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 SILER CITY, NC (WEST) 

 PITTSBORO, NC (EAST) 

East vs. West

Many interviewees we spoke to talked about the divide between east and west Chatham (and, to a lesser extent, the northern and southern parts of the county). The eastern part of the county, on account of its proximity to urban hubs in the Triangle, is often understood to be wealthier, more suburban, a microcosm of the larger changes taking place in the county as newcomers move into the area. The western part of the county, with towns like Siler City, is considered more rural and the site of less rapid changes – “the place,” as one interviewee puts it, that “time has forgot.”

While the East/West divide in Chatham may seem like a more recent development due to urban sprawl from the Triangle, it actually dates back to economic patterns in place since before the Civil War. But with new, major manufacturing projects springing up in both western and southern Chatham, this centuries-long dynamic in the county may soon change. 

Listen to the Recordings

Lily McCrimmon

More Money, More City

Transcript:

McCrimmon discusses the various dividing factors between Siler City and Pittsboro

Interviewer(s):

"Pittsboro definitely has more money. Siler City has more like city, but Pittsboro has more money I think that- that's how I would explain it they have like little shops that've been there forever or like houses that are like old and look really nice. I don't know, like Siler City's definitely a city and most of the time in cities income is like we can go from high to low it's like from the nicest areas to like the poorest areas. But since Pittsboro's so small it's mostly, everyone's mostly like mid-range, everywhere. "
00:00 / 00:50
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Jeremiah Blake

High Three Hundreds

Transcript:

Blake discusses the economic divide between East and West

Interviewer(s):

"Yeah, there's a huge divide, I mean, in both those categories. But particularly the west -- the north, the northeast is different than any other part of the county, you know, from Cole park down to Pittsboro down on east, that quadrant -- it's not even a quadrant, it's not even a full fourth of the county, has the majority of the county's population. It's mainly affluent, mainly white. And you can see it now that the poor people who used to live in Pittsboro can't afford to live there anymore. And we're just at the beginning of the boom, well the projected boom. I was driving through Pittsboro the other day and I noticed one of the new developments had a sign that said houses starting in the high three hundreds. And that is not something that the rest of the county really--really has. I mean, we have, you know, we have like a rich neighborhood in Siler City around the country club where people have their m- mansions that are half a million dollars. But those people are the upper five percent, right? They're not -- they're not Siler City. They're the affluent in Siler City. Meanwhile, seems like Pittsboro and Farrington and Coal Park and that whole corridor, the fifteen five one corridor, it's um -- the people are bringing the money from Chapel Hill and Carry and it's a lot more -- it's a lot different than -- than the rest of the county. And now that they have the majority of the county's population the rest of the county just does not get won't get represented. They -- we have not a single commissioner from outside that area. Everybody, all the county officials, are from that area. And they don't ever visit the rest of the county. And Siler City is not doing that badly. But you go down to to Goldston or Bear Creek and um -- you still have the old south and kind of that old southern poverty with it."
00:00 / 02:36
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Paul Cuadros

A Real Divide

Transcript:

Cuadros talks about the deep divides in the county

Interviewer(s):

"There's a real divide in Chatham County, it's a really large county, between the East and the West and there is little sort of co-mingling of organizations and leadership between East and West."
00:00 / 00:19
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Cicily McCrimmon

Bougie Pittsboro

Transcript:

McCrimmon details the difference she sees between Siler and her native Pittsboro

Interviewer(s):

"I think just given the proximity of Pittsboro maybe to Capel Hill, it -- Siler City feels more -- and they have more stuff than we have. I mean, they have a Walmart, which I think is a big deal. That's more stuff. Right, right. It's more stuff! The perception is that Pittsboro is a bit more elite, progressive, yeah, mhm. We just have more antique shops, more stores that I can't buy stuff out of. Siler City, in my view, is more practical in the sense that it -- the demographic there are more Black and Brown. Pittsboro is more white, yeah, bougie white. It is. It is. It is. Absolutely"
00:00 / 01:05
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Tommy Edwards

Siler and Pittsboro

Transcript:

Edwards describes the tensions between the East and West sides of the county

Interviewer(s):

"And then there's the natural Siler City, Pittsboro divide. I don't now if you've heard of that. Over the years there's been a lot of not getting along there, at least on -- I don't put too much credit in it. I'm from Siler City and I've been over here working and the mayor was from Siler City and had moved over here when we were first starting a business, but there is some differences of opinion politically. And a lot of folks from the western part of the county feel like that when something new gets built or a government building gets money spent, that they get left out because they're from the other side of the county. So, there is that."
00:00 / 00:49
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Andy Pugh

There's a Divide

Transcript:

Pugh outlines the various elements factoring into the East/West divide in Chahtam

Interviewer(s):

"There's a divide. You hit Midway Hill on 64 and it's the place time has forgot as far as--it gets ignored by this part of the county (Eastern Chatham). That part of the county (Western Chatham) is one of the biggest ag-producers--cattle, chicken in, in the country but it gets ignored because those type of people don't associate--can't associate now with the type of--It boils down to politics and stuff too all as well. And it's sad because there's such a diverse group of folks between here and there. But you know it's--it's basically Western Chatham County considers East Chatham County like, took over for some odd reason. It's not, but it just appears that way."
00:00 / 01:01
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