Moving to CHARLESTON Wv?? (Huntington, Morgantown: real estate, for rent, lofts)

[etta]

Should we move from asheville nc to charleston wv??
We just spent 2 days in charleston & there are many things we liked about it. We loved the bluegrass kitchen, taylor books is rad too, the big golden dome capitol & amazing old houses. But I would love to know anyone elses opinions about charleston?? We are worried that there isn't much of a youth culture there. We are both young artists & entrepreneurs looking for somewhere interesting & affordable to open a business.
Also, its hard not to notice all the factories & warehouses around. What type of factories are those? & I was wandering how residents there feel about being somewhat surrounded by these factories? The environmental hazards are our largest concern about the place.
Is there any health food stores or co ops? We looked but could not find any. Is there any small music scene of any sort? Garage rock, Punk rock or indie music? It seems kinda like a run down,dead town on the downswing but somehow there also seems to be so much potential? Are new people moving there at all or Is this town actually on the decline?

[tbailey1138]

Charleston is a nice city and would definately be a nice place to live but I'm not sure that it has the youth culture you are looking for. In another thread on here, people were talking about how Charleston was more of a business city but felt that Huntington was more of a fun city that tends to attract the youth culture you may be looking for. Here's the link to that thread and it may answer some of your other questions. Huntington is just slightly smaller than Charleston and is about 45 minutes to the west down I-64.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/west-...questions.html

I have a friend from New York who used to live in Charleston but moved to Huntington because he felt the exact same way. Charleston and Huntington have both been losing population but both are seeing a lot of revitalization in their respective downtowns and a lot more interest in people living in both cities. The biggest advantage that Huntington may provide for what you are looking for is Marshall University. MU brings in a lot of younger people and helps contribute to the music scene that exists within the city. Club Echo, The V Club, Fluid, HYAMP and several other venues are very active with performances and there are also some good shows that come through the Big Sandy Arena. Huntington also has a great culture for theater and art both because of MU and events/organizations within the city. Here's Huntington's city data page and if you'd like to "see" the city before visiting, go rent "We are Marshall" with Matthew McConaughey as most of the movie was filmed here. Let me know if you'd like to hear more about Huntington and I can get you some more info. Hope the link to the other thread helps as well.

Huntington, West Virginia (WV) Detailed Profile - relocation, real estate, travel, jobs, hospitals, schools, crime, news, sex offenders
Tim

[David Kennedy]

One little artist mecca is Thomas, Wv. High in the heart of the Blackwater area..It's called Wv's little Aspen...folks gather at the Purple Fidle in the evenings and hear the music...several nice places to grub...and a few New York style artists lofts for rent there too...give Mary Jo a call at 304.368.1555 if you want the tour.

[GottaHerdOn]

Originally Posted by tbailey1138

Charleston is a nice city and would definately be a nice place to live but I'm not sure that it has the youth culture you are looking for. In another thread on here, people were talking about how Charleston was more of a business city but felt that Huntington was more of a fun city that tends to attract the youth culture you may be looking for. Here's the link to that thread and it may answer some of your other questions. Huntington is just slightly smaller than Charleston and is about 45 minutes to the west down I-64.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/west-...questions.html

I have a friend from New York who used to live in Charleston but moved to Huntington because he felt the exact same way. Charleston and Huntington have both been losing population but both are seeing a lot of revitalization in their respective downtowns and a lot more interest in people living in both cities. The biggest advantage that Huntington may provide for what you are looking for is Marshall University. MU brings in a lot of younger people and helps contribute to the music scene that exists within the city. Club Echo, The V Club, Fluid, HYAMP and several other venues are very active with performances and there are also some good shows that come through the Big Sandy Arena. Huntington also has a great culture for theater and art both because of MU and events/organizations within the city. Here's Huntington's city data page and if you'd like to "see" the city before visiting, go rent "We are Marshall" with Matthew McConaughey as most of the movie was filmed here. Let me know if you'd like to hear more about Huntington and I can get you some more info. Hope the link to the other thread helps as well.

Huntington, West Virginia (WV) Detailed Profile - relocation, real estate, travel, jobs, hospitals, schools, crime, news, sex offenders
Tim

HYAMP is closed.. its been closed since I got here in 05 or 06.. not that its important, but still.

[tbailey1138]

Last I had heard HYAMP was still going, they just lost their building. They actually applied for non-profit status and were looking for a new building. They were continuing their shows at other venues. I'm not sure if this is still the case but as of last year it was. Here's an article about this. They offered some great shows so I hope they are still going. Their website is down now though so you may be right.


HYAMP ventures to new venues - Life

[NOVAmtneer82]

Youth culture is going to be somewhat difficult to find anywhere in WV as the state has had the highest median age of any in the nation for years. I have never been to Asheville NC so I cannot really give you any insight into comparisons but I HEAR its a very beautiful place. People leave WV in droves to go to NC (mainly Charlotte and Raleigh/Durham), it's usually not the other way around.

[etta]

Bummer...We didn't get a chance to visit huntington while up there. We did drive out toward nitro. Along the highway that connects charleston to nitro is where we saw the most vulgar looking plants with smokestacks pumping out who knows what everywhere. & is there a nuclear power plant out that way?? Everyone was so friendly in Charleston & i love the east end & downtown area but if there is somewhere else similar with a bit less industrial scary looking factories I'd like to check that out first. Is there much of that industrial stuff near Huntington? I'll certainly check out thomas wv. Also Morgontown seems like it could be a good fit. Are there alot of factories around morgontown? I read some of the threads about morgontown & it sounds like it has alot more young folks. Ahh. Where should i live?

[GottaHerdOn]

The thing that looks like a nuclear timebomb in Nitro is actually just a regular power plant. Yes, Charleston and Huntington both have a ton of dirty, well paying industrial jobs. For now that is, they've been closing in droves for decades and the cities are slowly making the transition to a services economy.

Thomas, is verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry small. But if you're looking for peace and quiet, and no to little crime. It could be your so called heaven. Also check out Elkins, which is a larger city near Thomas. It's pretty artsy and touristy. It was ranked as one of the best small arts towns in America a year or two ago. If you're interested in Elkins at all, just look it up on here, or ask me. I lived there for 18 years of my life. ha ha

Morgantown could be a good fix too. Not many factories around Morgantown. It's economy is based off of WVU and the medical fields. It def. has a lot more young folks. Around 25,000 college students. ISH. One of the biggest things I hate about Morgantown is the traffic. The streets simply aren't able to handle the traffic. A LOT OF WORK NEEDS TO BE DONE THERE! I think you would like something maybe 20 or minutes outside of Morgantown maybe. Ehh, if you have any specific questions feel free to ask me. I lived in Elkins and north central WV all my life, my dad lives in Fairmont, and I went to Fairmont State for a year, and I've lived in Huntington for 2 years now while going to Marshall University. So if I can help. Just ask

I'd like to encourage and praise your move to WV as well

[tbailey1138]

Hunting does NOT have the chemical plants like Charleston. There is a steel factory downtown, Steel of WV, but that is about it in terms of the "scary factories". There are some production factories on the west end, but these only make products with little to no smoke/fumes coming from them. To give you some more info about Huntington, the city is home to just under 50,000 residents in addition to the students at Marshall University. Huntington and MU together give the area a wonderful Theater/Music/Art culture. Marshall offers their own theater group, their own symphony and the Birke Art gallery as well as the Marshall Artist series. Huntington offers the Huntington Museum of Art (largest in the state and has some wonderful permanent and traveling exhibits as well as some great classes), the Huntington Symphony Orchestra and several local theater and dance groups. The city is home to several performing arts centers including the Keith Albee (1920s Vaudville theater), The Jeslyn Performings Arts Center, The Joan C. Edwards Playhouse (which also houses the Jomie Jazz Center), The Jean Carlo Stephenson Auditorium, and the Big Sandy Arena. Several shows occur at these places in addition to local places such as Club Echo, Fluid (formerly the Monkey Bar), The V-club, the Java Joint and other concerts sponsered by cornzine.com. Downtown also offers some neat local shops in addition to what is offered at Pullman Square, a lifestyle center with restaurants, retail, a bank, theaters and a comedy club. Pullman also hosts the weekly summer concert series as well as several local festivals including the Hot Dog Fest and the Jazz Fest. The Huntington Mall is also in the area and holds the claim to the largest shopping complex in the state. The parks system in Huntington is also top notch with several different parks, the best of which is Ritter Park. Ritter Park offers a rose garden, a nice playgroud (which is about to be expanded) and several different festivals including Ritter Park days and Art in the Park. Huntington is also home to some quaint local restaurants including Jim's Steak and Spaghetti, Stewarts Hot Dogs, Bowinkles, Woody's Surfside Cafe, Chili Wilis and Jewel City Seafood to name a few. In my opinion, Huntington has a lot to offer.

Morgantown does not have chemical plants either but there is a power plant downtown along the main road in. The main thing that always bothered me about this were the trucks that hauled the hot ash waste through town. There is a lot for younger students through WVU, but from my experience, once you graduate the city itself doesn't offer much to do. This is getting better though recently with some new shopping but traffic downtown is way worse than it should be for a town this size, as GHO said. Morgantown also has some good live music venues but doesn't offer as much as Huntington when it comes to this.

Having lived in both places and my wife being from Morgantown, we both prefer Huntington for all that it has to offer. There's just more for us to do here and we are in our mid-late 20s. I suggest you check out all of the towns you might be interested in though and see what works for you. Here are some links that may help you. Let me know if you have any other questions.
Tim
City of Huntington, West Virginia
The Greater Huntington Community Web Portal
Greater Huntington Park and Recreation District
Pullman Square - Restaurants Shopping Entertainment
http://www.huntingtonmall.com/home/index.ch2
Welcome To Your Huntington Funny Bone
Huntington WV concert map ø track bands ø concert alerts -> Huntington WV live music (listing of upcoming live music)
MySpace.com - V Club - 741 6th Ave HUNTINGTON, WV - Blues / Jazz / Rock - www.myspace.com/wvvclub
:: corn 'zine | main ::
Tri-State Arts Association
Marshall University College of Fine Arts | Department of Art & Design
Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, WV
Modern Photo Album | Keith-Albee Performing Arts Center, Inc.
Marshall Artists Series
Appalachian Film Festival, Huntington, West Virginia
Huntington Regional Film Commission
Arts Resources For The Tri-State

[NOVAmtneer82]

As someone who has been to both Huntington and Charleston (grew up in the latter) I can assure you that neither one is really less run down or industrial than the other. Several friends of mine went to college at Marshall and I seem to recall several mills and/or factories along Hal Greer Blvd heading into town. All of these "scary looking" factories that everyone is talking about aren't even in Charleston limits they are in South Charleston, Institute, Nitro, Belle, etc...


I went to college in Morgantown, used to think traffic was rather bad there until I moved to the Washington DC area which has some of the worst gridlock in the nation. That being said if you aren't used to bad traffic Morgantown's will seem awful as the town is poorly planned along several narrow roads.

As far as opportunity goes for a younger person I cant really think of any that truly standout. Morgantown is known as being one of the fastest growing areas in the state but most jobs are centered around the expanding university or a few jobs here and there along the "tech corridor" of I-79 near Clarksburg. Charleston is far from a job seekers paradise (unless you want to work for the state or a law firm) which is one of the main reasons myself and many of my other friends left. I can't imagine Huntington's eocnomy being any better, all of my friends who went to Marshall bolted for better jobs in Columbus and Charlotte after college.

I will agree with you that the Bluegrass Kitchen is very good, I make it a point to eat there with my family when I am in town. There are some decent cultural opportunities in Charleston, namely at the Cultural Center where Mountain Stage is held live every Sunday while being broadcasted across the nation. The Friends of Old Time Music and Dance (FOOTMAD) also put on good shows, last time I was in visiting the parents there was an awesome Irish string band there. The Clay Center for the Arts and Sciences is by far the best museum in WV (that doesn't say much) but it does have a nice performance hall, decent art exhibits, planetarium along with great science exhibits for younger kids.

Downtown Charleston also has a variety of bars, a few restaurants, and art galleries on Capital Street, where they have summer art walks (Art in the Heart?) and the Live on the Levee summer concert series every weekend. The Town Center mall is by far the largest one in the state (believe me Huntington Mall doesnt even compare) and has fairly decent shopping, at least at the teenage level.

Tbailey has given you really good info on the Huntington scene so I don't need to go there...

Basically you have a variety of options however I can't really think of one being any better than the other. It will come down to truly which one you feel best fits your wants and needs in a place to live. Good luck!