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Thanks for thinkin i sound like good folk, i guess it's something that was instilled in me from living in pitts....you know your surroundings and you be aware of everything going on around you at all times. I've been to said wal mart at all hours of the day, worse thing that's happened has been the half hour wait in line cause some ppl do month grocery shopping at 2 am. I'm sorry to hear about your grandmother, unfortunatly she is an easy target and it's a shame that ppl see that. I'd really have to say the ONLY complaints i have about this area is the intellagance of the local fast food workers, when you yourself in drive thru have to explain wtf labor day is about ya have to wonder and then thank heaven thier not in a more improtant roll.
it bugs the day lights out of me about the "gentleman" that stand at the entrance to the mall at the chik fil a entrance. also panhandeling....i think ppl see me out with my 3 children and think i have a wad of extra cash just laying around. parking lot of wal mart....sheets ext 12 parking lot....even at my own front door! But for the most part this area is a good area.....it's much safer then pittsburgh and i actually live at the end of raliegh st near the high school and yes 90% of the time doors are unlocked
Hey Georgia, you seem to be an expert on West Virginia. berkeley springs is expensive! I noticed many houses come with acres of land, could be why? What inexpensive cities in WV do you reccomend? How is Bluefield?
Bluefield has some nicer brick houses I havent seen when searching Beckley. Charleston has nice houses too but I dont like the crime there. Im sure Greg can comment on that. There are a few cities to choose from, depending which one has the nicest cheapest house by the time I make my move there. Id love a nice 3 story brick house with basement and 2000+ living square feet and ive seen some for $40k to $99k. Thats a good affordable price.
CHARLESTON: I grew up there but moved to Atlanta quite a while ago. I do go back for visits from time to time. Charleston has changed a lot since I grew up there, meaning yes, crime has increased. You have three interstates passing through Charleston, giving it access to "pass-thru" crime from much larger cities. Criminals going from Detroit or NYC to Maimi or Atlanta will pass through and commit crimes and move on, or, drop off drugs, etc. That being said, according to family who still live there, much of what you hear about is domestic stuff such as bad drug deals between two people, domestic violence, someone getting mad at their cheating spouse, etc.. not tons of random acts of violence against strangers on the street.
Charleston does feel a bit "stagnent" compared to other cities. Once a decade a building is built downtown or a small park is created. There is one real mall that everyone has gone to for 22 years. A festival or two, and that's it. Whenever I take a friend from here up there they usually describe it by saying, "everyone seems depressed". That being said, it's not a horrible town though. I mean it sits on the river, has a reasonably attractive downtown area, and due to the fact it does have the interstates, gets conventions and concerts that other cities of the same size don't get.
BECKLEY: Smaller than Charleston, about 45 minutes or so south. Not nearly as "on the map" as Charleston, but a smaller crime rate and it does to many seem a little "livelier" in terms of the way it feels there. My brother lives there and likes it. He has the convenience of being NEAR Charleston and what it has to offer, without being IN it, yet still being in a town that is large enough to have all of the basic ammenities.
BLUEFIELD: I gotta admit, I've never liked Bluefield. It just seems so dead in the water and run down, and I think I read somewhere once that it has one of the highest rates of suicide per capita in the U.S. short of Alaska. I've only known one person who lived there and shortly after moving there he called saying, "Get me out of here!". He wound up moving to Wheeling (see below).
WHEELING: Mid-sized town, smaller than Charleston. The neat thing about Wheeling is that while it's not a hip-happening town itself per se, it's close to larger cities for when you DO want that. Wheeling has a small downtown, a casino or two, and a few neat neighborhoods. If you want big city stuff, you're just over an hour west of Pittsburgh, PA and just over an hour east of Columbus, OH. In terms of WV cities, Wheeling probably has the best geographic location in terms of a small city that's close to other things - while cities like Charleston, Beckley, and Bluefield have the disadvantage of being at least 3-4 hours from anything bigger.
if looking in the Martinsburg area....i'd suggest the further from Dc and further from Winchester is your best bets. looking myself in the Hedgesville area, decient housing does seem cheaper in those areas
I've been here in Martinsburg for 25 years and things have changed a lot in that time. I bought a house near downtown and am regretting it now. My neighbors, with the exception of a few old timers on the block, are the worst I have ever had to put up with, and I grew up in NYC. Those migrant workers are not very "migrant" anymore and are filling this town with the dregs of the earth. Broken beer bottles, trash, public urination, broken down cars and loitering all day long and all night long are the norm around my house nowadays. Went to the city but they weren't concerned. Went to the police but they can't "do" anything about the situation. It's gotten so bad I had to get a gun permit and wear one whenever I go out. I am up 10-12 times a night checking on my car whenever I hear a suspicious noise outside. It's usually one of the "neighbors" making a bathroom/beer run to the parking lot near my house. There are about 25 of them living in a 3 bedroom house nearby and no one speaks english. I almost believe there is no word for "trash can" in mexico. At least they don't seem to know what they are used for from the looks of it. you would think that illegal immigrants would keep a low profile but not this bunch. Do yourself a favor, get a place out of town. Way out of town!
CHARLESTON: I grew up there but moved to Atlanta quite a while ago. I do go back for visits from time to time. Charleston has changed a lot since I grew up there, meaning yes, crime has increased. You have three interstates passing through Charleston, giving it access to "pass-thru" crime from much larger cities. Criminals going from Detroit or NYC to Maimi or Atlanta will pass through and commit crimes and move on, or, drop off drugs, etc. That being said, according to family who still live there, much of what you hear about is domestic stuff such as bad drug deals between two people, domestic violence, someone getting mad at their cheating spouse, etc.. not tons of random acts of violence against strangers on the street.
Charleston does feel a bit "stagnent" compared to other cities. Once a decade a building is built downtown or a small park is created. There is one real mall that everyone has gone to for 22 years. A festival or two, and that's it. Whenever I take a friend from here up there they usually describe it by saying, "everyone seems depressed". That being said, it's not a horrible town though. I mean it sits on the river, has a reasonably attractive downtown area, and due to the fact it does have the interstates, gets conventions and concerts that other cities of the same size don't get.
BECKLEY: Smaller than Charleston, about 45 minutes or so south. Not nearly as "on the map" as Charleston, but a smaller crime rate and it does to many seem a little "livelier" in terms of the way it feels there. My brother lives there and likes it. He has the convenience of being NEAR Charleston and what it has to offer, without being IN it, yet still being in a town that is large enough to have all of the basic ammenities.
BLUEFIELD: I gotta admit, I've never liked Bluefield. It just seems so dead in the water and run down, and I think I read somewhere once that it has one of the highest rates of suicide per capita in the U.S. short of Alaska. I've only known one person who lived there and shortly after moving there he called saying, "Get me out of here!". He wound up moving to Wheeling (see below).
WHEELING: Mid-sized town, smaller than Charleston. The neat thing about Wheeling is that while it's not a hip-happening town itself per se, it's close to larger cities for when you DO want that. Wheeling has a small downtown, a casino or two, and a few neat neighborhoods. If you want big city stuff, you're just over an hour west of Pittsburgh, PA and just over an hour east of Columbus, OH. In terms of WV cities, Wheeling probably has the best geographic location in terms of a small city that's close to other things - while cities like Charleston, Beckley, and Bluefield have the disadvantage of being at least 3-4 hours from anything bigger.
Why would criminals from NYC or Detroit need to go through Charleston to get to Atlanta or Miami? They could just travel down Interstate 75 or Interstate 95 instead.
BLUEFIELD: I gotta admit, I've never liked Bluefield. It just seems so dead in the water and run down, and I think I read somewhere once that it has one of the highest rates of suicide per capita in the U.S. short of Alaska. I've only known one person who lived there and shortly after moving there he called saying, "Get me out of here!". He wound up moving to Wheeling (see below).
I was thinking of Bluefield, its low crime and theres 3 nice inexpensive(55k, 60k, 65k) houses listed right now! Would I be better off in a town or small city with very low crime?
Last edited by Yac; 09-30-2006 at 08:31 AM..
Reason: quote cut
Wow, I am really surprised at the animosity towards our area!! I have also lived here my whole life (48 years), with the exception of a detour to St. Louis in the 80's- great place by the way- and a short stay in Connecticut to be near my husbands family. I graduated from Musselman, and my kids have all either graduated or are attending Hedgesville High.
Ok, so I don't know many high schools now a days that don't have a drug problem. My oldest graduated from Mercersburg Academy, high price boarding school, absolutely beautiful btw, top of the line teachers, great atmosphere, yada yada yada, and in Mercersburg, PA. My next to oldest also went there for 2 years. Both of them told me that there is really no difference except for the fact that there are more countries represented there, and more creativity. Kids there were selling their high priced ADD meds that their rich parents plied them with, and yes, drinking and pot smoking, and all other types of drugs too!! It was just on a smaller level since there werent as many kids.
As far as crime, come on now...yes there is crime, but it is really no different than any other area around here. I live in Falling Waters. YES, there is a proliference of development that I absolutley abhor. But what are you going to do????? Most of us just can't move because we don't agree with everything that is happening. That is what elections are for!!!! I would no more uproot my family from their friends, school and us from our business/jobs, than I would cut my hand off.
Granted, housing prices have skyrocketed, but so has the equity in our homes. It would be nice for us to be able to build schools to keep up, but as it is, most of our kids go to schools that are either pretty new, or have had major upgrades because of all the growth. Now if we AS A STATE could pay our teachers what they are worth, so they wouldn't have to go to MD or VA, then it would be even better.
I am not saying it is perfect by any means, but I love where I live. I am almost at the MD border. I do almost all my shopping in Hagerstown MD. I just took my daughter to Winchester, VA last night to shop. We go to Frederick, MD all the time, and if we want to take a long weekend or short day trip, 1 1/2 hours away we can go to DC or Baltimore.
I truly am not unhappy to say I live here. Yes it would be wonderful if our infrastructure could keep up. It would be great if there weren't accidents tying up 81, then 11 so much I would say great!
So to all of you who are interested in living here, I say WELCOME!!!
All I am saying is that as a family, we have been happy living here. I am a hop skip & jump across the river from Williamsport so there is a comvenience factor to shopping. No Martinsburg doesn't appeal to me for shopping, but then again that is what is so nice about living in this area, there are CHOICES.
And yes, elections are for change. The fact that too many people are apathetic and dont bother to initiate any change by getting out to vote, doent mean that those people who are the powers that be "could not" be voted out, cuz they certainly could.
No, I do not live in downtown Martinsburg, as I said I live in Marlowe (Falling Waters), and I really really do love living here.
I have public water and let me tell you, it tastes a hell of alot better than the city water in Martinsburg. I live at the end of a line, and it gets tested regularly, and has been absolutley fine. Water has to come from somewhere, and it has to be treated, just like anywhere else. Its not like they pipe it straight from the river now is it?? I just really don't understand your seeming hatred, and yes I am saying that. If you go back and read all your posts it seems you hate hate hate this area. I jsut beg to disagree. I dont think there is anywhere that is perfect to live.
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Moving to martinsburg
