Applying for a job in Huntington (Charleston, Barboursville: real estate, budget, hospital)

[Chuck_G]

Hello everyone,
I am currently a VA employee in Georgia, and looking at a job at the VA hospital in Huntington. The forum posts I've read have been overwhelmingly positive about the Huntington/Charleston area, and everything I've read on the websites looks like it might be a good fit for us.

How are the schools in the area? We have a six year old daughter just finishing first grade. Also, how far is it from the VA to Charleston? Would it be too long of a commute? I used to live in Tucson, and did a forty-miniute commute, mostly Interstate, so that wouldn't bother me. My wife and I are looking for a nice small town atmosphere to raise our daughter, but close enough to shopping, and restaurants and othe things to do. My wife loves sewing and scrapbooking, so I'm hoping there are stores for that around. I love live theater, and I see there are things going on at Marshall for that.

We currently have a 3br house about 1,600 sq. feet. Can we find something comparable for between $140,000-$180,000 in a nice neighborhood? Any advice would be appreciated.

[snorpus]

tbailey lives in Huntington, and gottaherdon is a student there... they'll probably be along shortly with some detailed suggestions.

Depending on just where in Charleston to just where in Huntington, you're looking at about an hour or a little less. I-64 all the way. I hear there are some nice communities midway between the two, which would make the commute either way pretty reasonable.

Don't know for sure, but I'm inclined to say you'll be able to meet your housing budget with no problems.

[creemarie]

With gas prices as high as they are, I would recommed Huntington to live as opposed to Charleston if you're going to be working at the VA in Huntington. It will have everything you need in terms or shopping, dining and entertainment. Everything is very convenient here, and it's easy to get spoiled by this. I have lived here for almost 4 years, and I absolutely love it!

Most all of the public schools in the area are great schools, and there are also several private schools to choose from.

Housing in Huntington will be easy to come by. You should be able to find exactly what you want in your price range. For example, my husband and I just bought a house (3br/2ba/2600sf) 1 block from Ritter Park (Southside) for $145,000. In the downtown area of Huntington, I'd recommend looking into the Southside area, Washington Blvd. area, anywhere near the museum or the Highlawn area. Most of the houses here are older homes, but they have been well-maintained and updated. There are also a number of sub-divisions just outside city limits.

If you want to live further from the downtown area, you might look into Barboursville. This community is about 15 minutes from downtown. Here, there are a mix of small residential areas to newer sub-divisions.

Here are some links that you might be interested in:
City of Huntington, West Virginia
The Greater Huntington Community Web Portal
:: Welcome to Huntington, West Virginia :: - HADCO - Huntington Area Development Council
CABELL COUNTY SCHOOLS - DEDICATED TO THE SUCCESS OF EVERY STUDENT
Greater Huntington Park and Recreation District
Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, WV
Pullman Square - Restaurants Shopping Entertainment
http://www.huntingtonmall.com/home/index.ch2
Barboursville

Hope this helps and good luck with your move!

[tbailey1138]

If you are going to be working in Huntington, I'd definately recommend living in Huntington or the surrounding area. Huntington has so much to offer in terms of shopping, entertainment and places to eat. If you like live theater, there is plenty to be seen downtown. Between the Marshall Artists Series(which brings in national acts), the Marshall theater school, The First stage theater company, Huntington Outdoor Theater, 5th Avenue Theater Company and the various dance companies there's plenty of perfromances to attend. The Huntington Symphony Orchestra also puts on some wonderful shows with their Spring and Summer concerts being held at the Riverfront Park and the Fall and Winter performances at the beautiful Keith-Albee Performing Arts Center. If you like comedy, the Funny Bone Comedy club is downtown at Pullman Square. A lifestyle center built in 2004, Pullman Square is also home to several great restaurants, clothing stores, a book store and a 16 screen state-of-the-art theater that was listed as one of the top 1,000 theaters in the nation last year. Downtown is also undergoing a lot of revitalization right now with buildings and streets being redone and new businesses opening frequently. There are also a few quilting/fabric/yarn stores in the area so your wife should be fine from that standpoint. For your daughter, the playground at Ritter Park has been rated sixth best nationally by "Child Magazine" according to the city's website and they are getting ready to do a $350,000 addition to it. My wife and I are very excited about this for our little boy who is 2. Ritter Park

In terms of schools, Cabell County is in the process of building several new schools so that when they are done almost every school in the county will have been rebuilt in the last 20 years. The schools(for your daughter's age) that tend to get the best reviews are the new Southside Elementary, Meadows Elementary, the Village of Barboursville Elementary and Davis Creek Elementary.

CreeMarie already covered some of the better places to live so no need to go into that again. Here are some other links that you may find useful though.
Hope this helps and just ask if you have any other questions..
Tim

Marshall Artists Series
Modern Photo Album | Keith-Albee Performing Arts Center, Inc.
Huntington Outdoor Theatre
Welcome To Your Huntington Funny Bone
Big Sandy Superstore Arena - Huntington, WV
Huntington Symphony Orchestra of Huntington, West Virginia
Huntington Dance Theatre Home Page
Arts Resources For The Tri-State

[dunkhouse]

Absolutely live in Huntington as opposed to Charleston. Gas will soon be $4 a gallon. The drive from Chas. to the VA would be roughly an hour down I 64. The exit where the VA is located is a very short drive from I 64. The cities are similar in size, cultural offerings, shopping etc. Nothing against Charleston, but I can think of no reason that you in your circumstances would choose to live there. Housing in Huntington would be to your liking also. Your price range would bring a 3-4 bedroom house at 2000 plus sq. ft. I would say. You will be pleasantly surprised by our real estate market.

[Chuck_G]

dunkhouse, creemarie, tbailey1138, snorpus,

Thank you all for the information. Huntington is looking very good, especially with gas prices going up. What is the weather like? I've lived in the south for the last ten years, so I've gotten spoiled when it comes to mild winters. Do you get much snow, and does it stick most of the winter?

[snorpus]

You'll have several snows during the winter, but Huntington isn't really in the snow belt (Tucker, Randolph, Pocahontas counties). Most will be of the nuisance variety, 2-3" at a time. You might get one or two snowfalls a year greater than 4", but some years none at all.

In that section of WV, the snow won't hang around all winter. One day you'll get snow, the next the roads are all clear, and the snow on the ground might last a couple more days.

Now watch this winter mark the beginning of the next Ice Age.