Huntington W.V. (Charleston, Barboursville, Pullman: housing, condos, rent)

[GreggB]

What is the city like? Crime rates, cost of housing, recreation, the downtown district, etc??

[tbailey1138]

Huntington is a very nice place to live, work and play. The city is currently undergoing a lot of revitalization downtown and the city is seeing the type of growth that it hasn't seen in years. Huntington is the second largest city in WV so it offers a lot to do. For recreation, Huntington has one of the best if not the best parks systems in the state. The nicest of these parks is Ritter Park. This is a large tree lined area with a walking/bike path, open fields, a rose garden, outdoor ampitheater, tennis courts and a nice playground area that is about to be more than doubled. There is also a YMCA downtown for when the weather is bad or for further exercise. And if you prefer more outdoor activities, whitewater rafting, skiing and mountain climbing are all just a few hours away. For sports, Huntington is home to Marshall University and offers a great venue for college football and basketball. The city is also home to the Huntington Heroes, an arena football team that performed very well this year in their league. It is also in the works to bring back a minor league baseball team to Huntington if you are a baseball fan. For art/culture, Huntington has several unique venues. Huntington is home to the Huntington museum of art, the largest art museum in the state. The city also has 5 performing arts venues and is home to several local dance companies. Every fall and spring, the Marshall Artist series brings national acts to Huntington for some wonderful shows. The Huntington Symphony orchestra performs several concerts throughout the year with music ranging from jazz to the classics. There is also a yearly jazz festival at Pullman Square and Marshall puts on their own jazz festival called Jazz-Mu-Tazz. Speaking of festivals, Huntington also has several yearly festivals including the Greek fest, Hot Dog fest, Oktoberfest, Chilifest, Hilltop festival and Ribfest just to name a few. For shopping, downtown offers Pullman Square, which is a new development that adds multiple restaurants, theaters, a comedy club and several retail shops. Pullman has also spurred new interest in downtown development and several new businesses have opened over the last several months. If you can't find what you need downtown, the Huntington area is also home to the largest mall in the state, the Huntinton Mall. For housing, Huntington was recently listed by Forbes as having the lowest cost of living in the US and it truly does offer something for everyone. There are several growing subdivisions within city limits as well as recently built townhomes. New condos have been built downtown such as the St. James condos and the 9th Street flats with more on the way. Or you could live in one of the older, well established neighborhoods which provide some very nice houses ranging from just under $100,000 to over $800,000. Huntington does have some crime as any city of it's size would. This crime is usually limited to certain areas of the town though and the offences are usually minor. With a new police chief, the crime rate is only expected to decrease. Overall, Huntington is a great area which offers convenience, low cost of living and a friendly atmosphere. Come check out the area with a visit to see how you like it. Below are some links to some of the things mentioned above. Hope this helps.
Tim

City of Huntington, West Virginia
The Greater Huntington Community Web Portal
Greater Huntington Park and Recreation District
Pullman Square - Restaurants Shopping Entertainment
Welcome To The St. James Condominiums
Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, WV
Huntington Symphony Orchestra of Huntington, West Virginia
http://www.huntingtonmall.com/home/index.ch2
Keith-Albee Performing Arts Center, Inc. | 924 Fourth Avenue Huntington, WV 25701 (304) 696-3529
The Huntington Heroes - Home

[atlantagreg30127]

Hope you don't mind the suggestion, but it's much easier to read long posts if they're not one hugely long paragraph.

[tbailey1138]

Don't mind the suggestion at all. I just type away and forget about paragraphs sometimes. I would fix the post above but I didn't see a way to do so as the edit button doesn't appear.

[theravenjp]

If your looking for a bit of a quieter area thats right outside of Huntington try Barboursville and its only about a 15 minute drive to the downtown Huntington area. I would suggest avoiding the area called Marcums Terrace where thats the area with the most crime.
Housing costs in the general area are excellent.
Two beautiful Parks with the Baraboursville park and Ritter park.
If your into baseball, the West Virginia Power in Charleston is about 50 minutes and a great baseball gem.
Iv been stationed here for the last 3 1/2 years and what I found with what I thought was a joke of orders ended up being a blessing in disquise. Its a great area and I plan to be moving back soon.

[GreggB]

Originally Posted by tbailey1138

Don't mind the suggestion at all. I just type away and forget about paragraphs sometimes. I would fix the post above but I didn't see a way to do so as the edit button doesn't appear.

No--Your post was just fine and very informative--Thnx!!

[tbailey1138]

Here's a link to 5 short videos about the Huntington area. These might help to give you a better idea visually of what Huntington has to offer. Hope this helps.
Tim

Huntington, WV Online

[contessa54]

Hi all! I might be moving to Huntington soon and am an avid road cyclist. I am currently used to being able to ride a lot on the road where I live. I've also grown accustomed to getting a lot of mileage down in our major city park, it is about 6 miles around.

I've read that Ritter Park has some running and bike paths, does anyone know how long the bike path is around at Ritter Park? Would you say Huntington has nice roads on which to ride, including nearby cities?

Thank you so much for your answers and time! They are much appreciated.

[tbailey1138]

The Ritter Park bike path is 2.5 miles from one end to the other so round trip would give you 5 miles. Huntington roads are good to ride on in terms of being flat but I'm not sure how bike friendly they are as I've never actually ridden on them. I do see people riding their bikes on them frequently so it must not be too bad.
I do know that there are projects planned to increase the biking opportunities in the area such as adding bike lanes to 4th avenue, adding bike lanes to new bridges and a planned bike path that is supposedly going to run from Huntington to Charleston. The bike lanes on 4th Ave are supposed to be added next year but no time frame or plan has been given for the Huntington-Charleston bike path. Here's a link for a local bike shop with some ride schedules and contact info if you have more questions. Hope this helps.
Tim

Jeff's Bike Shop - www.jeffsbikeshop.com | site by Eye AM, Inc. - www.eyeaminc.com - (304) 522-0936

[contessa54]

Tim, thank you for answering my question! You provided awesome information and I appreciate the link. I visited Jeff's Bike Shop website and it looks awesome, they have a really nice ride schedule established. Adding bike lanes to a city is always a good thing, albeit frustrating during the construction phase. A path to connect Huntington to Charelston is a fantastic project, too. Seeing as the climate in Huntington is fairly mild throughout the spring, summer, and fall, it could give people more opportunities to be active and enjoy being outside. Even on a really hot summer day, a nice bike ride is not nearly as grueling as a run!

Thanks again, Tim!