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How would you compare Morganstown with Charleston, WV?
It seems to me that one being a huge university town, and the other a state capital would be one huge difference. How does that contribue to each one being different?
Population-wise, it seems that Morganstown is growing and has more jobs? True? Somethings seem to refer to that...yet, I can't help but think Charleston is still the state capital...and it sounds like there are other suburbs or neighboring towns with sizeable populations too, correct?
How about for music scenes? Bookstores? Which is the better place to raise a family? Which has more access to more natural beauty? Which has a better more walkable downtown area that is comfortable in? Etc.
I've lived in / near both and to be perfectly honest, it completely depends on your individual taste. I wouldn't say that one is better than the other. Like you said, Morgantown is a college town and Charleston is more of a "city" (albeit it a very small city). Yes, Morgantown is growing and it seems that Charleston is losing population. I've heard people say that Charleston is dying, but I wouldn't go that far. There are several neighboring communities that surround Charleston which makes it easy to find a niche. Additionally, Huntington is 40-minutes from Charleston and offers a small college feel. Then again, in Morgantown you're in a big college town and can have a real city feel by driving an hour to Pittsburgh. As far as music...Being a college town, I feel that Morgantown has a better local scene, but Charleston may attract bigger name acts because it's more of a metropolis with an airport. I am an avid reader and the quality of bookstores are about the same. When considering raising a family, I wouldn't recommend either Charleston or Morgantown proper, but I'd recommend "suburbs" of each location. The natural beauty, downtown areas, climate, etc. are all very similar, but unique. Morgantown has the Rail Trial and Charleston has the Riverfront. Cooper's Rock is just as nice as New River Gorge. WVU sports in Morgantown versus a minor league professional baseball team in Charleston.
I realize that my post may not have helped in a significant way, as it didn't provide a definitive recommendation. Basically, it all depends on which type of environment you thrive in best. Morgantown is definitely a college town that is growing and, for West Virginia, is quite progressive. Charleston is more of a city environment, complete with government workers and commuters. Morgantown is pretty spread out (building out, not up), whereas Charleston features WV-sized "skyscrapers" (building up, not out). Either way, I think that you could be placated in both environments. Have you considered the job market and your industry? Perhaps securing gainful employment will be the deciding factor in which location you choose. Good luck and please feel free to ask other questions that you may have.
Morgantown is pretty spread out (building out, not up), whereas Charleston features WV-sized "skyscrapers" (building up, not out).
Actually this is a very interesting one! I do much prefer the building up as opposed to building out.
Actually Pittsburgh is the city I'm most attracted to, but the entire region is quite interesting, especially West Virginia. City-data is just a great learning environment before someone can actually make their visit, and WV has always been attractive to me.
Tiger, this is a very interesting debate. You probably don't have to look back very far to find threads comparing these two cities on the WV forum.
Morgantown definately has a huge upside, and a promising future. WVU is growing rapidly, and directly impacts the jobs in the area.
Charleston has a lot of old money, state and federal funding and a few large corporations that are doing fairly well. However, while manufacturing and chemical industry are shrinking, few high tech jobs are coming to replace these vacancies.
I have lived in the extended Charleston metro my whole life, and more specifically urban parts of Kanawha County for almost 11 years now. My wife and i are very comfortable here in Charleston (i say Charleston, because we both work downtown and utilize the city daily), as a young professional couple, we are very active socially and we have a lot of friends here that share similar interests and traits.
Having said all that, we aren't really interested in staying in Charleston forever unless something drastic happens to us career wise that would encourage us both to remain here in the Kanawha Valley. In both of our careers, it would be beneficial to move out of the area for more opportunity.
If i had a choice to make about where to live, but had to stay in the state of WV, the wife and i would relocate to Morgantown. In fact, we are weighing some possible options to move between Morgantown/Washintgon,PA/Uniontown in the future. She needs to be close to Pittsburgh, and that would work out for me as well.
A lot of what Silk says is accurate in my opinion and I tend to agree with his assessment. The one major advantage to greater Charleston is the cost of living...I lived in Morgantown for 30+ years and moved here recently (because of a job opportunity). The amount of money we spent to build a house here was minimal in comparison to what is available in Morgantown.
Neither town is going to disappear any time soon. The fact that State Government is largely located in Charleston does lend a certain stability there. That said, the characters of the two major stabilizing agents (The University and State Government) are very different indeed.
Hear that giant sucking sound? That is State Government taking money out of the state's economy... your money and mine. In spite of the fact that I am a retired government employee, I have to admit that in general the activities of government are a negative in terms of creating economic prosperity. Oh, the towns where it is located do benefit, but it is at the expense of everywhere it isn't located. Other regions are in general not economically situated to support an expansion of state government, so that doesn't look to change.
A major Land Grant research university is generally a major plus for both the locale in which it is located and the entire region. WVU returns $20 to the State for every one of the relatively meager dollars the State puts into the school in annual appropriations. And, jobs created there in general are reflective of positive activity that provides long term benefits for our society.
Morgantown is on the upswing, and looks to continue in that mode with major increases in research planned and being developed. With a declining economy, the future doesn't bode quite as well, at least in the foreseeable future, for a state capital. In addition, as I noticed while in Charleston yesterday, the major private facilities (hotels, restaurants, etc.) are relatively run down and not in expansion mode. Those in Morgantown are generally in the opposite situation. That, in and of itself, says something about the situation.
Plus, even if you take the economic situation out of the equation there is more and better to do in Morgantown... more and better arts, and more and better athletics. You can drive around Morgantown most evenings and see a thriving environment. You won't get that same feel in Charleston.
Neither town is going to disappear any time soon. The fact that State Government is largely located in Charleston does lend a certain stability there. That said, the characters of the two major stabilizing agents (The University and State Government) are very different indeed.
Hear that giant sucking sound? That is State Government taking money out of the state's economy... your money and mine. In spite of the fact that I am a retired government employee, I have to admit that in general the activities of government are a negative in terms of creating economic prosperity. Oh, the towns where it is located do benefit, but it is at the expense of everywhere it isn't located. Other regions are in general not economically situated to support an expansion of state government, so that doesn't look to change.
A major Land Grant research university is generally a major plus for both the locale in which it is located and the entire region. WVU returns $20 to the State for every one of the relatively meager dollars the State puts into the school in annual appropriations. And, jobs created there in general are reflective of positive activity that provides long term benefits for our society.
Morgantown is on the upswing, and looks to continue in that mode with major increases in research planned and being developed. With a declining economy, the future doesn't bode quite as well, at least in the foreseeable future, for a state capital. In addition, as I noticed while in Charleston yesterday, the major private facilities (hotels, restaurants, etc.) are relatively run down and not in expansion mode. Those in Morgantown are generally in the opposite situation. That, in and of itself, says something about the situation.
Plus, even if you take the economic situation out of the equation there is more and better to do in Morgantown... more and better arts, and more and better athletics. You can drive around Morgantown most evenings and see a thriving environment. You won't get that same feel in Charleston.
And yet without state and federal government dollars Morgantown would not exist.
Also...What places in Charleston are more run down than those in Morgantown? The hotel choices in Morgantown are abysmal compared to those in Charleston which can at least lay claim to basic nice chains like Marriott and Embassy Suites. There are also far better dining options in Charleston than Morgantown.
And yeah there is a thriving environment in Morgantown most evenings...it involves hordes of underage college students running around from bar to bar along High Street. I know this because I was one of them.
More/better arts? You've got to be kidding me. Better athletics? How can you even compare the two when Morgantown is home to the largest university in the state. Try seeing Mountaineer Field even come close to selling out without Charleston area residents going up for the games. That stadium would be about half full for every game.
I will agree each place has a different vibe but Morgantown is not the end all be all that several posters make it out to be on this forum.
Another factor to consider is that some of Morgantown's amenities are a bit of a "spillover" from the fact they are so relatively close to Pittsburgh. When you are within an hour (give or take) of a large metropolitan city, you get spillover from it into your town, which may make some amenities available to you that you might not otherwise have. Charleston is somewhat isolated in that regard, being 3.5 hours from larger markets, so it's kind of "on it's own" and doesn't get spillover.
Chattanooga is a good example of this. Roughly the same size and layout as Charleston (slightly larger) but it's just under 2 hours away from Atlanta and Nashville. They get tons of spillover from those two market areas, so for a city of its size, Chattanooga has tons more amenities than most cities of its size - stuff it would not have if Atlanta and Nashville were not as close to it as they are.
I like Morgantown, but the college and proximity to Pittsburgh certainly is what has made it what it is for a town that size, too. My Nephew lives there but he's of college age, so he prefers that environment. My Sister and Mother still live in Charleston, but they prefer that area over Morgantown. Different strokes.
And yet without state and federal government dollars Morgantown would not exist.
Also...What places in Charleston are more run down than those in Morgantown? The hotel choices in Morgantown are abysmal compared to those in Charleston which can at least lay claim to basic nice chains like Marriott and Embassy Suites. There are also far better dining options in Charleston than Morgantown.
And yeah there is a thriving environment in Morgantown most evenings...it involves hordes of underage college students running around from bar to bar along High Street. I know this because I was one of them.
More/better arts? You've got to be kidding me. Better athletics? How can you even compare the two when Morgantown is home to the largest university in the state. Try seeing Mountaineer Field even come close to selling out without Charleston area residents going up for the games. That stadium would be about half full for every game.
I will agree each place has a different vibe but Morgantown is not the end all be all that several posters make it out to be on this forum.
Ummmm, yeah didn't Radisson just throw up a 22 level 4 star hotel in the Wharf district? The last time I checked the Radisson defintiely qualified as a major national hotel chain.
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