I took a drive through some of the forgotten areas in and around Beckley/Raleigh, West Virginia to see how bad things really are. Raleigh is 1.5 miles south east of downtown Beckley and is an unincorporated coal town. The Raleigh Coal and Coke Company was the primary mining company in this area. After the decline of the coal industry this town all but folded up and is what you see today, a grim reminder of the past.

As I check out some other parts of Beckley, there's a fair bit of dilapidation and rough areas. Crime is almost twice the national average, and continuing to get worse each year. Good paying jobs are hard to come by, its no surprise the population has been on decline. Not all is bad though, I think there are many decent areas and its certainly building up compared to years ago, so there's hope it'll turn around for the better. Let's take a drive and check it out!