Huntington Vs Johnson city, tn (Charleston, Barboursville: work, hospitals, home)

[likebleman]

Hello, I read all the great informative posts about huntington. How do you guys compare these 2 cities. Which one is better in terms of lifestyle, entertainment and quality fo life. I am a physician and i know the different hospitals in theis area. Thanks in advance

[tbailey1138]

I'm not sure how to directly answer this post as I've never been to Johnson City, but I definitely think Huntington has a lot to offer you. Huntington has two large hospitals which are both constantly growing and I work at one of them if you have any questions from that standpoint. It also has a VA and several smaller healthcare entities in the area with a few smaller specialty hospitals in Huntington itself. From an entertainment and lifestyle aspect, Huntington also has plenty to offer. It has several different specialty museums with the largest art museum in the state being here. There is also plenty going on in terms of theater with Huntington Outdoor Theater, First Stage Theater Company, The Marshall University Theater group, the Marshall Artists Series and the Keith Albee Performing Arts Center. If you enjoy college sports, then Marshall University will have plenty to offer in that category as well. Most of the local hospitals also benefit from being associated with Marshall and the research that goes along with that relationship. Huntington itself is a beautiful city with wide avenues and tree lined streets and a downtown that is currently undergoing a lot of revitalization. Pullman Square has been a nice addition to downtown and it features movie theaters, restaurants, various retail stores and a comedy club. Because of Pullman Square, a lot of the buildings downtown are being renovated and downtown is really coming alive again with retail. Several new stores have been added to the downtown in recent months with several more planning to open soon. Downtown also has a nice variety of local and chain restaurants and coffe shops, some of which have been in business since the 1930's. For additional shopping, the Huntington area is also home to the largest mall in the state, the Huntington Mall. In terms of parks, Huntington has several different parks to offer with the best of these being Ritter Park. There are also future plans for additional biking/jogging trails that will connect all of the city parks and eventually go all of the way to Charleston. I tried to find some detailed info/pictures of Johnson city to try to give a little bit of a comparison, but I couldn't really find any of the city itself. Sorry that I couldn't give a direct comparison, but I hope you find this post helpful. Feel free to ask any other questions you have and I'll do my best to answer them. Check out this site to give you an idea about the area http://www.greaterhuntington.com/
Tim

[likebleman]

Thanks Tbailey for taking time to write.

Which one is better cabell huntington or St. Mary's. I know cabell is associated with Marshall ans is undegoing renovation

Also is it better to live on the ohio side and comute or better to live in the suburbs of huntington?

[tbailey1138]

Which hospital is better depends on what you're specialty is. Cabell's main areas are orthopedics/joint replacement, cancer treatment with their new cancer center and mother baby/neonatal care. St. Mary's tends to focus more on heart care (they have a new heart center as well) and they have been a good cancer treatment center for awhile. Both hospitals overlap in a lot of the other treatment areas and many doctors even have privileges at both hospitals. A lot of patients tend to prefer Cabell for treatment but some like the facilities better at St. Mary's. Cabell is updating their facilities though so this may change. Both hospitals have expanded facilities and services a lot in the last few years and have plans to do so even more. I work at Cabell and I must say the biggest advantage there is that it is a non-profit hospital so the focus is more on patient care rather quick patient turn over. Both hospitals are somewhat associated with MU but the MU school of Medicine is actually adjacent/joined to Cabell. In terms of a place to live, in my opinion it is better to live in Huntington or as close to it as possible. All of the parks, entertainment, dining etc are in Huntington or Barboursville, which is right next to Huntington. Alot or people live in Ohio to avoid WV taxes but once you add in the extra drive time /gas required to live over there, it pretty much evens out. Hope this helps and feel free to ask any other questions.
Tim

[Leah79]

If I were to compare Huntington to any city I've been to, it would be Johnson City.

I would say that the main differences between the two are that Johnson City has lower taxes and a more active gay community. Johnson City also is closer to the mountains than Huntington is, and IMHO it's a more scenic area. Climate is a bit milder but not by much. Huntington is more of a sports town... ETSU dropped their football program for awhile, but last I heard, they're trying to bring it back. Johnson City is closer to larger cities than Huntington. Sorry, I can't help you with the hospitals, though.