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I'm looking for insight into what the population of Morgantown is like. I have a job opportunity that looks perfect and on paper Morgantown is everything we want: low crime, good schools, reasonable cost of living, quality outdoor opportunities. My biggest and only concern is the people of Morgantown. We lived in Winston Salem, NC and have family in Johnson City, TN and would not settle in either area because W-S was too conservative...every mom was only interested in being a mom with no other interests in life and Johnson City is too blue collar where we would have little in common with the majority of the population. I don't want to sound stuck up, but we want to live somewhere where we can find people with like interests and values...our perfect environment would be Asheville. Would Morgantown fit us??? On the surface it looks like johnson city and blue collar. Is it or not?
Morgantown is the home of West Virginia University. I believe during the school year, the student population is slightly greater than the resident population.
Being a university town, the population is diverse, with demographics skewed towards the late teens - early 20s. There are lots of cultural opportunities. Most of the blue collar industries (glass making, in particular) have closed, although a lot of the structures remain standing. (Personally, I like the older buildings.)
Unlike Asheville, which is pretty isolated, in Morgantown you're only a little over an hour from Pittsburgh for major league sports, opera, theater, etc.
Just move to Cheat Lake. The type of people that don't want to consort with the lowly proletariat wind up out there.
The local tourism bureau made a good video that probably is made to appeal to the more "cosmopolitan" type to show off the cultural opportunities available in town:
.....
Morgantown itself is wonderful because white collar families, blue collar families, students, and young professionals live together seamlessly without the concept of some bizarre caste system separating each other by class even popping into our thoughts in the first place.
And as far as liberal, conservative, scientologist...whatever...don't really care. I think Mon County voted for Obama like 51% to 48% last election, so there is a good mix based upon election results. Honestly, there are more true free thinkers here than anyone outside of WV would expect. After centuries of being lied to, ignored, and marginalized by Democrats and Republicans, we don't really have reason to support either of the two major political religions blindly. WV will vote for Clinton in one election in '96....then vote for Bush in '00 while simultaneously putting a Democrat in the Senate and Governors' Mansion.
If it's a dream job situation...then take it. I've been to Asheville before and there's a bit of a similarity between Asheville and Morgantown just in that they both have a very rustic look with a bit of a more modern attitude and focus on culture. However, Morgantown doesn't hold a candle to Asheville overall when it comes to scale and social impact. You have to remember that Asheville is the cultural hub and largest city in Western NC and that it has a much larger population. Asheville is a full-blown city while Morgantown is more of a first regional satellite to Pittsburgh. Asheville has a very funky and ecclectic type of culture all to its own with everything from its music and arts scene/hippie vibe to all of the weird little shops and businesses that dot downtown. Morgantown has some of that too, although on a much smaller scale...most of it is geared towards college demographics though, and it is a liberal area like most college towns though it's definately not "in your face" and is more subdued. That's going to be the biggest difference really; Asheville is a true city with a small university attatched to it while Morgantown literally IS a university city that's all about WVU. I would call Asheville a smaller version of Austin or Portland while Morgantown is more of a smaller Athens, Lexington, or Eugene.
Still though, I think Morgantown would be a nice fit for you just as long as you're not expecting an exact Asheville clone. It has a lot of the same elements, but just not on that type of scale. As for the people, heck no Morgantown isn't as bad as Winston-Salem. Morgantown is going to have a LARGE amount of 20-somethings running around with a lot of people in their 30s/40s either being employed in healthcare, technology, education, or science/bio. The older demographics will mostly be from the days of mill jobs, but it's a very interesting cultural aspect and is in no way anywhere near what Winston-Salem is like. Industry is moving into Morgantown unlike Winston-Salem where it's leaving. Morgantown is starting to retain/hold a lot of students after graduation due to booming healthcare opportunities and companies like Mylan with most blue collar landmarks only standing as empty monuments to celebrate the past. The general SWPA/WV area does have that "get hitched early and move to the burbs with your SUV" side to it in spades, with Morgantown being sort of the defacto place to go if your trying to avoid that. I'm not saying that it's perfect, but it's easily the most cultured, educated, and offbeat city within WV/SWPA/Eastern OH outside of a few sections of Pittsburgh. It's not Asheville but it'll have some similarities and be a nice upgrade from where you're at right now.
Last edited by TelecasterBlues; 10-16-2010 at 02:09 PM..
To quantify what Telecaster wrote: Asheville is about 69,000, plus whatever UNC-Asheville enrolls, while Morgantown is about 27,000 residents and another 27,000 students.
If it's a dream job situation...then take it. I've been to Asheville before and there's a bit of a similarity between Asheville and Morgantown just in that they both have a very rustic look with a bit of a more modern attitude and focus on culture. However, Morgantown doesn't hold a candle to Asheville overall when it comes to scale and social impact. You have to remember that Asheville is the cultural hub and largest city in Western NC and that it has a much larger population. Asheville is a full-blown city while Morgantown is more of a first regional satellite to Pittsburgh. Asheville has a very funky and ecclectic type of culture all to its own with everything from its music and arts scene/hippie vibe to all of the weird little shops and businesses that dot downtown. Morgantown has some of that too, although on a much smaller scale...most of it is geared towards college demographics though, and it is a liberal area like most college towns though it's definately not "in your face" and is more subdued. That's going to be the biggest difference really; Asheville is a true city with a small university attatched to it while Morgantown literally IS a university city that's all about WVU. I would call Asheville a smaller version of Austin or Portland while Morgantown is more of a smaller Athens, Lexington, or Eugene.
Still though, I think Morgantown would be a nice fit for you just as long as you're not expecting an exact Asheville clone. It has a lot of the same elements, but just not on that type of scale. As for the people, heck no Morgantown isn't as bad as Winston-Salem. Morgantown is going to have a LARGE amount of 20-somethings running around with a lot of people in their 30s/40s either being employed in healthcare, technology, education, or science/bio. The older demographics will mostly be from the days of mill jobs, but it's a very interesting cultural aspect and is in no way anywhere near what Winston-Salem is like. Industry is moving into Morgantown unlike Winston-Salem where it's leaving. Morgantown is starting to retain/hold a lot of students after graduation due to booming healthcare opportunities and companies like Mylan with most blue collar landmarks only standing as empty monuments to celebrate the past. The general SWPA/WV area does have that "get hitched early and move to the burbs with your SUV" side to it in spades, with Morgantown being sort of the defacto place to go if your trying to avoid that. I'm not saying that it's perfect, but it's easily the most cultured, educated, and offbeat city within WV/SWPA/Eastern OH outside of a few sections of Pittsburgh. It's not Asheville but it'll have some similarities and be a nice upgrade from where you're at right now.
It must have been awhile since you compared the cities. Morgantown and North Central West Virginia are growing areas due to the high quality of life and economic opportunities. Ashville is a nice town, and it is about the same size as Morgantown counting the student population, but Ashville doesn't offer the same social/cultural amenities. There are regular Broadway plays and concerts here, and top flight college athletic events. The city has more than 200 eateries. Like Ashville, it has outstanding outdoor venues literally right out the back door and it offers most of the attributes of a large city without the hassles associated with one. Pittsburgh is right up the road, and a new, shorter road is being built, but you won't need to go there very often. Even the Pittsburgh Symphony performs here.
It must have been awhile since you compared the cities. Morgantown and North Central West Virginia are growing areas due to the high quality of life and economic opportunities. Ashville is a nice town, and it is about the same size as Morgantown counting the student population, but Ashville doesn't offer the same social/cultural amenities. There are regular Broadway plays and concerts here, and top flight college athletic events. The city has more than 200 eateries. Like Ashville, it has outstanding outdoor venues literally right out the back door and it offers most of the attributes of a large city without the hassles associated with one. Pittsburgh is right up the road, and a new, shorter road is being built, but you won't need to go there very often. Even the Pittsburgh Symphony performs here.
Sorry buddy, but they really don't compare. Asheville's actually up to about 80K people at the moment with a metro population of just over 400K, while Morgantown sits at about 30K people with an MSA of about 120k. I mean pictures alone kind of set that one straight in terms of size and depth. Asheville is an actual city with some very surprising and extremely well known cultural quirks that are unique to Asheville and Asheville alone, it's one of the most "bohemian" places in the country when it comes to art and music. While Morgantown is a growing college town with a lot of upside and the beginning stages for "city" growth in place, it's not going to copy that type of full fledged liberal feel...only somewhere like Austin or Portland is going to be able to do that. Morgantown is great and all, but it's not the same and doesn't have the venues or personality of a place like Asheville. I mean Asheville attracts national touring acts to places like the Orange Peel and has an actual music scene...Morgantown is nowhere near that. It also has it's own music, art, and film festivals, symphony orchestra complete with music hall, and a lyric opera among street performers and other such things that Morgantown has none of. It's also a hub for independant film industry and has minor league sports associated with it. Morgantown is impressive for its size and has a lot of attractions due to WVU, but there's no flipping way that Morgantown equals or has more events than Asheville. Morgantown has a lot going for it, but Asheville is a one of a kind place. Let's not get the poor guy's hopes up just to let him be dissapointed in what would otherwise be a nice move for him.
Sorry buddy, but they really don't compare. Asheville's actually up to about 80K people at the moment with a metro population of just over 400K, while Morgantown sits at about 30K people with an MSA of about 120k. I mean pictures alone kind of set that one straight in terms of size and depth. Asheville is an actual city with some very surprising and extremely well known cultural quirks that are unique to Asheville and Asheville alone, it's one of the most "bohemian" places in the country when it comes to art and music. While Morgantown is a growing college town with a lot of upside and the beginning stages for "city" growth in place, it's not going to copy that type of full fledged liberal feel...only somewhere like Austin or Portland is going to be able to do that.
From my travels to "Bohemian" locales such as Austin and upper Brooklyn in the last few years, I've come to the conclusion that "Bohemian" is essentially yuppie euphemism speak for "pretentious." So, basically, what your saying is that there aren't any mopey ass hipsters making Morgantown lame as hell?
No, we don't have emaciated, vegan members of the Communist Party USA riding around on fixed gear bicycles in two-lane bicycle only lanes on the way to the all-organic food mart.
(I'd take this stuff about not being "Bohemian" as a compliment and walk away with a smile on your face, CT. You people are talking two different languages as to what constitutes "culture.")
Last edited by WVUPharm2007; 10-17-2010 at 04:01 AM..
I went to "The Orange Peel" website out of curiosity. Every act except for the one called "Playing For Change" that they had samples of is terrible and makes my ears bleed.
Yeeeeeeah....that's definitely not Morgantown. Thank God.
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