't even build anything on our existing 70 acres. Every new structure requires a sub division with soil studies, surveying, drainage survey and an corresponding doubling of property taxes for the exact same piece of dirt, only now it has a separate deed. The developers that ended up kicking off this original snowball...? They were long gone, money in hand, before the real estate crash even really hit deep. I'm in no way opposed to new people, new ideas, and new economies. But when a handful of people end up tilting the balance in their favor, and the locals have little to no recourse for generations to come...I get upset, and I'll be the first to own up to that fact. There's gotta be a better way. As Capt. Kirk said in Star Trek - The Undiscovered Country, "reality is probably somewhere in the middle." Love your work, brother, keep it up! And Ivy, you keep that accent going! I'm as country as cornbread and proud of it.
Spencer?
@@seaxofbeleg8082 Ding!
@user-zk5rt3gb3e I’m happy to share! I will be the first to admit that all my problems are still very much first world problems but they are still real and still irritating. The local, common man here doesn’t have the financial resources to waste on such silliness…yet here we are.
Great comment, Ryan! Boonie native here~
I feel you! Native Rhea Countian here. My folks live up on the mountain. My husband and I came back home after his military service to retire, but we can't afford to buy anything! My folks just sold their house for 415k. We've been priced out of our home just like a lot of folks. We've had to resort to living in our rv, and its not just us. Wealthy retirees moving in and driving up prices-can't even rent a trailer for under $1k, but you can't make more than $20 p/h in this town. Families I grew up with are being forced out. Its horrible how our communities are being destroyed.
I love these videos that you do. They help us all to understand each other better. I was born and raised in Pennsylvania. I come from a long line of farmers, coalminers, and bootleggers in Pennsylvania's Appalachian Mountains. I moved to Tennessee about 8 years ago. I LOVE the people of Appalachia. I love the southern history, the family ties, the mindset, the people,....everything about them and their culture. I may be an "outsider" but they are my adoptive family and I would do everything to protect them. I thank God every day that He sent me here to live in the "hollars" of Tennessee. And I am one of those that bought an old southern farmhouse. It was rundown, and we are slowiy fixing it up. We honor the folks that lived here before us! And I'm going to add that I bought my old rundown farm of 80 acres for $100,000 back in 2014. I get offers daily to sell it. I wouldn't sell it for any price in the world. it is priceless to me, and I want to preserve it for the next generation.
Learning a lot here. Grateful that these folks were willing to share their thoughts with you. Both of them have put a lot of thought and feeling into where they stand in this time of change for their county. Great episode, thank you.
I miss watching Anthony Bourdain’s show and I love this web series. You get great guides, a good history of the location, what’s important to the locals and every once in a while some good local eats. Thank you.
I don’t ever want these videos to end of Appalachia. I want to move to the mountains so bad and these videos have been a slice of heaven for me. I can watch and take myself out of the world I live in and picture myself right there. I need to find the courage to pick up and just go.
I moved to Southeastern Kentucky 20 miles south of Somerset 2 years ago from Florida. I came here not because I had money but because I didn't. I've never met a more accepting and kind people. I live off grid on 17 acres using rainwater and solar energy. I also happen to frequent the gas station that you were in in the last video. I will say this, if you do move here embrace the culture. I left Florida because New Yorkers ruined it. I will not leave here. Thank you for doing this series. I appreciate how you tried to look at it from every angle. I believe this is the most beautiful part of the country and some of the most beautiful people in the country. I hope it can be preserved.
Well done. The right way to live.
How did New Yorkers ruin it? Florida is a transient state. Which you sort of proved that it is…
I did something similar. I grew up in the woods, then developments came and removed all the woods and built stuff. If I had the money( I was young), I would have bought the land to keep the woods… That being said, I did finally find and buy 19 acres of woods in Appalachian area, with 1600 foot of stream, eventually want hydro power, 4 springs, one tapped with a well, and two mountain tops. I’ve made miles of trails throughout the property and enjoy simply going into the woods with my dog and enjoying nature and the solitude and peace that comes with it.
Unfortunately, people like you that move in are few, more often than not they come in and destroy our forest and farm land to build excessively large homes & drive up cost of living for everyone else. They destroying Appalachia and our way of life after destroying the hell holes they are escaping from. Big corps just see $ and care not to preserve our natural treasures.
How does a man from Somerset, England move there and do the same?
I’m from Southern West Virginia and it’s surreal seeing this. I’ve been playing the banjo on the porch for years and everyone loves it around here. We don’t have as much money but we have a lot more land in our families even with all our problems. It’s like post Appalachia where they’re at.
It really sucks here in southern Appalachia, calling yourself an Appalachian person here in southern Appalachia is starting to not mean anything because people who’ve been here 10 minutes start calling themselves local and outsiders can’t tell who actually from here because everyone who moves here now say they are from here
Nothing tangible is more precious than the land.
Same I live in Wise County Grew up in Scott County though and went to Gate City HS howdy neighbor.
I'm from Lee county
I’ve lived in WV almost all my life, and I lived in Logan county for 5 years. When I first moved there people were initially very hesitant about me, but once I stuck around long enough they became some of the closest and best people I have the pleasure to call my friends. I’m not a Logan countian, and would never tell someone I am. But the people there treated me with such love that I felt like one while I was there
I live in the Spruce Pine area, grew up in Avery County and in my opinion there are two different types of people who come here. There are those who love and appreciate the way Appalachian people live and want to be a part of that. They don’t want to change things, they assimilate, become our friends and neighbors and understand the reason this place is so special is because of the way Appalachian people live and how much we love this land and mountains. Then there are those who come here who want to have their cake and eat it too. They want to own a piece of the beauty here just for them to enjoy and have sole access to when they want but then want everything and everyone surrounding to be modern and convenient for them. They buy up and gate off as much land as they can get their hands on, not to enjoy it or do anything with it, more like they just want to own these mountains for themselves . And because it is land that locals have had access to and been able to enjoy , hunt , wild craft and have taken good care of for hundreds of years, to have an outsider come in with no understanding of that and take that away so nobody can enjoy it, not even them because they never set foot on most of it, people coming in and doing that will ruin this magical place for everyone. Now we have developers trying to buy up everything to sell off in lots only the rich can afford to buy and build on. What happens then? When all the mountains and valleys are covered in housing developments and thousands more people here with no understanding of what makes this place special who wants to change everything? We do not want that and there is a lot of resentment building among the locals and developers who only see $ signs when they look at these mountains
@@robcooke2854There is a happy medium to be had. Far as your very narrow minded assumption as to what Patriot means or that being a capitalist is all it means, you are so far off! One can love and appreciate this beautiful country and it’s freedom loving citizens and the family , community values we have while at the same time despising what our government has turned into. Educate yourself before you speak
Can we mention the people there before those depicted in these videos. I think that would be only fair. js
That is what the settlers did to the Native Americans. Colonization has a trickle effect. Like the game of Pac-Man, those at the top gobble up everything in their way.
@@funk-n-groovin6779 What government and some of those who migrated here did to Native Americans and how the lands they lived on and respected and loved were taken was absolutely wrong and cruel. Centuries later , there is no way to undo it only learn from it. The vast majority of Appalachian people have many of the same values Native Americans lived by. We love and respect the land and nature, try to take great care of it , preserve it, very community and family minded. Native Americans and the ways of living they taught our ancestors are revered and respected by Appalachians. Their culture and values are still alive here.
@patriotblonde5327 well stated and thank you
I really enjoyed this series so much. Peter, you are so respectful of everyone you interview and that is what makes your subjects open up. The interviews are awsome as is the scenery. Many many thanks!
I have enjoyed your series on Appalachia and thank you for the respect shown to everyone interviewed. I'm a 9th generation NCer who is just asking for respect for our ways, culture, people, and environment. Please give back to our communities where you live. We can't keep it so beautiful and attractive without the help of those who come to enjoy it too.
so motivating to see young generations talking about taking care of environment and respect, thank you for all this info
This Appalachian and Tribes series is fantastic and youve barely got into either this is hands down your best work Peter its amazing
I can relate to their experience. I live in Asheville, NC, and the rich began their takeover here about 10 years ago. People can't even afford to rent a studio or one bedroom anymore unless they're married or can split rent with someone. Those of us who prefer to live alone and don't make triple digits are screwed.
Landlords have become so greedy and uncompromising, it disgusts me. What's so upsetting is how the rich can just buy a beautiful home/property, create an air BNB or 10--or leave it empty 10 months out of the year--then move back to Malibu or Manhattan and get richer while the average person who works their ass off continues to suffer. I get the principle with the 'money doesn't buy happiness' saying; but it buys security and comfort, and those things make me very happy.
I do understand wanting to spend your money however you want, since all of us do and that is your right. But when people can't survive in their homes anymore, it's not ok. Thanks for highlighting the sad realities of gentrification.
The rich have been in Asheville since the 1800s tho.
@@DNYLNYI said that's when they began to take over. Rich people have always been everywhere...
@@DNYLNY the rich were all over this country in the 1800s I was born in Asheville long time ago
I was born in Asheville in 1958 and the Metropolitan population was 66,000 people, now it’s 370,000 people, I want to go home because Florida is now going to trash but I really miss my mountains, my father had retired in Brevard and what I remember of it was a little town probably unaffordable by now and you know I almost moved back 45 years ago when it was affordable with my dad, I should’ve took the offer and I cannot imagine Asheville with it growing to 400,000 people! where are they going to put them all?
Get your guns boys, we got a class war to win
I live in Texas, and there was a ballot measure for increased property taxes for a soccer stadium worth $40,000,000. This town is only 26,000 people. $40,000,000 for a place that does not even have a professional soccer team. THAT is where my TRIPLED property taxes are going, and it really pisses me off because most people don't even play or watch soccer.
That same stadium will need another 20 mil in maintenance and upgrades in 10 years
Money grab
There are building up Soccer so big money can be made moving forward; Beckham been busy for 20 years and it’s finally paying off for him
@@katadam2186 So rich people can get more rich at taxpayer's expense. Criminal.
So they can host Soccer World Cup can be hosted
49:00 he echos this sentiment that the mountains were cared for better in the past... what past? Most of the history of appalachia (post cherokees) was mining, deforestation, ecological destruction, burning trash and dumping sewers directly into the creek.
Also, it's Newland NC not "newald"
These videos keep getting better and better Peter! Admire your way of entering into the culture respectfully and showing honor to all. Lovely people.
What an incredible series.....absolutely loved every minute of it....what stunning views...and hard working tough and kind people...big hug from Amsterdam,the Netherlands! Keep them comming and we keep on watchin'!
Same Love back to you.... as pay goes around this neck of the woods....5 year ago I got paid 14 dollars a hour being a A.S.E. mechanic at local Gov. hard to make it with 2 kids/wife....newest truck I own is a 95 chevy 1/2 truck..you just learn to manage.
@@chrishensley6745 I swear if it wasn't for peter's videos I would have known nothing on that region...only what the stereotype and what the garbage media gives us here in Europe...don't worry....life is hard here in Europe also...not bad,but we have our problems also...
greeting from Arnhem! Born in Alabama..raised my kids in southern appalachia... its friesland with mountains! boy i miss it.
@@sirbuandrei7387 I'm glad you're a European who can admit this, that European media can give slanted depictions of what America or Americans live each day here. I say this all the time, and people laugh it off. It's annoying, honestly. So, thanks.
@@lovehandles4193 yes...over here we get garbage on usa.Rusia and middle east...thank god for youtubers that Tell the real story!
Those two beautiful people are among the best I have enjoyed on this journey through Appalachia - kudos to them both! And of course to you Peter for another exceptional episode!
They were full of BS. Half their stories were clearly made up
My family has roots that date back farther than the town we live in. The town we live near/in was founded in 1925 and my family has been in this same county since 1850
Just want to say i appreciate all the locals that shared what’s happening in their community. 👍
People just aren't communicating enough, and this kind of content is just terrific. Visitors are probably just shy and scared, it's human nature
My husband is a North Carolina Hollarboy. Many generations born and raised there. We live in Northeastern Georgia, just below N.C.. His grown kids, brother and cousins still live up there. He talks about his childhood there and Grandfather mountain. I have enjoyed this series so much.
Ask him if he knows a John Bost aka Junior
There’s not a whole lot of difference between NE Georgia and N Carolina . A little below the elevation but the people? Nope! Values? Nope.
Do you know from which country their family came from? (Ancestors)
My whole family is from Ellijay Ga. My parents, my grandparents and great grandparents. Ppl only see the land as something to profit off of. The mountains are dotted with houses and it looks terrible. True Appalachian folks never lived up on the mountain tops lookin for views. They was always in the hollers, in a tucked away spot in the hills away from the world. And Appalachia isn't the only place this is happening unfortunately. But Appalachia is truly a magical place that is sadly getting exposed and exploited. 😔😔😔
@@georgiacopperhead4947 This!!! Thank you.
Dude i just wanna say, you have opened my mind so much with your videos. Its sooooooo refreshing to see such undocumented info with no type of Bias or agenda. What you are doing is so important for our society. Thank you so much Peter, and all the everyday people that help lead these videos
Gosh damn Peter. You consistency in making hit after hit blows me away my man. Keep up the great work.
She is right able not being welcome there. The gated entrance shows us that. I am surprised nobody stopped & questioned you guys. This is happening all over the U.S.A. Once again another great video. Thanks.
I'm loving this Appalachia series as much as I loved the tribes!
Edit to add- she's not wrong about the bullying. I'm from southern Oklahoma. I have a thick country accent. My mom does too. And my grandmother did. I don't mind it, now. It's something I try to keep to a minimum. If something real hick slips out, my kids will tease me. In a good hearted way. I'm almost 50, I don't care what anyone thinks of me. I ain't got the time for no nonsense.
I'm from California and I love the way you folks talk
I ain’t neither. We don’t even realize we have an accent until we talk to someone from different areas. For the most part people love my southern speak 😅
Ya I moved away from Southern WV 10 times including serving in the active army for 6 years where there is people from every state in the country. I was the only one who was made fun of in regards to the way I spoke. It's like people would say oh I must be married to my sister and I still have an outhouse etc
My mom was from California and my dad was from Texas. We lived in Texas most of my life. If my accent started to slip out she would slap my mouth and say you'll never get a job sounding like that. I worked in HR and during a meeting a woman older than me, I was in my early twenties, said "it's not fixin', it is about to." Luckily, my boss said "this isn't up north and it is very common here." Many teachers and other people have tried to remove the way southerners speak.
I'm European and I would never want to visit places like NY and Cali. I would love to RV to places like on display.
Peter you have a great way of communicating with people and interviewing these great people of Appalachia. You’re doing an awesome thing trying to bring their voices to light.
Appalachia is being destroyed by gentrification. In my hometown rent was always $300-$450 a month. Even ten years ago it was. But since 2017, when they started rehabbing houses and moving in yuppies, the rent has gone up from $450 all day to $1,000 for a studio. They bought out all the family corner stores and laundry mats and put in coffee shops and pilates gyms, effectively driving the local poor into starvation and homelessness cause they got no car and can't get out to an actual grocery store and they can no longer afford rent. You say it's cleaning places up and making it better but all it does is wreck the ability for the poor who are from there to survive. This ain't your playground it's my LIFE 🙄💩
What's your city ?
Who sold those places?? boomers. Your friends and families Boomers sold those places. That’s on that older real estate owning generation. Or their kids. If you don’t protect your home nobody will.
I empathize with you. But you can't leave a place to run down to cater to the poor. As much as I often dislike it you can't stop progress. Also, let's be honest, West Virginians made some poor choices & didn't look to the future. I'm from one of the rare Jewish West Virginia families. Why aren't there Jewish poor trapped in poverty in West Virginia? Because the children were brought up in an environment of going to college and becoming a Doctor, Lawyer, Accountant, etc. They didn't want their children to follow them in the mines or steel mills or even take over the small business they owned which made them at best middle class.
West Virginia needs to stop crying Victim & start moving forward on its own terms.
You sound really ignorant to me not everyone can be a doctor or lawyer or accountant…and even if they could there wouldn’t be a job for everyone. There are always going to be poor people no matter if they get an education or not. We need people to be miners too. If we had no miners we’d be in more trouble than if we didn’t have lawyers and maybe even doctors. As long as someone is working even if they don’t make much money they deserve to afford housing.
@@Bulvan123 You realise society would collapse pretty quickly without miners, mill workers, and small business owners? They are literally essential and have a right to life as much as anyone else.
Brilliant report! I can’t help thinking that what’s happening here has already happened in places like Hawaii and Puerto Rico where land developers and outsiders have ruined the local area and disrespected local culture. Bottom line respect the land and the culture and they will respect you.
I live in Puerto Rico, born and raised here. You are 100% correct rent of a 3 bed house years ago was like 500$ now its 1200 plus. While median income its 20,000 a year. Also local areas are being changed a lot because of outsiders
Exactly...I'm Native Hawaiian. Also Paradise, CA where the service oriented people lived, farmed, serviced tourists, but wouldn't sell their old homes...then the 🔥
@@pabloacevedo52the people of PR need to fight for their home so it doesn’t become another Hawaii... Yo soy boricua, pa que tu lo sepas!
It is literally all about controlling you while stealing your land, and charging you lots of money for "taxes". They do nothing for the community, they pocket the tax funds or send it off to Ukraine and China it's pure corruption.
This happens EVERYWHERE! It’s happening in jersey, nyc, Hawaii, Puerto Rico,the south, Florida, WV,Tennessee,NC, Virginia, Texas etc….. This is nothing new
I stop in WV on my way to Ohio from Florida. I love the WV vibe,the people are friendly, its a shame the drug problem many young folks got into. These are a strong people,they'll pull through it . This series is you're best work Peter. I'm sure you're wife is a big part of that so shout out to her.
As a kid and a teen my friend and I would visit her godparents in WV and I loved it there. The mountain, so many trees and beautiful views. Plus they had horses. I also saw some really rundown places on the way. I loved spending time with their family but always wondered if I would have fit in and been accepted by the community at large being that I wasn't from there.
That's the main reason I haven't tried to move to any rural mountainous area, I don't want to live with people who don't want me there, never accept me. It's good reading the comments saying that it wouldn't be a problem for someone who enjoys it for what it is.
Really ,BREATHTAKING ! What WONDERFUL people you're meeting. ❤ GOD BLESS YOU ALL ! 😘
I grew up in Bat Cave, NC once considered deep Appalachia. As kids we were free to wonder and explore the mountains and the hollers, hunt the woods, fish the streams and swim in the lakes…it was a nature lovers wonderland. Everyone knew everyone, we all helped each other in times of need, it was a strong community…Now thats all gone….Now its all subdivided up for second or third homes. I cant even access my old swimming hole anymore, Blackrock owns it now.
What’s up neighbor. Same here. Now I’m priced out of my home county, and starting to be priced out of the big city I live in now. Not sure where I’m supposed to go
Loved bat cave area many years ago when I was a kid!
Black rock is bad news. Just look at Maui.
May God damn Blackrock…
I'm from the city unfortunately. Denver. Bat Cave NC sounds like the coolest place ever. I'm sorry to hear about Blackrock. That's sucks. At least you had a great childhood in what sounds like a great place!! I'm jealous. Denver is a great place because the Rocky Mountains are close, but it is a BIG LIBERAL CITY.
Hey Peter, watching this from a small town named Jalpaiguri in the state of West Bengal, India. Same things are happening in my district too. Politicians are colluding with the big time real estate developers to build apartment buildings in literally middle of the forest & almost all the apertments are being bought over by outsiders having money. It really pisses me off that how they are ruining our landscape & nature!! Great video by the way & more power to the people of Appalachia.
Please tell your fellow countrymen that I'm not interested in the extended warranty on my 1987 F250.
It's wrong! The developers in cahoots with the very rich should not be able to stomp over everyone else's way of life!
That's interesting to hear.
Peter, this has been an impressive series.
Honest and intimate inquiry where you let people tell their stories with little editorial judgement.
Very well done.
I'm new to your channel but I'm very glad I found it.
Thanks!
I am not from Appalachia but you as usual introduced all of us to great people, beautiful geography and sad or at least very worrisome situations. The divide from inflation, and lack of interest in the “ culture” and people who live in this beautiful place. You did another fabulous job of introducing us. Thank you Peter. Loved this series.
I drove out into the Blue Ridge Mountains 25 years ago on a trip to the East side of the US on a business trip from the UK and my camera was lost so I have no record of that time. It was beautiful then and thanks for this video and the comments from the local people. It is good to hear their stories and I wish them well and hope they can keep their world intact.
My mother's family is from Watauga area (Valle Crucius, Sugar Grove area) and I only first visited October 2019 and fell in love with it. I had virtually nothing in common with family there, but I felt so connected. The landscape is of course beautiful, but it's the people (total strangers too) that did it for me. The real tragedy here is that these people are being forced out. Also that hilltop condo is awful, how in the world was that ever allowed. The people of Appalachia deserve better!
Most of the counties above the escarpment do not have countywide zoning. Regulation is put in place on an ordinance basis which has resulted in less land use regulation than the majority of NC. The existence of mountaintop condos was such a threat that the counties acted swiftly to prevent them from ever being built again.
Even where zoning exists in rural counties, like Madison county, the restrictions are fairly loose and try to allow for people to live off the land. This is the opposite of what happened to the Shenandoah region, where zoning ordinances can exceed 90,000 words (bigger than most novels), and county officials have been known to act like tiny tyrants. Where I live in PA, it’s closer to WNC, mainly because the township doesn’t enforce a lot of the zoning laws and just does it’s own thing.
From my afar PoV, the county governments in WNC don’t act like tiny tyrannies. And the same can be said for the southern blue ridge as a whole. I wonder if it’s that libertarian culture of being left alone that’s keeping these places free. I think if it can be kept that way, it will allow people to come in and build new rural economies outside of tourism. When zoning restricts the heck out of rural land it’s hard for people to live off the land, hence, rural depopulation and movement to cities.
Just went to Vale Crusis and the original Mast Store over Labor Day weekend. So beautiful
@@IslandGirl7215 I'm descended from the Masts (Mary Etta Mast)! That whole area is incredibly beautiful.
The east side of Appalachia seems to have always done well. Towns like Staunton, Harrisonburg, Roanoke in VA very nice. Virginia is also Appalachia.
Staunton is growing way to fast...
@@susangleadow5419 really? Well I did see some condos up in the hills
I’m in New Market and it’s growing too
This entire Appalachia series is absolutely praiseworthy, Peter. So much pure humanity. So much promise and so much spirit, courage and hope. We should all follow and support the local residents' efforts to conserve their regional culture and environment in a respectful and sustainable way while they bring in the changes they need and on their terms. I hope Jake will get the funds to rebuild his home. Thank you for posting the GFM link, and many thanks again to everyone in each chapter of the series who welcomed you in so you could help us better understand and appreciate Appalachia.
I live in North Georgia and man oh man. This video felt like watching what is happening in our community. Us locals are struggling to stay in an area where our families have been for hundreds of years.
Got to love progress. I live in an area so shitty we will never get pushed out.
Yeah, happening in Knoxville, TN as well. Sad to see
You have to push the outsiders out. No other way around it. If you don't they destroy it all
Take over the town Council and enact covenants.
It's insane how fast the Atlanta metro sprawl is spreading like a cancer up 400/60. The same thing keeps happening in all these counties and towns and unfortunately a lot of it can be laid at the feet of prominent families that do go back a long ways and who control local councils and boards. They usually have personal stakes in the real estate developments that happen and sell communities out to benefit themselves. They will use reasoning like "people need the jobs and homes" but the jobs are nothing but low wage retail and restaurants, and the "homes" are increasingly apartments and poorly built stick homes on the tiniest lots possible. A lot of these jobs and homes end up filled by people from elsewhere in the end anyway.
I live in northeast TN and the gentrification of my hometown as a kid and now where i live as an adult is frustrating as all hell.
It's getting harder and harder to stay, but I can't imagine leaving my mountains
I have just really enjoyed this series so much Peter, you have done justice to a region that has been so misunderstood and under appreciated. You have broken the barriers, I think the rest of us can now begin to understand and have empathy for the obstacles these Americans face and why they struggle to hold on to what culture and traditions remain. Thanks Peter for putting so much effort into shining a light and these wonderful folks. And thanks to your interview subjects for sharing their beautiful home places with all of us. You did it justice in every way, good on you Peter!