ASB Trip

Trip Location Essay #1

For my ASB trip, I will be traveling across North Carolina. There are three specific locations that the trip will be stopping. The locations are Rutherford, Hoke, and Carteret County. These counties were picked based off a mix of economic status, education level, and accessibility. Since this trip is being created from scratch, ease of accessibility was the primary factor in picking these locations. Each location has a unique and interesting demographic. Rutherford County is the area which I grew up in. I lived here my entire life and it is what inspired me to create this trip. Rutherford has somewhat of a skewed demographic due to the wealthier northern side and the poorer southern side. The average income for the

Forest City has a close to a 38% poverty rate with Rutherford County as a whole having 24%. The inequality also caries over to education. Forest City has on 12% of its residence having a bachelor’s degree or higher. Rutherford is just ahead with around 17%. Both of these are well behind the state average of 27%. One recent increase to Rutherford’s economy has been the constructions of a large Facebook Data Center. The structure cost over $450 million to build and created many construction jobs over its 2 to 3 construction period. Rutherford County is also home to Lake Lure, the location where Dirty Dancing was filmed, and Chimney Rock. Both areas are large tourist attractions. This helps generate tax revenue for the county as a whole. Politically, Rutherford is a calm location. There is not much competition in for elected positions. One time there was roughly 9 candidates for a clerk of court position. Other than that, most positions are either unopposed or with a clear winner before the voting even happens. Rutherford County is also not very diverse either. Rutherford is 87% white, compared to the 71% of North Carolina, 10% African American, compared to the 22% of North Carolina, and 3% Hispanic,

Hoke County has an average income of $45,489 and 23% of its citizens are below the poverty line. Hoke’s residences are educated roughly the same as Rutherford’s residences. Hoke has a 17% level of residence with Bachelor’s degrees or higher. This value is still lower than the state average. Hoke is much more diverse than Rutherford and the state. Hoke’s residences are 50% white, 34% African American, 9% Native American, 1% Asian American, and 12% Hispanic. This diversity leads to a larger percentage of second languages spoken at home. 12.7% of homes speak a language other than English. This is higher than the state average of 10.9%. Historically, Hoke was established in 1911 from parts of Cumberland County. Because of this, Hoke County is part of the Fayetteville, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area. Hoke County was named after a Confederate General in the American Civil War named Robert F. Hoke. Part of Fort Bragg is located within Hoke County. The fort was originally established back in 1918 as Camp Bragg as an artillery training ground. Camp Bragg was renamed Fort Bragg on September 30th, 1922. The primary reason for selecting Hoke County is for its rural aspect. Even though it is beside a large metropolitan area, this is not reflected in the neighboring