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03-20-2009, 01:07 AM
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Junior Member
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Reputation: 12
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Moving to Charleston June 1st-We Need Advice!
Our family is moving from Hickory, NC to the Charleston, WV area. My husband will be attending Charleston Area Medical Center's School of Nurse Anesthesia for the next three years. I am also a Registered Nurse, and will be looking for employment in the area. We have two sons, ages 4 and 5. We also have two very well behaved wienie dogs, Isabelle and Macy, that will be making the move with us.
We know nothing about the Charleston, WV area. Could you please give us some advice on the following subjects:
What neighborhoods/areas of Charleston are considered safe and family-friendly?
Do you know of any pet-friendly apartments/condos/rental homes available in the Charleston area?
What places do you recommend to dine, shop, and play?
What are the best elementary schools in the Charleston area?
What preschool would you recommend for our 4 year old?
Which hospital is considered to be the best hospital in Chaleston?
Anything else important we should know about the Charleston area?
Thank you so much for any information you provide! 
Sincerely,
The Kennedy Family
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03-20-2009, 02:21 AM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Jun 2007
3,713 posts, read 2,536,544 times
Reputation: 564
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Go directly to Sissonsville...compare every place you see to that community..you will return and live there...wait and see....good luck cousin.
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03-20-2009, 07:32 AM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Feb 2009
304 posts, read 129,927 times
Reputation: 123
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Quote:
Originally Posted by thekennedyfamily
What neighborhoods/areas of Charleston are considered safe and family-friendly?
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I read a joke somewhere, if you own a security system but leave your doors unlocked, you might just be from West Virginia.
There's spotty areas but most of Charleston is safe. Just because people are average or poor doesn't necessarily equate to being a bad neighborhood, and you'll find a lot of that driving around West Virginia anyway; average, poor, and very poor. There are middle-class, upper-middle-class, wealthy, and dynasty families that live in Charleston too . . they're not my neighbors, but I don't hold that against them.
I did a lot of research before moving here, but it took being on the ground to find "just right" for me.
Have gleaned from posts that quite a few of us live on the West Side in Charleston, and for some reason, people who don't, seem to worry we live in a bad neighborhood <<shrug>> I know my neighbors, they know me, some take a year before they say hello, others don't, but together we know who, and who doesn't belong in the neighborhood, and for me that's a definition of "safe".
You might budget for a hotel in the short-run before committing to an apartment lease and that will give you an opportunity to do what the other Kennedy said, drive around once you get here and find "just right" for you, whether that's Charleston, or the surrounding area.
Some of those other questions you can find online with a little research.
A few links miscellaneous :
http://www.city-data.com/city/Charle...-Virginia.html
Charleston, West Virginia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
StateMaster - West Virginian Background statistics
http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/wvcrime.htm
http://www.wv.gov/community/Pages/default.aspx
f.y.i., you'll need your birth certificate to get a drivers license here.
Last edited by red.ochre; 03-20-2009 at 08:41 AM..
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03-22-2009, 10:05 PM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Arlington, VA
827 posts, read 743,129 times
Reputation: 196
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Quote:
Originally Posted by David Kennedy
Go directly to Sissonsville...compare every place you see to that community..you will return and live there...wait and see....good luck cousin.
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Are you really sure about Sissonville?
I lived in Charleston for 22 years (well sans 4 in Morgantown for college) before moving to the DC area and I'm hear to tell you Sissonville was never highly regarded as a place to live in Kanawha County. It was always known as the place where all the rednecks lived and from what I understand the schools aren't exactly great there. If you like living in a rural area I guess it couldn't hurt but I honestly can't recommend living there.
If moving to the Charleston area I would recommend living right in city limits. Charleston is more like a large town with many urban conveniences that are best enjoyed from living nearby. Although city taxes are obviously going to make the living costs higher than if you moved to a place like Cross Lanes or in Putnam County, the conveniences of living in town are well worth it.
West Virginia schools operate by county (as in many other states) but they tend to vary in quality among particular neighborhoods. In case you are wondering, Charleston schools are part of the Kanawha County Schools district. The best neighborhood in Charleston with regard to schools is the South Hills section of town. There are several elementary schools that feed into highly regarded John Adams Middle and George Washington High School. Home prices are higher in South Hills than other Charleston neighborhoods but if you are moving from a more expensive area they will seem like a bargain. Kanawha City is another great family part of town to reside in but the schools (Horace Mann Middle and Capital High) aren't as nice as those in South Hills.
I'm not sure which CAMC hospital your husband's school is located (Memorial or General) but if you live right in town you will be able to make it to either one in ten minutes or so. Traffic in the Charleston area is a breeze so you can make it across town easily.
Shopping pretty much centers around two places: The Charleston Town Center Mall which is downtown and the Southridge area just past South Hills. Those two should cover any basic shopping and dining needs with Southridge being where all of the big box stores are located. The downtown section of Charleston has some good restaurants that I enjoy when visiting town.
If you have any other questions or need more specifics just ask.
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03-23-2009, 08:31 AM
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Moderator
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Join Date: May 2008
Location: Charleston, WV
3,065 posts, read 1,452,178 times
Reputation: 682
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mtneeratheart
Are you really sure about Sissonville?
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Agree, have lived in Chas about 21 years and never thought of Sissonville as a "hot" place to live. However, don't think it's bad. |
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03-23-2009, 08:46 AM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Western Pennsylvania
1,410 posts, read 1,225,257 times
Reputation: 278
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I forget the OP's "givens and druthers", but Sissonville might have been recommended because its semi-rural, lower housing prices, larger lots, etc. than Chas.
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03-23-2009, 02:46 PM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Nov 2006
4,719 posts, read 2,242,635 times
Reputation: 866
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also out of the loop from city limit taxes, but of course, some prefer the given of city services while others are fine without. The price difference really isn't all that much when averaged out.
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03-23-2009, 02:52 PM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Saint Albans, WV
412 posts, read 288,785 times
Reputation: 98
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Sissonville is a quiet rural area 5-10 miles north of Charleston, really not much out there, but it seems to suit some folks.
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08-13-2009, 01:58 PM
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Junior Member
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Join Date: Aug 2009
Reputation: 10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by thekennedyfamily
Our family is moving from Hickory, NC to the Charleston, WV area. My husband will be attending Charleston Area Medical Center's School of Nurse Anesthesia for the next three years. I am also a Registered Nurse, and will be looking for employment in the area. We have two sons, ages 4 and 5. We also have two very well behaved wienie dogs, Isabelle and Macy, that will be making the move with us.
We know nothing about the Charleston, WV area. Could you please give us some advice on the following subjects:
What neighborhoods/areas of Charleston are considered safe and family-friendly?
Do you know of any pet-friendly apartments/condos/rental homes available in the Charleston area?
What places do you recommend to dine, shop, and play?
What are the best elementary schools in the Charleston area?
What preschool would you recommend for our 4 year old?
Which hospital is considered to be the best hospital in Chaleston?
Anything else important we should know about the Charleston area?
Thank you so much for any information you provide!
Sincerely,
The Kennedy Family |
Try this link.....
Charleston, WV Online
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