Factors Inhibiting Appalachian Regional Development.

The article discusses the factors inhibiting the development of the Appalachian region. Appalachia, as defined by the Appalachian Regional Commission, is to some extent a political conglomeration of Appalachias. The annual rate of employment change for Appalachia between 1962 and 1965 was 2.3 percent as opposed to 3.2 percent for the U.S with the Appalachian portions of Kentucky, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia registering slower growth rates than the U.S. The total population in the Appalachian region in 1960 exceeded 15 million, but only 47.5 percent of this population was classified as being urban. The region suffered an absolute population decline of 3.1 percent in metropolitan areas and 5.1 percent in non metropolitan areas during the 1950 to 1960 census for persons 18 to 64 years of age, the economically-productive age group. Factors such as non-standard transportation system, paucity of public investment, the antiquated governmental structure and the industrial structure inhibited the growth of West Virginia. The transportation and communication systems constitute the major integrating factors in a market system. It is largely the development of the transportation system that furnishes the more important location factors in a market-directed economy. The close relationship between the transportation and communication systems and industrial location reflects the impact of national transportation policy on regional growth.