ROCKINGHAM — Richmond County may be the home of what RoadSnacks.net has dubbed two of North Carolina’s worst towns to live in, but critics say readers should consider the source and perhaps take its conclusions with a grain of salt.

The parent company of RoadSnacks.net is Chasing Chains LLC of Durham, which was incorporated on April 8 of this year, according to the N.C. Department of the Secretary of State. Christopher Kolmar of Durham, who registered the domain name, is listed as the business’ initial registered agent. Filing documents list Kolmar and Nikolaus Johnson as co-owners of the company.

In the “About Us” section of RoadSnacks.net, the site explains its purpose.

“We use data to create bite-sized snacks of shareable information about places and cities across the country. We call it the ‘other’ side of regional infotainment,” it reads.

The site’s mission is even more definitive.

“We try to paint a picture of what’s happening in a region based on ‘FridayNight Science’ — how’d you argue at a bar,” the site states.

And while the data its writers collect comes from legitimate sources such as the United States Census and the FBI, that doesn’t mean the rankings of cities based on them is anything but subjective.

SKEWED DATA?

Numbers alone do not reflect the quality of life of any area, said Kelly Pruett, executive director of the Richmond County Tourism Development Authority.

“First off, I can tell you I took over this position in March,” Pruett said. “And I came from West Virginia. I chose to move here. Who better than someone who came here of her own choice to assess a community’s value?”

Pruett said she believes that the data used by the website is skewed.

“When I came here I went to each of the area’s attractions in Rockingham, Hamlet and Ellerbe,” Pruett said. “The whole purpose in bringing me here was to show people what Richmond County had as a whole in tourism. I found what I like to call a lot of hidden attractions and from what I see, we have a lot to offer.”

Pruett said having a local dragnet that hosts 50-60 events per year, agri-tourism and beautiful outdoor areas for kayaking, fishing and hunting are real gems for any community.

“And we have Little River Winery, a thriving farmers’ market and even lawnmower racing in Ellerbe,” she said. “That has become very popular. You have even little kids racing their little lawnmowers. And we have the Pee Dee River. There’s so much here to appreciate.”

‘A LOT IS SUBJECTIVE’

State Rep. Ken Goodman, a lifelong resident of Rockingham, had choice words for how RoadSnacks.com writer Nick James chose to paint the picture.

“First off, I’ve lived here all my life,” Goodman said. “It is a good place to live no matter what these people say. He’s just some guy with a blog trying to cause controversy. A lot is subjective, for instance, when he talks about the population density, how exactly is that working against us?”

Goodman added that other factors considered by the blogger, like low home values which typically equate to lower housing costs, are benefits for many area residents rather than strikes against them.

This is especially true in Richmond County where the 2009-13 census shows a median household income of $32,384 compared with the statewide average of $46,334 with 25.9 percent of people living below the poverty level compared with only 17.5 percent across the state.

A May 4 New York Times article, however, seems to support some assertions made in the RoadSnacks.net story. An interactive map in the article suggests that Richmond County is “very bad for income mobility for children in poor families” and that it is only better than “about 6 percent” of other counties in the United States.

This means that a poor child growing up in Richmond County rather than an average place stands to earn “$3,020 less at age 26.”

This study was compiled by a pair of Harvard economists, Raj Chetty and Nathaniel Hendren, both considered experts in the field of income mobility. Income mobility is the idea that where a person grows up matters when it comes to a child’s chances of escaping poverty.

MORRIS WEIGHS IN

This most recent study indicates that not only do certain counties correlate with income mobility, but that some counties cause it.

“The methodology is just way off,” Goodman said. “And we do have serious problems here we need to face but that does not make it a bad place to live at all.”

Goodman added that he heard this morning the same website published the worst cities in South Carolina, and Cheraw was on the list. (Cheraw is listed as third-worst city in that state.)

“All of rural North Carolina has problems,” Goodman said. “But we are facing them head-on. We have a great community here with great people, and I was seriously offended by that blog post.”

Rockingham Mayor Steve Morris said he didn’t think the original story should have been printed in the newspaper at all.

“The Daily Journal shouldn’t have printed this,” he said. “Because when you put something on the front page of a newspaper, it’s a fact.”

Reach reporter Melonie McLaurin at 910-817-2673 and follow her on Twitter @meloniemclaurin.

Melonie McLaurin | Daily Journal Richmond County Tourism Development Authority executive director Kelly Pruett said she isn’t worried about the website that ranked both Rockingham and Hamlet among the top 10 worst places to live in North Carolina. She’s too busy enjoying all that the area has to offer, and planning some serious new additions to the fun in coming months.
https://www.yourdailyjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_KellyPruett.jpgMelonie McLaurin | Daily Journal Richmond County Tourism Development Authority executive director Kelly Pruett said she isn’t worried about the website that ranked both Rockingham and Hamlet among the top 10 worst places to live in North Carolina. She’s too busy enjoying all that the area has to offer, and planning some serious new additions to the fun in coming months.
‘Worst places to live’ designation questioned

By Melonie McLaurin

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