Charleston-Huntington (South Charleston, Teays Valley, St. Albans: new house, elementary school, living in)

[WVMounty]

Me and my family will be moving to the Charleston area this summer. We are looking for a good area to live in. I will be working in Charleston and it looks like my wife will probably be working in the Huntington area. What are some good areas to live where it would be an easy commute between these two cities. An area with good schools is a must.

[tbailey1138]

There are several options with the two of you working in Huntington and Charleston. The first option is living in between the two in the Teays Valley area in Putnam county. This would leave you with about a 20 minute drive to get to either city and this area has had a lot of recent development with a lot of nice new houses. This also means that for most of your shopping or entertainment options, you have to go to either Huntington or Charleston. Traffic is also very congested there as many people are in a similar situation but the roads can't handle the traffic very well. Another option is to live in one of the smaller towns on either side of Teays Valley so one of you would have a longer drive but you would be closer to more shopping/entertainment/dining. These towns include Barboursville, Milton, Hurricane, St. Albans, Nitro, Cross lanes and South Charleston. The last option is to live in either Huntington or Charleston so one of you has a longer commute but you are closer to all of the conveniences of the city you live in. This way, one of you has a short drive but the other has about a 40 minute drive which will be mostly interstate. Winters are not bad here so this isn't a bad option either. Best thing to do is visit the area and do a little research to find the place that will suit you best. Hope this helps.
Tim

[GottaHerdOn]

Try Milton... Its fairly close to Huntington, Its close to the Mall, and like 20 minutes to Charleston. Its in Cabell county and I'd recommend them over the schools in Charleston...

[shedav]

GottaHerdOn I dont know about that...I work in Huntington and live in charleston with kids in the Kanawha County school system. Many of my coworkers complain all the time about Cabell County schools, but then again I complain about Kanawha county schools also. It depends on the school...do your research and find the best rated schools. My kids go to a great elementary school rated an A but the middle and high schools are ok. I live out corridor G and work on Hal Greer blvd in Huntington and it is over an hour commute. The traffic is bad around Cross Lanes, Teays Valley, Hurricane and Milton but only during rush hours. If you decide to look at Milton be careful about choosing where you live a lot of Milton is prone to flooding. These areas as stated in earlier posts are upcoming and developing due to everyone that use to live closer to the cities moving out. Many families in these areas with new homes, prices will be higher though. As someone who commutes take my advice...Be kind to your wife and chose a middle ground, that one way drive from one city to the next can get really long especially when your tired!!! LOL

[WVMounty]

Thanks for all the info. I got a chance to check out the area this weekend. I checked out Teays Valley, Hurricane, Winfield, Cross Lanes, St Albans, Nitro as well as the Charleston area. From some research me and my wife did the Putnam county schools seemed to be good. From my first impression I seemed to like the Teays Valley area the best. My family will probably check out the area together in late March or early April to see how they feel about the area. Thanks again for all the info.

[Lorann]

Charleston has lots of schools that are rated very high. Check out www.greatschools.net.