So, tell me about West Virginia

In My Humble Opinion
1

Specifically Wheeling.
While I don’t have an interview - and I don’t know yet if I’m likely to get one - I have had contact with a potential employer.

Problem: I know almost nothing about West Virginia. I may have driven through a corner of the state once, but that’s it. I know that Wheeling is in the part that sticks up between OH and PA. Beyond that…

What is there to do? What is the rental market like? (There’s not been much on apartments.com or rent.com.) How hard do you get hit with state income tax?

If I were to become a contender for this job (and, again, I have no idea if that’s even realistic at this point), what would you tell me about WV that I’m not likely to find out somewhere else?

2

Well, get ready for more “inbred” type jokes than TN inspires. I’ve been to parts of WV, over the years, but not lived there, so I can only comment on the state as a tourist, but it’s quite lovely in spots, certainly looks similar to East TN with the mountains and such. However, a large portion of the state is pretty bad off, economically (if you remember, Pvt. Jessica Lynch and Lynde English are both from small towns there), so even if you land a decent job, you might have trouble finding another one which pays as well.

There are certainly worse places to live in the US.

3

Well, I don’t know much about Wheeling, but I can tell you about the mountains and the middle of no where.

West Virginia truly is a beautiful state. I’m a nature person and where my grandmother lived, my father’s old stomping grounds, has some breath taking scenery.

But it is almost another world. It’s true backwater. It is, at times, almost third world. West Virginia was really struck hard by some of the coal mines shutting down.

Wikipedia has a small article discussing Wheeling WV, so you might find some info there. According to it, it isn’t a big town, 31k people, so I suspect I can give you a fair image of the town, but let me caveat in that I never got up to Wheeling. I spent most of my time in a small town in the mountains and in Charleston.

They may be on the northern rim of “the south” but you can probably expect a lot of southern hospitality, also a strong Appalachian accent seems prominent around West Virginia. My dad’s been gone from the state for fourty years and still speaks with a recognizable WV twang.

I suspect you’ll find the town fairly back water, perhaps a mall, perhaps a Wal-Mart, maybe a four screen movie theatre. These are, for the most part, country folks. Lots of hunting, lots of trucks, (you’re in or near the mountains, everyone has them or SUVs).

One thing I also noticed was an unusual presence of older folks. I don’t know why, but my guess is they grew up there in the mines or somehow related to the mines and when they closed, they just never left.

As I said, I want to caveat this since I don’t know specifically about Wheeling, but from what I’ve seen of the southern half of WV, that’s my best guess as to what you’re facing.

I’ll ask my dad tomorrow if he knows anything about it, maybe he’s got something to add.

4

Ha! I had a longish post written up about my stepdad being from WV, and then on preview I see that ronincyberpunk (my brother) beat me to it. Anyway, he’s spent more time there than I have, so he’s better qualified to answer.

On the subject of older residents: I recall hearing about five years ago that WV has the highest median age of any state, due to all the baby-boomers who left to find jobs after high school but are now choosing to go back to the mountains to retire.

5

Wheeling? You may as well be asking about Pennsylvania.

No, really. Wheeling (and northern WV) in general may as well be a different state (especially if we’re comparing it to the southern coalfields). I don’t mean this in a bad way, I’m just saying there are a lot of cultural differences and such.

WV is basically 3 different states when you get down to it. The north, the metro areas of Huntington/Charleston, and the south. (I’ve lived in the metro area for almost 6 years; I’m a transplant from Kentucky.)

WV in general, though (yes I’m generalizing so TWYLALTR):

  1. Poor as dirt. I think we’re officially 50th in income now. Good jobs are VERY hard to come by. College graduates are flocking to North Carolina in droves. Property taxes are brutal. Houses are cheap, but you’ll pay out the nose every year for owning one.

  2. The people are great. Very much a WYSIWYG bunch. You don’t have to worry about ulterior motives because people here are pretty straightforward and say what they think. And dammit, they’re just flat out good people. They’ll still help a stranger change a flat tire. The one thing I’ve noticed about WVians, though, is they are typically pretty trusting – but abuse their trust or screw them over, though, and you will NEVER be trusted again, no matter what. People are bad to hold a grudge. There are grudges that have been going on for decades: not necessarily against people, but institutions.

There is a lot of residual stuff that’s hanging around from the coal mining days. Most people here have a family member that worked in the mines who was treated really bad so there’s a lot of mistrust of authority here. It’s a very anti-business atmosphere, much to our detriment. If it’s possible for an entire state to have low self-esteem, WV would qualify. I’ve noticed a very self-deprecating attitude among the natives. The rest of the country tells them they’re ignorant inbred hicks, and unfortunately they believe it.

  1. Tons and tons of old people. Per capita we’ve got Florida beat.

  2. There’s nothing “cultural” to do unless you’re in a city. Otherwise we’ve got strip joints and bars. For decent bookstores and shopping you’re gonna want to go to Charleston, Huntington or Beckley.

  3. Lotsa rivalry between the cities, especially Charleston and Huntington. Charleston’s the capital and doesn’t want any other city to have anything good that they don’t already have. They’ve been fighting tooth and nail for years to keep Huntington from getting a regional airport, for example. I’m not sure what Wheeling’s relationship is with Charleston. Wheeling is sort of seen as “up there” and not really relevant to the majority.

  4. Big rivalry between WVU and Marshall University. If you’re gonna live in Wheeling you might want to start bleeding blue and gold.

  5. The crime rate isn’t too bad. Drugs are kinda bad (oxycontin) but if you don’t look for them, they won’t look for you. Take reasonable precautions and you’re probably not going to have to worry about getting nabbed in a parking lot, etc. Your biggest worry, IMHO, would be a breakin in which some druggie is looking for stuff to steal. Plus terrorism isn’t much of a concern: if A-Q comes after WV, that means the other 49 states are already toast.

I think one of the reasons the crime rate is low is gun ownership. No, really. You just don’t know who is packing so it makes people think twice about messing with each other. Gun ownership is very, very high. We have concealed carry, too. There is no telling how many people I see on an average day that have a gun on them and I don’t even know it.

  1. The political scene in WV is weirder than owl shit. As I said in another thread tonight, you can have people who are strong conservatives who will vote straight ticket Democrat on election day. Tradition dictates how people will vote more than actual beliefs a lot of the time. WVians can be very, VERY VERY resistant to change and so it takes a LONG time for people to come around. The state is divided between people who want progress and are open to pretty much whatever will bring progress, and people who want progress BUT want it without changing the way things have always been done. So far most of the people running the state are the second type.

  2. Autumn in WV is as close to heaven on earth as you’re gonna get. It’s unbelievable. The climate is screwy. The mountains get snow, the coalfields get snow, but the metro area usually misses the big storms because the river puts a damper on it. Overall we get 4 seasons here. Wheeling probably gets a bit more winter than most of the rest of the state, though.

6

I was just in Wheeling two weekends ago. It was nice.

I admit, it’s a smallish town. But I liked it quite a bit.

Remember, too, that the panhandle in which Wheeling sits is about the width of your arms outstretched. If taxes and such in Wheeling are two much for you it’s perfectly possible to live in Ohio or Pennsylvania and commute to Wheeling.

7

Two weekends? Hah! I mock your travel. :wink:

I passed through Wheeling on Sunday, on my way back to Morgantown.

Most of the other folks said the good stuff - my understanding of the property taxes are that WV’s are lower than Pennsylvania, but that may vary by county. (I don’t know how they’re assessed, but was told while looking for houses in the Morgantown area that taking something over the border in PA would be much more expensive.)

Good scenery, low crime. Not much to do, culturally speaking - though if I recall correctly, Wheeling has a Symphony Orchestra. It was a few years ago the last time I heard them, so things may have changed.

You are near Pittsburgh there, if you have the urge for big-city shopping, or a major league sports game.

I can’t speak about the rental market there - my experience is with the Morgantown rental market, which I would guess is entirely different.

8

The Northern Panhandle of WV really isn’t too bad a place, and as most of the other posters mentioned, doesn’t really fit “the stereotype”.

One thing you’ll notice is plenty of gambling!!! Wheeling Island casino is right there in the middle of the city, and keno/slot parlors are liberally sprinkled throughout the state. If you like hockey, the Wheeling Nailers, the ECHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins, play in the Civic Center, and there’s also an Arena Football team in the city.

Jonathon was right…it’s only 10 miles either way to Ohio or PA. If you’re looking for rentals, though, it would be hard to find them on the PA side since that’s a very rural area of Washington County. The Ohio side is more populated, since St. Clairsville sits right there.

9

Don’t have much to add. We drove through there on our way from AR to NY, and it was breathtaking. Beautiful country. And WV has the nicest system of rest stops of any state that we’ve seen to date.

Of course, living in Arkansas, I’m really not in a position to bag on anyone else’s state.

Unless it’s Alabama.

10

I LOVE West Virginia! Take me home, country roads, to the place I belong!

I lived there for 5 years attending WVU. We explored the entire state on numerous weekend camping trips. It is SO. FREAKING. BEAUTIFUL. The people are just as nice as can be. The small towns are just charming. I tried very hard to stay in the state after graduation, but alas, there weren’t too many jobs.

Wheeling is nice, I have been there a few times. I would live there in a heartbeat if I had a job. Housing is cheap as shit as far as I remember, but then again the salaries might be too. I have friends who bought huge pieces of property with farmhouses for super cheap. And Wheeling isn’t too far from Morgantown, I LOVE that town!!

As far as people being hicks and rednecks, etc. Don’t listen to that…I have seen worse rednecks in Northern Virginia and Maryland. My ex-boyfriend’s whole family is from bum-fuck-nowhere WV and they are the nicest people you’ll ever meet and NOT backwater folk.

11

I loved WV (lived in Morgantown area for five years) but there really is not much to do. Also, as others have stated, we had to move out of WV because there were absolutely no jobs. (We went to NC)