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I've been wondering what everyone thinks the eastern panhandle will look like in 20 years? How much more growth, new roads? Actual business community instead of bedroom community? Will Jefferson county catch Berkeley in population, and will Morgan county finally get some growth?
Unless things change on both the state and local political levels, I doubt much will change if anything changes at all in the Eastern Panhandle 2 decades from now.
I really doubt Berkeley County will ever stop being a bedroom community for DC area workers even though I do see fewer people moving in thanks to bad word of mouth. Yes home prices are cheaper but what do you get? A county with no zoning, only average schools and a very poor hospital and other medical facilities. I have yet to hear good things about City Hospital and Eastridge. Its been said before, you really do get what you pay for. Kinda like expecting to buy family dinner at Family Dollar rather than paying a few extra bucks shopping at a supermarket.
Jefferson County, face it Charles Town Races & Slots more/less control that county. However recently the voters there said no to allowing that place to offer table games. With other nearby states such as Pennsylvania now offering casinos and considering that in the past a lot of people from the Keystone state did take those bus trips to play
the slots in Charles Town, I believe business will suffer there. Even those who have no connection to Charles Town Races & Slots. I think the voters of Jefferson County made a mistake in saying no.
Morgan County will always be..well Morgan County. Highly doubt they will get much in the way of growth. Besides what could they get? No room in Berkeley Springs to build a Burger King much less Wal-Mart. Plus much of Morgan County lacks high speed internet unless one goes the satellite route and that is quite costly and in many places cell phone service is a tough catch.
But after saying all of that, I do see some changes. I highly doubt Martinsburg Mall will be around 20 years from now. Maybe Wal-Mart and Sears and a few other stores. Perhaps a lifestyle center maybe. I do know the Bon-Ton does poorly in Martinsburg. A friend of mine for years worked for that compnay and he says its amazing why that chian keeps that store open considering it seems year after year the Martinsburg store ranks last ( or close to it ) in terms of sales.
New roads? Maybe but mainly in Jefferson County. I doubt that bypass around Martinsburg will ever get built. Morgan County new roads? Highly doubtful.
Unless things change on both the state and local political levels, I doubt much will change if anything changes at all in the Eastern Panhandle 2 decades from now.
I really doubt Berkeley County will ever stop being a bedroom community for DC area workers even though I do see fewer people moving in thanks to bad word of mouth. Yes home prices are cheaper but what do you get? A county with no zoning, only average schools and a very poor hospital and other medical facilities. I have yet to hear good things about City Hospital and Eastridge. Its been said before, you really do get what you pay for. Kinda like expecting to buy family dinner at Family Dollar rather than paying a few extra bucks shopping at a supermarket.
Jefferson County, face it Charles Town Races & Slots more/less control that county. However recently the voters there said no to allowing that place to offer table games. With other nearby states such as Pennsylvania now offering casinos and considering that in the past a lot of people from the Keystone state did take those bus trips to play
the slots in Charles Town, I believe business will suffer there. Even those who have no connection to Charles Town Races & Slots. I think the voters of Jefferson County made a mistake in saying no.
Morgan County will always be..well Morgan County. Highly doubt they will get much in the way of growth. Besides what could they get? No room in Berkeley Springs to build a Burger King much less Wal-Mart. Plus much of Morgan County lacks high speed internet unless one goes the satellite route and that is quite costly and in many places cell phone service is a tough catch.
But after saying all of that, I do see some changes. I highly doubt Martinsburg Mall will be around 20 years from now. Maybe Wal-Mart and Sears and a few other stores. Perhaps a lifestyle center maybe. I do know the Bon-Ton does poorly in Martinsburg. A friend of mine for years worked for that compnay and he says its amazing why that chian keeps that store open considering it seems year after year the Martinsburg store ranks last ( or close to it ) in terms of sales.
New roads? Maybe but mainly in Jefferson County. I doubt that bypass around Martinsburg will ever get built. Morgan County new roads? Highly doubtful.
Well, I was going to chime in, but Cathy could not have said it better.
I think the rapid population growth will only continue for the Eastern Panhandle over the next 20 years. The DC area is continuing very rapid population growth due to its outstanding job market, so the spillover effect will only continue into Jefferson and Berkeley counties. I doubt Jefferson will ever catch up to Berkeley, although both are growing very fast, the growth in Berkeley is simply off the charts, it also has I-81 going through it which makes getting there somewhat easier.
The thing is, A LOT of new jobs in the DC area are out in the Dulles corridor about 30 miles from the city along with the I-270 tech corridor in Maryland, both of which are a somewhat managable commute from the Eastern Panhandle. Add in the intense building restrictions in neighboring counties, Loudoun County VA has its entire western part zoned for one house every 5-20 acres (aka affordibility is GONE) Montgomery County MD has 90,000 acres limited to 1 house per 25 acres, and Frederick County MD is also not exactly development friendly, this basically means the growth has to go somewhere making the Eastern Panhandle the next logical choice.
The reason I think Berkeley will continue to be the faster growing one is because as cathyj mentioned it has no zoning, Jefferson County although generally welcoming of development is more stringent of where certain things can go.
As a DC area resident I can say the moral of this story is development restrictions do absolutely nothing to stop sprawl, they only accelerate it. There are places 80-90 miles outside of Washington (Martinsburg is one of them) that are seeing massive growth because counties closer in feel the incredible need to try and shut new people out, while it does push some people to move closer in the vast majority simply move further out to the next developer friendly area, making the sprawl problem worse.
Winchester is booming and will continue to grow. It's rapidly becoming "little D.C.", and folks are always looking for a place out and away from the city. Looking to the west, Capon Bridge is already showing signs of this. Why would you not think it wouldn't also spread to the north?
Morgan Co. has an atmosphere that begs for the elite and more expensive homes. Berekley Springs is very quaint. I think Walmart would readily consider a store in the county and I think the county might welcome it. They have an industrial park and I was told bluntly, by a representative a few years ago, they would take anything that wanted to come in there. I don't expect Walmart to inflitrate an industrial park, but with the county's attitude, they aren't likely to turn down the offer should Walmart make it. In addition, to my way of thinking, Jefferson Co. is a Winchester wantabe.
Progress is coming. Don't kid yourself.
Last edited by gootziecat; 12-24-2007 at 08:35 AM..
Reason: less confusing to readers
I remember years ago when the DC area was moving out to Germantown and Frederick which had nothing, now look at that area. The panhandle is the next step out. As people move into areas and prices go up people are pushed further out. That is where Berkeley County is now.
Falling Waters is getting a Super Walmart and the plans are in that they are bringing a Home Depot and Martin's grocery with a couple chain restaurants.
I think for the most part people in Morgan County don't want the growth. There are signs everywhere that state "Keep Morgan County Rural" I do know that Paw Paw got a Dollar General and that is huge!
As far as the roads, who knows. They had been talking about a route 9 bypass for a couple of years but I haven't seen it yet. I wish they would build the new high school next to Spring Mills.
I think Berkeley Co growth will continue. But not long ago it was reported in the Journal that an elderly couple was selling there 33 acres to a developer & the County Commission put a stop to it. Dont understand the reason why?
I think Berkeley Co growth will continue. But not long ago it was reported in the Journal that an elderly couple was selling there 33 acres to a developer & the County Commission put a stop to it. Dont understand the reason why?
Probably because "The Developer" who currently sits on the county commission did not have an opportunity
Someone stated progress is coming. Then again, I think they were talking about Winchester. As for Martinsburg you will still have homes being packed into old orchards with no zoning, no infrastructure, and the same old two lane tar and chip roads.
If Martinsburg wants any type of "progress" it will first need to clean house with it's local government, enact zoning, then look to areas like Shepherdstown, Winchester, and even Charles Town for an example.
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