If you could say what would be the worst or most negative thing of living in WV (Fairmont: houses, construction)

[IveHadEnough]

Originally Posted by David Kennedy

To comment on that poster about the Ignorance of Wv people:

Yes, by a large our people have not matriculated from Harvard, Yale, Wellesley or many other of the 'Loon Schools, but that does not rob them of an attitude of sharing, honesty, friendliness and a hard work ethic.
If you don't fit in, there might be a justifiable reason for that..think about it.

Who said you had to go to Harvard? Yale? Wellesley? Just go to freaking WVU or Marshall. Or Fairmont, or any other college in the state. Don't accept the attitude that education is something for them thar' leeeberals. Try it. You might learn something. You might learn there's a helluva lot more to life, than doing it the way your grandpappy did.

A large portion of the state, feels that education isn't something important, because "my granpappy didn't have no schoolin' and he did alright by workin' in the mines." Of course, he died at 64 of a respiratory illness, but he didn't have black lung, the company doctor told him so.

The justifiable reason I don't fit in, is I'm zillions of times smarter than 99.99% of the people here, because I simply got an education.

[trampydog]

The most negative thing about WV is the long cold winters. I live in a very rural area, about 10 miles from "BFE". UPS won't even deliver to us in the winter, and only half the time in the summer. I have to drive at least 50 minutes to work, but leave an extra 40 to 50 minutes early in the winter due to road conditions. You have to have a 4-wheel drive where I live, and a snow plow. A generator is a must, since when the power goes out, it's out for quite awhile. That's the worst, but the good out-weights the bad. We have alot of bears here, but they haven't been a nusance around to homestead yet. I see about 10-20 deer a day on average, mostly in the field across the way. My husband hunts just about anything that walks crawls,or slithers. He even humts rattlesnakes. I do not hunt bears or rattlesnakes, I do not see the point in hunting something I do not wish to find. He doesn't hurt the snakes, catch and release only. Come for a visit, and bring your fishing pole!!

[IveHadEnough]

Originally Posted by snorpus

That's quite a leap you made, IHE, from a low rate of college degrees to ignorance.

Especially when you consider that Washington DC is at the other end of the scale.

Not a leap.

A fact.

[snorpus]

Originally Posted by red.ochre

Define a lot.

Last I read there were an estimated 10,000 bears in the state. So with West Virginia having 24,231 square miles, that's roughly 1/2 bear for every square mile? Closest one to me that I know of is a couple of miles away, in South Charleston.

According to WVDNR, the bear harvest in 2008 was 2064, so a population of 10K+ seems reasonable.

[spldcnd]

Originally Posted by David Kennedy

Let me add a comment about bears...we have a lot of them in the parks because people feed them.
Smoke Hole has the 2 am bear parade every evening and nobody sees them...
They are docile and accept the summer intrusion of humans.
They are losing their wildness and sooner or later, somebody will get hurt.
I think they are the most intelligent wild animal we have.
I'm glad they are Black Bear and not the Grizzly. Those bear in Yellowstone give me the willies.

To comment on that poster about the Ignorance of Wv people:

Yes, by a large our people have not matriculated from Harvard, Yale, Wellesley or many other of the 'Loon Schools, but that does not rob them of an attitude of sharing, honesty, friendliness and a hard work ethic.
If you don't fit in, there might be a justifiable reason for that..think about it.

While on my trip to yellowstone, i STILL didn't see a bear !!

[spldcnd]

Originally Posted by trampydog

The most negative thing about WV is the long cold winters. I live in a very rural area, about 10 miles from "BFE". UPS won't even deliver to us in the winter, and only half the time in the summer. I have to drive at least 50 minutes to work, but leave an extra 40 to 50 minutes early in the winter due to road conditions. You have to have a 4-wheel drive where I live, and a snow plow. A generator is a must, since when the power goes out, it's out for quite awhile. That's the worst, but the good out-weights the bad. We have alot of bears here, but they haven't been a nusance around to homestead yet. I see about 10-20 deer a day on average, mostly in the field across the way. My husband hunts just about anything that walks crawls,or slithers. He even humts rattlesnakes. I do not hunt bears or rattlesnakes, I do not see the point in hunting something I do not wish to find. He doesn't hurt the snakes, catch and release only. Come for a visit, and bring your fishing pole!!

Can't imagine winters being any longer then up-state NY..starts around Oct.-Mar. My understanding are that winters are a tad better down there....(I hope) will do (bring the fishin gear)

[IveHadEnough]

Yeah, the winters are nothing compared to NY. If you live somewhere close to civilization in WV, the winters are nothing.

[spldcnd]

Originally Posted by Robhu

If you are going to the central part of the state check out the New River bridge. And make sure you take the little narrow road that winds down under it, cross the river, and come up on the other side. There are some really nice pull offs where you can stop and take pictures and even walk out on rocks to get pics.
Hawks Nest state park isn't far away either. And then there is the Sutton Dam if you are interested in that. And Summersville Dam. Or you could drink from the artician well at Webster Springs. The water smells like rotten eggs but it is supposed to be good for you. lol
As far as moving there the people have a tendency to be kind of "offish' untill you earn their respect. Life is lived at a slower pace and it's kind of "live and let live" as long as you don't mess with anyone and the folks kinda expect eveyone to carry their own weight. But if you need help you will probably find them quicker to offer it than in most places. If you travel along a country road people just might wave at you as you go by.
W.va is a beautiful state. I have relatives there and try to go there a couple times every summer. I always look forward to the trip.
When I was a kid I walked all over the area known as Locust Stump. Close to where Rt 79 and Rt 19 intersect. The old road from Sutton known as Herold route crosses Rt 19 at the point that used to be known as the Low Gap. I never met a bear. Seen a lot of sign but never a bear in person. This area was all woods back then. When Rt 79 was built it landlocked the old home place of my Mothers family ancestors that had live there since before the Civil War. It was one of the most beautiful places on earth in my opinion. I still remember that place when my grandparents lived there and then my Mom's sister and her family. I have been in W.va at least twice a year for most of my 62 years. I never get tired of it. I'm retired and thinking how I would like to live out the rest of my life there. I did live there when I was very small. Sometimes I wish my parents could have stayed where they were born and raised and never came to Ohio. But the jobs were in Ohio and Dad went where the jobs were. I could have been happy living my whole life in W.va.

Thank-you..we will have to check that out....the people here are very friendly in that way also, they would do anything for you, i respect any person for who they are...and always treat people the way i would want to be treated, and has always worked out great in my case.

[trampydog]

Frosts start in Oct. end in May this year. Altitude plays a big factor, I'm up 3200+ feet! If the local forcasts call for 1-2 inches, thats valley, we're the upper elavations, which translates 6-12 inches. People at work will ask me, how much snow ya'all get up there last night? The worse part is you can never tell cuz it's drifted around so much you may have 2" here and 3' there. The snow is just a hinderance, it's that down to the bone cold that gets ya! BRRRRRRRR.... No more snow talk, I feel a chill!

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by Robhu

As far as moving there the people have a tendency to be kind of "offish' untill you earn their respect. Life is lived at a slower pace and it's kind of "live and let live" as long as you don't mess with anyone and the folks kinda expect eveyone to carry their own weight. But if you need help you will probably find them quicker to offer it than in most places.

That's an excellent way to describe the folks in many areas there, and the way I describe them to people here when I talk about "back home".

That's a big difference between Appalachia WV and "the South" - up there, even if people don't like you they have the "if you leave me alone, I'll leave you alone" mentality. Down here, if they don't like something, they grab their flaming torches and go out to hunt it down and kill it. LOL.

As far as Bears go, my Sister used to live near Alum Creek (SW of Charleston) and she had a Bear that would regularly come down and eat her dog's food out of his bowl at her back door (um, don't leave dog food out). A couple of times she would go into the kitchen to find the Bear just sitting at the sliding glass door looking inside as if to say, "I ate the dog food again - thanks!". It would then poop on her patio, and leave until the next day. Never showed aggression, and ignored her dog (it ignored the bear, too), but she never pushed it or tried to interact with the Bear, either. She eventually gained a light bulb over her head and stopped leaving the dog bowl outside, and after a few "empties", the Bear stopped hanging around.

In other words, remember they're BEARS and not DOGS and respect that, and unless they're defending cubs, you shouldn't have much to worry about. Don't freak out or run if you do run across one when you get here, though. They don't like that. We're starting to see a lot more Black Bears in Georgia now and the people here lose their minds when they see one - not good. duh.