What's the Best City in West Virginia? (Charleston, Huntington: house, jobs)

[Emerald Chickpea]

Originally Posted by treduece

West Virginia's city's all have pro's and cons, but i will rank them by how i think they are.

6. Wheeling
pro's - Has alot of money and is close to Pittsburgh
con's - Being known as rich city also comes with unfriendly snobby people

A friend of mine is a native of the Wheeling area and has said that Wheeling does have problems re: "the old Guard with $$$" living in the past and trying to keep Wheeling under its thumb by working against measures that would open things up for development and new businesses (that might not necessarily add more $$$ to those already accumulated...)

Whether that's true or not remains to be seen as far as I'm concerned.

There is starting to be development between Wheeling and the PA border, more or less, on Interstate 70. A major Cabela's store is open there now and there are plans for an amusement park of decent size (apparently larger than Kennywood?) to be developed in the near future.

[Emerald Chickpea]

Originally Posted by GottaHerdOn

do you honestly hate your home town now? I can't imagine hating my home town.

I feel sad for my "home town". I know hindsight can be tough, but when I went back to my home town after an absence of many years, I felt sad. It looked so tired and dreary. I felt bad that I felt bad because of it, if that makes any sense!

[Emerald Chickpea]

Originally Posted by diane faith

So are these the most WV-ish towns? Are there others also? I want the friendly WV towns...

Well, there's always FRIENDLY, WV, population 159 in the 2000 census . It's located 3 miles south of Sistersville, on the Ohio river. And as us natives know, this was a big oil & gas producing region in the late 1800s - early 1900s.

Additionally, the region has been known for glass and pottery production (from the Homer Laughlin pottery in the extreme northern panhandle all the way downriver to the Fenton plant in Williamstown, and beyond), including Paden City Pottery, Marble King and Cy Wright's glass factory in New Martinsville, to name a few.

[tbailey1138]

Originally Posted by diane faith

So are these the most WV-ish towns? Are there others also? I want the friendly WV towns not the DC bedroom or towns taken over by States or cities. It scares me to live anywhere within 2 hours of a major city. I live in a rural area that's being taken over by Chicago's ever expanding sprawl. I want a piece of land and some quiet. I love the country folk!! I am married to a glassblower so I guess I would be looking at the western half of WV for a gas well property. We have to run that glass furnace 24 hrs and the bills are killing us. I homeschool my two sons so schools wouldn't be an issue. So since I'm starting to do my research about WV any suggestions for me? I won't mind driving for supplies a half hour or less. I guess I don't want to be so far from everything my boys feel isolated but a good church full of kids can take care of that problem. Don't have loads of money but we manage to scrape by in Illinois and it's expensive to live here. Thanks for any advice.

If your husband is in the glass blowing field, check out the Huntington area. Here you are close to the 2 largest cities in the state but there are plenty of areas that meet your criteria for being rural while still having convenience. Blenko glass is also in the area (Milton) and I know that they offer a lot of their scrap glass to other artisans for glass blowing and stain glass making. Huntington also has a shop called The Downtown Depot which sells such handmade crafts by WV artisans. Forbes magazine also recently named the Huntington area as having the best cost of living in the US so I'm sure there would be something here for you. If there are any other questions I can answer, let me know. Hope this helps.
Tim

[diane faith]

Thank you!! I will check out Huntington area. We actually buy our raw glass supplies from a company in Williamstown. I think I will keep studying the forum until the time of year comes when we can come drive around and look at properties. This forum is such a help! Thanks so much Tim, I'm sure I will have more questions soon! Also on the other post...Who wouldn't like to live in a town called __Friendly! As long as you don't have to feel guilty if you have a grouchy day Tee hee. It's going to be a joy to visit WV some day. I am grateful for any advice on small towns to check out. My sons are such sweet and polite little men we make friends wherever we go. My 11 yr old loves senior citizens and my 9 yr old loves babies. We are always meeting new folks as we walk through a store because my boys will actually smile and say hi to them! It's so nice to have boys without the " I'm too cool to talk to anyone" factor. I'm so glad God gave me the job of caring for these 2 treasures. Just need to find the right town for them to continue growing into fine men.

[Emerald Chickpea]

Originally Posted by diane faith

Also on the other post...Who wouldn't like to live in a town called __Friendly! As long as you don't have to feel guilty if you have a grouchy day Tee hee. It's going to be a joy to visit WV some day. I am grateful for any advice on small towns to check out. My sons are such sweet and polite little men we make friends wherever we go. My 11 yr old loves senior citizens and my 9 yr old loves babies. We are always meeting new folks as we walk through a store because my boys will actually smile and say hi to them! It's so nice to have boys without the " I'm too cool to talk to anyone" factor. I'm so glad God gave me the job of caring for these 2 treasures. Just need to find the right town for them to continue growing into fine men.

Diane, I'm sure you will like living in West Virginia. In regards to Friendly (again), there was a series of books set there (later made into movies) called "Shiloh" that was set in Friendly, WV. Here is a comment from Amazon.com.

"When 11-year-old Marty Preston chances upon a mistreated beagle pup in his hometown of Friendly, West Virginia, he is not prepared for the ethical questions he has to face. Should he return the dog to its owner, only to have the animal abused again? Should he tell his parents? Should he steal food to help the poor creature? Marty's efforts to cope with these questions provides the moral backbone for this story, which is presented in a language and manner that will be understood by third- and fourth-grade readers. The heart and beauty of this 1992 Newbery Medal winner lies in lessons children will take away with them."

This book would be perfect for your boys.

[Moonpie]

Check out Doddridge County, just west of Clarksburg.....beautiful, rural, and abundant Gas. Ms. Pie

[diane faith]

Originally Posted by Moonpie

Check out Doddridge County, just west of Clarksburg.....beautiful, rural, and abundant Gas. Ms. Pie

Thank you moonpie Dodderidge co. sounds great. I think I'll look into getting us into an a couple of art fairs in the region so we can spend some time driving and looking. Would have to be next year since it's too late to apply for fairs now. The boys could glean some great history lessons from a trip like this. I really want to be rural since the sad experience of watching the beautiful small towns my DH and myself and my grandparents grew up in become ruined by Chicago spreading it's gang bangers down further and further. It was beautiful and peaceful here but now it's heartbreaking. I just never want to be near a major city again. I'll be planning my trip out to meet the good people of WV and see it's beauty up close. If anyone knows of any really nice fine art fairs let me know. My husbands glass is of the floral traditional Tiffany style..very lovely. We do shows in the finer neighborhoods and people love his work. Anyway Thanks again for some ideas on place to look. Also many Thanks to Emerald chickpea about the "Shiloh" books. I read to my boys every night. We have been through many of the classics and about 90 of the "Boxcar children" series. I will be looking for the "shiloh" books next! Blessings to you!!! Diane faith

[Justina law]

Originally Posted by Emerald Chickpea

The best city in West Virginia is the one that you call HOME.

I was away from West Virginia for over 20 years and more than half that time I was deathly homesick. Circumstances finally permitted me to return home and I am much, MUCH happier!

I don't care if it's a state that's considered to be "economically depressed". I don't care (well, can live with the fact) that I don't make nearly as much money now as I used to when I lived "elsewhere".

It's all mitigated by the fact that I AM HOME.

And that's what my license place says. "IAMHOME".

ELKINS IS THE BEST city in Wv. Love the country living, but have the city right here also. Crime rate is so, so. Oh, we have the normal things happening as any city. Have some interesting things too. One thing we do have is embezzlers. Everything from humane shelter to motel and funeral home embezzlers. Thats everywhere I think. Elkins is a good place to live, and raise kids. We are currently trying to get in a skatepark for the youth to enjoy. I was away for many years, and coming back was the best thing I ever decided to do. I am here to stay. We welcome newcomers with a smile, and try to be helpful any way we can. At least come visit before making a decision as to where you want to live permanently.

[Buzz123]

What's the best city in WV is like asking what's the best ice cream flavor, or maybe the best rock song. Can't be answered. But I'll vote for Clarksburg even though it's a ghost of it's former self.