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  #21  
Old Posted Apr 16, 2021, 2:48 PM
iheartthed iheartthed is online now
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A one-bedroom apartment in Morgantown, for example, goes for $675 a month, compared with $2,155 a month in Washington, D.C., according to Zumper. A D.C. resident would already save more than $10,000 a year by moving there—and that’s before accounting for other cost-of-living expenses. Buying a house? The median home value in Morgantown is $222,000, according to Zillow, compared with $672,000 in Washington.
Morgantown has gotta be the most expensive city in WV. I'm surprised by that median home price.

I've driven through WV a lot on I-77, but never actually visited. It looks like a very picturesque place from the interstate -- somewhat like New England from afar. But the few times I've actually stopped, it felt very much the hillbilly's elegy.

If WV really wants to get people and money in there, they should figure out how to expand their tourism industry.
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  #22  
Old Posted Apr 16, 2021, 2:49 PM
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I’ve said it numerous times on here, but it bears repeating given the topic. WV is far from monolithic, in terms of terrain, environmental degradation, culture, affluence, etc.

Northern WV is rustbelt... no different than SW PA and SE OH. Central WV is largely rural with pristine wilderness, state parks, and small towns, often with colleges, and a rather liberal, artsy and outdoorsy recreation atmosphere. Southern WV is coal-ravaged hillbilly, ultra conservative decay. Eastern WV is much like outer DC “suburbs” of Maryland and Virginia.
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  #23  
Old Posted Apr 16, 2021, 3:00 PM
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Originally Posted by Don't Be That Guy View Post
This is occurring in some West Virginia towns like Davis, Thomas, Buckhannon, Shepherdstown, Fayetteville, Lewisburg. But these are very small places with good bones that weren't decimated by the coal industry. They either have to more unspoiled scenery, easy access to the DC metro, or already had some money. But it's not enough of a mass to make a huge difference across the state. Those towns are quite nice and I could see enjoying a second home in any of them.

But no one with means is moving to Clarksburg, Weirton, or Welch just because they are cheap. And no knock on Morgantown, it's not a bad place, but I just don't see the incentive to live there beyond a job at WVU or hospital system, which is pretty good by the way. Morgantown has horrendous traffic for a city of its size and the infrastructure to handle the growth that they have experienced is garbage tier.

That said, I wonder what West Virginia would have been or could be if its politics were more like Colorado or Vermont?
Hey I resemble that remark-

Clarksburg WV
Nice park installation
Clarksburg WV by Harry Carmichael, on Flickr

With many of the buildings we get all upset about when the tear them down in Chicago.
Clarksburg West Virginia by Harry Carmichael, on Flickr

Clarksburg West Virginia by Harry Carmichael, on Flickr
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  #24  
Old Posted Apr 16, 2021, 3:02 PM
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Originally Posted by Centropolis View Post
i think it would indeed make more sense as a state if it had pittsburgh as its metropolis. i mean even kentucky has louisville.
yeah, WV is kinda like Mississippi in that it never developed its own anchor major metropolitan area, much to the economic detriment of the state overall.
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  #25  
Old Posted Apr 16, 2021, 3:10 PM
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Interesting that this seems to be about Morgantown hoping to attract DC people. That's an... odd combo.

1. Morgantown is one of West Virginia's healthiest cities. It's a university town. Plenty going on. It's pretty nice. The PRT isn't really PRT, but more like an ultra-light elevated Metro. I have a few pictures, if anybody wants.

2. Morgantown is much more of a Pittsburgh satellite than DC satellite. It's not really on DC people's radar.

3. There are satellites of DC in West Virginia. Martinsburg and Charles Town are within the CSA if not MSA. Maybe they don't want the growth, IDK.
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  #26  
Old Posted Apr 16, 2021, 3:18 PM
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Originally Posted by iheartthed View Post
Morgantown has gotta be the most expensive city in WV. I'm surprised by that median home price.

I've driven through WV a lot on I-77, but never actually visited. It looks like a very picturesque place from the interstate -- somewhat like New England from afar. But the few times I've actually stopped, it felt very much the hillbilly's elegy.

If WV really wants to get people and money in there, they should figure out how to expand their tourism industry.
I would think the Martinsburg/Charles Town area would be the most expensive, since it's being swallowed up by DC exurbia.
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  #27  
Old Posted Apr 16, 2021, 3:19 PM
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Originally Posted by Steely Dan View Post
yeah, WV is kinda like Mississippi in that it never developed its own anchor major metropolitan area, much to the economic detriment of the state overall.
Right. And much of that had to do with how fractured and different from each other its regions are, as I mentioned above.

The terrain is just nuts... it separates and isolates... and no major metro area could ever coalesce. Mainly, early on, because there’s no major river system running through the state.
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  #28  
Old Posted Apr 16, 2021, 4:15 PM
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Anyone ever been to Williamson?
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Wi...!4d-82.2773629

Now that place is crazy. Like the only flat piece of land in a 50 mile radius. Lots of people driving ATVs as primary vehicles.
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  #29  
Old Posted Apr 16, 2021, 4:28 PM
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I was going to dump on this idea but then I actually looked at Morgantown. It looks kind of nice! I still wouldn't move there for ten grand, but it's not like they're throwing money away getting people to live somewhere they'll never want to stay. Hell, it has me aware of Morgantown WV for the first time in my life.

They have a real-live PRT system from 1975. That's some Logan's Run shit.

I've been fascinated with Morgantown ever since I first heard about the PRT a couple years ago. Seems like an otherwise nice enough, healthy little college city.


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  #30  
Old Posted Apr 16, 2021, 4:40 PM
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Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin View Post
I've been fascinated with Morgantown ever since I first heard about the PRT a couple years ago. Seems like an otherwise nice enough, healthy little college city.
Morgantown and other cities in the northern and eastern parts of the state are considered "West Virginia-ish" by anyone from the southern half of the state.

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  #31  
Old Posted Apr 16, 2021, 5:44 PM
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Wheeling, Morgantown, etc are not really comparable to the rest of WV. They might as well be part of Pennsylvania as they share a more common history with industry and ethnicities as Pittsburgh. WV doesnt start to feel like WV until you get down about 30 miles south of Morgantown and thats about where the accents start to change.

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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.
That is utterly false. The only part of WV that is destroyed by coal mining is the southwestern part of the state and unless you are in a plane, you cant see it from the roads. Most of WV is wilderness or at least hardly populated. I go to WV about twice a month, going down there this weekend to go camping. I would move to Wheeling. Its only an hour from Pittsburgh and the rent is about half of what it costs here.
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  #32  
Old Posted Apr 16, 2021, 6:01 PM
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Originally Posted by photoLith View Post
Wheeling, Morgantown, etc are not really comparable to the rest of WV. They might as well be part of Pennsylvania as they share a more common history with industry and ethnicities as Pittsburgh. WV doesnt start to feel like WV until you get down about 30 miles south of Morgantown and thats about where the accents start to change.

...


That is utterly false. The only part of WV that is destroyed by coal mining is the southwestern part of the state and unless you are in a plane, you cant see it from the roads. Most of WV is wilderness or at least hardly populated. I go to WV about twice a month, going down there this weekend to go camping. I would move to Wheeling. Its only an hour from Pittsburgh and the rent is about half of what it costs here.
Exactly, echoes what I said earlier... WV is very much a "transition zone" state, with elements of the east coast/MD/VA/SE PA, rustbelt, midwest, and south. And definitely has some of the most pristine wilderness areas in the eastern US. The wilderness areas in the national and state forests running down the eastern part of the state are some of the more remote areas one can find in the east... there's not even many roads.


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Originally Posted by pj3000 View Post
I’ve said it numerous times on here, but it bears repeating given the topic. WV is far from monolithic, in terms of terrain, environmental degradation, culture, affluence, etc.

Northern WV is rustbelt... no different than SW PA and SE OH. Central WV is largely rural with pristine wilderness, state parks, and small towns, often with colleges, and a rather liberal, artsy and outdoorsy recreation atmosphere. Southern WV is coal-ravaged hillbilly, ultra conservative decay. Eastern WV is much like outer DC “suburbs” of Maryland and Virginia.
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  #33  
Old Posted Apr 16, 2021, 6:33 PM
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Originally Posted by Cirrus View Post
Interesting that this seems to be about Morgantown hoping to attract DC people. That's an... odd combo.

1. Morgantown is one of West Virginia's healthiest cities. It's a university town. Plenty going on. It's pretty nice. The PRT isn't really PRT, but more like an ultra-light elevated Metro. I have a few pictures, if anybody wants.

2. Morgantown is much more of a Pittsburgh satellite than DC satellite. It's not really on DC people's radar.

3. There are satellites of DC in West Virginia. Martinsburg and Charles Town are within the CSA if not MSA. Maybe they don't want the growth, IDK.
Interestingly, if you pull up the Wikipedia page for PRT Morgantown's is one of two photos used as an example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_rapid_transit


EDIT: There's a pretty sweet timelapse video of riding the PRT here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgan..._Rapid_Transit
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Last edited by Austinlee; Apr 16, 2021 at 6:44 PM.
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  #34  
Old Posted Apr 16, 2021, 6:34 PM
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I'd also argue Parkersburg doesn't really feel part of "core WV" even though it's pretty far to the south. It's the furthest removed part of the "transitional rust belt zone."
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  #35  
Old Posted Apr 16, 2021, 7:44 PM
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I'd also argue Parkersburg doesn't really feel part of "core WV" even though it's pretty far to the south. It's the furthest removed part of the "transitional rust belt zone."
Yeah, that whole Parkersburg-Marietta area along the Ohio... to me, it feels much more Ohio-Ohio Valley than it feels like WV. That area was a rather wealthy hub for transportation, and the oil industry wealth is evident. Looks a lot different than coal or steel towns of WV.
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  #36  
Old Posted Apr 16, 2021, 7:57 PM
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Originally Posted by Centropolis View Post
the west virginia northern panhandle is a bizarre artifact, but i guess no stranger than the fact that west virginia exists at all. it feels more like a vestigial limb of a state than a state in its own right.

i think it would indeed make more sense as a state if it had pittsburgh as its metropolis. i mean even kentucky has louisville.
As a matter of fact, West Virginia and the contiguous parts of Maryland and Virginia have some charming pre-Revolutionary War towns that I wouldn't at all mind living in when I was a bit younger if I didn't need to live closer to a city for work.

Martinsburg W. VA



Note the railroad "roundhouse" on the far right of the photo. These are a fascinating thing for rail fans.



"Downtown" Martinsburg







Images: https://www.google.com/search?rls=en...gTkpC1aj_OgDeM
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  #37  
Old Posted Apr 16, 2021, 7:59 PM
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Originally Posted by eschaton View Post
I'd also argue Parkersburg doesn't really feel part of "core WV" even though it's pretty far to the south. It's the furthest removed part of the "transitional rust belt zone."
You seems to be saying it has to be ugly, partly abandoned and rusting to be "core WV". I disagree.
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  #38  
Old Posted Apr 16, 2021, 8:00 PM
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Originally Posted by pj3000 View Post
Yeah, that whole Parkersburg-Marietta area along the Ohio... to me, it feels much more Ohio-Ohio Valley than it feels like WV. That area was a rather wealthy hub for transportation, and the oil industry wealth is evident. Looks a lot different than coal or steel towns of WV.
Why didn't a large metropolitan area evolve along the Ohio River at Parkersburg? It could have been West Virginia's Cincinnati or something.
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  #39  
Old Posted Apr 16, 2021, 8:04 PM
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Here are some West Virginia cities (city proper) by median property value and 1-year change in value:
  • Beckley: $111,800 (-2.2%) [a good natural base, given New River Gorge National Park is right there]
  • Berkeley Springs: $156,300 (+4.2%)
  • Bluefield: $84,900 (+10.8%)
  • Bolivar: $188,700 (+7.8%) [Harpers Ferry cousin]
  • Charles Town: $237,800 (+2.5%)
  • Charleston: $145,300 (-3%)
  • Clarksburg: $86,000 (+3.5%)
  • Cross Lanes: $139,800 (+2.7%)
  • Fairmont: $108,900 (+0.4%)
  • Harpers Ferry: $324,500 (+4.9%)
  • Hinton: $74,500 (+11.7%) [surrounded by New River Gorge National Park]
  • Huntington: $97,100 (+2%)
  • Morgantown: $198,300 (+8.7%)
  • Parkersburg: $89,900 (+2.6%)
  • Saint Albans: $114,800 (+2.6%)
  • Shepherdstown: $334,400 (+4.5%) [lots of Feds live here]
  • South Charleston: $133,100 (+11.8%)
  • Summersville: $131,800 (+15.1%)
  • Teays Valley: $222,400 (+3.1%)
  • Vienna: $129,200 (+1.9%)
  • Weirton: $94,900 (+3.7%)
  • Wheeling: $107,700 (+3.3%)
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  #40  
Old Posted Apr 16, 2021, 8:08 PM
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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.
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