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I just thought that these towns all haven't been talked about alot on this forum, and they all have unique characteristics that are worthy of conversation.
Wheeling has the new and growing development at the Highlands, and a outstanding downtown.
Parkersburg one of the state's biggest cities and has a lot of potential.
Clarksburg/Bridgeport is an up-n-coming city, that also has a unique Italian culture.
Beckley has a lot of potential as well, and is the largest city in southern WV.
Princeton/Bluefeild is a historic town with a diverse population, and is located in one of the most beautiful parts of the state.
I think what you said about all those towns is correct. Which one would you want to discuss?
Wheeling was once the State's most prosperous town, but has fallen dramatically with the fortunes of heavy industry. It still has lovely areas, and the Highlands development is great for the County. Unfortunately, it has limited positive effect for the city itself.
Clarksburg/Bridgeport is part of the growing and prosperous North Central region of West Virginia. Of all the towns mentioned, it probably has the greatest economic potential long term. And, of course its relative proximity to Morgantown is an added plus. Nothing against any of the other towns... that's how I see it.
Out of those, I agree Clarksburg/Bridgeport has the most potential
but I like Wheeling as being the most interesting out of those. The Island, Wheeling Suspension Bridge, and its very unique city layout makes it my favorite.
Out of those, I agree Clarksburg/Bridgeport has the most potential
but I like Wheeling as being the most interesting out of those. The Island, Wheeling Suspension Bridge, and its very unique city layout makes it my favorite.
I really love downtown Wheeling too!
I grew up in the Wheeling area. The archetecture there is truly special... much of it 200 year old brick Victorian built by early German immigrants and old money English industrialists. Much of it is slipping into disrepair though since the elite old money folks have decided to move to exclusive rich folks neighborhoods and have turned the Victorians into rental units. With the closing of the largest of the old housing projects, those folks have dispersed to those beautiful old neighborhoods. The result is predictable, and reflective of the stupidity of the elite group that seeks to be "politically correct" as long as they don't have to live with the consequences of being that way themselves. Shoving it down the throats of the besieged middle class is perfectly acceptable as a goal.
I am orginally from Clarksburg but now live in Parkersburg. It's sad to see how blighted and run-down Clarksburg has become over the years, and it almost seems like it will become a ghost town of abandoned buildings before too long, if it hasn't already. It's hard to see much potential there. . the only growth is really around the interstate. Parkersburg has it faults too, but seems so much cleaner with a much nicer downtown due to a lot of employees who work in the city.
West Virginia has some awesome cities. Unfortunately, most of them have seen far better days. There is hope for a comeback though, with the Marcellus Shale developments if the wacko nut cases don't ruin it for the rest of us. There is always a group of ivory tower, well protected individuals who have nothing to gain from progress and who protest anything that happens,
generally with little proof of damage.
I am orginally from Clarksburg but now live in Parkersburg. It's sad to see how blighted and run-down Clarksburg has become over the years, and it almost seems like it will become a ghost town of abandoned buildings before too long, if it hasn't already. It's hard to see much potential there. . the only growth is really around the interstate. Parkersburg has it faults too, but seems so much cleaner with a much nicer downtown due to a lot of employees who work in the city.
Anthony, the downtown area is distressed, as are most such areas elsewhere. But, the city of Clarksburg is doing quite well with the FBI developments. It takes a pretty unique situation to make for a truly viable downtown these days. Having a large university next door certainly helps, as long as the town is not too large. I really don't know what the answer is long term for downtowns that don't have that asset.
Wheeling was once the State's most prosperous town, but has fallen dramatically with the fortunes of heavy industry.
I recently purchased a drilling made by the Hollenbeck Gun Company about 1902 located in Wheeling, WV. I wasn't aware of any gun manufacturer in WV until I saw this one and now I own a piece of WV history.
I don't know what the answer is either, because the real heart of downtown are retail businesses and those are mostly all gone now in all these small cities. In Morgantown, the college has kept theirdowntown alive and always will. I just remember how nice a downtown Clarksburg had, even as late as the early 80s. As much as we liked it when stores like Hills and Hecks were built in the late 60s, they signalled the beginning of the end, and then the malls pretty much finished off the downtowns of all these cities. And Clarksburg's loss has been Bridgeport's gain (my hometown), the same as it is with Parkersburg and Vienna, although to a smaller degree.
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