15 Reasons Appalachia Might Not Exist One Day 

Every single Congressman, Senator and our President need to ride with you Nick to see what our country has become. I guarantee none of them have any idea that many parts of our country are worse than the third world. What a damned disgrace! Thank you Nick.

The coal mining and drug companies have squeezed every last drop of money out Appalachia.

I’m glad you do these videos because it shows the world how our countries are so so fallen apart absolutely falling apart to nothing left is so sad some of us wouldn’t know unless videos like this are out there

"We give all this money to other countries, and our own nation looks like this. " I would like to add that the state governments and the local governments also have a responsibility about the situation in certain areas, if not even more than the federal government, who is responsible for the "big" topics like health care, defense and foreign policy. While i'm not living in the US (Germany), due to my personal engagement in local politics and my experience with federal states like Germany and the US, i can say that a lot of these problems can only be solved on a local level or by the state government. These people have to be hold accountable. It's a shame how local and state politicans have abandoned these places and towns and i feel sorry for everyone who trusted these incompetent people.

There was a problem, the young man could not speak his mind, he may have worried about retribution. That is a problem today. We need to be able to have civil discourse to solve problems.

Thanks Nick. Appalachia is a region that stretches from Northern Alabama to the Southern Tier of New York State. There are most definitely variations within this region. Where I am located in Central PA is far more prosperous than most of West Virginia or Eastern Kentucky. Yes, we have closed mines but there is a thriving agricultural sector as well as Natural Gas, lumber, and a plethora of small industries. There are actually plenty of jobs available. A local paper mill starts at $17/hr. and cannot get people. My income is about $72k/yr. In Appalachia, you can live like a minor aristocrat with such an income. If you like the outdoors (Boating, hunting and fishing, or just hiking) the vast stretches of public land cannot be beat. There is so much state forest land in PA it is actually greater than Yellowstone NP in number of acres. It's not for everyone but.............. I would NEVER trade my current life for ANY amount of money to live in a major metro area. I know that there are those who sneer and laugh at the people of Appalachia........ that's ok, whatever makes them happy.

Nick, from an extremely loyal subscriber in Livingston Parish Louisiana(county of about 100,000 folks)I have never seen such poverty in my life. However, if you are retired, want to buy 2 acres and a fully renovated house in the marshlands for $120,000 and retire like me, this is your destination. If you want to get out of New Orleans and Memphis (my crime ridden home town) this is for you. These are some of the greatest most compassionate people I have ever lived around. I realize money is not everything. Safety at night when you lie down for bed, never locking your doors and don't worry about your vehicle getting stolen is everything. Love you man to death, Greg Adams, Springfield, Louisiana. PS you must be heavily insured like I am due to the fact I live in a flood zone.

Being born & raised in Southern Appalachia (SW Virginia), all I wanted was to get away from here! Now at 53 years old I just can’t imagine living anywhere else! You’d have to be born & raised Appalachian to understand that. Thanks for a great video brother.

Loved what the coal miner had to say during your interview with him! I'm all for keeping as many jobs as we can in the US : )

I'm an East Tennessean eho is proud of my heritage. My family helped build America, from the early 1770s, coming from Alsace on the Robert and Alice to Philadelphia. They were poor German immigrants who have contributed as well as benefited from the liberty of our great country. Some think holding on to the values of faith in God and self reliance are backward. The drug addiction and poverty problems you see across America aren't a repudiation of traditional values. It's what happens when you abandon them.

The mountains of West Virginia are just gorgeous! Such a beautiful State!

I grew up middle class in WV, and there are plenty of nicer neighborhoods to. I had a wonderful childhood with a large park and endless forests to play around in. I don't think I could have asked for a better place to grow up, and schools I went to were pretty good. They didn't have the best facilities, but the teachers cared, and there was some sense of community. Poverty is a bigger problem in WV than most states, and that's really just the result of the world turning away from coal power and automation of those industries really. Coal was the one big thing that made WV, and as that declines, the state goes with it. WV doesn't have a lot of flat land, so it can't be agricultural powerhouse. Building on hills and mountains is more expensive in general, so there's a larger infrastructure cost to bare. Given the lack of opportunities, many young people leave for other states, leaving it with an older population, and a lack of people to even need to maintain what's already there. It's in a slow death spiral, which really wears on the morale of the population there in general. When you've got little to do and not much hope, I guess drugs would become a huge problem. I never saw much of the drug problem personally though. I don't know what could be done to bring WV back. You have some chemical industry along the river, where it's convenient for water access for transportation and use, as well as the rail that tends to follow the river. There's probably about as much of that as you can get though, and that with what's left of the coal mining is what keeps the state going. Coal power probably isn't going to see a resurgence. You could probably move in some more manufacturing, except we're mostly exporting that overseas these days. If you could keep the smarter youth around, you could move in some information industry, but that's a chicken and egg problem. It's a tough problem and a lot of the US is in the same boat. We're probably doomed until we decay enough to be cheap enough to bring back manufacturing or AI drives us to a post scarcity economy.

This driving through America videos are so chill even if cities are poor and seem hopeless. I enjoy this content very much.

I've been working on my husband's genealogy dating back to the 1700s. His ancestors landed in Boston, MA when they could not make a living in Ireland. Then they moved to Kentucky when his people saw better opportunities out there. Right about the time of the Civil War, many of his ancestors made their way out of Kentucky and out to Missouri. When they weren't cutting it in Missouri, they moved to California in the 1920s. Most of his ancestors stayed in the South & Mid-west no more than a generation or two, but not more. It's the great American migration story. Most Americans have had to stay on the move for survival. Some have been able to stay put by connecting to bigger communities or cities. Rural living is brutal, unless you have a means to support yourself independently. Sadly, many of those living in the Appalachian area are still waiting for coal mining to return, but the reality is that it won't ever come back. They need to accept & move on just like their ancestors.

Nick you are probably the one Yankee who gets it. You grow up like this and you never get over it. It's like you are from another world when you go down the mountain.

What touches me the most is, if you noticed, the American flags everywhere! Someone should care for these people! Don't you think? Anastasia from Greece🇬🇷 God bless America and Greece.

God bless Josh and all the Coal Miners Thanks for keeping the lights on.

greetings from Puerto Rico 🇵🇷

Love the Appalachia videos, Nick! This guy never fails to put a smile on our face ❤

Here's my Entire Appalachia Trip Playlist: ru-vid.com/group/PLq-_cmf3H6yrVA4HLAJ9hgylkyIiI4Az6 And if you need help finding a place to move, I do consulting. I can help you pick where to move and get you a real estate agent, too. Email me! NickJohnsonNC18@gmail.com

Thank you Nick for opening our eyes and minds to parts of America 🇺🇸 many of us may never see. Nice new profile picture, friend!

I have traveled the world in my life, and about thirty years ago I found my most beautiful home of my heart: Appalachia. I will never leave until I am put in the ground, in the little bitty cemetery just down the road.

Oh, I remember watching this one before. And the pist-off guy that kicked ya out didn't even want to hear why ya were grabbing an extra blanket. It was probably best ya left Nick, It kept ya from catching something

Love your videos - Especially the modulation of your voice. It's like we're friends chillin' and cruising around touring and commentating. Thanks for showing us parts of the country we're likely to never visit ❤

I’ve been to West Virginia and I’ve noticed that the first 30 to 50 miles just south of the PA border are thriving. A lot of ppl who live in northwest West Virginia particularly on the I-79 corridor work in Pennsylvania. The far southern suburbs of Pittsburgh are only 35 miles south of Morgantown. That part of WVA is growing and since Morgantown is a college town it is not surprising that it would be more liberal. In central PA where I live all of the counties are conservative ( Blair, Bedford, Huntingdon, Mifflin, Cambria, Clinton, Lycoming) The only county that is liberal in our part of the state is Centre; that’s where Penn State is in State College. I still think Nick you should do a tour of central PA. I don’t think you’ll see the crazy poverty here that you saw in Southern Appalachia but it is beautiful up here and the ppl are definitely interesting

Nick, congrats on the road to 1 million. Hard work doesn’t go unnoticed.

Thanks for the videos. Very informative Nick. I like when you interview the locals so as to get the feel of the culture. Please do more of that. You look sincere in your approach to enlightening and try to bring positive change. Thanks

"Try that in a small town" I have had the opportunity to drive coast to coast a few times. For every nice small town, there are 10 that are just dead or dying. It's sad to see. Both parties have given up on the small towns. Rust in peace.

You were in my neighborhood when you were in Chattanooga. I live around 20-25 miles south of there in Georgia. That man was right about the place: There are two strata in "The Noog," The well-off and the poor, and there's not much in between! It's a very nice town--although not as nice as Nashville. I've lived here in Appalachia all but 20 years of my life (I was an archaeologist in those years, and traveled pretty much the entire time) and I've seen the poverty levels go from being everywhere in the 60's, to being almost eradicated in the area I'm from in North Georgia. Great video! Thanks...

If we can stop the drug addiction plague and get people back to working hard with pride as well as caring for each other we would be so much better!

The old mining towns of Colorado were almost as bad in the 1950-65 era, UNTIL the grifter mafia decided that skiing was the most wonderful thing in the world.

It's GOOD for me to see this...reminds me just how BLESSED I am.

The gentleman that mentioned his side of Chattanooga didn't have a grocery store within 5 miles. My guess is theft drove retailers out. It's happening as we speak in CA. Oakland and San Francisco are losing retailers due to theft like crazy.

Annamaria : The civilization of a people is measured by the way it treats the poor .

I moved away from my Appalachian mountains home at 18 and came back at 24 and it's been a struggle with addiction, low pay, but thank God I had a mother who prayed for few years ago her prayers were answered in 2020 and I gave my life to the Great God and Saviour Jesus Christ. The Lord hast delivered me from many addictions, lifted my health and countenance up through hiking these beautiful Appalachian mountains and studying God's Word. I now have peace beyond all understanding, joy and although I don't have much in this life I'm blessed in The ways of The Lord through Faith in the blood of Jesus Christ the Righteous.

Today I found out my mortgage company raised my payment $200/mo more than my social security income. After 65 years in Seattle-area Washington, a lifetime, Appalachia (or Oklahoma panhandle) here I come! I've been priced out...

I lived all my life in the county north of McCreary County. Believe it or not, McCreary County has a lot of tourist attractions that the county could potentially build off of. Cumberland Falls State Park, which has one of the most spectacular waterfalls in the region among hiking trails and white water rafting, The Blue Heron recreated mining town, The Big South Fork River Recreation Area which has several horseback trails, hiking trails, campgrounds, shooting ranges, and boat ramps to the Cumberland River, and The Daniel Boone National Forest to name a few. It's baffling that they are unable to capture the economic benefits of its tourism there. I think a lot of it has to do with the local government and the state of mind of its people.

Thanks for showing us rural US. Love from India.

Absolutely love your videos you pretty much explained everything in Appalachia quite well when I lived in Virginia in that region is like that especially in the coalfields it’s crazy on how many of these places were huge at one time and now it’s almost abandoned

Pretty desolate. Some of my friends live in WV: Summersville, Craigsville, Webster Springs. They're aware but they're really fond of WV and the Appalachian culture (music). Thanks Nick !

Growing up in rural Alaska there's something oddly comfortable about these places even though they've mostly been abandoned. Where I'm from its not too different from some of these towns as far as having people that just don't want to move out. However we have places to hunt and gather so it's absolutely viable to live here.

A lot of us here already know how to live without help and or money so if SHTF we know how to survive because we're doing it already.

Hi, Nick.I love the work you do.I feel like going right next to you while you are driving throughout the 🇺🇸 .I, personally, have learned many things.So sad for those places that are dying.

Thank you Nick for these videos the places you travel it’s rather interesting to see how the other people and struggle and survive but also the dangers

That is so hilarious asking a student at the University what's good and what's bad and cannot answer hardly even anything. Dude. I wake up in the morning I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to eat for breakfast make it to class try to figure out what I'm going to eat for dinner I can't even get by. As a student that would probably be my answer Then wondering how am I going to pay off all of this debt. Later in life

The guest during your interview is knowledgeable and relatable. I really enjoyed this part the most of the whole video

Love your videos Nick! Keep crushing it!

John Denver - Country Roads is going through my head as I watch this. Things change the old fades and there is new birth and rebirth in a few areas.

It has always been like that. I drove through rural Kentucky in the mountains, and mules were hitched to a hitching post in front of a small wooden provisions store. This was back in the 90s.

Keep up the good work, Nick. I've been to Appalachia too.

When the TVA came into the Tennessee and West Virginia and all of that those people got lied to for 50 years by the representatives kept telling him those coal mining jobs were coming back many of these people use their savings to get by until it was too late to move come on Nick tell the whole story of why these people are so down and out and if everybody's so down and out where do you get the money for the drugs

What I gather from your videos, alot of this "decay" happens when our nation goes through a transition, ie industrial revolution, etc ..... and towns/cities don't adapt. With our present economic situation and what's to come, I hate to see what more and more of our country's going to look like ....... :/ Great videos and alot of learning! Thank you

I live in Carter County in Tennessee and its not all this bad. Most of the agriculture jobs are gone but many places have good manufacturing facilities that pay well. You can make a good living on the same money that you would be homeless with in many other places. Yes many of us never leave. I only left when i joined the Army and once my enlistment was over i came back. The mountains call to me and i plan on being laid to rest here

Hey Nick.This just may be your best video yet.I think that I watched them all.Maybe I'm just over fascinated with West Virginia,out of all 50 states.Been in Indiana all my life,68 years now.Still close to my birth place of Gary In. You drove thru that charming city.lol.Oh yea,Josh is one of your best guest speakers,in my humble opinion.He sounds very intelligent.BIG thumbs up on this one.👍✌

The thumbnail is the quintessential question in this moment of history.

I just stumbled across this video and I watched all of it. This is an EXCELLENT VIDEO!

Great content as usual. Nick, you deserve to have 1M subscribers. Also, you should have a T-shirt that says, "What the d--n hell!" with it spelled out (though I think the platform wouldn't allow it in the store). You're one of my favorite channels.

Loyal subscriber here. I really enjoy your videos and seeing different parts of the country. I grew up not too far from Chattanooga. I hope you were able to stop at the Mayfield creamery between Chattanooga and Knoxville.

Your videos are awesome! Thank you so much. I enjoy them all.

Brilliant Very Professional Video From Nick Very informative. NICK BIG THANKS 👍👍👍👍👍

cockfighting is illegal, and it really is cruel, if you look into it and learn the details of it and how it effects the birds: but sadly these hillbillies have no concept of others suffering and they simply dont care, and what aw enforcement is around there often engages in stuff like that, the ones who dont, wont shut em down because of the gambling , drugs, and violence that comes along with it.

Well, at around @32:22 I really got interested. I have viewed your well narrated, well reported, interestingly videoed travels for a while for reasons that will be revealed later, but , I too come from a mining state. And I sat right up and listened to that erudite gentleman you were interviewing. Thank You Both Very Much For You Time. Great conversation.

Seeing those places Nick makes me a little glad that I am still in Jacksonville, Florida. I visited Columbus Ohio in April 2023 and besides student protests on a regular basis there was extreme price gouging on hotels, some restaurants and most businesses. ex. being charged $220 plus a security deposit of $150 for one night with a return of deposit on your card if you are lucky in 2 weeks. It is bad to worse in all of the the U.S. now. Just have to pick what bad you are willing to accept. Thank you Nick for all you do.

That's exactly what I saw when traveling to an inspection job in Pennsylvania way up on Arnott Mountain. I live in small town Oregon. It was shocking to say the least. I've traveled this whole country doing Industrial Radiography. Pipelines, refineries, new facilities and old. I have never seen poverty on the scale of W. VIRGINIA, Kentucky. Devastating 😢😢

These look like people who have only seen the lows of life, not the highs.

I'm from Cinci. One of my fav things to do is take backroads and look at towns like these. Most of Kentucky outside of the greater cinci area, Frankfort, and Louisville and lexington looks like this. A lot of places in Indiana too. We were a first world country at one time. These towns, the state of our infrastructure, and our hospitals proves we are anything but that now. Our only real export at this point is american culture, that can't last forever.

What an eye opener. Thanks 👍 xx

Love your videos keep at it

Again an awesome Video!

Its illegal to fight roosters. Even in Kentucky. Be careful!

Things in town are unwell when even Walmart and 99-cent stores can't keep the lights on. One thing I noticed when I traveled through those poorer states is that the people are genuinely friendly and kind. I don't see that in my home state of (what's left of) California anymore. I guess it's a proof that money doesn't buy happiness. I've met many happy poorer people and I also met quite a few wealthy, but mean and miserable people. One last thing, it is clear to me now that our "elected representatives" do not represent us at all.

I love the part where you talk about the hunten, fishen and four wheelen.. flying a drone would help give us a view of the topography and it's streams,creeks and tributaries.. plus the elevation that make it interesting..

here in SW PA, we have our mountain people and hollars too. We're so close to WV, sometimes its tough for it to not drift across the border

..."better not try and change any of that, you've been warned" How very Jason Aldean of you!

Really enjoy your videos, my family is from Pike county KY , the same is happening there also ,sad

These are always very sobering video Nick, keep up the good work. Perhaps one day America will make it back.

Nick, you are great presenter, you show the truth as is. The truth that many people won´t see. You should have an own tv series. But I am sure that recent politics would ban it immediately due to obvious reasons.. Thank you Nick for showing the truth. Keep up your fantastic work!

Just a couple of comments. I grew up in East TN. My mom always told me there is nothing wrong with being poor but you don't have to be dirty. Seeing those houses and trailers doesn't really make me want to help them. They are just nasty people. I'm also surprised you didn't mention the federal prison in McCreary Ky.

Nick! Love your videos man! I live 30 miles north of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania in the southern part of Butler County. If you're ever out near Pittsburgh doing a tour, here's a treat: there's a small town named Saxonburg l think you'd love a few miles from where l live in Sarver. From Saxonburg take Bonnie Brook Road to route 422 West and check out Butler Pa, get back on rt 422 and head East and you'll pass Kittanning, Pa and if you stay on Rt 422 east you'll go to Indiana, Pa an awesome college town, recommend Hoss's Seafood & Steakhouse. Continue on Rt 422 and you'll pass towns like Nanty Glo and Ebensburg, which you'll really like Ebensburg, you'll eventually merge onto rt 22 east and that will take you on a 7 mile scenic downhill drive into Altoona Pa, another awesome town with sights ( Horseshoe Curve ), shopping, restaurants, Canoe Creek State Park is nearby. Other great small towns near Altoona are Hollidaysburg ( another small town with charm ) Very scenic drive. I really think you'd fall in love with seeing these towns! Thank you and take care!

Thank you, Josh, for sharing your information about the state. I hope and pray everything goes right for all the struggling states. We need to do more. My belief is that people coming together can better their communities. I don't believe in politicians anymore.

As always another introspective glance at the state of affairs in America. Well done.

Those gas pumps at the beginning remind me of all the old gas stations in the Midwest we always stopped at. When the gas cap was behind the rear license plate!

Great video Nick!

I find this very intriguing 😮 I’m glad we have NJ to walk us through 😆 From a Distance … 😹 thank you Nick

Appalachia will never die

I grew up in Appalachia. Moved away for awhile and came back. Got a lot of land here, got a place to stay and I can go hours without seeing anybody come down my driveway. That's kind of life I want. I can get on my porch, play my guitar and be left alone. Can't do that in the big city. Any of you guys that are from the city knows that. It's a trade-off you make. Want peace and quiet or you want a hectic lifestyle? Nobody really gives a crap down here about the poverty. We know we don't make a whole lot of money. We don't really care. We get left alone and not bother bother people. You don't see protests and the country. You don't have people knocking on your door selling this stuff and you don't have people trying to tell you what to do out here. And since you keep asking, no we don't expect the government to come save us. This is nothing new. It's been like this since I was a kid. We vote based on what benefits us just like everyone else. When gas prices go up or something like the coal industry gets shut down, We vote with our wallet just like the rest of America. Kentucky for example has a Democratic Governor. But we usually vote Republican for president. It's just about who says the things that we think are going to help us most.

These videos were instrumental in helping me make the decision to avoid WV and continue looking into the Oregon Coast region for my future move. God bless you! Thank you!

keep up the great work you and Briggs to a great job

Morgantown! WVU graduate. The street you went down with the houses is Grant Street. About 30 years ago there was an annual block party. Needless to say, lighting couches on fire was the norm Huge party school back then (took me 5 years to graduate, don’t judge) A lot of folks who work in Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania live in WV and commute Beautiful state with lots of outdoor activities . Unfortunately, pain clinics ushered in the Opioid epidemic

Its no coincidence that all the pills and phetanol are heavily distributed in these parts..Cia

A+ video! Great Appalachia collection of videos! It's so mindbending!

Your guest is a smart guy. He's very much informed.

This isn't just a Appalachia problem. This is a problem across much of the developed world post-1980s. You'll see post-industrial cities in the UK, or even worse apocalyptic post-industrial cities in the former USSR. What changed? Blame the 1980s. As soon as "victory" was declared over "socialism", most of the world has lived under the tyranny of the market which says no one deserves to live in dignity, and if it isn't profitable, it will be closed, even if it's a hospital, a school, etc., that someone needs for their basic survival. Well, the market has spoken. Coal isn't needed any more. Natural gas burns cleaner, and we are now in a renewable energy wave. Back in the post-war era, the State would step where the private sector wouldn't, it would re-invest in the "provinces" to ensure people have work, basically take care of things. Since the 1980s, you are on your own. No one owed you anything. You get the society you voted for. This is just the natural consequence of hyper-individualism taken to its natural conclusions. Not all the world is like that. For example, China accepted part of market philosophy but doesn't accept the complete tyranny of the market - it still has a powerful central government that actively intervenes in its economy, invests in infrastructure and strategic industries. But what China is doing isn't historically unique - that used to be the West. Now, the West complains about China, forgetting that China is actually the country that is running itself correctly using a model that used to be the West, and it's the West that has gone astray.

Best part of the video is the interview at the end

You did a great job for talking about the history of wv and this is very cool that you went through the all the cole towns out there and this is very cool and very interesting to me Nick

This is by far one of your best videos.

The sweetest people in the country. I love those states. I know in southeast Kentucky they had the hillbilly highway where they bring those pain killers up from Miami and it destroyed those cities down there. You should of went to Lewiston WV where the Green Briar is. It's very beautiful area!

This breaks my heart, that we have so many homeless

Love how you starting the video with the sign swinging lol very creative

Very good interview.