Possible relocation to Huntington from New York City... (Charleston, Wheeling: transplants, crime)
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You really will want a car... or better yet, a pickup.
A FWD car at least. Trust me...you don't want a RWD car come February. AWD car or 4x4 trucks are nice to have. Especially up in Morgantown where I live. If you've never driven in the snow on hills, you'll want to take it REALLY easy.
When it comes to driving around here(Charleston) if you go the speed limit especially up a holler someone will get right on your tail pushing you to go faster. Also if you accidently pull in front of someone they will lay on the horn for awhile.
A FWD car at least. Trust me...you don't want a RWD car come February. AWD car or 4x4 trucks are nice to have. Especially up in Morgantown where I live. If you've never driven in the snow on hills, you'll want to take it REALLY easy.
It's not bad in Huntington though. Huntington is probably the flattest city in WV and the mountains in the surrounding area are pretty much hills. We get very little snow here in a typical year with a decent snow of around 10 inches about every 5 years or so. You're probably used to much worse winter weather in NYC. AWD or 4 wheel drive can still come in handy though.
I am a Life Member of the NRA and it is my understanding that things I can't do in Manhattan, I can do in West Virginia.
I also don't own a car.
What surprises, ups/downs, etc. should I expect?
Having lived in NYC, and part-time in WV (full time in June! Woohoo!), you will be pleasantly surprised at the cost of most things. Much cheaper than the city- nowhere near the variety though. People will wave to you, and even be willing to engage in conversation. I once spent 45 minutes in a hardware store in Hinton because I asked the sales lady how she was doing.
The change in pace, and quality of life will be worth any inconvenience from having to own a car.
Kookamus, do you remember some woman from Tennessee standing behind you in a McDonald's? I only ask because I found this post in the Tennessee board.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sassykat&joe
I was not exactly a city girl, but had never lived anywhere that hunting was a big-time thing. First visit to my (now-ex) inlaws, we stopped near charleston WV, and went to a burger place. Standing in line in front of us was this guy with a gun - rifle, shortgun, geez I don't know which - I was floored, wow, a gun, in public no less! Then I noticed all these furry tail things sticking out of his pockets. Ummmm... squirrels, maybe? ewwwww.
It gets worse, tho... once we bought the farm (down the road from my now-ex inlaw's farm), I would come home from work and there would be little skinned squirrel corpses in the fridge. double ewwwww! I never did overcome the aversion enough to try either cooking or eating them, and I divorced the squirrel murderer a while later. If the economy goes to south like it looks like it will, I have no nerve, so I will become a vegan!
When it comes to driving around here(Charleston) if you go the speed limit especially up a holler someone will get right on your tail pushing you to go faster. Also if you accidently pull in front of someone they will lay on the horn for awhile.
They never do anything like that in New York City...
All: thanks for the good words. If all goes the way I want it, I'll be singing "Take Me Home, County Roads..."
When you obtain your residence here you will be in gun paradise. You can buy any legal weapon. Walk into a gunstore pass the fbi check and walk out with the weapon. No permit to own. You need a permit to carry concealed, 75 bucks, background check and a test and it is good for 5 years. Carry anywhere but a school or gov building. Even if a place has a no guns sign, so what. if it's concealed how will they know? and if they discover it all they can do is ask you to leave. I carry a glock 17. 17 round mag and i have plenty of 33 round mags for it. Aks Ar15s sig 556 if you have the money your are good to go.
well I feel a little uneasy walking around now....
NYC has 8.3 million in the city limits; 19.5 mill. in the MSA, 23 mill. in the commuter shed. That is 7% of the entire nation's population.
Huntington proper has 51,000. It's been on a very slow but steady decline since the 1950s. The entire metro, which includes Ashland and Russell in KY and Ironton in OH has not even 200,000 people.
Moving from an Alpha class city (one of only nine in the world) to the middle of Appalachia will be a culture shock. Huge. Think it through very thoroughly.
Tbailey, my brother recently moved 1 block off Ritter Park, i've been taking my wife down there on some weekends so we can run the trails, and play some flag football with the guys. I love it down there.
Even if your from a big city, Huntington has something to offer just about anyone.
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