Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Because it's WEST VIRGINIA. The stigma alone keeps people from considering it. In my opinion, it's the best kept secret in the country. We searched for over 3 years to find a place to move to, drove through WV enroute to KY to look at land there, when **SLAP!** - we looked around and said "why not WV?!" With the low property taxes and relatively low price tag, it was unbeatable. My wife is a BSN/RN, there are more jobs that people to fill them.
If you're looking for simple living, great people, and peace & quiet, WV is for you.
I am visiting Chattanooga this weekend Honestly, it's hard to compare Chattanooga and Charleston. Chattanooga is vivid, booming, fresh; Charleston is slow, stagnant and sleepy. it has its charm and attraction but I would't compare it to Chattanooga. Ch. reminds me Pittsburgh.
That's why I said that compared to Chattanooga, Charleston is much slower paced.
There is only ONE reason Chattanooga thrives as well as it does. Ok - three: Atlanta, Nashville, and Knoxville. All three of those cities are 1 1.5 to 2 hour drive to downtown Chattanooga, placing literally millions of potential "day and weekend" tourists in their lap. There are even people in Atlanta who got fed up with the city who moved to the Southern suburbs of Chattanooga for a slower way of life with good tourist stuff to do, and make the commute every day into Atlanta for work.
I live on the West metro side of Atlanta. It's commonplace for people on my side of town to drive up to Chattanooga for the day since our downtown is filled with bums and the traffic is hell to get to the city. So, we go up there for a Saturday - and we're not alone. They get TONS of $$ from people in all three of the cities listed who like to see the Aquarium, riverfront park area, etc. (all built from those tourist dollars). If Atlanta and Nashville specifically were to disappear into a black hole, I'd give Chattanooga maybe a couple of years before it would be a ghost town. They completely rely on these two major markets plus some smaller ones not far away, for their city income.
By contrast, Charleston has NONE of that. You have Pittsburgh and Columbus but they're not as I said a "day trip" distance away. People can't come down to Charleston from those larger areas in the morning, just to spend the day doing touristy things (if there were any major ones), and then get back home later that same afternoon. It's too far. Nothing's going to change that - you can't move Charleston or create a big city that's closer filled with potential tourists. So, Charleston will forever be the "quiet half-sister" to Chattanooga, who looks the same, is the same size, but has LOTS more mouth and money.
But that's not always a bad thing. Charleston also won't have the traffic Chattanooga gets due to all of these people traveling through (and they get a LOT of traffic). They also won't get the spillover crime that they get from Atlanta (yes, our crooks actually drive up there to do stuff). So, you miss out on some of the bad too... and some folks WANT a more laid back and quiet tone to a town. If you want Ra-Ra-Excitement all the time, no, Charleston probably 'aint it. But if you want an overall nice, relatively laid back place in a great natural location - it's a good pick.
I moved to Charleston, November 07' from Scottsdale, AZ. Originally from Orlando, FL.
I live in the city, and have small herd of deer in my yard. From what I understand, the speed limit in West Virginia is, how fast can you not hit a deer.
Neanderthals in West Virginia are a welcoming lot if you're not predisposed to think of them as lesser creatures (which is how they are painted), and when I talk with them about economic development, they have a point when you look at the locust effect in the rest of that ****hole once called America. People come to places of beauty and the first thing they do is destroy it. So I have some empathy with their assessment, "Would you really want that here?"
If you're an illegal alien, do not come to West Virginia.
I've been watching the Neanderthals in West Virginia for six months, and they gather each day to make traffic as if it were a game. They earnestly try to understand the senslessness of it, acknowledging that it must be hip if the rest of the country is doing it. But having an attention disorder, they quickly become bored after about 15 minutes and wander off to do something else.
This could be unsettling for someone relocating here, because most people in the country have an addiction, regardless of whether they are in denial. They could suffer through a period of withdrawl. Symptoms of traffic withdrawl might include screaming at passing cars while sitting on the porch, chasing after them on foot, tailgating in grocery store shopping carts, or aggressively cutting off people in fast-food cattle lines, etc.
I've done them all, and worse.
All things considered, Neanderthals take these anger simulations on the chin, and are actually polite about it (from my observations), probably recognizing it as an addiction withdrawal, whereas the rest of the country considers these fits, personal. It's almost as if road rage were too complicated to be angry about, or it's beneath them, one of the two. I just don't know, and I'm not an expert. But if I asked a Neanderthal about it, I could almost guess their response, "Road rage? Why would I take a deer antler and puncture someone's tire because of that? For other reasons, sure. But for road rage?"
First thing I noticed, and can applaud the Neanderthals in Charleston for, is traffic lights. I've actually met one of the idiots with a Masters Degree/Engineering who times the traffic lights in Orlando, and it dissolves all conspiracy theories why you literally wait up to 10 minutes at some lights when there's nobody there -- stupid is as stupid does. There are exceptions, but most lights in Charleston move the traffic, and waiting one to change is about sixty seconds, or less.
Southern w va is beautiful, but far rougher than any place in Vermont. Roads wind and are extreme in winter. Jobs (except miners) scarce. You would have to go to Beckly to find a hospital. Low population. Generational families. Tough for newcomer. I was born there and my Grandparents lived there for 45 years until they got to old to stay there safely because no other relatives left to care for them.
Blue Collar Mutt, I don't mean this insultingly but you come across as the proverbial wet blanket, in a bunch of these threads. And unfortunately the negative posts are what most people will remember/go by.
I understand that your experiences are true to you, but like they say, one mans trash is another man's treasure.
How do you know it is rougher than any place in Vermont? Vermont also has generational families, etc. And windy roads with tons of ice and snow and potholes in the spring and mud and floods etc.
I hear so many wonderful posts on WV, then one comes along that is not so flattering and its the one that sticks in my mind, maybe that is human nature. Im not saying that I expect people to only post the good, I do want to h ear the bad as well, I just wish the bad ones didnt seem to be the ones that stand out the most lol
I think I will have to come down and take a look for myself when I get a couple days off in a row
People don't move to West Virginia because the economy is downright depressing. Yes the cost of living is low but when your largest employer is Wal-Mart followed by the State of WV what can you expect? Lack of high paying jobs = cheap housing. I grew up in Charleston and honestly by the time I got out of college I felt like I was suffocating, there was nothing for young twenty somethings..
Ok... You have some very insightful views and opinions. That could be helpful to some. However, I'm getting rather fed up with your blatant use of "neanderthal." Why do you feel the need to be condescending and feel the need to state your self proclaimed superiorness just because you're from another state? Does it help you sleep at night or something? Kind of like the bully in elementary school, they pick on the smaller kids because they don't want everyone else to realize their own faults...
Quote:
Originally Posted by r601020
Agree with that.
I've been watching the Neanderthals in West Virginia for six months, and they gather each day to make traffic as if it were a game. They earnestly try to understand the senslessness of it, acknowledging that it must be hip if the rest of the country is doing it. But having an attention disorder, they quickly become bored after about 15 minutes and wander off to do something else.
This could be unsettling for someone relocating here, because most people in the country have an addiction, regardless of whether they are in denial. They could suffer through a period of withdrawl. Symptoms of traffic withdrawl might include screaming at passing cars while sitting on the porch, chasing after them on foot, tailgating in grocery store shopping carts, or aggressively cutting off people in fast-food cattle lines, etc.
I've done them all, and worse.
All things considered, Neanderthals take these anger simulations on the chin, and are actually polite about it (from my observations), probably recognizing it as an addiction withdrawal, whereas the rest of the country considers these fits, personal. It's almost as if road rage were too complicated to be angry about, or it's beneath them, one of the two. I just don't know, and I'm not an expert. But if I asked a Neanderthal about it, I could almost guess their response, "Road rage? Why would I take a deer antler and puncture someone's tire because of that? For other reasons, sure. But for road rage?"
First thing I noticed, and can applaud the Neanderthals in Charleston for, is traffic lights. I've actually met one of the idiots with a Masters Degree/Engineering who times the traffic lights in Orlando, and it dissolves all conspiracy theories why you literally wait up to 10 minutes at some lights when there's nobody there -- stupid is as stupid does. There are exceptions, but most lights in Charleston move the traffic, and waiting one to change is about sixty seconds, or less.
Salute!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
