Tag: Population

‘I Just Felt in Complete Turmoil’ – Colt Brogan’s Struggle to Stay, Part Four

“If you want to stay in West Virginia, then I believe you’re doing something right,” Colt Brogan told West Virginia Public Broadcasting for The Struggle to Stay series. “I mean, cause it’s hard to want to stay here in my opinion. Cause it is so rough.”

Colt is determined to make a home for himself, and maybe eventually have a family farm where teenagers are welcome to work and stay. But for now, that’s a far-off dream. For the past year and half he’s been working for a farmer training program called Refresh Appalachia. In addition to working in a small greenhouse, he also gets paid for the time he spends going to college.

But the program is demanding, and he doesn’t have a lot of time off. Since we last heard from Colt, things haven’t been easy.

August 2016, things suddenly spun out of control.

“My cousin called me, and I answered the phone. It’s like 7 in the morning, and she told me that my mom’s house burned down. She’s like, ‘it’s gone, it burned down, it’s gone.’ Didn’t really say much else.”

Credit Beth Miller
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Colt’s mom, Maria Marotto, had a house fire August 2016.

This was the house along the Coal River where Colt spent a lot of his childhood.

This was the house along the Coal River where Colt spent a lot of his childhood. Colt’s mom escaped with no serious injuries, which was surprising because the blaze started right by her bed while she was asleep- from a candle she’d left burning. She did have a big burn mark on her forehead.

The fire department took a while to respond to the 9-1-1 call because Colt’s mom lives in Alum Creek, right on the county line. So the dispatchers couldn’t agree on which county was responsible for her home. This is the call between emergency dispatchers at Kanawha County and Lincoln County 911.

One of the only things that made it out of the fire was a ceramic box Colt had given his mom years ago, when he was about four years old.

“It was like a jewelry box. It was shaped like a heart.  It said ‘Mom’ on top. I thought that was kind of amazing.” 

We’ll hear the conclusion to Colt’s Struggle to Stay story next week. But the Struggle to Stay series continues. Over the next few months we’ll meet five young people as they struggle with the decision, do I stay or do I go? 

We want to hear from you. Did you struggle to stay? What do you love about living in Appalachia? What do you wish could be better? You can send us a tweet to @InAppalachia or send us an email to Feedback@wvpublic.org.

47 of 55 Counties Lost Population Last Year

U.S. Census figures show population declines in West Virginia’s southern coal-producing counties led to an overall drop in the state’s population last year.

The figures released Thursday show 47 of the state’s 55 counties lost population from 2015 to 2016, including 20 counties that lost more than 200 residents.

Nine of the 10 counties that lost the most population were in southern West Virginia, which has seen a downturn in the coal industry in recent years. Kanawha (kuh-NAW) County lost 1,966 residents, the most in the state.

Three Eastern Panhandle counties saw population gains, led by Berkeley County with a boost of 1,890 residents.

Monongalia County, home of West Virginia University, gained 631 residents.

Overall, West Virginia’s population fell by 9,951 to 1.83 million. The only state to lose more residents was Illinois.

State Loses Nearly 10,000 Residents Over Past Year

Census estimates show that West Virginia lost population over the past year.

The estimates released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau put the state’s population at 1,831,102 on July 1. That’s down nearly 10,000 from the July 2015 estimate and down about 23,000 from 2010. Between 2000 and 2010, the state’s population grew by nearly 45,000 residents.

In all, eight states lost population. Illinois was the only state to lose more residents over the one-year period than West Virginia, which has been hit hard by the downturn in the coal industry.

The estimates show the nation’s population grew less than 1 percent.

Census: West Virginia Loses Residents in 2015

The latest estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau show West Virginia was one of seven states to lose population.

According to figures released Tuesday, West Virginia lost 4,623 residents between July 2014 and July 2015. The 0.25 percent dip was the highest in the nation.

Illinois lost 22,194 residents, the most of any state. Connecticut, Maine, Mississippi, New Mexico and Vermont also lost population.

West Virginia and Maine were the only states where deaths outnumbered births. There were an estimated 21,704 deaths and 20,764 births in West Virginia during the period.

North Dakota was the fastest-growing state with a 2.2 percent increase. California remained the most populous state at 39.1 million.

North Carolina added 102,415 residents to surpass 10 million in population.  

Virginia saw a gain of nearly 55,000 residents.

Which West Virginia Counties Have Seen The Most Population Loss In Recent Years?

Overall, West Virginia continues to see a decline in population since 2012. Data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that, while the state’s population grew from 2010 (1,854,176)  to 2012 (1,856,313) the state has seen a drop-off in consecutive years since–with the last estimate from July 1, 2014 putting West Virginia’s population at 1,850,326.

Last week, The Charleston Gazette reported that West Virginia is losing population faster than any other state, with about 3,300 total residents lost from July 1, 2013 to July 1, 2014. That translates to about 0.2 percent total population loss in just the one year. Those numbers are ahead of the only other states that saw population loss, based on 2013 to 2014 records: Alaska, Connecticut, Illinois, New Mexico and Vermont. 

From 2010 to 2014, 39 of the state’s counties lost residents, while 16 showed an increase. Southern West Virginia continues to see sharp population decline, while the Eastern Panhandle and Monongalia County have seen a boom in recent years. However, the increase of natural gas production in the north central and Northern Panhandle regions hasn’t kept some of those counties from seeing a decline in population in recent years.

Beckley Looks to Boost Population with Annexation

Beckley officials are looking to boost the city’s population by annexing several residential areas.

Beckley director of information technology Bill Kelly is chairman of the city’s annexation committee. He tells The Register-Herald that annexing these areas bordering the city could increase Beckley’s population from about 17,000 to nearly 35,000.
 
Kelly says this would more accurately reflect the number of people who come to Beckley for services such as shopping and health care. He says an increase in population also could make the city more appealing to new businesses.
 
The city is sending letters to a large group of property owners to educate them about annexation, including the benefits and cost.
 

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