330 - East Liverpool Ohio was formerly a prosperous manufacturing city in Southern Ohio on the banks of the Ohio river. It had a population of fifty thousand people and a charming downtown. It was known as the "pottery capital of the world" for beautiful fine china tableware that was produced there. Today, East Liverpool has a population of just over nine thousand and is emblematic of many other small and mid size towns across America. The manufacturing jobs went away and factories closed. People left in search of better jobs and the stores downtown soon boarded up, especially after big box stores moved out by the highway. Drugs and despair followed and when the opioid epidemic enveloped much of the rust belt, East Liverpool became a repository for dealers and addicts. Yet, people have endured. There are still many good people who are trying to do the right thing and help the town recover and reinvent itself.
Please see more at an NPR piece here
