Rural America outgrows label - Communities with urbanlike woes fall through cracks of farm-driven policies
| August 6, 2008 |  View for printing |
In New Hampshire's northernmost county, the wood pulp extracted from the rich forests to produce paper has long been the lifeblood of the local economy.
As paper production increasingly moved overseas, the mill that helped boost the population of Berlin to 30,000 went into bankruptcy. Now, a new owner is keeping it going with 400 workers, down from a high of 2,400. Coos County's biggest town has lost two-thirds of its population.
"Once you peel the mill away, you have a city of 30,000 (housing) units but 10,000 people," says Cathy McDowell, executive director of the Family Resource Center in nearby Gorham. "There's blighted housing."
Locals tried to get federal funding to tear down some of the homes. They couldn't because there was a shortage of housing at the time in most of "urban" America.
By Haya El Nasser USA TODAY
Full Story: http://www.usatoday.com/printedition ... l06.art.htm
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