Bringing The World Home To You

© 2025 WUNC North Carolina Public Radio
120 Friday Center Dr
Chapel Hill, NC 27517
919.445.9150 | 800.962.9862
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Small towns in NC grapple with new challenges

Welcome to North Carolina Sign
albertc111/Getty Images/iStockphoto
/
iStockphoto
Welcome to North Carolina Sign

(This encore episode originally aired in Sep. 2024)

Hampton Roads young residents leaving in droves, report finds potential solutions
A lack of job opportunities, and a high cost of housing, are just two of the reasons young residents are leaving the Hampton Roads region in southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina. A local reporter explains the data, and the potential solutions local leaders are trying. 
Ryan Murphy, WHRO’s business and growth reporter

More people moving to urban NC than rural areas in recent decades
Most people who move to North Carolina are moving to cities and the coast. But there are more stories to hear — about the rural towns, cities and regions in our state. A long-time North Carolinian, and demographer, helps us understand the long-term trends in our shifting population. 
Nathan Dollar, director of Carolina Demography and a native of Wilson, North Carolina

Princeville, NC's mayor on the challenge of ‘outmigration’
Leaders of small cities and towns use grassroots efforts to maintain populations against the trend of ‘urbanization.’ We talk with one small town mayor in North Carolina - the mayor of Princeville - about the challenges of residents moving out of town, or 'outmigration.'
Bobbie Jones, Mayor of Princeville, North Carolina for 14 years

Leoneda Inge is the co-host of WUNC's "Due South." Leoneda has been a radio journalist for more than 30 years, spending most of her career at WUNC as the Race and Southern Culture reporter. Leoneda’s work includes stories of race, slavery, memory and monuments. She has won "Gracie" awards, an Alfred I. duPont Award and several awards from the Radio, Television, Digital News Association (RTDNA). In 2017, Leoneda was named "Journalist of Distinction" by the National Association of Black Journalists.
Cole del Charco is an audio producer and writer based in Durham. He's made stories for public radio's All Things Considered, Morning Edition and Marketplace. Before joining Due South, he spent time as a freelance journalist, an education and daily news reporter for WUNC, and a podcast producer for WFAE in Charlotte.