Best Place to live in WV? (Charleston, Huntington: sales, real estate market, apartment)
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I just recently left Biloxi after 1 1/2 years. I have always loved vacationing there, but your favorite vacation spot does not always make for a place you will enjoy living. Anyway, I left for several reasons, but I am on a quest to find a new place. I have always liked WV, and after reading the threads here...it seems even more appealing. Especially when people emphasize the "simplicity" of the place. Thats what I really want out of life....simple.
However, I do have a few hang ups, about anywhere. Milwaukee, where I come from, is extremely neat, clean and orderly, and that is probably the only thing I like about it here.
So, that leads me to my first inquiry, is WV all littered up and filthy like MS is? Also, weather is a factor. I hate winters...does WV receive a ton of snow, outside of the mountains that is? How cold and dreary are the winters...is it like Milwaukee with weeks on end with no sunshine?
I never believed the Hillbilly stereotype, so I have no concerns about the people of WV, besides, I'm starting to believe that people are all the same wherever you go (I've been to every state except Alaska), there are good, bad, friendly, mean...etc....
Which city would offer the most for a 48 year old single real estate/new construction sales/apartment property management backgrounded person. Im very much an at home person, but do like the conveniences of shopping nearby, so I really dont want to be out in the sticks. I do like to do things, Im not a complete dud, so downtown activities can be appealing...if Im in the mood!
Looking forward to the Mothman Festival in fall and visiting again.
Any suggestions/comments one may have would be appreciated. Based on what I know...which isnt much, my thoughts would be Charleston/Hunnington area, or a town in northern WV, toward PA, I heard was kind of growing, cant remember the name but was something like Martinsburg or Morganstown? Anyway, thanks for any suggestions.
YOUR STATE ROCKS!
I just recently left Biloxi after 1 1/2 years. I have always loved vacationing there, but your favorite vacation spot does not always make for a place you will enjoy living. Anyway, I left for several reasons, but I am on a quest to find a new place. I have always liked WV, and after reading the threads here...it seems even more appealing. Especially when people emphasize the "simplicity" of the place. Thats what I really want out of life....simple.
However, I do have a few hang ups, about anywhere. Milwaukee, where I come from, is extremely neat, clean and orderly, and that is probably the only thing I like about it here.
So, that leads me to my first inquiry, is WV all littered up and filthy like MS is? Also, weather is a factor. I hate winters...does WV receive a ton of snow, outside of the mountains that is? How cold and dreary are the winters...is it like Milwaukee with weeks on end with no sunshine?
I never believed the Hillbilly stereotype, so I have no concerns about the people of WV, besides, I'm starting to believe that people are all the same wherever you go (I've been to every state except Alaska), there are good, bad, friendly, mean...etc....
Which city would offer the most for a 48 year old single real estate/new construction sales/apartment property management backgrounded person. Im very much an at home person, but do like the conveniences of shopping nearby, so I really dont want to be out in the sticks. I do like to do things, Im not a complete dud, so downtown activities can be appealing...if Im in the mood!
Looking forward to the Mothman Festival in fall and visiting again.
Any suggestions/comments one may have would be appreciated. Based on what I know...which isnt much, my thoughts would be Charleston/Hunnington area, or a town in northern WV, toward PA, I heard was kind of growing, cant remember the name but was something like Martinsburg or Morganstown? Anyway, thanks for any suggestions.
YOUR STATE ROCKS!
Lesser snow can be had in charleston or huntington. The up and coming real estate trend for the charleston area is happening in south charleston with higher end homes and modern stores. Between charleston and huntington is another up and coming area of newer suburban neighborhoods called teays valley. The cities of charleston and huntington proper have older historic construction and renovation type projects going on, not so much new construction. Tbailey could tell you more about huntington & it's outskirts because he's expert resident. Twelve gold stars for his knowledge and links
Northern climes you can expect more snow at higher elevations, which made me shy away from it despite how breathtaking the country is there. Someone from morgantown can answer about snow/weather. I know there's lots of economic activity going on in that region.
Hope that helps.
(PS people are people in alaska too. )
Anytime anyone asks this question about which part of WV is the best, the posters here just name their home town. We are all biased as hell. I guarantee you DK will come and pimp the Morgantown area, tbailey, GHO, or that other Huntington person will come and pimp Huntington...GHO will pimp Elkins, too.
It doesn't matter what you're looking for, either. We will enthusiastically recommend our hometowns to anyone for any reason. I've recently come to this conclusion after reading these boards. Where you live is the best part of WV. You know why that is? Because WV is awesome and we're all right.
You are thinking of Morgantown near Pittsburgh. The home of West Virginia University and the fastest growing area of the state. It's been my home for the last 5 years and I love it. And, predictably, I think it's the best part of WV as I live here. You want simplicity? Get a little house out in Cheat Lake and catch some breakfast at Ruby's and Ketchy's. I swear, that little eatery defines this state. You get some good old down home cookin' and everyone treats you like they've known you forever. I've never gone there and not struck up a conversation over coffee and bacon with someone. There is no pretension and everyone treats one another as a good human being they want to talk to. When you are done, head up to Cooper's Rock and check out the beauty of a towering mountain and the sight of Morgantown a thousand of feet above and a few miles away from her. Clean? Organized? I'm not sure you can define the pure beauty of nature in those terms.
But Morgantown may be a good choice for you even outside of my bias. The real estate market has been in a 4-5 year explosion. New houses and developments are going in EVERYWHERE. However, due to this, the place is a lot less organized from an infrastructure standpoint. Traffic is bizarre and frustrating. Weather is actually a mixed bad. I've seen 70 degrees in December and snow in May. We usually enjoy many days of sunshine, though the occasional snowfall can be pretty bad. Shopping is on the upswing. New shopping strips and developments are popping up as the new homes pop up. I expect more to come, too. Businesses are slowly realizing that the Morgantown area is underserved as much of the population is quite affluent in the medical and academic fields.
Hey, come check us out some day. If you are a sports fan, come on a football saturday and watch WVU play. It's a hoot!
But...yeah....love WV....
Last edited by WVUPharm2007; 06-24-2008 at 12:05 AM..
People are like the reflection in a mirror...what is seen is the same image that is given..and I noticed in the classifieds Sunday that Rubies & Ketchies were hiring...a landmark for sure...
As for festivals...One of my favorites is the Morgantown Balloon Festival in the Fall...
As predicted, I recommend that you check out Huntington. Huntington does provide some of the most mild winter weather in the state with few snowfalls greater than 3-4 inches. Being the second largest city in the state, there's lots to do here and a great live music scene. There's also a Funny Bone Comedy Club (the first in a market of this size), several performing arts venues, The Marshall Artists Series, Concerts at the Big Sandy Arena and Marshall University athletics. Downtown shopping is anchored by Pullman Square and for more shopping, you have the state's largest shopping center at the Huntington Mall. The parks system here is great with several large parks closeby, the best being Ritter Park which is just blocks from downtown. And if you need to go to a larger city for anything, which you rarely will, you have Columbus, Cincinatti and Lexington all less than 3 hours away. Tri-State airport here has also been one of the fastest growing airports in the nation and passenger numbers continue to grow rather than decline. This is thanks in part to three direct flights to cities in Florida offered year round for $69 or less one way. So if the winter blues get you down, you're less than 2 hours from Florida this way.
In a lot of cases, no. West Virginia is not neat and tidy. In a lot of places (not all) litter and trash is a big problem. It's sad to see soo many creeks and ravines that are close to the roads littered with tires, sofa's, old appliances, etc.. Pretty much every county I've been in has a litter issue. It's not just a 'dirty city' syndrome, it's trash in the rural areas.
I would say it's not so bad in the high country, near Elkins and towards Blackwater Falls, but it's still there. Also if you drive into Tucker county from Maryland to get to Blackwater Falls, you can see a stark difference in how people keep their land. Virtually no litter and all of a sudden when you cross into WV there it is.
It's one of my biggest pet peeves with this state. I've not seen it like this in Colorado, Maryland, etc.. A lot of people say it's due to the poverty levels in the state, or that trash service is a user pay service... I don't agree.
My mother-in-law grew up in post WWII Germany, poor as dirt. I mean POOR. They had absolutely nothing. My mother said even though they were poor and ravaged by war, you would find people cleaning the streets, keeping gardens, and keeping house- whatever little house they had. She was SHOCKED when she visited from Colorado a few years back and we drove out to Berkeley Springs from Martinsburg. We took her down some back roads and out past the Springs on Rt. 9 and she couldn't believe all the litter along the roads.
It really puts a black-eye on our state, and I've heard similar comments from most people that I know that have visited.
"is WV all littered up and filthy like MS is" - guess you will find that in some places. You can go to some hollers, etc and find old cars rusting away, people throwing their garbage over the hillside, etc. Overall though, I find most of our state to be beautiful and clean.
Winters - Winters in the Charleston area aren't bad - do have some heavy snows. Varies from year to year -- some years more snow, colder, etc than others. I grew up in NE Ohio - extremely grey and depressing in winter. To me living in Charleston is like living in the tropics compared to Ohio and more northern parts of WV where I have lived.
"Which city would offer the most ..." - Charleston, Huntington, Putnam County (mostly a bedroom community between the 2 cities) or Martinsburg area (lots of new housing etc there - it's becoming a suburb of DC). I love Morgantown - the activities, it's home to WVU, close to Pittsburgh, skiing, boating, etc - but winters are rougher than the greater Kanawha Valley.
Highlawn district in Saint Albans is the best place to live! We have the brand new Ayash Community Center, a new high school, and city park all in our walking distance.
My mother-in-law grew up in post WWII Germany, poor as dirt. I mean POOR. They had absolutely nothing. My mother said even though they were poor and ravaged by war, you would find people cleaning the streets, keeping gardens, and keeping house- whatever little house they had.
This is percisely why Milwaukee is so neat, clean and orderly. The majority of our residents originally come from Germany or Poland...all of which Ive been told, are clean countries.
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