Info on Morgantown WV (Charleston, Huntington: showing, jobs, health care)

[dsonilane]

I drove through Morgantown WV and fell in love with the beaty of the area. Are there any jobs in the area and how is it as a place to live?

[GottaHerdOn]

Morgantown is a great vibrant city! Its full of life and is "growing by leaps and bounds" everyday. Jobs I would imagine are easy to come by. They were a few years ago before I moved to Huntington to go attend Marshall U. But there were always places to work. Milan is a big employer there, with GREAT pay! Anything health related you will have no problem. Education is also something that is booming there, most services in general are doing GREAT! It all depends on your background I guess. I would say GO FOR IT!

[WVUPharm2007]

Originally Posted by dsonilane

I drove through Morgantown WV and fell in love with the beaty of the area. Are there any jobs in the area and how is it as a place to live?

It depends on what do you want....personally, I love the town.

[David Kennedy]

The job situation in Morgantown (and the region) is desperate for workers. After the Fall return of students to West Virginia University and things settled down (as they went into the workforce) a perspective was seen. Skilled workers were still at a huge shortage. Clerical, administrative, miners, factory and mill workers, health care, maintience, service, construction, trucking and delivery were lacking.

The state has sub-contracted with Workforce to handle the employment work calls for employers and they are telephoning everyone in the North Central Region who HAS EVER been in the data-base for job interviews. This effort is driven to get everyone into the workforce and out of the welfare rolls. It is an effort to turn the welfare culture into a new direction of paying taxes and working instead of 'slopping at the public trough', as one local news-hawk and political scribe would say.
The big difference I see is the actual attempt to get people a job...in the old days, everyone sat at their desks counting the seconds until the next smoke break.

ALL of this is driven by the governor...he is a work ethic guy...I've always admired him for THAT. His people were italian immigrants who came here with nothing and used the opportunity of America to build wealth. And they did it from one of the most obscure places in West Virginia...Farmington. They had a plan too...even in high school and college, we knew that Joe would run for governor...in was a mind-set foreign and lofty for the rest of us farm kids...we didn't have much of a plan for ourselves then...but Joe has made a good positive showing so far...(I thought hamming it up on TV at the Marshall event was a little to much, but free exposure is the Manchin way...I can remember A.J. working the funerals and weddings...)
But getting back to the subject...The local papers are carrying about 175 to 200 job calls each Sunday in the Classifieds. dominionpost.com...cpubco.com ...will show a perspective on what is needed, and this is the tip of the iceberg. It has never been this way here and the time is ripe for an influx of spanish speaking workers or asians to fill the job calls. Looking back in history...its 1900 all over again.

[kyttiekat]

Hello,I plan on moving to Morgantown by Spring of 2008.
However, I do not own a car. (working on it though).
Do you know anything about public transportation? Is it reliable? Or is it just darn near impossible to get around by foot or bus? Anything you can tell me will be deeply appreciated. Thanks.

[David Kennedy]

For public transportation...Morgantown is the best we have in WV...Portland, Oregon or Los Angeles, California it is NOT.

[WVUPharm2007]

Originally Posted by kyttiekat

Hello,I plan on moving to Morgantown by Spring of 2008.
However, I do not own a car. (working on it though).
Do you know anything about public transportation? Is it reliable? Or is it just darn near impossible to get around by foot or bus? Anything you can tell me will be deeply appreciated. Thanks.

You get to experience the PRT. It will become a love/hate relationship within hours. But, yeah, in between Suncrest and Downtown, there is a decent public transportation system....it's kinda like a monorail. The city runs buses all over the town, too.

[WVUPharm2007]

Originally Posted by David Kennedy

It has never been this way here and the time is ripe for an influx of spanish speaking workers or asians to fill the job calls. Looking back in history...its 1900 all over again.

There are more laborer/customer service type jobs in Morgantown than Cleveland.....well, maybe not literally, but we could definitely use some job-hungry immigrants looking for American work. Every retail store or restaurant in town is short staffed....especially in the mornings/early afternoon when the college kids are too busy with school to work.

[tbailey1138]

Originally Posted by David Kennedy

For public transportation...Morgantown is the best we have in WV...Portland, Oregon or Los Angeles, California it is NOT.

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.

[WVUPharm2007]

The bus lines are actually really good. They go all over town. I have a car, so I don't use them, but I know many less wealthy folk that can't drive and they are able to go just about anywhere they want in town on those things....

The PRT isn't THAT bad...it just seems to KNOW when the worst possible time to break down is.....