common denominators amongst towns that are run down or are being run down...

I know where you're coming from. Literally

My hometown is this way. It only has 3k people in it, and is predominantly poor. The town was built for railroad employees, and even though there is still a depot there, there's not much else. It's depressing to go back there.

Oh, and it's 98% white.

The common denominator is a severe lack of birth control. Really Walmart? No condoms? REALLY??

Democratic mayor and administration. Is that what you are going for? Or were you looking for a racial angle?

Poverty?

Technology says we don't need you anymore.

Lack of jobs. Lack of educated citizens.

Lots of welfare users.

The main reason for the decline is overbearing Government combined with technology advances. Take the Delta for instance...used to have dozens of cotton gins and textile mills for employment which led to it being a wealthy place at one time.

Government injecting themselves into the free market via regulations and wage requirements caused factories to shut down, move overseas, or foreign competition to take over. The businesses that survived did so by using less labor and more machines to become efficient. This led to

1. Massive unemployment among the labor force (many of which were blacks or hispanics)

2. Middle class whites fleeing to urban areas for jobs while they still had the means to move.

This leaves behind a small portion of wealthy people who control everything and large amounts of unemployed minorities living on the Gov't dole, which only exacerbates the problem because welfare takes away incentive to try and make something of themselves where they currently live or to try and move away also.

The Mississippi River Delta regions are poised to make an economic comeback though. Business friendly policies among red states bordering the river combined with the lowest energy and labor costs are causing an economic boom that is expected to spread. You can see it in Louisiana starting to happen already. Expect the southern portions of the MS River areas to be the next economic manufacturing hub of the US.

smh @ the dirty delta