Anyone here from Pikeville? (Prestonsburg, Jenkins: jobs, hospital, home)

[Future Mrs.Billy Thompson]

I am engaged to a man that was raised there, He is fixing to turn 39. Please contact me by this thread or email me if there is anybody here that has, or had lived there in that time frame. He was the QB for his High School team.THANK YOU!

[highliner]

Please do yourself a great big favor, and don't move to Pikeville. A little bit of this economically depressed, rundown, 3rd world village goes a very very long way. Yes, I lived there ONCE. It's a great place to be from- preferably far from. I am in my 40's, but did not attend school there.

[centaura57]

I grew up in Virgie, just outside Pikeville. We had to go to Pikeville to shop if we wanted clothes or anything really important. Went to school there in the late 60s, early 70s. It was very depressing/dead back then. I still have family there so visit once or twice a year and now you can go out somewhere different every night and there's plenty of shopping in Pikeville. Roads much better, newer highways opened up, etc. I'd move back there if I could find some affordable pasture land (hard to find any flat land in the Pikeville area) to raise horses.

[tenesseetarheel]

Please, whatever you do, do not move to Pikeville. I lived in Prestonsburg for a year. It was THE longest and most depressing time of my life. When my husband and I wanted to go out for dinner, there was an Applebees. That was the closest thing to a "real" restaurant they have. One tiny mall, that doesn't even deserved to be called a mall. If I never go back there I'll be better off. Never move to a place where your 14 year old dog has more teeth than the majority of the people there.

[proudky]

Pikeville is what you make of it. It has been voted one of the best small towns in America serveral times. We have the East KY Expo Center which offers great entertainment. Our Chamber of Commerce and Service organizations are superior to many other Kentucky communities. We are the third largest banking center in Kentucky, and if you have computer skills there are many good jobs available. Our hospital employs many people as well.

If you are marrying into a local family, I am sure they will introduce you around in the community. Sometimes, it is a little hard to get to know people here, but mostly they are a friendly and easy going group.

[highliner]

to PROUDKY: Thank you for the chamber of commerce/board of realtors speech. However, my experiences in Pikeville (family in Pike county since 1782), lead me to consider it as a poor excuse for a third world country, at best. No one, who is not from Pikeville, should ever move there. In fact, more of us who are from there should do ourselves a gigantic favor by leaving that stinky, oversized dump, known as the village with the two mile long open sewer. Yes, I AM referring to the closed section of the Levisa fork of the Big Sandy. I lived-if I can call it that- on Scott Avenue, so lets not hear some guff about my not knowing whereof I speak. The good old, booming coal era town that I once loved so much is dead. Its been replaced by cheap liquor stores, Oxycontin addicts, falling-down fire hazards, and mounds of litter, where an All America City once stood. No one mourns its decease more than me, but my childhood home is dead, nonetheless. When was the last time that you ever heard of a town of 6000 people, whose town jail was a seven (count 'em) story building? Name ONE. To see what those of you who stayed behind have done with our once beautiful home, makes me so angry that even typing this brings tears to my eyes.

[XRay]

I grew up in Jenkins, a few miles outside of Pikeville. I believe the city of Pikeville is actually improving over what it was when I left home 10 years ago. There's new businesses, renovations to the hospital, and a new arena that has hosted the likes of Kid Rock and Alice Cooper. Still, the whole area in general is way behind the times and is just plain depressing to visit. If my parents didn't live in Jenkins I would never return to the area again. When you meet people like me from the area, you'll find that we're not ashamed of our roots, but we're not really nostalgic either.

However, if you like to go hunting and/or fishing and enjoy outdoor activities like off-road ATV riding, hiking, horseback riding, etc. then you might actually like it. Despite the raping of the land from strip-mining, there's still a lot of hills to explore and wildlife to see. I guess it all depends on where your head is at. I've grown accustomed to city life and could never again live in such a small area.

[highliner]

X-Ray , I read you Lima-Charlie 10-2! My first REAL job took me from the boondocks, to places such as Nashville, Boston, and Chicago. How could anyone settle for a horrible, saddening dump like Pikeville, Ky after that? Still, I am proud of my heritage in the mountains.

[blue62]

I am a transplanted "big city girl". Been here 30 years and raised my children here. Believe me all the negative things people are saying just aren't true. They seem to be getting all their information from TV and the movies. This is a CLEAN, GROWING, friendly place...People here are very friendly, we know who our neighbors are.

[lodger777]

You guys seem quick to talk trash about this town. And some of it's true, it is a little behind economically, though it grows slowly. And when coal runs out the town will die out, but for now, it's an alright place to live. It is boring, but it's a small town, get over it. We have our share of problems just like everywhere else. Pills are our thing. Crack is another town's. But then I could just complain and be as biased as possible. But it seems like a lot of people beat me to it.