2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Mr. Sanders peddles fiction on free trade [View all]revbones
(3,660 posts)Last edited Thu Mar 10, 2016, 10:07 PM - Edit history (1)
In my teens Martinsville, VA was often cited in the top 10 small towns in the US. There were plenty of jobs in the various industries there such as a extraordinarily large furniture manufacturing and textile base, as well as a large DuPont facility. Technology was starting to come into play in the late 80's there as well.
I graduated high school in '90 and left for the Army afterwards. I returned to a completely different landscape in 1996. All manufacturing had left for Mexico. By that, I mean absolutely all. Nothing but abandoned manufacturing sites. There were still a few logistics companies helping with transitions as it became cheaper to manufacture in Mexico and just ship from there.
Aside from the NASCAR track there, the town has never recovered. It's often cited as one of the most economically devastated towns in America now.