The Pointlessness of Bribing People to Move to West Virginia for $12,000

[harryc]

Just outside of ClarksBurg ....

5 neighbors in the hollow - this field used to have miners huts - then was a truck garden.


The Hobbit house


in the BackYard, where Turkeys and deer are prolific.



Bobby's house - built areound an 18th century log stronghouse - with rifle (musket ?) loops and all.


And closeby - work - Union Carbide .

[Centropolis]

thanks for the photos and little trip!

i didnt realize that the new river gorge was a national park - but it reminds me a lot of the red river gorge in kentucky.

[pj3000]

^ just recently established as a nat’l park.

Never been to Red River Gorge, but had been on my exploration list for awhile

[Camelback]

Originally Posted by Crawford

West Virginia, in theory is quite beautiful, but there isn't really much in terms of pristine wilderness. A lot of lopped-off hillsides, poisoned rivers, bombed-out towns and the like.

West Virginia is 24,000 square miles! There's a lot more there than lopped-off hillsides, poisoned rivers and bombed-out towns and the like.

WV is probably the most accessible to 200 million Americans / scenic, pristine state in the eastern third of America. Lexington, Cinci, Columbus, Pittsburgh, Washington-Baltimore, Richmond form a ring around the state. Sure it has some ugly industry in *parts* of the state like many of it's state peers do, but it also has great river cities, college towns with good bones. A simple glance of google maps satellite imagery and it's the greenest continuous forested blob and the least populated in the eastern half of the nation with the exception of Maine.

Pittsburgh is 28 miles east of the WV border and 55 miles north of Morgantown.
Baltimore 60 miles
Washington 46 miles
Dulles is 24 miles.
Charlottesville 55 miles
Cinci 115 miles


share-america

[Ant131531]

Originally Posted by mhays

The article (at least the snippet) misses a huge point. This is marketing. And look, it's getting attention.

Marketing PLUS a good chunk of incentive money? That can go a long way.

One person asked whether someone would uproot their lives for this. That's also missing the point. They don't have to get anyone with deep roots. A lot of people can move easily and might already be considering it. Getting a larger chunk of that could go a long way.

States are doing this because they think it'll help their economies, and they could be right. One good salary can be a multiplier on steroids. Even direct tax collections (before multiplier) might pay the $12,000 in short order.

Corporations still have to move to West Virginia to provide those decent salaries and why would they choose that state over say... Ohio or PA or even KY?

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by pj3000

I definitely don’t want a bunch of DC fucknuts crowding the WV wilderness areas.

And you’re definitely not taking the train to visit the New River Gorge area

If you want easy rail access to Appalachian hiking, Metro North has a stop called Appalachian Trail that's about 90 minutes from Grand Central, and which is basically set up for hikers/campers. It's directly on the Appalachian Trail.

But yeah, more access means more crowds.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by Camelback

West Virginia is 24,000 square miles! There's a lot more there than lopped-off hillsides, poisoned rivers and bombed-out towns and the like.

Of course no state has uniform characteristics statewide, but yeah, WV is absolutely characterized by lopped-off hillsides, poisoned rivers/air and bombed-out towns.

No state has been as denuded from mining as WV. No state has had massive water quality issues as WV (entire metros had no drinking water a few years ago). WV has some of the worst air quality in the U.S., and Charleston and Parkersburg (two of the largest cities) have epic poisoned air/water. Watch the film Dark Waters, which is based on Dupont's insane poisoning of WV over decades. I wouldn't allow my child to stay in such a town for even a week, given the air quality from chemical plants. I'd be concerned about drinking from any municipal water system, statewide.

And WV's population is smaller than in the Great Depression. No state has been as hollowed-out, so there are bombed-out towns everywhere.

Of course that doesn't mean there aren't pristine corners and quaint towns. New River Gorge looks amazing, and the eastern mountain sections look pretty wild. But WV will have difficulty marketing itself as "natural" when there are so many unnatural incursions. Many people I know won't hike/camp in PA given the fracking destruction, but WV is like 100x less regulated.

[themaguffin]

West Virginia has a lot of problems and it would be challenging with smart politicians. Unfortunately, it has typical rural, corrupt conservatives ruling the state and letting it get raped behind the scenes, while publicly, it pukes the culture war, owning the libs and even the occasional insurrectionist.

Morgantown doesn't need this. The eastern panhandle is already growing and expensive due to DC.

The state does need new blood and ideas.

[harryc]

Originally Posted by Crawford

...snip...

Of course that doesn't mean there aren't pristine corners and quaint towns. New River Gorge looks amazing, and the eastern mountain sections look pretty wild. But WV will have difficulty marketing itself as "natural" when there are so many unnatural incursions. Many people I know won't hike/camp in PA given the fracking destruction, but WV is like 100x less regulated.

Haven't seen the "destruction" in Pa, but in WV it has a very small footprint.



This used to be a meadow, still on a rutted road in the middle of land so wild all it is good for is "growing deer". The fields, ponds, and valleys on the way up were spectacular. The income is not insignificant.

[TexasPlaya]

Originally Posted by Crawford

Of course no state has uniform characteristics statewide, but yeah, WV is absolutely characterized by lopped-off hillsides, poisoned rivers/air and bombed-out towns.

No state has been as denuded from mining as WV. No state has had massive water quality issues as WV (entire metros had no drinking water a few years ago). WV has some of the worst air quality in the U.S., and Charleston and Parkersburg (two of the largest cities) have epic poisoned air/water. Watch the film Dark Waters, which is based on Dupont's insane poisoning of WV over decades. I wouldn't allow my child to stay in such a town for even a week, given the air quality from chemical plants. I'd be concerned about drinking from any municipal water system, statewide.

And WV's population is smaller than in the Great Depression. No state has been as hollowed-out, so there are bombed-out towns everywhere.

Of course that doesn't mean there aren't pristine corners and quaint towns. New River Gorge looks amazing, and the eastern mountain sections look pretty wild. But WV will have difficulty marketing itself as "natural" when there are so many unnatural incursions. Many people I know won't hike/camp in PA given the fracking destruction, but WV is like 100x less regulated.

Really going in on the hyperbole.

[Buckeye Native 001]

My gf has family in Huntington and Beckley. Two of the biggest problems she encounters whenever she goes back are access (either spend a fortune flying into Charleston or Huntington, or drive three hours from Columbus or Cincinnati) and a distrust of outsiders, particularly around Beckley and Logan. Best described as kind of a "you ain't from around here, are ya? Why are you here?" vibe.

[Camelback]

Originally Posted by TexasPlaya

Really going in on the hyperbole.

I mean, for real!

All of that industry he speaks of was there for consumers in places like New York City, but let's take a dump on WV for having the resources to provide those products. It's the same thing as posting a picture of a copper strip mine in Arizona an oil field in Texas, a clear cut lumber operation in Oregon, a ship yard in New York, scorched Earth after a California wildfire, suburban destruction from an F5 Tornado in Missouri.

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by Buckeye Native 001

My gf has family in Huntington and Beckley. Two of the biggest problems she encounters whenever she goes back are access (either spend a fortune flying into Charleston or Huntington, or drive three hours from Columbus or Cincinnati) and a distrust of outsiders, particularly around Beckley and Logan. Best described as kind of a "you ain't from around here, are ya? Why are you here?" vibe.

Huntington certainly has its problems, drugs still being a major issue (though I've heard things have improved significantly), but being the hub of a decent-sized metro area, with a major river port and a university, gives it a certain level of economic health, oustide inflence, and vitality that you definitely don't see in places like Beckley.

Beckley is a nexus for a bunch of those southern WV coal towns in the area, and it has that attitude towards outsiders you mention... not just curiosity, but more suspicion and distrust, even though the area is filled with tourism and tons of travelers passsing through all summer and fall, seeing that it's right where I-77, US-19, and I-64 all converge. There's just an unwelcoming attitude and atmosphere there... and the type of place where 1/3 the guys at the restaurant have pistols holstered on their belts -- no exaggeration.

[Camelback]

Originally Posted by Crawford

And WV's population is smaller than in the Great Depression. No state has been as hollowed-out, so there are bombed-out towns everywhere.

Of course that doesn't mean there aren't pristine corners and quaint towns. New River Gorge looks amazing, and the eastern mountain sections look pretty wild. But WV will have difficulty marketing itself as "natural" when there are so many unnatural incursions. Many people I know won't hike/camp in PA given the fracking destruction, but WV is like 100x less regulated.

The WV population being smaller than the 1930s isn't a bad thing!

You should check out the YouTube Channel of West Virginia Tourism.

• Video Link

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by Crawford

If you want easy rail access to Appalachian hiking, Metro North has a stop called Appalachian Trail that's about 90 minutes from Grand Central, and which is basically set up for hikers/campers. It's directly on the Appalachian Trail.

But yeah, more access means more crowds.

Huh, I never knew about this.

[Centropolis]

patrician crawford may rest easy caesars calvary contains the mountain hordes at lexington

[Centropolis]

Originally Posted by Buckeye Native 001

My gf has family in Huntington and Beckley. Two of the biggest problems she encounters whenever she goes back are access (either spend a fortune flying into Charleston or Huntington, or drive three hours from Columbus or Cincinnati) and a distrust of outsiders, particularly around Beckley and Logan. Best described as kind of a "you ain't from around here, are ya? Why are you here?" vibe.

the eastern missouri lead mining ozarks has that a bit too. the western ozarks are more live and let live libertarian streak which i think is attractive to outsiders. theres more movement that way between the midwest and southern plains wheras the st francois mountains south of st. louis are more bounded.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by Centropolis

patrician crawford may rest easy caesars calvary contains the mountain hordes at lexington

I'd like to spend a few weeks exploring WV. It looks ridiculously atmospheric, everywhere.

But that doesn't mean it isn't an environmental catastrophe. I mean, municipal drinking water is kinda something we take for granted in the developed world. If you can't supply safe water, kinda silly trying to market to the creative class demo.

[Camelback]

Originally Posted by Crawford

If you want easy rail access to Appalachian hiking, Metro North has a stop called Appalachian Trail that's about 90 minutes from Grand Central, and which is basically set up for hikers/campers. It's directly on the Appalachian Trail.

But yeah, more access means more crowds.

"Easy rail access" to go hike somewhere in the mountains? If "easy" means taking a train for 1 hour 52 minutes each way, then ok.

Let's not forget about the part of walking, bussing, subwaying it to Grand Central station and the whole idea of carrying your hiking boots, backpack, tent, food, water, tarp. Then what are you going to do, hike from the train station? That is so very convenient.

Easy rail access, just spend 4 hours on the train while carrying all your stuff. Ahh, the mountain air is just so fresh!

[Centropolis]

Originally Posted by Crawford

I'd like to spend a few weeks exploring WV. It looks ridiculously atmospheric, everywhere.

But that doesn't mean it isn't an environmental catastrophe. I mean, municipal drinking water is kinda something we take for granted in the developed world. If you can't supply safe water, kinda silly trying to market to the creative class demo.

i’m an environmental consultant with experience remediating coal related impacts so i get it. we took a little trip last summer and my wife refused to go to west virginia unfortunately - we barely made it out of the bluegrass.