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Have a job potential that may take me to Morgantown. Have never been there before, but love most of eastern WV in general. Is there a lot to do there? Plenty of outdoor activities? Low crime? Affordable housing? Is it considered a "college town"? Friendly people? Thanks for all advice....
Have a job potential that may take me to Morgantown. Have never been there before, but love most of eastern WV in general. Is there a lot to do there?
I guess that would depend on what you consider "a lot", but with the University there, you will have a wide range of choices (and Pittsburgh is only 1.5 hours away).
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Originally Posted by Kamaaina
Plenty of outdoor activities?
Awww, come on, this is West Virginia, you shouldn't even have to ask.
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Originally Posted by Kamaaina
Low crime?
Lower than the big cities, for sure. Probably the usual petty crime in the student areas. I suspect there are plenty of people around Morgantown who don't lock their doors at night.
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Originally Posted by Kamaaina
Affordable housing?
Especially if you're willing to drive a few miles to get away from student housing.
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Originally Posted by Kamaaina
Is it considered a "college town"?
Absolutely. The student population is roughly equal to the year-around population.
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Originally Posted by Kamaaina
Friendly people?
Be sure to wave back at everybody who waves hi when you drive by.
I agree with everything snorpus said above. Morgantown is indeed a "college town" considering the student enrollment during the school year nearly matches the permanent resident population.
The outdoor aspect is one thing that I always loved about Morgantown. You are very close to Coopers Rock which has tons of hiking and biking trails, the Deep Creek Lake/ Wisp area of Maryland and all it offers is about 40 minutes away, close to rafting in Ohiopyle PA, and not to mention countless other state parks in West Virginia that are within a 2 hour radius. For big city adventures Pittsburgh is about 75 or so minutes away and both DC and Baltimore can be reached in about 3 hours.
It's an awesome place to live, as attested by its many positive national rankings. There are more than 100 restaurants with many ethnic variations available. The University offers first rate educational opportunities, great cultural presentations, outstanding athletics, and helps provide for a population that is among the Nation's best educated with well over 1/2 of the residents having AT LEAST a bachelors degree.
You'd have to live in Colorado to approach the kinds of outdoor options available to you there. Not only great West Virginia venues, but those of nearby Maryland and Pennsylvania are nearby and readily accessable.
And perhaps best of all, it has one of the Nation's lowest unemployment rates.
We certainly lag far back behind Denver and CC Springs for that matter, and the reason I say that is the cosmopolitan atmosphere of the Arts is at present, a little on the shy side. But...But...the CAC at WVU has made an honest effort to bring broadway to us. simple reason...several of the past WVU student body have jobs there and we want to see them at work.
Now is the time for the wine fests, food fests and soon the balloons...come one, come all, to the town that Morgan tried to build on the river.
Thanks for all that info - have been checking out a lot since my first post. Couple of questions regarding where to live: which section of town is the "avoid it" section (every town has them, even the best of places!), and which are more desirable? Which are more affluent, and which are more historic? What about commuting from further away; what is Fairmont like? Or any of the small towns in southern PA? We would like to find affordable housing as well -- what about renting a nice house? I don't see a lot of listings online; what resources would you recommend to look for such?
I guess a good way to answer that is to find out what do you want to live in and how much can you afford to pay?
There's townhomes moderately priced in good areas and single families that can get a little pricey in 'new' areas but there some older homes in okay areas that are affordable...
Ideally, I'd like to find a rental house, 3+ bedrooms - the larger the better. And (again, ideally) would like to pay less than $1000/mo. I see that living in M'town proper is obviously more expensive, so I have zero problems with looking further afield and driving into town for the job. Maybe even quiet countryside location, provided it's within 45 minutes of the city.
Well within 45 minutes of Mo-Town opens a lot of possibilities, as far south as Clarksburg areas.. Rt.79 is 70mph legal, lol. Areas of Fairmont really seem to come to mind for good rentals. Pricketts Fort area is pretty close, yet country.
However I believe most rentals are found within the towns/burb's. Not too many on the outskirts in the country.
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