[j_m_b]

I just got back from a visit with family in Cumberland. It's the epitome of rust belt. What used to be a thriving manufacturing area has become an abandoned service-sector economy with low-wage jobs. Property values are dirt cheap, even for nice houses. There isn't much nearby, you have to travel hours from Pittsburgh to even get there by plane. Tales of theft of items like power tools from relatively remote farms are common. It doesn't look quite as bad as videos I've seen of poorer parts of Appalachia, but it's pretty close. I don't know how they will be able to afford this as the tax base has all but left and Cumberland is trying to pinch every penny they can to afford their over-compensated government staff. It's a pretty sad state of affairs, this seems more like a last-ditch marketing effort.

[robotnikman]

Sounds like a place I wouldn't mind working if I can find a remote position again. I'm a big introvert, and I would like to move somewhere more greener (getting tired of living in the middle of a bland hot dessert)

[ghaff]

At some point, many people start thinking about things like access to good healthcare, various types of trades, ability to travel without it being a huge hassle, etc. Doesn't mean you need to live right around a big city but I doubt I would want every task or appointment to be a big undertaking.

[deagle50]

Don't fall for it. I had family in Cumberland for 20 years and I know it well. It's a very dark place, most people there barely finished high school and drug abuse is really bad.

[riehwvfbk]

And live every day as a mark for a robbery? No thanks.

[scythe]

The area around Cumberland, mostly to the south towards Moorefield and Petersburg, WV, has a somewhat similar climate to the Tokaj region of Hungary, known for growing rare botrytized wines that sell for a fortune. I found this one day when I looked at the map of precipitation activity the US and saw an unexpected dry(ish) spot in northeastern West Virginia.

[alephnerd]

There's a decently sized saffron industry in that general region of the Appalachia and southern PA for the same reason.

[dfc]

Cumberland is equidistant (~2 hours) between Pittsburgh airport and Dulles.

[klingoff]

They sound about the same, but "2 Hours to Dulles" would be the better name for the M Night Shyamalan movie.

[abduhl]

I think this would be equitemporal rather than equidistant? Maybe isochronic? Isochronal? One of those…

[ApolloFortyNine]

2 hours from a central hub I'd actually consider a plus. If you travel for work it's bad, but for any personal trip, skipping a connection is pretty valuable. Not just in time, but generally international / longer flights are higher priority, and are less likely to be randomly delayed or canceled.

[deagle50]

Not quite true for Dulles. You're looking at 3 hours in good traffic, and it's not a relaxing drive. BWI could be done in 2.5 hours and you don't have to deal with the two way road from Frederick to Leesburg.

[thelastparadise]

Not to mention "incest" is a real word there. It is most definitely Appalachia, part of the dark underbelly.

Drive down any number of the "hollars," and you'll see an active smokehouse, yard litter, and an (often abused) wife sitting on the porch.

There are neighborhood kids endlessly circling the streets. An otherwise innocuous occurrence, however in this case the child is pushing 30 years old.

[rjsw]

How good is internet access there?

[fasa99]

If you're in cumberland proper, your main option is cable, which is fine, fast and stable. since the culture is blue collar, their lineman due a perfectionist tier type guys who pride themselves in their craft. they have a guy there who does fibre and is pretty chill but ironically he only runs line rurally (not in the main urban core of cumberland). they have a startup-ish grass roots wireless based internet which is cool but kind of hard to plug into.

They also have various speakeasies fully in the classic unlicensed since but for obvious reasons I won't say where. I would call it a "deregulated" region. Whereas in most of MD you have vehicle emissions and all that redtape, none of it in cumberland.

there are methheads about but police force and community are hand in hand and highly functional

if you're in cumberland proper all you could want is walkable, including an amtrak station that links you directly to DC and chicago, walking distance

there is an aspect of xenophobia but generally if you live there a while, well, if you're willing to live in cumberland that's good enough for most people to welcome you. it does have a small town vibe as far as saying hello to everyone on the sidewalk as such

the other point people who visit may miss about appalachian culture (it is appalachian culture very much so, not maryland culture) is everyone dresses like a methhead, even people who aren't methheads, so take appearences softly.

[tunesmith]

The brochure says "95% broadband", whatever that means.

[reducesuffering]

70% of households in the county have internet speeds >25 Mbps. Is that metric meaningful to you? What would ideally mean "good internet access?"

I'm working on a project[0] where I sourced this from the FCC Broadband data and am curious about what people are looking for in that respect.

[0] https://www.exoroad.com/us/Maryland/Allegany-County/housing

[jhawk28]

You can get always get starlink if the fiber/cable is bad.

[xeromal]

With Starlink, this question is getting less important. Loads of my family in N. Georgia have started using it and it's crazy how much better it is than the local competition

[dccoolgai]

When the railroad was the internet, it was really the Silicon Valley of its day. Really makes you think.

[hosh]

I had been thinking about looking at history from the lens of information technology.

China is an interesting example, in that it was so well ahead of the curve until around 1700s. In the 1800s, when telegraphs were connecting the Western world together, the Qing dynasty China would not have been able to participate unless pictographs could be encoded as easily as letters (let alone the century of uprisings, rebellions, and civil war).

But look at Tang Dynasty China. The Silk Road was a part of a global trade network reaching through the Middle East, and into Africa, along with maritime routes from India.

It wasn’t just trade goods that travelled. Ideas — religious, cultural, technological, flowed along the network. But they travelled only as fast as trade goods.

I think it is when information is able to flow faster than the physical items that, we might find some insights about what is going on now.

[samstave]

Maybe youre not familiar with Qwest Communications?

Man does SV have stories to tell that will be lost to us old BOFH ilk:

Qwest communications came about when the railroad realized they had rights to the easement lanes on either side of ALL their train tracks, that allowed them to basically do anything they wanted with that strip of land.

So Qwest Communications was born to run fiber along all the tracks and built a huge fiber infra.

There was a huge scandal with the telecom giants, and Qwest's CEO was convicted:

---

Dossier: Qwest Communications

Creation and Early Years

- Qwest Communications was formed in 1996 as a spin-off from the Southern Pacific Railroad Company. The railroad company had been granted easement rights to lay fiber-optic cables along their tracks, which Qwest leveraged to build a massive fiber-optic network.

Fiber-Optic Network Expansion

- Qwest used the easement rights to lay fiber-optic cables along the railroad tracks, expanding their network across the western United States. This strategic move allowed Qwest to:

- Reduce costs: By utilizing existing railroad easements, Qwest avoided the need to purchase or lease land for their fiber-optic cables.

- Increase efficiency: The railroad tracks provided a direct route for fiber-optic cables, reducing the need for detours and minimizing signal degradation.

Scandal and Conviction of CEO Joseph Nacchio

- In 2005, Qwest CEO Joseph Nacchio was convicted of insider trading and sentenced to six years in prison. The scandal involved Nacchio selling millions of dollars' worth of Qwest stock while aware of the company's financial struggles.

Scale of Fiber Plant

- Qwest built an extensive fiber-optic network, spanning over 190,000 miles across the United States. This massive infrastructure enabled Qwest to offer high-speed data and voice services to customers.

[thephyber]

Categorical mistake.

A rural community based on a single industry is always high risk for economic sustainability.

Silicon Valley is has cities older than the USA, was grown by the gold rush, the early movie studios, the defense industry (plus some world class universities), NASA contractors, microelectronics, etc. The most recent iteration is software startups.

Cities are always more resilient than isolated rural communities because they are inherently more diversified in both economy and workforce.

[tonymet]

And makes you humble.

[martinald]

Seems like its 2hrs drive from Pittsburg and IAD airports?