Morgantown Has Changed (Charleston, Huntington, Parkersburg: school, college, taxes)

[Chriscross309]

Originally Posted by adam36

Is Morgantown really 'the' state economic hub? I find that hard to believe, though I've never lived in Charleston. Any comments..?

Lord No Morgantown isn't WV's business hub. Education and research hub, maybe. Charleston is home to almost all of the major business HQs that function in our state, and is our state's banking capital.

[Chriscross309]

Originally Posted by tbailey1138

I gave numbers, do you have any? Otherwise it sounds like you are claiming your opinion trumps census data and that you are saying Pittsburgh is the economic hub of WV. You are kind of defeating your own argument there by saying more people in that area travel outside the state for retail. We bring people from surrounding states here, for jobs and retail. The numbers back that up. Also, hate to break it to you but we have hitech, biotech, hospitals, manufacturing, etc here too.

My suggestion is ignore him! One minute is too much to waste replying to posts as childish as those.

[cry_havoc]

Originally Posted by tbailey1138

I gave numbers, do you have any? Otherwise it sounds like you are claiming your opinion trumps census data and that you are saying Pittsburgh is the economic hub of WV. You are kind of defeating your own argument there by saying more people in that area travel outside the state for retail. We bring people from surrounding states here, for jobs and retail. The numbers back that up. Also, hate to break it to you but we have hitech, biotech, hospitals, manufacturing, etc here too.

Tim you brought up irrelevant numbers. Your numbers have as much to do with their economies as Huntington"s obesity rate. I never said Pittsburgh was an economic hub in WV it is a retail hub.

[cry_havoc]

Originally Posted by Chriscross309

Lord No Morgantown isn't WV's business hub. Education and research hub, maybe. Charleston is home to almost all of the major business HQs that function in our state, and is our state's banking capital.

Charleston is home to state workers and lobbyist. No important private companies are there. For someone who claims to love capitalism and hate socialism you sure don't act like it. Charleston is reliant on welfare.

[tbailey1138]

Originally Posted by cry_havoc

Tim you brought up irrelevant numbers. Your numbers have as much to do with their economies as Huntington"s obesity rate. I never said Pittsburgh was an economic hub in WV it is a retail hub.

So retail and wholesale trade numbers are irrelevant to whether an area is an economic center? In other words you once again have no numbers to back up your statements.

[cry_havoc]

Originally Posted by tbailey1138

So retail and wholesale trade numbers are irrelevant to whether an area is an economic center? In other words you once again have no numbers to back up your statements.

They can be one small factor out of many much bigger ones, but yes they don't really tell you anything.

Tim I know you try. You put effort into your post, and I respect that. The problem is your research almost never supports your assertion. I dont think you are trying to be dishonest, but rather you don't understand economics or politics. Your mistakes are common enough.

So to finish this, morgantown is not only the engine of WV but one of the healthiest economies in the country. As WVians we should all be proud of morgantown's success especially considering how bad the rest of the state is doing barring the EP. Morgantown will be the salvation of Huntington and Charleston, even if we get no appreciation for doing so. We have your backs

[Wvu2016]

Huntington is the ****tiest town lol, charleston and Morgantown >>>>>>>>>

[CTMountaineer]

Originally Posted by tbailey1138

In short, no. Here are the numbers for wholesale and retail trade for Cabell, Kanawha and Monongalia from the last economic census. Hard numbers always out weigh personal opinion and I'd like to see any hard numbers that say otherwise.

Cabell: wholesale $778,893,000 retail $1,496,115,000

Kanawha: wholesale $1,726,596,000 retail $2,947,318,000

Monongalia: wholesale $370,348,000 retail $1,289,674,000

American FactFinder - Results

Tim, I'm surprised to see you here like this. You're putting forward county statistics, not city statistics. Like most data that can be presented, those can be deceptive of the true situation. The "wholesale" figures denote the origin of the distributing company, but they are included in the retail figures since it is through retail that goods reach the ultimate consumer. I'm sure you know that we are in proximity to a large city here. Most of our wholesale originates in Pittsburgh for obvious reasons. Retail is a truer indicator of economic activity, but again using county parameters does not give an accurate picture.
Kanawha is geographically the size of three counties. If you were to include a geographic parameter of the same size around Morgantown you would have very different results.

I can't get your link to open, but I believe if you were to use up to date statistics you would find that Monongalia has now passed Cabell in terms of retail sales, though not wholesale since you don't have any large cities in that region. It is too far to operate in a wholesale sense out of Cincinnati and serve Cabell or Kanawha counties.

Okay, I played around with Tim's link and got it to open. Tim... you are using 2007 statistics! Come on now, you know better than to do that. Morgantown barely resembles what it did in 2007 these days.

That said, I disagree with havoc. I don't believe any city in our state, including Morgantown, has a large enough economy to dominate the entire state economically. We have regional economies, some of them heavily tied to other regional economies in other states, but we do not have a statewide economy as such. What happens economically here in Morgantown has little connection to what happens in Huntington or Bluefield. I will, however, agree that our local economy in Morgantown is the healthiest in the state. I believe that speaks for itself.

[cry_havoc]

Originally Posted by CTMountaineer

Tim, I'm surprised to see you here like this. You're putting forward county statistics, not city statistics. Like most data that can be presented, those can be deceptive of the true situation. The "wholesale" figures denote the origin of the distributing company, but they are included in the retail figures since it is through retail that goods reach the ultimate consumer. I'm sure you know that we are in proximity to a large city here. Most of our wholesale originates in Pittsburgh for obvious reasons. Retail is a truer indicator of economic activity, but again using county parameters does not give an accurate picture.
Kanawha is geographically the size of three counties. If you were to include a geographic parameter of the same size around Morgantown you would have very different results.

I can't get your link to open, but I believe if you were to use up to date statistics you would find that Monongalia has now passed Cabell in terms of retail sales, though not wholesale since you don't have any large cities in that region. It is too far to operate in a wholesale sense out of Cincinnati and serve Cabell or Kanawha counties.

Okay, I played around with Tim's link and got it to open. Tim... you are using 2007 statistics! Come on now, you know better than to do that. Morgantown barely resembles what it did in 2007 these days.

That said, I disagree with havoc. I don't believe any city in our state, including Morgantown, has a large enough economy to dominate the entire state economically. We have regional economies, some of them heavily tied to other regional economies in other states, but we do not have a statewide economy as such. What happens economically here in Morgantown has little connection to what happens in Huntington or Bluefield. I will, however, agree that our local economy in Morgantown is the healthiest in the state. I believe that speaks for itself.

I never said Motown dominated the state. It is the most important economy though.

I appreciate Tim's effort but retail is irrelevant to this discussion and as you pointed out these numbers are 6 years old.

[tbailey1138]

Originally Posted by CTMountaineer

You're putting forward county statistics, not city statistics. Like most data that can be presented, those can be deceptive of the true situation.

Normally you note that the draw of an area is bigger than just city limits, is that not convenient to use on this case?

Originally Posted by CTMountaineer

Kanawha is geographically the size of three counties. If you were to include a geographic parameter of the same size around Morgantown you would have very different results.

Seeing as how Mon County is 100 square miles larger than Cabell County, the results don't match your method of thinking in that case.

Originally Posted by CTMountaineer

I can't get your link to open, but I believe if you were to use up to date statistics you would find that Monongalia has now passed Cabell in terms of retail sales, though not wholesale since you don't have any large cities in that region. It is too far to operate in a wholesale sense out of Cincinnati and serve Cabell or Kanawha counties.

Okay, I played around with Tim's link and got it to open. Tim... you are using 2007 statistics! Come on now, you know better than to do that. Morgantown barely resembles what it did in 2007 these days.

As you may or may not know, those ARE the most up to date statistics. They only do an economic census every 5 years and 2007 was the last time. They will begin collecting data for 2012 next year and the results likely won't be available until after 2015. And the 2007 results are after all of the new development with University Town Center and Suncrest Town Center was well on its way as well. Huntington has also seen a lot of new retail growth. Any speculation of one area surpassing another is just that until new data is released.

Originally Posted by CTMountaineer

That said, I disagree with havoc. I don't believe any city in our state, including Morgantown, has a large enough economy to dominate the entire state economically. We have regional economies, some of them heavily tied to other regional economies in other states, but we do not have a statewide economy as such. What happens economically here in Morgantown has little connection to what happens in Huntington or Bluefield. I will, however, agree that our local economy in Morgantown is the healthiest in the state. I believe that speaks for itself.

When one states an area is the economic center of the state, to me that means the state economy revolves around it. No city really suits that bill but the one that comes the closest in my opinion would be Charleston due to being the capital.