Is Harpers Ferry for me? (Charleston, Huntington: ski resorts, fit in, real estate)

[lolavanatta]

I've lived in Baltimore now for almost three years. Grew up in Pittsburgh, went to college in St. Augustine, Florida. I'm not sure where to move next. I'm hoping this next move sticks. Here are the reasons I want to leave
Baltimore:
* living outside of the city is too expensive for what you get (no acreage)
* it's ghetto in AND outside of the city
* not close enough to good ski resorts (always travel back to seven springs, pa near pittsburgh) - want to live IN the mountains

What I like about Baltimore:
* the people, restaurants, bars, city life, music events, sport events, movie theatres, weather

Why not move back to Pittsburgh:
* gloomy
* people who live there are not very well-rounded/traveled

Why not St. Augustine:
* love the size of the town and the restaurants/bars, but no mountains, and the people are weird (i fit in better with northern and midwestern ppl)

For my next move,
Wants/Needs:

* job market doesn't matter - i work from home/bf works for enterprise
* 4 seasons
* snowboarding within 1 or 2 hrs
* sunny - can't stand Pittsburgh's gloominess, but Baltimore and St. Augustine had enough sunny days (more than 25 clear days a year Best Places to Live 2007 - Money Magazine)
* mountains AND trees (i like foliage)
* affordable to buy house in the woods or land (up to $300K)
* city conveniences within 30 minutes
* local bars, restaurants, boutiques
* 25-35 year olds - able to make friends around my age

My bf and I are very active ppl. Our favorite things are going to music venues/festivals, movies, hiking, biking, rafting, snowboarding, trying new restaurants, but we want a cabin in the woods with a fireplace and a nice yard for our dog...

Where do you think we should move???

THANKS!
Lola

[goozer]

Hmmm. Based on your criteria, I'm not sure I would necessarily recommend Harper's Ferry. It is pretty close to Martinsburg, WV and Hagerstown, MD, but I'm not sure that you will find that people there are more "well-rounded/traveled" than people in Pittsburgh. Also, the vibrancy that you like about Baltimore...you will not find anything close to that in Harper's Ferry.

Based on your strong outdoor interests, love of mountains, apparent intent to stay in the mid-atlantic region, and desire for a relatively affordable home that is located within a reasonable distance of a decent sized city, I would recommend that you take a look at Roanoke, VA. It's a "not too big" city located in the mountain region of Virginia and it has several colleges nearby (including Virginia Tech) to give a more youthful and "traveled" vibe. You will also definitely have four seasons and nearby snowboarding, as well as hiking, kayaking, river rafting, and mountain biking.

And of course, because this is the West Virginia forum, I would also recommend Charleston, WV for many of the same reasons.

[snorpus]

I agree with Goozer that Harpers Ferry might not be your best choice. It's within the commuting radius of DC, so the area is becoming just another bedroom suburb like Hagerstown and Frederick.

My recommendation would be somewhere in the Tucker-Preston-Randolph counties area, such as Davis (small town) or Elkins (small city). Clarksburg/Bridgeport or Morgantown would then be your nearest "big city" when you tire of country life. [Keep in mind that no city in WV is truly big, the two largest cities, Huntington and Charleston, are both right around 50,000.]

From Elkins, for example, you'd be within an hours drive of Timberline, Canaan Valley, and Snowshoe ski resorts, and smack dab in the middle of the Monongahela National Forest for all sorts of outdoor activities. Rafting and/or kayaking is nearby too, on the Gauley, Cheat, and Greenbrier Rivers (and probably some others).

[billscamaros]

well, i would say that harpers ferry/shephardstown provides several of the items in your wants/needs list, but falls short in the "city conveniences within 30 minutes" and the "25-35 year olds - able to make friends around my age" requirements.

if you are willing to go with "city conveniences within 60 mins", then that might work.

and, maybe i'm just old, but i don't see a huge number of the "25-35 year olds" living around the area. there are college aged folks attending shephard university, and a ton of families in the area. it seems to me that most of the "25 - 35 year olds" that i see playing in the area (kayaking, biking, hiking) live closer to the city and come out on weekends.

that's a great list, by the way. add "beach within 4 hours" and "multiple local classic car cruises" to the list, and i'm signing up.

good luck.

[lolavanatta]

thanks all - yes, billscamaros, i add those and i might as well post "perfect place to live?"

i know i'm asking for a lot, but my spot MUST be somewhere

[lolavanatta]

any recommendations outside mid-atl?

[Threerun]

Originally Posted by billscamaros

well, i would say that harpers ferry/shephardstown provides several of the items in your wants/needs list, but falls short in the "city conveniences within 30 minutes" and the "25-35 year olds - able to make friends around my age" requirements.

if you are willing to go with "city conveniences within 60 mins", then that might work.

and, maybe i'm just old, but i don't see a huge number of the "25-35 year olds" living around the area. there are college aged folks attending shephard university, and a ton of families in the area. it seems to me that most of the "25 - 35 year olds" that i see playing in the area (kayaking, biking, hiking) live closer to the city and come out on weekends.

that's a great list, by the way. add "beach within 4 hours" and "multiple local classic car cruises" to the list, and i'm signing up.

good luck.

Yeah actually the Harpers Ferry area attracts a lot of people from all sorts of walks of life. I'd say Shepherdstown and Harpers Ferry are two of the more up and coming little trend spots for a lot of folks moving in.

I know people that have moved to HF that are from Britain, Ireland, Germany..Not just onsies and twosies, but quite a few. I know a lot of folks from Baltimore that have moved there as well as from Deleware, Virginia etc..

H.F. and Boliver have some nice little places to eat, great views and outstanding recreational features such as the C&O canal, the Appalachian trail and river sports out the wazoo. It's a historically signifigant area so that's a nice attraction as well. You're also a short drive to some fine Virginia wineries and if you want a little culture you can simply hop on a train to D.C. for the day... (If you call that sort of thing culture, lol). I used to like going to the outdoor band events at the battlefield in MD. That was a lot of fun..

If I ever move back to the Eastern Panhandle, Harpers Ferry proper (in an old stone or brick house) would be HIGH on my list (but behind Back Creek Valley).

[tbailey1138]

Since someone mentioned it, I say check out Huntington. Huntington has four distinct seasons like you want but is more mild in terms of the amount of snow that we get. You are however close to Snowshoe and Canaan Valley Ski resorts. Both are over two hours away but not much too much more than that and the drives aren't that bad. Winter and early spring can be somewhat gloomy as is usual for WV but the rest of Spring, Summer and Fall are full of beautiful sunny days. In terms of cost of living, Huntington was recently rated by Forbes Magazine as having the best cost of living in the US and has some really nice houses in the area. Being a city of around 50,000 people, there are people from all walks of life here and this also allows the area to support more live music venues, restaurants, etc. Huntington is also the home of Marshall University which brings a lot of the younger crowd here. Huntington also has a top notch parks system with the best of these being Ritter Park. The area has excellent health care and plenty of local museums as well. There are several different festivals here throughout the year, my favorite of which is the Greek Festival. If you want to visit a larger city every once in awhile, Cincinnati, Columbus and Lexington are all only 2-3 hours away.

If you want to see Huntington before you come here, go rent the movie "We Are Marshall" with Matthew McConaughey. Most of it was filmed here and gives you a good idea of what the area is like. Hope this helps and here are some links you might find interesting. If you want any other info just let me know.
Tim

City of Huntington, West Virginia
Huntington, West Virginia (WV) Detailed Profile - relocation, real estate, travel, jobs, hospitals, schools, crime, news, sex offenders
Pullman Square - Restaurants Shopping Entertainment
Greater Huntington Park and Recreation District
Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, WV
Playing Here : Huntington, WV : Live Music
MySpace.com - V Club - 741 6th Ave HUNTINGTON, WV - Blues / Jazz / Rock - www.myspace.com/wvvclub
Marshall Movie Homepage
Modern Photo Album | Keith-Albee Performing Arts Center, Inc.

[poppimds007]

3/1.5 sfh in Charles Town Wv. $1250.00 rent/215.000 purchase.In Town P.S. stay away from harpers ferry unless you like child molesters.

[Katie1]

Well EP just starts the Mts. Winchester is higher & so is Frederick MD But for REAL MT on the east coast Go farther WEST!! Then For super hight Mts try the ROCKIES!!