I'm looking at a couple of jobs out of the Charleston, WV area.. What can you Thundering Herd boys tell me about the area (cost of living, housing, crime, etc.)?

Here is the city data website on Charleston, WV.

http://www.city-data.com/city/Charleston...ginia.html

Do you have any other options? Depending on where they are I'd probably suggest going there.

(07-17-2014 02:30 PM)gdunn Wrote:  I'm looking at a couple of jobs out of the Charleston, WV area.. What can you Thundering Herd boys tell me about the area (cost of living, housing, crime, etc.)?

I don't know what kind of salary you'll be making, but Loudon Heights is a pretty nice area in Charleston. It is pretty pricey. Homes are $250,000-$1 millionish.

Cost of living is pretty low here. So depending on your salary you could feel very rich here, and pretty poor somewhere else with the same salary.

There just isn't a lot going on here. We tend to stay at top of all the bad lists you don't want to be on.

If skiing, white water, nature, hunting is your thing you'd love it here though.

I absolutely hate Charleston. The traffic patterns in the city and especially how I-64 is handled through Charleston would make me unbearably miserable there. I'm spoiled by Huntington's awesome city planning, though. Not being facetious either, a grid is the best way to build a city.

(07-17-2014 02:40 PM)MUsince96 Wrote:  Cost of living is pretty low here. So depending on your salary you could feel very rich here, and pretty poor somewhere else with the same salary.

There just isn't a lot going on here. We tend to stay at top of all the bad lists you don't want to be on.

If skiing, white water, nature, hunting is your thing you'd love it here though.

I like hunting and being outside. That would be the first thing we'd do is find a place out of the city. I'll drive if I have to.

Right now nothing has been submitted but I'll be dusting off the ol' resume and applying this weekend.

A ton of people live in teays valley, Hurricane, Winfield area.

(07-17-2014 04:10 PM)Penn2moss Wrote:  A ton of people live in teays valley, Hurricane, Winfield area.

This. 20 minutes outside Charleston. Nice new housing available. Plenty of amenities and you only need go into the big city when you have to.

(07-17-2014 03:47 PM)lmckay92 Wrote:  I absolutely hate Charleston. The traffic patterns in the city and especially how I-64 is handled through Charleston would make me unbearably miserable there. I'm spoiled by Huntington's awesome city planning, though. Not being facetious either, a grid is the best way to build a city.

OT.....Phoenix/Scottsdale....easily the easiest large city to navigate...hell, it's easier than freakin' HBG.

(07-17-2014 04:09 PM)gdunn Wrote:  

(07-17-2014 02:40 PM)MUsince96 Wrote:  Cost of living is pretty low here. So depending on your salary you could feel very rich here, and pretty poor somewhere else with the same salary.

There just isn't a lot going on here. We tend to stay at top of all the bad lists you don't want to be on.

If skiing, white water, nature, hunting is your thing you'd love it here though.

I like hunting and being outside. That would be the first thing we'd do is find a place out of the city. I'll drive if I have to.

Right now nothing has been submitted but I'll be dusting off the ol' resume and applying this weekend.

You might want to consider something up Elk River. The Elkview Pinch area is nice. There's a nice neighborhood on the edge of Charleston called Knowllwood.

You might struggle to find a sports bar in Charleston to watch Marshall football, even though there are some great ones, Adelphia on Capital Street is great but expect to see WVU when they are playing.

Depends on what you are looking for. If you don't mind a ton of people there is always the Teay's Valley area, when I mean a ton Im not exaggerating, the place has been over populated now for 15 years or more. If you want something more laid back out of the high traffic area there are tons of places that are nice. Like the Big Chimney/Pinch area to the north of Charleston and Davis Creek/Alum Creek to the south.

We live at Alum Creek. We are in a rural setting but we are 4 miles from anything we basically need. And 7 1/2 miles from Charleston. We hardly go to downtown Charleston unless its going to a Dr., everything we need mostly is in a shopping area that's called South Ridge/Trace Fork.

CharlestonWV.com
CityOfCharleston.org

Hurricane, WV is where you want to be living. Right smack in the middle between Huntington/Charleston. 20 minutes either way.

Here is the page for Hurricane:

http://hurricanewv.com/

I could not find a similar site for Teays Valley or Winfield, but both are nice areas. I have lived in Hurricane and Winfield, both are nice areas with nice developments and communities. Milton has some nice new developments, but it is closer to Barboursville/Huntington than Charleston.

Another factor: Hurricane and Teays are right off of the interstate; Winfield takes about a 5-10 minute drive to reach the interstate.

(also, if anyone is wondering, its Hurr-i-cun, not hurr-i-cane, haha)

Whether or not you would like Charleston is based solely on your personality and preferences. WV, by and large, is a state that offers a lot if you like the outdoors - hunting, fishing, camping, hiking, biking, rafting are all available in abundance. The state has some of the most beautiful scenery in the country.

What the state lacks is urban planning and development, decades of substandard zoning, which means you will see very nice stuff located next to crap, and cutting edge choices in food, shopping and entertainment.

I grew up in the area, moved to Louisville for 12 years after college and came back here 15 years ago. Living in Charleston is not like living in a city like Louisville. In some ways it's better, in some it's worse. WV has a much more homey, small town feel. If you're from the south, the real south, not someplace like Atlanta, I think you would feel comfortable in WV. People are generally friendly, help a neighbor, get involved in the community types. It you want hip, fast paced, something always going on then it wouldn't be the place for you.

The Teays Valley area hands down is the best area to live if you work in Charleston. The neighborhoods out Rt 119 are pretty nice as well. You couldn't pay me to live in Chalreston proper.

Teays Valley, Scott Depot, Hurricane, Winfield are all nice and have great schools if that's a consideration as well.

For out of staters, Hurricane is pronounced Hurricuhn

Yeah, I would look into the areas they have mentioned. Also, not sure as I've never lived there, but have a buddy who does and he works in Charleston.... the Poca area. It might be a little more rural and its still around 20 minutes from the city. My buddy is a big outdoorsmen and likes the Poca area pretty well.

I would say the Alum Creek area is nice too. Only thing is, most things are usually going on in either Huntington or Charleston. So if you choose to live on the Huntington side of Charleston it will make going to Huntington events much easier.

(07-17-2014 04:10 PM)Penn2moss Wrote:  A ton of people live in teays valley, Hurricane, Winfield area.

In WV that a ton of people is what, a family of 3?

(07-17-2014 08:23 PM)herdtrumpet Wrote:  Here is the page for Hurricane:

http://hurricanewv.com/

I could not find a similar site for Teays Valley or Winfield, but both are nice areas. I have lived in Hurricane and Winfield, both are nice areas with nice developments and communities. Milton has some nice new developments, but it is closer to Barboursville/Huntington than Charleston.

Another factor: Hurricane and Teays are right off of the interstate; Winfield takes about a 5-10 minute drive to reach the interstate.

(also, if anyone is wondering, its Hurr-i-cun, not hurr-i-cane, haha)

Never really understood why West Virginians expect other people to mispronounce a common word due to the accent. I've never pronounced it HurriCUN. Of course I've lived in WV since 1998 and still get "the eye" when people hear me talk and the common phrases like "you ain't from around here are you"? Which is always with the look of disapproval or untrusting stare.

(07-17-2014 11:48 PM)MU ATO Wrote:  I've lived in WV since 1998 and still get "the eye" when people hear me talk and the common phrases like "you ain't from around here are you"? Which is always with the look of disapproval or untrusting stare.

You ain't frum here. You is from Illinois.

And that's 1 word I avoid is "Ain't". When I was in 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade, we were taught "Ain't, Ain't a Word". At that time it wasn't in the dictionary. And I think the word is a "Lazy" word.