moving to huntington area (Charleston, Barboursville: relocate, apartment, rent)

[mmgatr]

Hi. We will be moving to Huntington, WV within the next 2 months. We would like input on the area such as crime (other than the stats online since they're not always right), weather etc. We have looked into moving to Barboursville outside of Huntington. Does anyone have any info on Barboursville? Is it nice? What about crime? How are the Krogers there? Is the quality pretty good? How about the WalMart in Barboursville?
Any info would be great.

Thanks in advance

[tbailey1138]

Barboursville is a nice little town that offers a quiet setting and a lot of convenience. There are a lot of nice a areas in Barboursville and people there are very friendly. The Kroger there is very nice and was actually remodeled and expanded just last year. It's actually the second largest in the state and has a Star Bucks and a Sushi Bar inside of it. The Wal-Mart there is also a super Wal-Mart and was just built in 2004. Barboursville Park is a very nice feature as well with several ponds, playgrounds and various ball fields.

Where I suggest you live in this area depends on where you will be the most. I grew up in Barboursville and initially lived there when my wife and I moved back after college. We now live in Huntington though because we found ourselves spending so much more time downtown and it made sense for us (we save a lot on gas now too!). I work downtown, we attend church downtown, prefer the park downtown, like to hang out downtown and the majority of the events here happen downtown. Being so close to the Interstate also allows us to get to the Huntington Mall (in Barboursville) in about 12 minutes which is very convenient. Even though we had a yard in Barboursville about 6-7x larger than what we have now, we find ourselves spending so much more time outside here because of how close Ritter Park is, how well the side walks are laid out and how friendly our neighbors are. Crime here, while it can happen anywhere, is usually concentrated in a couple of areas making the majority of the city very safe. They are also doing a lot of upgrades to the downtown and other areas such as the playground at Ritter Park and the area only continues to get better. Here are some links to things that might be helpful and let me know if you have any other questions.
Tim

Barboursville
http://www.huntingtonmall.com/home/index.ch2
The Greater Huntington Community Web Portal
City of Huntington, West Virginia
Huntington, WV Online
Greater Huntington Park and Recreation District
Huntington Regional Chamber of Commerce
Pullman Square - Restaurants Shopping Entertainment
New Festival Coming to Downtown Huntington (watch the video with the story)
Plan unveiled for Ritter Park playground - Huntington, WV -- The Herald-Dispatch
http://media.herald-dispatch.com/adv...04_oldmain.pdf (planned upgrades to the downtown area)
West Virginia Hot Dog Festival of Huntington, WV (coming soon so don't miss it!)

[mmgatr]

Thanks for the info. Any info really helps.

Also, another couple of questions. I've been reading some of the other posts on here and see people mentioning about snakes and brown recluse spiders etc. Are these posts form the Huntington area or more in the mountain areas? I'm not a fan or snakes or spiders and just curious if their are alot of these in the city?

Also, from what I read online, the seasons are pretty mild compared to the rest of the state. During the winter, are the roads fairly easy to drive? For example is the city pretty good on getting the roads cleared and salt on the roads to help prevent any ice? We have lived where there was snow before (a long time ago) but it was never very bad. Hit some black ice on the road once though.

We would be living in Barboursville and my husband will drive into Huntington (around 7th Ave) for work. Didnt know if Hwy 60 ices bad or not. Coming from Florida, it will take us a while to get used to driving in the snow.

Thanks again. Hope I didnt ask too many questions.

[tbailey1138]

The winter weather in the Huntington area is more mild than the rest of the state but we do get the occasional snow that blankets everything. For the most part, the road crews around here do a good job of clearing the snow and putting down preventative salt before the snow hits. Occasionally, you still get the unexpected snow that crews aren't able to prepare for and it takes a few hours to clear the roads off good. Another good thing about this area when it comes to icy weather is that it's flatter here. While there are still hills/mountains most major roads are in the river valleys with very few hills. You may even find that the steepest hill you have to climb on your commute is the entrance/exit ramp to get on the interstate.

The recent posts about spiders and snakes on here have not been from the Huntington area. They do exist here of course but they are farely rare. One good thing about this area is that there are relatively few dangerous creatures. In all of my years in this area, I've never seen a brown recluse, seen a black widow maybe 3 or 4 times and never seen a live poisonous snake. Most commonly around here you'll see a black snake or a green snake and sometimes in the less populous areas you may run into a copperhead. Again, I've never seen a live copperhead and I used to play in the woods all of the time when I was younger. Just remember snakes are often very helpful though and spiders aren't really aggressive, just creatures of bad circumstance.

You can never ask too many questions so let me know know if you have any more. As stated earlier, I am very familair with Huntington and Barboursville so if you have questions about a specific area, feel free to ask.
Tim

[mmgatr]

Thats good to hear about the snakes and spiders. We've seen the occasional garden snake here but they usually stay out of sight.

My husband will be working shift work around 7th Ave in downtown Huntington. Is that a pretty safe area even after dark?
Here in Florida, the area where he works is not a very safe area of town especially after dark.

Thanks again

[tbailey1138]

7th Avenue is mostly businesses, warehouses, etc for the majority of its length with very little residential property due to the close proximity to the train tracks. The exception to this is close to Marshall University, it does have a lot of student housing. Overall, from my experience and from reading the reports in the paper, 7th Avenue seems to be a safe area. There few unsafe areas in Huntington overall though.

[Texasturkey]

Originally Posted by tbailey1138

The winter weather in the Huntington area is more mild than the rest of the state but we do get the occasional snow that blankets everything. For the most part, the road crews around here do a good job of clearing the snow and putting down preventative salt before the snow hits. Occasionally, you still get the unexpected snow that crews aren't able to prepare for and it takes a few hours to clear the roads off good. Another good thing about this area when it comes to icy weather is that it's flatter here. While there are still hills/mountains most major roads are in the river valleys with very few hills. You may even find that the steepest hill you have to climb on your commute is the entrance/exit ramp to get on the interstate.

The recent posts about spiders and snakes on here have not been from the Huntington area. They do exist here of course but they are farely rare. One good thing about this area is that there are relatively few dangerous creatures. In all of my years in this area, I've never seen a brown recluse, seen a black widow maybe 3 or 4 times and never seen a live poisonous snake. Most commonly around here you'll see a black snake or a green snake and sometimes in the less populous areas you may run into a copperhead. Again, I've never seen a live copperhead and I used to play in the woods all of the time when I was younger. Just remember snakes are often very helpful though and spiders aren't really aggressive, just creatures of bad circumstance.

You can never ask too many questions so let me know know if you have any more. As stated earlier, I am very familair with Huntington and Barboursville so if you have questions about a specific area, feel free to ask.
Tim

Hi,

I hope to leave Southern CA (LA County) and relocate to another state. I am considering WVA. I have read many helpful threads about WVA. (Weather, business, economy, lifestyle). I would like to know a little more about the people in general. I am single woman in my early 40's never married and no children. I would like to rent an apartment and look for a full time job. I have varied work experience and a college education. I am a Christian and am invloved with my the Women's ministry at my church where I live now. I love country music. Do they play a lot of it in WVA? Would I be able to fit in? Is it easy or hard to make friends in WVA? I would appreciate any info about WVA.

[tbailey1138]

Texasturkey, I think that you would fit in just fine here. The people here tend to be very friendly and for the most part, making friends should not be difficult, especially through church. Huntington has a LOT of churches and there are some very beautiful ones downtown and spread throughout some of the neighborhoods. You can see some in the pictures on Huntington's city-data page. In terms of being from out of town, this won't really matter in Huntington as a lot of people here are from out of town due to Marshall University and some of the larger employers like the hospitals, CSX, the television stations, etc. Also, make sure that you root for Marshall and WVU and you'll find plenty of friends! In terms of music, the area is home to a number of diverse radio stations that play everything from country, to rock, to oldies, classical and christian music. The local civic center also has a lot of good concerts throughout the year and many of these are country concerts. There is also a lot of live music going on during the summer through various out door concerts to some of the local live music places. Here are some links to some of the local stations so that you can listen live as well as a list of many of the churches in the area. If you would like any info on the churches, just ask and I'll do my best to fill you in on what I know. Come and check the area out and see if you like it. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. Hope this helps and just ask if you need anything else.
Tim

Churches
Huntington Churches in Huntington WV Yellow Pages by SuperPages

Radio Stations
WDGG - Homepage
Good Times & Great Country - 103.3 WTCR-FM!
Magic 97.9 FM
100.5 WKEE | Huntington, WV

[genesee]

ahh..Tim to the rescue!
We seriously need that tour of your town when we hit!

[vec101]

Originally Posted by mmgatr

Thanks for the info. Any info really helps.

Also, another couple of questions. I've been reading some of the other posts on here and see people mentioning about snakes and brown recluse spiders etc. Are these posts form the Huntington area or more in the mountain areas? I'm not a fan or snakes or spiders and just curious if their are alot of these in the city.

I don't know about Huntington but we are going to build a house on a hill in Charleston. Was freaked to find there are black-widow spiders across the street in an electrical box thing. Said something to people already in the development and they said they knew and no one seemed to worry about it.