Info on Morgantown WV (Charleston, Fairmont: sales, home, unemployment)

[NOVAmtneer82]

I couldn't agree with your more WVUpharm...

[appalachiangirl]

I don't have a problem with legal immigrants. But comparing US in the late 1800's and early 1900's when immigrants came in large waves is a bit different than today because the population was obviously lower, 100 years ago,so people were needed to work in mines,factories,etc . I think now there is so much competition for work--especially with factories closing or moving overseas,that people have valid concerns about immigration. Not a bigot (some of my family immigrated here in the late 1800's) but I can understand their feelings.

[David Kennedy]

In the late 1800's minorities were brought here as expected slaves to the mines. The business community brought them here, they did not immigrate. The blacks were gathered from the fields of the south, the Italians came from Calabria, Italy and Irish were here already from the B & O building of the 1850's. The population then was expanding just like it is now. I don't see much competition for work at all...the twist is having a degree attached to everything...even McD's...and a degree now is mostly the equivilant to what a High School Diploma once was...

It's about money...the need for workers in north central Wv is met thankfully by the university and other colleges in the area...if they were not available the situation would be much worse, but each economy helps and hinders the other...we need workers to establish families here and build the economy and community to a better end...

Me? I like a diverse population...they learn the best from each other...if we are strong as a community, we can keep out the problems that try to drift in...

[NOVAmtneer82]

Originally Posted by appalachiangirl

I don't have a problem with legal immigrants. But comparing US in the late 1800's and early 1900's when immigrants came in large waves is a bit different than today because the population was obviously lower, 100 years ago,so people were needed to work in mines,factories,etc . I think now there is so much competition for work--especially with factories closing or moving overseas,that people have valid concerns about immigration. Not a bigot (some of my family immigrated here in the late 1800's) but I can understand their feelings.

How is that any different? The population has absolutely nothing to do with it. The majority of illegal immigrants up here in the DC area and other parts of the nation are dedicated hard working individuals who CONSTANTLY trying to make ends meet. They came to America for the exact same reasosn our ancestors did back in the day, this is the land of opportunity.

I personally can't understand the anti-immigrant sentiment sweeping through this country, I went to college, worked hard and didn't have to fight with immigrants for a job. Many legal citizens (the ones who complain the most) in parts of this country would simply rather sit on their ass and collect money from the government and so they snub possible jobs leaving immigrants to fill the void. I agree at some point they need to become actual US citizens but come on, let's give them a chance to start working on improving their lives.

I know I'm opening up a box of worms here but the government needs to quit handing out so much welfare money, one shouldn't have the ability to simply live off of Uncle Sam as an alternative to going out and earning a living. I know several family members and or friends of the family back in WV who just LOVE to collect that disability check every month, usually for several years at a time.

I personally love living in a very ethnically diverse area. I can walk down my street here in Arlington VA and choose between dozens of restaurants offering foods like Lebanese, Thai, Moroccan, Indian, El Salvadorean, Ethiopian, Vietnamese, etc...I go to any public place around the DC area and can hear dozens of different languages being spoken alongside English. We can learn so much by living and interacting with other cultures, cut back on a lot of the immigration and you get a nice plane jane white bread environment similar to what I grew up in outside of Charleston....NO THANKS!

[appalachiangirl]

I said I had nothing against immigrants --LEGAL ONES. Nobody in my family is on welfare (and neither am I). And yes, my ancestors faced a lot of prejudice too simply because some of them were Catholic in a largely Protestant area. I don't see the problem of illegal immigration affecting WV or Pa that much. But I have family in Texas and they say many of the workers complain about illegal immigrants getting a lot of the construction work--just what I hear. I didn't think Charleston,WV was that "white bread." It has people of many different nationalities--Irish,Italian,Lebanese,African American,etc. Morgantown has a multi-cultural population as well.

[NOVAmtneer82]

I didn't say you or anybody else in your family was on welfare, I was referring to people I knew back in WV.

Charleston is NOT ethnically diverse at all, it has basically two demographic groups, a large number of caucasian residents and a decent sized African-American population that is about it. Many of the Irish, Italian, and other European populations you mentioned are second and third generation families whose ancestors came to the US in the early 1900s. These Charleston residents weren't born outside of the US, and therefore they are simply counted as white non-hispanic.

Head outside of Charleston and you will find absolutely zero diversity. The city-data profile on Kanawha County lists the white-non hispanic population at 90% with a 7% African American population (nearly all of that is in the city of Charleston) and a Hispanic population of 0.6%.

Believe me, the lack of diversity is very noticable when you live in a place like the DC area where white non-hispanics are the minority in many places. I brought several friends home with me one weekend and they couldn't believe how "white" Charleston was.

Like I've said before, I love Charleston, grew up there and have many great memories there, but I will never be convinced that is by any means culturally diverse.

[appalachiangirl]

I guess I misunderstood what you meant by culturally diverse. To me an area with people of many different nationalities is diverse,but I don't live in a large city like DC.
When my great-great grandparents (on my dad's side) came to the state most people as I understood were of white anglo descent and Protestant (mainly English or Scots-Irish) so the WV of today is more diverse in that respect than the WV of the early 20th century! But you're right if you're referring to ,say, the Hispanic population here--it is lower than many other areas. There also are many people who have Native American ancestry in the northern areas of West Virginia. My uncle by marriage is half-Cherokee and I have a small amount of Cherokee ancestry as well.

[David Kennedy]

Some of my mothers people were Cherokee and it was never spoke about...the indians were lumped into the non-white category and that left a lower chaste stigma...ours were included in the family in the 1860's..
Now, like the Aussie ancestors, being indian has some slight form of status.

Each ethnic group coming to the USA and to Wv and every other state and community has paid a price of identity to assimilate into the culture...that's why America has been called a 'melting pot'.

In North Central Wv, I believe the most beautiful people in America exist...its because of the mixing of all these ethnic groups and races...enought said..

[SDF1]

If Mexicans intended to learn the language & assimiliate into their new environment they'd make the effort to come thru legally. They are, in fact, the least likely group of people to NOT learn English or make any effort to blend in. You let them in, they take over everything. You'll find out really quick when you get laid off & need help w/ utilities or food. You'll probably notice the graffiti, loud music, gun shots, trash - everything the person from CA said. BTW, NoVa means "no go". If you think they did good work, just wait. The Texas home builders who hired a bunch of them & imported Mexican brick learned how quickly their work goes south. The brick on some homes built 1 - 2 yrs ago is crumbling already & there has been a number of electrical problems. Theft is high - even whole shipments of materials. Also, they've been known to take a dump in the walls before they put the sheetrock on. If you think they assimilate into your society, just do a search on "reconquista in California". Protests w/ signs telling white people to go back to England & saying they're not leaving - we are. It's their continent, not ours. They have no intention of learning English as they believe it's their country. Once they're in, it's difficult to get them out because they get American-born Hispanics to hide them & fight for them. Not that their guns & drugs don't intimidate enough. Think of it this way. If they were upstanding, law-abiding people, why are they SNEAKING over the border? What do they have to hide? Frankly, I'm tired of feeling like a foreigner in my own country. Signs all in Spanish, items in stores all in Spanish. Street signs in Spanish. And govt forms making me juggle thru English/Spanish when they put the same form in Spanish only. Enough's enough. It's not fair to the people who come thru legally.

[CTMountaineer]

Originally Posted by tbailey1138

I don't think I'd call the PRT (which backs up and breaks down quite frequently and serves mostly students) and Mountain Line the best public transportation in WV. To agree with what WVU Pharm said, I hated the PRT and while going to school there rarely saw Mountain Line buses. And while I know they've expanded some, Mountain Line isn't nearly as visible and doesn't handle the passenger loads that TTA and KRT do in Huntington and Charleston, respectively.

The MountainLine and PRT are now interconnected (busses stop at PRT stops) and you are wrong. The combined passenger load of PRT/MountainLine is the biggest in the State with a ridership of well over 2 million. The combined bus service is excellent now, and is only 35 cents for seniors for anywhere in the area. Students ride the whole system free.

The University is planning upgrades to the PRT and an expansion of it as well.

From the State Journal:
Public Transit in Morgantown Logs Ridership Growth
Article from:The State Journal Article date: September 19, 2008

MORGANTOWN - From senior citizens to West Virginia University students, more people are leaving their cars at home to take the bus. The local Mountain Line Transit Authority has seen its ridership skyrocket.

"Comparing our August 2007 rider ship to August 2008, our West Virginia University ridership is up 52 percent," said Maria Smith. Mountain Line marketing officer. "Using the same comparison, our overall ridership is up 40 percent."

Smith said senior citizen ridership also is up 62 percent, and handicapped ridership has nearly doubled.

Even in 2007, there were nearly 2 million ridership for the PRT, and University use of MountainLine was more than 320,000 for that year, and it has increased substantially since then.

WVU Today » Press Release » WVU community embracing bus service, PRT, stats show


Transportation and Parking | Facts about the PRT | West Virginia University

Huntington Transit had 826.8 thousand ridership in 2008 per the American Public Transportation Association ridership report.

Charleston's had significantly greater ridership at more than 2.4 million, but still not equal to the total public ridership in Morgantown.

KRT - Kanawha Valley Regional Transportation Authority - News and Updates