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The higher home ownership rate in West Virginia is a result of the state's elderly, deeply rooted population and low real estate values. It has nothing to do with the dominant political affiliation, and the statistic was little different years before anyone imagined there would one day be a Donald Trump presidency. The state has far more than its share of both natural beauty and economic dysfunction, and is hardly a role model of effective governance that any other state would care to emulate.
The higher home ownership rate in West Virginia is a result of the state's elderly, deeply rooted population and low real estate values. It has nothing to do with the dominant political affiliation, and the statistic was little different years before anyone imagined there would one day be a Donald Trump presidency. The state has far more than its share of both natural beauty and economic dysfunction, and is hardly a role model of effective governance that any other state would care to emulate.
I have family there and visit regularly. Yes, their property taxes are low. Their food and utilities ARE higher. The grocery store prices are crazy.
Their roads are sickening. I don’t mean just potholes. There are roads that are just collapsed on the sides. They’ll stick a cone by it and that’s how it stays. When it snows, kids are out of school for a week for a two inch snow. I’m not exaggerating. I’ve seen it. It wasn’t just one area. I’ve spent a lot of time in the northern and central regions of the state.
Speaking of schools, public education is crap. Third from the bottom in the country.
Go there, spend some time. You will see the difference in what those cheap property taxes get you. You get what you pay for. From what I’ve experienced in WV, people merely exist. Very few are truly living a good life.
I’ve lived in a few states, WV being one of them. It is definitely bottom of the list of desirability. NJ was the best, I thought. Super high taxes and has morphed into something I don’t even recognize anymore. VT was really nice but I don’t feel I lived there long enough to give a good and honest review of it.
Also lived in southern SC. Not awful but not for me. We actually lived pretty good there but not enough opportunity.
Now in northeastern PA. I fought this move. Hard. My only regret is not moving here sooner. My taxes here are equivalent to what I was paying in NJ for a home 2.5 times smaller in square footage and on a lot that was 80% smaller.
I have to wonder if the sheer percentage of homeowners in WV are largely inclusive of inherited homes or multigenerational homes. Both of which are very common. Nothing wrong with that. Don’t get me wrong, but would certainly skew the utopian image the homeowner statistic portrays.
Your last point nailed it. What it missed is how many multigenerational families live in decaying mobile homes or structures that were not fit for first world occupancy 75 years ago and have not improved with age.
A beautiful drive most anytime of the year. As to your other post, I don't know what decades old history has to do with things today.
We are all history. It doesn't end. I am the product of coal miners who were virtually enslaved in the mines of PA.
I didn't know any of all of this when I lived in WV. But when I was there I learned some of the history - and the history is WHO THE PEOPLE ARE. Maybe not you....around the edges of the state are many areas that were heavily influenced by outside forces.
To act as if we get a blank slate every generation or century is not accurate. One can logically follow the paths laid down by each of our ancestors and the apple often does not fall far from the tree.
We are all history. It doesn't end. I am the product of coal miners who were virtually enslaved in the mines of PA.
I didn't know any of all of this when I lived in WV. But when I was there I learned some of the history - and the history is WHO THE PEOPLE ARE. Maybe not you....around the edges of the state are many areas that were heavily influenced by outside forces.
To act as if we get a blank slate every generation or century is not accurate. One can logically follow the paths laid down by each of our ancestors and the apple often does not fall far from the tree.
Intuit has indeed chosen Bluefield for its next prosperity hub. The company plans to create between 200 and 500 jobs and locate them in downtown Bluefield in the former First National Bank building on Federal Street.
Intuit Executive Board Chairman Brad Smith, a Kenova native, said Bluefield was chosen from 900 communities across the country. He told MetroNews the city and region should feel proud.
“Bluefield was chosen based on the talent and skills in the region, access to students graduating from multiple institutions, the progressive leadership of the local community leaders. The combination of expertise here and our technology can create the next chapter for the region,” Smith said.
West Virginia also has 3 1/2 times the job growth rate year over year than Los Angeles thanks to President Trump's America First agenda which especially great for West Virginia.
Notice the dishonest change of geography here. The OP states in the title that the subject is California, but when it comes to job growth he/she/it changes to Los Angeles, and still compares it to the entire state of WV.
Comparing apples to apples, California has a 12-month job growth rate of 1.3%, while WV is 2.4%. Less than double, rather than the 3-1/2 times advertised by the OP. Furthermore, the unemployment rate of California is 4.2% while WV is 5.2%.
Notice the dishonest change of geography here. The OP states in the title that the subject is California, but when it comes to job growth he/she/it changes to Los Angeles, and still compares it to the entire state of WV.
Comparing apples to apples, California has a 12-month job growth rate of 1.3%, while WV is 2.4%. Less than double, rather than the 3-1/2 times advertised by the OP. Furthermore, the unemployment rate of California is 4.2% while WV is 5.2%.
Over 15% of those West Virginia homes are of the mobile variety which depreciates like automobiles. The vast majority of mobile home owners do not own the land on which their homes are located. California and New York are both under 5% mobile home ownership. West Virginia also has the 4th highest poverty rate in the nation. 48th in unemployment. 48th in median salary and ranked 50th in employment viability.
I'll take CA or NY any day.
Plus my mother in law lives in WV............
A very significant portion of the people in CA and NY(especially the city) don't own any kind of home-they rent apartments. With a mobile home, you at least have SOME asset. And most are larger than most apartments (though of course that varies). Apartment living is the bottom of the barrel, significantly below a mobile home-even in a mobile home park. You throw your money away every month to make a landlord well off.
Some of the snobbishness I'm seeing from Democrats about West Virginia (and other conservative states) is exactly why you guys lost the presidency. I'd have no problem with not wanting to move to a state/region due to politics, but the nastiness in terms of going about perceived "backward" culture and values and intelligence is completely despicable.
Completely agree. Why would I ever want to vote for someone who has that attitude about me, as a rural conservative voter? I've found that said "progressives" can be very intolerant, not compassionate in the slightest, not empathetic, and very closed-minded. I was on a plane with a woman with a masters degree who taught and lived in one of the highest COL suburbs of Chicago. Told her I was from Southern Illinois. Her response? "What's down there? I've never been outside of the Chicago metro area. What do you guys do for fun? I don't think I could ever live or go there because of all the Trump voters."
Compassionate, tolerant, empathetic these folks are NOT. Meanwhile, as a rural, open-minded conservative, I'm friends with all kinds of folks. Been all over the country, 49 states (just need to get Alaska) rural and urban, and appreciate the perspectives and stories of anyone I meet. Been to 10 countries, two of them the second and third poorest in the world, and others very well-off. You'll never hear me write anyone off simply because of their zip code, looks, and locale. The thing is, I was intoxicated with this closed-minded "progressive" stuff during college. It only took a few trips to rural Alabama and Arkansas for me to see how foolhardy this stereotyping is. Some world-class folks there, just like there are all over the country.
Get out of your box, people! Open your mind
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