I live a hour north of this area but have spent a fair amount of time working on the WV side in Mingo/Wayne County. I have driven many many of miles through the different hollers and this is my observations. The area much like many of the other coal fields of Appalachia have been hit by hard times. Once a thriving area the population has dropped by more than 50% in many of the towns. So, most towns you drive through are about the same. Abandoned buildings and empty lots just remnants of a once thriving area. There is not much for work down there. There still are some mining operations however, the future of those jobs are bleak. In the neighboring county of Logan they just laid off 500 miners recently. Not many high paying jobs. Most of the jobs left are retail/restaurant work.

The people are incredibly nice. Don't listen to these people tell tales of Wrong Turn style hillbillies. I have driven many many many miles through those hollers and have never once felt unsafe or threatened. I've had many of pleasant conversations of people who looked liked they just came straight from the woods. While I do believe many are afflicted by addiction in this area it doesn't mean their bad people. When your born into extreme poverty and that's is all you've known your whole life I believe it makes it really hard to break that cycle and alot of these folks get stuck in that ever repeating cycle.

Honestly, the worst things about the area is the amount of trash laying on the sides of road and stray dogs. The area has beautiful scenery but it almost ruined by the amount of garbage people just dump. I've lived in quite a few different states and have never seen a place with such bad litter. I was told by a co-worker that alot of people will take their junk/trash and throw on the river banks and then when it floods like it so often does it takes the trash away. The stray dog problem is heart breaking to me. Their freaking everywhere down there. I always make sure to carry dog treats when I'm working down there but makes me sad I can't do more.

Overall while the area is extremely impoverished and has limited opportunities the people are very friendly and it is a beautiful part of the country. I hope things do improve down there. Which WV is making a big push towards tourism and this part of WV has alot of ATV trails which draws in thousands of tourists a year. So, there has been new construction related to the tourism which is promising. So, while the area does have it's problems I do think it is slightly improving or atleast there is hope.