How has your perception of the Appalachian region (and Fayette County in particular) shifted as a consequence of the work you’ve done this semester?

I took Politics of Appalachia last semester so I was already aware of the region’s history and current political dynamics. This semester my focus shifted. Rather than studying politics, my group examined the region’s economy. We specifically looked at tourism in Fayette County.  First, I was a bit surprised at how Fayette struggles with some of the same problems as larger cities. I have the most experience with D.C, and gentrification and homelessness are issues both places are grappling with—in part due to a heavy influx of tourism. But for Fayette, both problems are exacerbated by a lack of government capacity.

We came into Fayette focused on the county’s assets. Since Politics of Appalachia spent a lot of time examining the legacy of coal, I was impressed by all the opportunities for growth present in Fayette. Fallingwater and Ohiopyle alone bring in millions of visitors. However, I also gained a deeper understanding of the pitfalls of a rural tourism-based economy: low-wage seasonal jobs with little room for upward mobility, increased pressure on infrastructure, and so on. Although I was somewhat aware that tourism has downsides for residents, the tourism-based problems that needed to be addressed seemed to pile up throughout the semester. 

I also learned that coal plays an important symbolic role in Appalachia—although I think I have a lot more to learn about this. Even though there are far fewer coal jobs in the region today, people remember the industry as something that tied their community together. There is a certain amount of nostalgia for an era in which social relationships were stronger. At the same time, the exploitative nature of the coal industry—as well as its abrupt disappearance—has created deep distrust among Appalachians for big economic projects. This creates a Catch-22 situation: externally imposed development is viewed with suspicion, and yet communities like Fayette struggle to reinvent themselves from within. This tension is less tangible than hard numbers about housing and tourist dollars, and yet I think it’s worth exploring for future cohorts. As my group emphasized, building community trust is key for the success of tourism in Fayette.

When you are old and grey, how would you summarize this entire experience to your grandchildren?

I hope I can tell my grandchildren that this course helped me understand some of the places I love, including Pittsburgh, D.C, and Canton, Ohio. I’ve spent summers and Thanksgivings in Northeastern Ohio for my entire life. Canton is my grandparents’ hometown, just south of where my mom grew up, and a place I’d puzzled over for years. Entering Uniontown reminded me of Canton so strongly—from the historic buildings to the empty streets to the restaurant where we ate dinner. Although Canton is not in Appalachia, it definitely exhibits signs of being a “left behind” place. By the time my grandmother was in her twenties, the manufacturing companies that had built Canton had disappeared or relocated. Today, the city has pinned all its hopes on tourism from expanding the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but a series of business deals gone wrong has limited that project’s potential.  Like Uniontown or Fayette at large, Canton is within reach of several more prosperous places that either survived or bounced back from the decline of manufacturing. In the past, I would puzzle over Canton and wonder what was holding it back from success. The interviews we conducted this semester helped answer some of those questions. 

I also connected some of the dots towards understanding Pittsburgh as the “Paris of Appalachia”. The Pittsburgh story I had heard was that it was an industrial center that fell down, got up, and reinvented itself as a center of “meds and eds”. That story works until you reach the Mon Valley. Then it becomes clear that this kind of revitalization does not happen spontaneously—and it does not happen to every Rust Belt town. Pittsburgh’s model of success is possible because of its ability to create an agglomeration of tech, medicine, and universities. Smaller or more rural towns struggle to keep up. 

Finally, a brief note on D.C: researching tourism emphasized the importance of larger cities on the edge of Appalachia. Organizations like GO Laurel Highlands track visitor data to Fayette—they are hyperaware of the need to pull in visitors from places like D.C. Why does this matter in the grand scheme of things? I think it highlights the importance of community involvement in tourism. Fayette must learn to physically handle millions of tourists every year. But it also must learn how to emotionally handle tourism as an industry that can easily alienate people within their hometowns. Tourists from D.C. and other metro areas enter Fayette without any knowledge of its heritage. They can easily leave thinking, “Wow, nice mountains! Do people live here year-round?” Fayette should aim to answer that question with a resounding “Yes, and”. Yes, and they run amazing small businesses. Yes, and they make innovative art. Yes, and they have a deep connection to these mountains. All of this is a long-winded way of saying: I came away with a deeper knowledge of Appalachia’s role in and connections to other places that are important to me.

Describe how this course was different than other courses you have taken in college.

This course offered me the unique chance to do hands-on community research. I also appreciated that this work was not a one-off project but part of a ten-year commitment to Fayette. As an undergraduate, it can be difficult to plug into long-term projects. I’m thankful for the opportunity to do so with ACRI. This course also asked me to consider and develop policy solutions. Many political science and urban studies classes focus on problems alone. I loved having the chance to create innovative recommendations with my group members. Finally, ACRI’s interdisciplinary setup is really unique. I’ve never had the chance to work with business students or engineers on a project before. The perspectives they brought to the table helped strengthen my work, and our research ended up overlapping in surprising ways. Although we each started off in very different areas (tourism, government, entrepreneurship, and youth efficacy), it quickly became apparent that each area needed the others to grow.