Observations from a scouting visit to Huntington, WV (Charleston, Wheeling: 2010, condos)

[CTMountaineer]

Not all of West Virginia is in the Bible Belt. You can draw a line across the State about 20 miles south of Parkersburg, and from there down to North Carolina is basically in the Bible Belt. That includes the south eastern portion of Ohio.

[CTMountaineer]

I read in today's Parthenon that Pullman Square in downtown
Huntington can't pay its mortgage payments. The Columbus
investment partnership is trying to get the local transit
authority to take on more of the liability.

[wvfunnyman]

I work at the Funny Bone Comedy Club in Pullman Square. We have SUNDAY shows every week at 7:00 pm, the bar opens at 5:00pm and we sell plenty of booze; beer, wine, and liquor. www.wvfunnybone.com for reservations.

[tbailey1138]

Pullman is doing just fine. It's the developers who are having some trouble. It's the lawsuits and other things involved that have cost them money, not business. They had to not only pay for most of the land involved but then also paid $1 million for a Chi-Chi's franchise prior to building. There was also a lawsuit involving Chi-Chi's and a few other business owners who were making a ton of money at Pullman and then blowing it and couldn't pay the rent. Then they also had to deal with Jack Whitaker who owned all of the Uno's franchises across the state. That franchise was brought back to Pullman though and now the only one in the state is in Huntington. The theaters there are #1 in the chain and most of the chain restaurants are in the top 10% as far as performance goes. Consider that these developers also own lots of stuff in Columbus and are having "cash flow" problems. They wouldn't have a problem making payments if their other developments were doing OK.

That article's about 3 weeks old by the way.

[tbailey1138]

Here's a good map of the Bible Belt by the way. It includes the southern portion of the state including Huntington. It's a bit bigger than you described CT.



File:BibleBelt.png - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It just means that people are generally more religious in those areas. We still like to have fun though.

[saintspat]

I first arrived in Huntington from New York in 1992 to visit my parents who moved there while I was away at college. For people who think that Huntington doesn't have a lot to offer now, you should of seen it in 92. Empty buildings, a dead downtown if it wasn't for Marshall the one word I'd use to describe it would be depressing. After college I lived in Huntington from 95-99 and my parents just moved away this year to retire. That town has really come a long way. I feel it has more of a nightlife then larger Charleston, a nice park (Ritter), a major university. While jobs are a problem, but where aren't they a problem right now, Huntington has made major strides to reinvent itself after the loss of factory jobs. I've traveled all of this country and Huntington has a way to go to be like say Greenville SC, it's not as bad as Toledo Ohio.
I really enjoyed the years I spent there and when friends from school visited me from New York, Boston, Baltimore, D.C., Pittsburgh, and Philly they loved the town.

[mattbward]

WV Funnyman IS INDEED a funny man. I have seen his stuff before online. I am a comedian myself.

[CTMountaineer]

Originally Posted by tbailey1138

Pullman is doing just fine. It's the developers who are having some trouble. It's the lawsuits and other things involved that have cost them money, not business. They had to not only pay for most of the land involved but then also paid $1 million for a Chi-Chi's franchise prior to building. There was also a lawsuit involving Chi-Chi's and a few other business owners who were making a ton of money at Pullman and then blowing it and couldn't pay the rent. Then they also had to deal with Jack Whitaker who owned all of the Uno's franchises across the state. That franchise was brought back to Pullman though and now the only one in the state is in Huntington. The theaters there are #1 in the chain and most of the chain restaurants are in the top 10% as far as performance goes. Consider that these developers also own lots of stuff in Columbus and are having "cash flow" problems. They wouldn't have a problem making payments if their other developments were doing OK.

That article's about 3 weeks old by the way.

I don't read the Parthenon very often, so I'm not surprised it is three weeks old. I was surprised to read that though. The article said part of the problem is businesses in Pullman are paying like 4 times the rent for space as businesses right across the street. Hopefully they will continue to be able to compete for tenants in the long run.

[CTMountaineer]

Originally Posted by tbailey1138

Here's a good map of the Bible Belt by the way. It includes the southern portion of the state including Huntington. It's a bit bigger than you described CT.



File:BibleBelt.png - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It just means that people are generally more religious in those areas. We still like to have fun though.

Yeah, I guess that's pretty obvious. What I should have said was "Bible Belt" from the perspective of a WV resident. If you travel in and around the Mountain State, those are the areas where you would find the Bible Belt. I disagree that it means people are more religious in those areas though. I think it means people practice more of a specific type of the Christian religion. They are mostly fundamentalist Christians who have a relatively literal interpretation of the bible and rely on that as a basis of their faith more than other Christians, who include tradition and tend to look at the Bible as a living document where it is better to look at the whole context as opposed to more isolated passages. It is a matter of emphasis and style more than substance, but it does greatly affect the presentation which tends to take on a more "pious" appearance in the fundamentalist areas. It is where you are going to find Sister Betha Better 'n You.

[CTMountaineer]

On a more depressing note, todays Herald Dispatch has an article about a coal loading facility located on the Ohio River that is closing this weekend resulting in the loss of 23 jobs. Huntington definitely does not need that sort of news. That's a troubling sign, but at least the glass works is still open.