Relocating (Morgantown, Beckley, Clarksburg: real estate market, credit, how much)

[April Smith]

Hello ,I have been considering relocating to Wva either Pendleton,Tucker county or somewhere in the mid/north eastern area of the state. My children and I have grown out of our cabin in the shenandoah valley and are looking for a even more rural life. I would love any info on school systems and what WV.special ed services are available to my handicapped son. I am also interested in any employment ideas as well.

[GottaHerdOn]

Pendelton and Tucker counties are both very beautiful. However, they are also very remote and possibly not as able to provide the services you need for your son. Elkins is in Randolph county and borders both Pendelton and Tucker county, its still in North Central WV, and has a hospital with doctor's offices and a wider array of services available. Also Elkins is only an hour and 15 minutes to Morgantown by highway, or 2 hours by interstate. Morgantown offers the best health care by far in the region, and possibly the state. Any further questions feel free to ask

[David Kennedy]

I would suggest the western end of Monongalia County. Because of its proximity to the diverse economy of Morgantown and the excellence of that countys school system. Rural but excellent Clay-Battelle School would provide the facilities for your handicapped son. West Virginia school systems have been providing for those special needs for years now. The very best medical care would be found at WVU Childrens Hospital and research center.
Every line of work from truck farming to pharmacology can be found in Morgantown, a distance of about 15 miles and 20 minutes by the clock. Traffic there is a nightmare and many work a flex shift to beat the day traffic when the college hoards are making their way blindly about.
Phone the public library or Post Office at Blacksville, WV. A friendly human will help you get in touch with someone who can give more information.
I mention this area of Monongalia County because it is still a vast area of undeveloped farm land and its close to everything...Pittsburgh airport 1 hour, Skiing 1 hour, Cheat Lake 1/2 hr and the Wadestown Fair where a person can still get a good brain sandwich for $2.00. (That's West Virginia Sheep Brains for the non-locals....tastes just like fried eggs, if your wondering)

[NANNYS6023]

Dear Mr. Kennedy,
I Can't Help But Wonder If Someone Is Paying You To Make Statements About West Virginia On This Forum. That Will Try To Convince People Outside Of West Virginia That Things Are Better Hear Than They Really Are? I Was Born And Raised Here And People Are Fleeing This State And The Population Is Decreasing At An Allarming Rate For Good Reason. First Ofall The Public School Systems Are A Disaster, They Are Underfunded And The Residents Here Will Not Vote For School Bond Hoping That The Coal Industries Of The 1960's Will Once Again Thrive And Their Children Will Get Jobs In The Mines, There Is A "if Coal Mining Was Good Enough For Me It's Good Enough For My Kids" Mentality Here. There Are 2 School's In Our County That Have Been Closed Because They Were Deemed Structually Unsafe.the Children In These Schools Were Forced Into Auditoriums And Other Empty Spaces In Several Other County Schools. In This Ultra Conservative Culture Special Education Is Nonexistent.
Many Of The Public Water Systems Do Not Monitored And Treat Our Drinking Water. The Water Smells So Bad We Are All Left To Buy Bottled Water. The Infrastructure Ie Sewer Systems Stopped Functioning Year's Ago And Many Of The Towns Here Have Raw Sewage Running Down Country Roads, Across Our Yards And After Heavy Rains Into Our Basements. Unemployment Is High And Jobs Are Scarce. Just About Anything You Can Name That Contributes To A Quality Of Life Is Substandard Or Nonexistent. After All Mr. Kennedy This Is Appalachia So Who Are You Kidding. Although The Mountains Are Beautiful Moving To West Virginia Is Not A Good Trade Off.

[millersangel]

Originally Posted by NANNYS6023

Dear Mr. Kennedy,
I Can't Help But Wonder If Someone Is Paying You To Make Statements About West Virginia On This Forum. That Will Try To Convince People Outside Of West Virginia That Things Are Better Hear Than They Really Are? I Was Born And Raised Here And People Are Fleeing This State And The Population Is Decreasing At An Allarming Rate For Good Reason. First Ofall The Public School Systems Are A Disaster, They Are Underfunded And The Residents Here Will Not Vote For School Bond Hoping That The Coal Industries Of The 1960's Will Once Again Thrive And Their Children Will Get Jobs In The Mines, There Is A "if Coal Mining Was Good Enough For Me It's Good Enough For My Kids" Mentality Here. There Are 2 School's In Our County That Have Been Closed Because They Were Deemed Structually Unsafe.the Children In These Schools Were Forced Into Auditoriums And Other Empty Spaces In Several Other County Schools. In This Ultra Conservative Culture Special Education Is Nonexistent.
Many Of The Public Water Systems Do Not Monitored And Treat Our Drinking Water. The Water Smells So Bad We Are All Left To Buy Bottled Water. The Infrastructure Ie Sewer Systems Stopped Functioning Year's Ago And Many Of The Towns Here Have Raw Sewage Running Down Country Roads, Across Our Yards And After Heavy Rains Into Our Basements. Unemployment Is High And Jobs Are Scarce. Just About Anything You Can Name That Contributes To A Quality Of Life Is Substandard Or Nonexistent. After All Mr. Kennedy This Is Appalachia So Who Are You Kidding. Although The Mountains Are Beautiful Moving To West Virginia Is Not A Good Trade Off.

Yes, I often wonder too why the other side of living in WV is never mentioned. If you're retired and have a good pension then by all means move to WV. Of course, unless you're near a major metropolitan area, you'd have to worry about substandard hospitals. And if you're near a large city, then why move here? You can find rural areas near most large cities.

If you're young and you need to get a job then I hope you like working at McDonalds. Of course, you can find a job mining coal but most aren't hiring red hats, so you'd better have some experience.

WV leads the nation in every negative health and economic statistic you can think of.

And now, we again have some national exposure. The Logan Six. Which makes the movie "Wrong Turn" seem like nonfiction to outsiders.

Yes, the Appalachians are beautiful and you wont' find nicer people anywhere else. But unless you really understand what it's like to live in the heart of Appalachia, and I don't count the panhandle as even part of WV, then you're in for a real culture shock.

[confusedTee]

No one is paying me to say anything about WV that's for sure..I moved here 2.5 years ago........Due to family illness........Now i will and still say do all your research before hand and def. have a job lined up before hand..U couldn't pay me enough to go back to fla..and i am FROM fla been all over the world.....It took me a great deal of adjusting it was not easy...We went thru alot and i mean alot in our couple of years here..Now i am adjusting..I stayed irritated and burnt out for a while here on the resources..Then i said heck if i have to be here i mite as well make the best of it..I had to relearn all my finances and way of life.......Yes it is a differ. culture here..One now i am really enjoying..The jobs are hard and few to find in my area..The school opportunity was worthless for my MR son.........but u know u don't give up and u keep asking questions and talking to people..I have totally changed MY way of thinking on how i handle my situation.......I almost gave up but I found the inner strength to say I can make it anywhere...........To me u can make any area work if you REALLY want it to..I went out and started exploring this gorgeous area..took me a bit to get warmed up with the people..They are TRUE to their own..I have witnessed their kindness in many ways..It's a struggle yes it is but it gets better day by day..I refused to hang any banner that said almost heaven my first few years here......NOW i can't wait to shout it..U couldn't get me out of here now........NEVER in my life i thought i would say those words..The winters are much less than i expected..YET anyway..but i am prepared mentally and physically for them.........I will never have a mansion our the biggest house on the block..THAT i know..it did make me appreciate what i do have and found resources i never thought possible..

oh boy i will even admit i came here with a better than thou attitude and boy THAT did change in me............I have humbled myself to this area..I am a much better giving person than i ever was.....

omg the things i have learned here for me are amazing......some take it for granted...I have learned about the wilderness way of life..Camping in the extreme environments..Shoot i am fishing now hunting now and many more things i thought i would NEVER do..I never realized how much i was missing in the other material things till here.................This is an experience that has taught me well and I am proud to do it in WV.................keeps life from being the same ole same ole..I love each new challenge and i am going to survive this place and I will probably be buried here..NO i will NEVER leave now.......................but it was ME that changed..........(me/family)..just another side of WV from an outsider (but not for long)..shewwwww sorry so long winded..

[David Kennedy]

No one is paying me to say good things about West Virginia. The days of the past are over for the area of the state north of Glenville/Buckhannon, WV.
The southern part of the state will suffer for about another generation until education and the wealth of diversity and economy cause it to change. If it will ever make this change, it will have to transition from its primitive narrow mindset and allow itself to move into a more modern age.

I spent the day yesterday at a meeting in Clarksburg with a man from Washington, DC.
He is a regional employment counselor for a giant private entity. His employer services over 800,000 clients in the mid-atlantic region and he is responsible for eight states.
He was here in West Virginia to access the work force and job climate of our region.
His job has to do with the placement of people in the NEW jobs critical to the federal government and the vendors who need people here. His primary attitude was to help us make people aware of the new jobs that will be needed and how to help them get the needed training.

West Virginian's have priority for these jobs...but they:
1. Lack the will to even seek a job....!
2. Have an attitude of low self-esteem.
3. Carry an un-acceptable education level in the early and mid-year masses.
4. Are unable to pass a drug test.
5. Have credit problems that prohibit them from qualifying for security clearances.

We discussed the sociological aspects of the next ten years and the needs and changes.

A Darwinian/Market approach was mentioned by one of the group.
In essence, to let the market take care of itself.
1. To educate those West Virginian's who were interested and were willing to ready
themselves for this new job market...(begining with 10th graders in high school.)
2. To bring in from out of state the workers who could qualify...and to let the ignorant
fend for themselves and move farther out into economic oblivion...at their choice, of
course.
At the end of the day, the decision was mostly unanimous to let the market take care of itself.

You mentioned coal mining...in our area, coal mining is just one of the employers.
It seems to be a well paying catch-all for the kids who do not want to gain a degree or
techinical certification. Unless the coal industry attitudes have changed, they do not want or need an educated work force. A superintendent told me his company was considering importing russian workers if they could not find local people.

It's not the same West Virginia up here...sorry for you..

[millersangel]

Originally Posted by David Kennedy

No one is paying me to say good things about West Virginia. The days of the past are over for the area of the state north of Glenville/Buckhannon, WV.
The southern part of the state will suffer for about another generation until education and the wealth of diversity and economy cause it to change. If it will ever make this change, it will have to transition from its primitive narrow mindset and allow itself to move into a more modern age.

I spent the day yesterday at a meeting in Clarksburg with a man from Washington, DC.
He is a regional employment counselor for a giant private entity. His employer services over 800,000 clients in the mid-atlantic region and he is responsible for eight states.
He was here in West Virginia to access the work force and job climate of our region.
His job has to do with the placement of people in the NEW jobs critical to the federal government and the vendors who need people here. His primary attitude was to help us make people aware of the new jobs that will be needed and how to help them get the needed training.

West Virginian's have priority for these jobs...but they:
1. Lack the will to even seek a job....!
2. Have an attitude of low self-esteem.
3. Carry an un-acceptable education level in the early and mid-year masses.
4. Are unable to pass a drug test.
5. Have credit problems that prohibit them from qualifying for security clearances.

We discussed the sociological aspects of the next ten years and the needs and changes.

A Darwinian/Market approach was mentioned by one of the group.
In essence, to let the market take care of itself.
1. To educate those West Virginian's who were interested and were willing to ready
themselves for this new job market...(begining with 10th graders in high school.)
2. To bring in from out of state the workers who could qualify...and to let the ignorant
fend for themselves and move farther out into economic oblivion...at their choice, of
course.
At the end of the day, the decision was mostly unanimous to let the market take care of itself.

You mentioned coal mining...in our area, coal mining is just one of the employers.
It seems to be a well paying catch-all for the kids who do not want to gain a degree or
techinical certification. Unless the coal industry attitudes have changed, they do not want or need an educated work force. A superintendent told me his company was considering importing russian workers if they could not find local people.

It's not the same West Virginia up here...sorry for you..

Don't be. We're used to the mindset that WV ends at Beckley.

So, what yall are going to do is turn the northern region into one big suburb of the East Coast metropolis and yall can walk around with your Blackberries and Bluetooth headsets. Well, ain't you something.

What we've got here, you'd never understand.

I drove to East River Mountain Overlook this morning to watch the fogbank rise over Bluefield. Standing there at 3500 feet, the wind was howling. We had our first frost last night and it was pretty darn cold. Nobody seemed to mind.

I listened to the tourists on their cell phones excitedly calling people in their home states and telling them how you could see a hundred miles and how they couldn't believe what the fog looked like unless they were there.

I bet when it comes time to retire, they will be moving here. The real estate market is booming with retirees who want to finally escape the rat race you're so anxious to impose on everyone.

Oh yeh, we have cell phones here. We use them to pass the time in the Welfare Office. When we're not out on the street slinging oxys. Talk about stereotyping. Know any good hillbilly jokes? Nice from a fellow West Virginian.

As we like to say here, bring it on buddy. ;)

[tbailey1138]

Originally Posted by David Kennedy

The days of the past are over for the area of the state north of Glenville/Buckhannon, WV.
The southern part of the state will suffer for about another generation until education and the wealth of diversity and economy cause it to change. If it will ever make this change, it will have to transition from its primitive narrow mindset and allow itself to move into a more modern age.

It's not the same West Virginia up here...sorry for you..

You need to get over yourself and quit putting down the southern part of the state. All you do in your posts is over exaggerate the growth in the northern part of the state while berating and downplaying the southern part of the state. I've proven this in other posts. WV is a great state and has a bright future ahead of it but the kind of mindset that you have pitting the northern areas against the southern areas will only hurt this state. Be proud of your area and it's growth and speak on what you are familiar with. There's no reason to try to put down other areas just to make your own sound better. I'm guessing that you have few if any ties to the southern part of the state based on how little you actually seem to know about it. If you truly cared for West Virginia the way you claim to, you would want to see all areas of the state grow. You seem however to think that the Northcentral area is the only part of the state that is seeing any growth and this just IS NOT TRUE. Northcentral has a lot going for it right now but so do other areas. As I've said before, this forum should be for promoting WV through experience and facts, not for putting down other areas of the state and making up statistics to make your own area sound better.

[David Kennedy]

An uncle owned the Oldsmobile dealership in Logan and another was a General Mine Superintendant for Eastern Coal in Princeton, while another was the Academic Dean at Concord. I've been there many times to visit those loved ones and vacation at Pipestem.

I'm not putting down anything but ignorance. We live in a bluetooth world now...
Mr. Manchin's laying the ground work for relations with China...Why would he do that...It's about money and a future.

You will grasp a/the future or get lost in the dust...Many areas of our state is expanding into the Now...sadly, many of our people wish to remain in the old West Virginia.

At one time, this state was a place for human refuse and the situation in Logan county last week brings that starkly to mind. The future will not be safe for the closed minded, ignorant redneck welfare rebel, he will be forced to educate himself or move further into the backwoods. Jobs are here now or forthcoming and the checks for nothing will be slowing down.

Is it fear that drives your resentment? Fear OF change...or fear TO change.

Confused T is a person from the NEW West Virginia...when she said "it's ME that changed."

Figure out WHY she changed and we will be on a common footing with this discussion.
Perhaps she would answer that for us.