Relocating - What areas should we consider? (Morgantown, Cheat Lake: apartment, rentals)
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Myself and my SO are relocating to Morgantown in August and are wondering what areas we should consider for housing.
We’re late 20s/early 30s, no children, and 1 dog.
I WFH and will be satisfied with a quiet place no more than 20ish minutes from a gym, coffee shop, and book store. I like to work from coffee shops some days to break up the monotony of being at home, so being close to town is fairly important. I’d also like to join some clubs, so I can meet new people, and I think being close to town will make that easier.
He is relocating for work and also wants a quiet place, and he needs room (garage, basement, or detached unit) to work on his bikes and do wood working. Like me, as long as he can drive to town with relative ease, I think he’ll be happy.
We’ve been looking for a small house with a yard and plenty of wood to burn (we have a wood stove). We don’t want to live in an apartment or townhome as we’re trying to avoid student housing issues (3am parties, yelling about breakups, crying over exams- you know... the BEST parts of college!)
Bonus: if we could be near the water (lake or river) and easily take our kayaks out, we’d probably feel like we were in paradise.
I’ve been searching online around Cheat Lake and occasionally see listings in Westover that look appealing. Otherwise, I’m not sure where to look.
Any advice?
I’m excited to be moving to (what looks like) such a beautiful place near the mountains and around so much water! It seems like the best of both worlds. I can’t wait to come see!
Myself and my SO are relocating to Morgantown in August and are wondering what areas we should consider for housing.
We’re late 20s/early 30s, no children, and 1 dog.
I WFH and will be satisfied with a quiet place no more than 20ish minutes from a gym, coffee shop, and book store. I like to work from coffee shops some days to break up the monotony of being at home, so being close to town is fairly important. I’d also like to join some clubs, so I can meet new people, and I think being close to town will make that easier.
He is relocating for work and also wants a quiet place, and he needs room (garage, basement, or detached unit) to work on his bikes and do wood working. Like me, as long as he can drive to town with relative ease, I think he’ll be happy.
We’ve been looking for a small house with a yard and plenty of wood to burn (we have a wood stove). We don’t want to live in an apartment or townhome as we’re trying to avoid student housing issues (3am parties, yelling about breakups, crying over exams- you know... the BEST parts of college!)
Bonus: if we could be near the water (lake or river) and easily take our kayaks out, we’d probably feel like we were in paradise.
I’ve been searching online around Cheat Lake and occasionally see listings in Westover that look appealing. Otherwise, I’m not sure where to look.
Any advice?
I’m excited to be moving to (what looks like) such a beautiful place near the mountains and around so much water! It seems like the best of both worlds. I can’t wait to come see!
If you don't mind me asking, what price range are you looking at? Are you looking to buy or rent?
As far as coffee shops go, there are a TON of starbucks all around town, two dunkin donuts and a couple privately owned coffee shops, plus there is a bakery with seating called Apple Annies over by the Cheat Lake/Pierpont area.
As for the Kayaks, there are a couple launch points along the Mon river through out the town/area, and of course there is Cheat Lake itself that I think has a couple launches.
Welcome to the area btw.
By bikes do you mean motorcycles (sorry if a dumb question)? If so, have you guys heard about Mountainfest?
If you don't mind me asking, what price range are you looking at? Are you looking to buy or rent?
As far as coffee shops go, there are a TON of starbucks all around town, two dunkin donuts and a couple privately owned coffee shops, plus there is a bakery with seating called Apple Annies over by the Cheat Lake/Pierpont area.
As for the Kayaks, there are a couple launch points along the Mon river through out the town/area, and of course there is Cheat Lake itself that I think has a couple launches.
Welcome to the area btw.
By bikes do you mean motorcycles (sorry if a dumb question)? If so, have you guys heard about Mountainfest?
I'm glad I refreshed before I typed just about the exact same questions!
Addendum - The best coffee shops to work in are the Grind (though smaller) and Blue Moose. I spent more time in Blue Moose studying/working than probably everywhere else combined.
Hey there. Ideally, we’d like to rent for less than $1200 for a 2 bedroom.
We haven’t heard of Mountainfest, but I’ll be sure to look it up!
Okay. Sounds like I’m covered as far as coffeshops and drop in points go. What’s kayaking on the Mon like?
$1200 for a 2 bedroom close to downtown (walking distance if you don't mind hills) will be student housing.
There are a few nice streets in Westover that may have rentals in that range. However, I don't think I would consider that close to downtown/coffee bars.
Cheat Lake may have something in that range - I try to avoid that side of town/county like the plague due to traffic.
Hmm... what kind of traffic? I saw on Google Maps that Cheat Lake is only about 15 minutes away from most things, but that doesn’t necessarily take into account traffic. Right now we live in Raleigh and it takes a minimum 45 minutes to 1 hour to get anywhere and you’re writing your last will and testament in your head the whole time. As long as it’s not like that, I think I’ll be okay.
So where else might we consider outside of those areas then? Star City?
What about towns outside of Morgantown? I didn’t really see much in the way of towns last time I checked; mostly just rural areas.
You'll be able to find a 2BR for that price that's not student housing. If you want to avoid students but want to stay close to town, steer clear of:
lower South Park
Greenmont
Woodburn (parts closest to campus; one you make the turn on Richwood near Mario's Fishbowl you're mostly clear)
lower parts of Wiles Hill
Sunnyside. Stay far away from Sunnyside.
Anywhere east of the football stadium
Most areas near the Evansdale campus in general, south of 705
I don't know how much space you want or how close you want to be to reduce driving, but my in-town neighborhoods would be:
Suncrest (if you can find a reasonably-priced place)
Woodburn west of Monongalia Ave.
Sabraton (if you can find a quality place)
Anywhere towards the top of South Park on down to Dorsey Ave.
First Ward (the neighborhood surrounding Jack Roberts Park)
Further out, check:
Brookhaven
Westover
Star City and the areas out Collins Ferry Rd. towards NETL
Cheat Lake
Honestly, as long as you aren't in the neighborhoods I said to avoid, you'll be good. You're going to run into students at some turn, but you'll almost certainly be in a safer and quieter place.
Good luck finding a place with a garage that allows pets to rent. We couldn't find anything so we bought. We're selling this summer to move as Morgantown just wasn't for us. There are hardly any sidewalks so you have to drive everywhere, if there are sidewalks you find a telephone pole in the middle of them, and this past winter was so depressing we just up and called it quits.
Be very careful - we just moved our son out of an apartment (Metro) that had a mold problem the entire time he was there. We told management multiple times, starting on the 3rd day. Certain landlords in Morgantown, only care about you when rent is due.
We have pictures - lots of pictures!
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What’s kayaking on the Mon like?
