International student in Huntington (Charleston, Wheeling: apartment, rent, crime rate)
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I just got accepted to study at Marshall University (I start in August), and I'd like to know what Huntington is like. I'm a 21-year-old Chilean student and I have no idea what people might be like. Are they Latino friendly? Is there anything I should worry about? Is Marshall a good university for a latino student?
Also, I'd like to know if the city has pubs, malls, shops, restaurants, etc. Is living in Huntington cheap or expensive? I have many other questions, but those are the ones I can think of right now
I just got accepted to study at Marshall University (I start in August), and I'd like to know what Huntington is like. I'm a 21-year-old Chilean student and I have no idea what people might be like. Are they Latino friendly? Is there anything I should worry about? Is Marshall a good university for a latino student?
Also, I'd like to know if the city has pubs, malls, shops, restaurants, etc. Is living in Huntington cheap or expensive? I have many other questions, but those are the ones I can think of right now
Thanks !!
Huntington is dying rust belt city with nothing to do. Considered one of the worst places in WV. It is mostly white and the locals are infamous for intolerance and racism. Huntington is the fattest and most unhealthy city in the US, and the most depressed and unhappiest city in the US. I would say there is almost no latinos there.
Marshall is not a good university. Marshall is infamous for being terrible. WVU is good, but not Marshall. The area is not expensive because nobody wants to live there and there is nothing there anyone wants. Should have gone to WVU, as you will probably hate Marshall and Huntington. Both places are dumps.
There probably are not many Latinos in Huntington. Your best bets for friends and activities are going to be people you meet through the University. Or at at a church singles group. Or the local historical society or other places like that, where the better educated people go.
"Is there anything I should worry about?" -- Crime and drugs. Drug-related crime.
What are you studying?
For housing, if Marshall offers some type of apartment or townhouse housing option for students, I suggest you take that instead of trying to find an apartment off-campus, since you are not a local and you don't know your way around. You'd be safer, too, since you don't have any family in the area. I have always heard rumors that the crime and drug problems in Huntington are pretty bad. I lived in Charleston, WV, but my ex-husband worked for Marshall U for a while. He considered Huntington a scummy town. But he was always snobby, and disrespectful of people. Department of Housing and Residence Life
Huntington was a city that was planned and built around the railroad industry, which is gone now. There is a lot if interesting early 20th Century architecture there, and wide straight streets, and I liked to just drive around and look at the old apartment buildings and homes (which are steadily disappearing.) There were some steel manufacturers and other manufacturing there, but most of that industry had been lost by the early 1980s. Marshall U is what is keeping Huntington going, I believe.
Marshall has sports events, and in the past it had things like a Star Trek convention, a jazz music festival, and I forget what else. - Marshall University Events
Restaurants and such: I'm sure there must be some in town, within walking distance of MU.
Charleston is about 50 miles away, maybe. There are always events of some sort going on at the Capital especially in summer. The Mountain Stage radio show is usually taped live at the Cultural Center, and that used to happen on Sunday afternoons. There are events at the Clay Center, there's the Charleston Symphony, etc. But you need a car to get there.
You can kind of check those out and get a feel for what events (and crimes) are happening. Huntington is pretty run down in a lot of parts of it. Marshall U keeps buying up surrounding land and expanding its boundaries. I don't think the educated populace will be anti-Latino or anything. Anyone in the medical programs there could be from anyplace in WV or out of state. College undergrads might be more likely to be locals from southern WV. Overall, I found people in Charleston and Huntington to be very friendly and open, if not a bit nosy. If you go in friendly and polite, I don't think you'll have problems making friends. The entire region has an aging population, and what USA calls "The Baby Boomers" are probably the last generation there that is educated and fairly affluent.
I moved away from that area a few years ago, after my former employer shut down. So I don't have the latest information.
mariajosee91, first of all welcome to Huntington and secondly, please ignore almost everything written by cry_havoc above. He has an intense hatred for Huntington and when proven wrong in other posts, he has a track record of making such untruthful, unflattering posts in an attempt to bully people into letting him post outright lies. He has never lived in Huntington and knows little about it other than a few articles online.
To answer your questions as someone who currently lives here and knows the area, I think that you will like Huntington and if you truly give it a chance and experience what it has to offer, you may even love it. Huntington does have a Latino population and although not as large as you would find in a bigger city, it seems to be a decent size. Thanks to the International program at Marshall as well as our top notch medical facilities, we have small international population and this is expected to double or even triple over the next few years. I work at a local hospital and work with several other medical professionals who are from South America including one close co-worker from Venezuela. This all helps to make Huntington one of the more diverse cities in the state. While no city is devoid of racism, it is not much of an issue here. This is evident in part by the size and growth of our international festival as well as some of our other festivals such as the yearly Greek Festival. Our people here are very friendly and one of the best assets that we have.
With regards to the other questions you asked, being the second largest city in the state (only behind our capitol of Charleston), we offer a lot to do here. We have the largest mall in the state here for shopping as well as a growing number of shops downtown including Pullman Square. Our downtown is also home to a growing number of local restaurants and has a great variety to choose from. We also have several bars/pubs downtown and according to some in the industry, the best local music scene in the state. We also have a great parks system (one of the top public spaces in the US) in addition to a wonderful art museum and a large civic center for concerts and other performances. With regards to the cost of living here, we are middle of the road, not overly expensive but not dirt cheap either. If you find a place to live that is within walking distance to many of the places you will be going, this will make your stay even cheaper and you can use our local transit system to get to outlying areas if needed. With regards to crime, although it was a problem a few years ago, crime in Huntington is currently at a 27 year low. I walk many places that I go and have no problems. Huntington definately has less violent/drug crime than Charleston at this point in time, being about average for a city of its size. Downtown has made great strides in improvements but some of the outlying areas do have a ways to go to get where they need to be.
Here are some links that you may find useful. I would be more than happy to answer any other questions that you may have.
mariajosee91, first of all welcome to Huntington and secondly, please ignore almost everything written by cry_havoc above. He has an intense hatred for Huntington and when proven wrong in other posts, he has a track record of making such untruthful, unflattering posts in an attempt to bully people into letting him post outright lies. He has never lived in Huntington and knows little about it other than a few articles online.
To answer your questions as someone who currently lives here and knows the area, I think that you will like Huntington and if you truly give it a chance and experience what it has to offer, you may even love it. Huntington does have a Latino population and although not as large as you would find in a bigger city, it seems to be a decent size. Thanks to the International program at Marshall as well as our top notch medical facilities, we have small international population and this is expected to double or even triple over the next few years. I work at a local hospital and work with several other medical professionals who are from South America including one close co-worker from Venezuela. This all helps to make Huntington one of the more diverse cities in the state. While no city is devoid of racism, it is not much of an issue here. This is evident in part by the size and growth of our international festival as well as some of our other festivals such as the yearly Greek Festival. Our people here are very friendly and one of the best assets that we have.
With regards to the other questions you asked, being the second largest city in the state (only behind our capitol of Charleston), we offer a lot to do here. We have the largest mall in the state here for shopping as well as a growing number of shops downtown including Pullman Square. Our downtown is also home to a growing number of local restaurants and has a great variety to choose from. We also have several bars/pubs downtown and according to some in the industry, the best local music scene in the state. We also have a great parks system (one of the top public spaces in the US) in addition to a wonderful art museum and a large civic center for concerts and other performances. With regards to the cost of living here, we are middle of the road, not overly expensive but not dirt cheap either. If you find a place to live that is within walking distance to many of the places you will be going, this will make your stay even cheaper and you can use our local transit system to get to outlying areas if needed. With regards to crime, although it was a problem a few years ago, crime in Huntington is currently at a 27 year low. I walk many places that I go and have no problems. Huntington definately has less violent/drug crime than Charleston at this point in time, being about average for a city of its size. Downtown has made great strides in improvements but some of the outlying areas do have a ways to go to get where they need to be.
Here are some links that you may find useful. I would be more than happy to answer any other questions that you may have.
I just got accepted to study at Marshall University (I start in August), and I'd like to know what Huntington is like. I'm a 21-year-old Chilean student and I have no idea what people might be like. Are they Latino friendly? Is there anything I should worry about? Is Marshall a good university for a latino student?
Also, I'd like to know if the city has pubs, malls, shops, restaurants, etc. Is living in Huntington cheap or expensive? I have many other questions, but those are the ones I can think of right now
Thanks !!
Huntington is a very nice city. It is a wide open, accepting community. As a general rule, both the city and the university accept anyone, regardless of their ethnic history. This is probably true at most universities.
The big mall is not in downtown Huntington, but 10 miles away in Barboursville. It has pretty much anything you would expect to find in a mall anywhere. There are many nice pubs and restaurants downtown. Several local bands seem to do well. The outdoor venue at the riverfront is a good place for entertainment in the summer as well as the amphitheater at Ritter Park. There are more bike trails being built all the time, making Huntington a good place to be if you like riding your bicycle. Marshall students get to attend any of the Marshall Artist Series events. You might want to search that out.
Ask any questions you want. We'll try to answer them all. Huntington is a very nice city with a lot of activities that young people like.
Please pay attention to tbailey's posts. He lives in Huntington and knows his way around. I used to live there and currently have a son and his family in Huntington. Silkdashocker is only about 20 miles away from Huntington. GottaHerdOn also knows Huntington from having lived there, too.
Last edited by mensaguy; 01-22-2013 at 08:37 AM..
Reason: added additional thought.
Huntington is a very nice city. It is a wide open, accepting community. As a general rule, both the city and the university accept anyone, regardless of their ethnic history. This is probably true at most universities.
The big mall is not in downtown Huntington, but 10 miles away in Barboursville. It has pretty much anything you would expect to find in a mall anywhere. There are many nice pubs and restaurants downtown. Several local bands seem to do well. The outdoor venue at the riverfront is a good place for entertainment in the summer as well as the amphitheater at Ritter Park. There are more bike trails being built all the time, making Huntington a good place to be if you like riding your bicycle. Marshall students get to attend any of the Marshall Artist Series events. You might want to search that out.
Ask any questions you want. We'll try to answer them all. Huntington is a very nice city with a lot of activities that young people like.
Please pay attention to tbailey's posts. He lives in Huntington and knows his way around. I used to live there and currently have a son and his family in Huntington. Silkdashocker is only about 20 miles away from Huntington. GottaHerdOn also knows Huntington from having lived there, too.
Bailey, yourself, and GottaHerdOn are not good sources to ask about Huntington because they are not honest. You all only tell the good and exgerrate the good while downplaying the bad, or ignore it all together. Asking for their opinion about Huntington is like asking a car salesmen for an honest opinion about a car they are trying to sell you. You don't get an honest answer just propaganda.
Some people like Huntington, sure. However, it has terrible reputation and is often thought of as a terrible place. At the very best it is a unhealthy rust belt town that is slowly dying.
What are you talking about Huntington has a much higher crime rate than Charleston.
You continue to show your lack of knowledge, hatred and bias against Huntington. Not that it matters, but here are the most recent crime rates available for each:
Huntington 531.7 in 2009 466 in 2010
Charleston 1,071 in 2009 N/A 2010
Quote:
Originally Posted by cry_havoc
Asking for their opinion about Huntington is like asking a car salesmen for an honest opinion about a car they are trying to sell you. You don't get an honest answer just propaganda.
You would have a point here if we were paid for our opinions or to post on this forum. It is not my job and has nothing to do with my job. I post here because I've lived in another area of the state, didn't like it at all and found a new appreciation for my home. I love living here and think other people will too. People come to forums such as this looking for the experience of people who live in the areas that they are interested in. When you live in an area, you know the inner workings of it and have experience to answer questions. Unlike those who have never lived in an area, have spent no real time in an area and only real knowlegde comes from what they read on the internet.
You continue to show your lack of knowledge, hatred and bias against Huntington. Not that it matters, but here are the most recent crime rates available for each:
Huntington 531.7 in 2009 466 in 2010
Charleston 1,071 in 2009 N/A 2010
You would have a point here if we were paid for our opinions or to post on this forum. It is not my job and has nothing to do with my job. I post here because I've lived in another area of the state, didn't like it at all and found a new appreciation for my home. I love living here and think other people will too. People come to forums such as this looking for the experience of people who live in the areas that they are interested in. When you live in an area, you know the inner workings of it and have experience to answer questions. Unlike those who have never lived in an area, have spent no real time in an area and only real knowlegde comes from what they read on the internet.
I do have a point. You might not get paid, but you dont give an honest opinion about Wheeling. I would sooner trust the propaganda minister of North Korea giving his opinion on Pyongyang than I would trust anything you say about Huntington.
The knowledge from the internet is news from major outlets about how Huntington is the unhappiest and worst place in the US, and also the fattest. To be honest people from Huntington share this belief. You are one of the few people I have ever met who has a positive opinion of Huntington.
Under certain circumstances I too would recommend Huntington or have something good to say about it. Unlike you I give the truth. At the very best, and at its height, Huntington doesnt have anything going for it. It is not known for being beautiful, having good food, being a cultured place, being fun, having a young population, etc. There is nothing there that would make anyone want to live there. It was just a small city where people lived because of jobs. It never had anything special going for it, and when blue collar jobs left it became a depressed rust belt town. It is in the same category as Flint, Gary, and Detroit. People dont live there, they just get by.
I think I'm quite a bit younger than most of the posters on here so I may be able to offer you a better insight. I have lived in Huntington for 3 years and while it is not the greatest city out there, I like it quite well (I have lived in Birmingham, AL; Nashville, TN; Houston, TX).
I do not see many latinos around town but that doesn't mean there aren't any. I'm sure you will find a good number at Marshall. There are many Mexican restaurants in the area and they all have latinos working at them.
Like any city, there are areas with crime. I myself have never experienced any. If you practice common sense and don't walk alone at late hours I think you will be fine. As far as Marshall as an institution of higher learning goes, I can't really comment but I have several friends who have attended for undergrad/grad and they are some of the most intelligent people I know. Some of Marshall's programs are ranked nationally.
The city has lots of pubs/bars with some of my favorites being St. Mark's, MacReedo's, Davis' Place, and the Jockey Club. If you want to stay in town for your shopping and eating (rather than going to Barboursville) there are plenty of options a short walk from Marshall. These are centered around 4th Avenue. The Pullman Square area a few blocks over also has several options although it is mostly chain establishments.
The cost of living in Huntington is pretty cheap. I had an expansive two bedroom apartment for $650. I now rent an entire house for $900. Most places have food and drink specials. It's not a very rich area so with the exception of a couple restaurants, everything is pretty affordable.
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