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I routinely try to make a point to stay in the Morgantown/Fairmont area up and down the I-79 corridor because we always have good experiences and it feels good.
I'm becoming somewhat intrigued with WV as being a potential relocation/escape destination to move my family to. It seems like it would be a really good area to raise a family based on my limited experience.
I have a whole bunch of questions and I'm very random so please excuse many things that have already been asked or covered before.
How are the local public schools? What do I need to know or consider in looking where to move to, any town or areas better than others?
How does the climate compare to the rest of WV? from what I've read it's probably warmer than southern central WV because it's lower in elevation?
What is the political climate like locally in towns and state wide? I'm not looking to make a new mistake going to an area I will regret.
Other than WVU how is the rest of the professional job market?
In my perfect scenario I could find a 2 acre lot in a subdivision full of other families on their own 2 acre lots in a beautiful location with lots of things to do outside where people live like it's 1995 and everyone is friendly and gets along and leaves each other alone besides being good friends and neighbors.
I would potentially be interested in the religious and local youth sports and activities scene too.
I fully admit I'm rambling but I'm looking for my families utopia. I thought it was TN and I love TN and the Carolinas but I'm really wondering if perhaps WV is the perfect state for me. If it matters I live in western NY (I'm exactly 4 hours down 79 from Morgantown) back to home and family so that's perfect. I'm looking for a more mild climate with better springs, falls and Winter and not constantly be at risk of 10 degrees and 2 feet of lake effect snow. I understand WV gets snow and that's good I like and want that. I want a 4 season climate but not as severe of winters that I'm used to. I want the climate I have now but with summers an average of 5 degrees warmer and the other seasons 5-10 degrees warmer and it seems like WV fits the bill. Also Without completely derailing the thread I'm looking for an area with lower population density that has a mild climate, (that likely won't be heavily affected by climate change whether you believe man caused climate change or not my personal opinion is the climate is changing and there are more extremes now and again WV seems to offer a great balance. (I also am somewhat into prepping and think WV having a strong engrained culture of self sufficiency and ruggedness is awesome.) Politically if it matters I'm somewhere on the traditional conservative, blue collar dem, libertarian party.
My job relocated me from North Carolina to Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh area) a couple of years ago, and leaving Pennsylvania for Morgantown (US-43 / Cheat Lake) has been the greatest decision we've made in a while. It is unbelievable how much better Morgantown/Bridgeport is in comparison to literally ANYTHING in Pennsylvania (at least West of State College) outside of the very few and rare hot Pittsburgh suburbs that each have issues of their own.
Monongalia County has the best schools in West Virginia and are nationally rated, with 2 of the county's 3 high schools being within the top 5 best high schools in the state (#3 and #5). I am not very familiar with public schools in Morgantown, although I hear very good things about them, my kids go to a private school in Morgantown which is supposedly one of the highest rated in the state, and we've had good experiences with it.
From my understanding, Morgantown is doing extremely well economically from a national standpoint, everyone, and I mean EVERYONE I know in Morgantown has a VERY GOOD career, although statistically the majority of people in Monongalia County are either poor or upper middle class / wealthy with a slimmer middle class (High poverty rate combined with an extremely high median household income) - which is probably attributed to the high cost of living and college students. The largest industries here are Health Care followed by Higher Education, however the economy in the Morgantown/Bridgeport area is extremely diverse and well rounded, leading in other industries such as aerospace, finance, biomedicine, technology, and logistics.
Coming from Alabama, I find the weather in WV/PA to be extremely cold during the Winters, but bearable - I think coming from NY you might find it to be relatively mild, as I have yet to see 2 feet of snow and maybe once or twice have I seen temperatures dip below 10 degrees.
The overall majority of "Morgantown" lives outside of city limits, which creates a very partisan local government. The actual city council of Morgantown is very liberal and represent a "somewhat" liberal constituency, while the county is extremely conservative. The county has routinely voted conservative at the national level, although Monongalia has consistently voted for Joe Manchin. Most people would consider the Morgantown to be the most liberal part of the state, although as someone who has lived in the Deep South, I strongly disagree, and don't consider most "Right-Wing Southern West Virginians" true conservatives as opposed to the Morgantown transplants whom share more conservative ideologies regarding fiscal and social policies than probably someone in McDowell County whom would vote for things like expanded social spending.
There are a lot of churches in Morgantown/Bridgeport, including a couple new ones that have recently opened in the area.
Morgantown is great, although I think you'd have trouble finding somewhere in America with worse roads.
I can't speak much on Fairmont, although I do know that it is significantly cheaper than Morgantown. Bridgeport is also very nice and is similar to Morgantown, but with much better roads and more wealth.
Grew up in SWPA and have a career there, but live in Morgantown. Morgantown and the general Cheat Lake area along with most of Mon County is a great place. WV is such a beautiful state with all sorts of good things, but the general poverty and problems from a literal half-century plus of rapid decline within the area is such a thing...it's bad in SWPA/SW OH/WV and don't let anybody say it otherwise.
But Morgantown doesn't really have that type of stigma or problem like all points surrounding...it's a little bubble of success and the focal point of where to be within the region based on an awful lot of factors pertaining to the rustbelt story. Morgantown isn't anything special on a nation-wide scale, as it's really just like so many similar college towns, but regionally is a whole different story. It's nice for what it is and there's potential...schools/education/etc is not an issue and the university helps with that sort of cultural appreciation. I don't like saying this, but yes, people around here are just way more well-rounded and "with it" as far as awareness, success, and life goes versus the surrounding tri-state area's communities.
When I moved here about a decade ago, Morgantown was on a big upswing and very much gaining national notoriety...a lot of the "plans" never happened though or were slowed due to other circumstances, and after a bit of a COVID decline and some things falling apart to be frank, the growth snd projection are perking up again.
It's 100% worth considering your plan, and I do love it here. We're not going to ever be an Asheville NC...but if you want a Stillwater/State College/Charlottesville/etc type of large/growing college town in a rural state with a nice sort of "off the grid but supposed to eventually become a thing and started down that road" projection, it's right there for you. It's a good fit for somebody wanting a bit of the "it places" as far as perks go, but still not exactly there yet as far as things go.
The Fairmont-ish through Morgantown corridor is very much WV's saving grace right now...
Last edited by TelecasterBlues; 07-15-2022 at 12:49 AM..
Any particular area of the county that sends their kids to the better public schools? What should I be considering when I look at locations
Really anything in the county is very good, the schools in the very western portion of the county are not as well regarded as everything else in the county, but outside of that, all of the other schools are highly rated.
I agree with most of what the previous poster said, although I strongly disagree with Morgantown being the "saving grace of WV". The Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia is doing exponentially better than Morgantown, followed by Bridgeport. Then Morgantown.
Bridgeport is growing 5x faster than Morgantown and has significantly better infrastructure. I think the Aerotech Business Park in Bridgeport will further exasperate the area over Morgantown, although apparently WVU economists disagree.
Really anything in the county is very good, the schools in the very western portion of the county are not as well regarded as everything else in the county, but outside of that, all of the other schools are highly rated.
I agree with most of what the previous poster said, although I strongly disagree with Morgantown being the "saving grace of WV". The Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia is doing exponentially better than Morgantown, followed by Bridgeport. Then Morgantown.
Bridgeport is growing 5x faster than Morgantown and has significantly better infrastructure. I think the Aerotech Business Park in Bridgeport will further exasperate the area over Morgantown, although apparently WVU economists disagree.
So if I'm looking in the Morgantown area stay east of 79?
What schools should I be looking for?
Tell me a little about Bridgeport I don't know much but you make it seem like it's got something good going on
So if I'm looking in the Morgantown area stay east of 79?
What schools should I be looking for?
Tell me a little about Bridgeport I don't know much but you make it seem like it's got something good going on
Really anywhere is good, I don't think there is a specific area in the county where schools are SIGNIFICANTLY better than the other, with the exception of 'maybe' western Mon county, which even then, the schools aren't terrible. According to USNEWS, 2 of the 3 best elementary schools in Mon County are within Morgantown city limits - North Elementary School (North Hills) and Suncrest Elementary School. The #3 elementary school is in Cheat Lake, which is my personal favorite area in the Morgantown area.
The Suncrest area, which is around Collins Ferry Rd in Morgantown east of the Mon River and includes Star City will feed into the #1 highest rated elementary, middle, and high school in the county.
Bridgeport is often referred to as the "Best city in West Virginia" due to its economy, location, infrastructure, and growth. It is one of the wealthiest city in West Virginia by household income and has the highest median home values in the state. Bridgeport also has the highest population growth of any (incorporated) city in the state outside of the Eastern Panhandle, growing at over 14% over the last 10 years, with growth rates trending upwards. Bridgeport also has a very low poverty rate (4.8%), and all school within the city are highly rated.
Bridgeport is home to a surprisingly very large and modern hospital, FBI data center, and numerous aeronautical companies, which is an industry that is expected to see major growth very soon with investments being made in the North Central WV Airport.
The area is home to a lot of good shopping and restaurants, and the Meadowbrook area as well as Emily Drive is seeing a lot of commercial growth. Charles Pointe is a very well-planned and growing development.
Lots of new neighborhoods in the area, and I foresee it to have a very good future, it is essentially a better planned, more suburbanized, non college-town and newer version of Morgantown.
Across from I-79 is Clarksburg, which is quite rough.
Last edited by Archer705; 07-22-2022 at 06:24 PM..
Seems like a lot of good info here, but I’m wondering if anyone had anything to add since the last post. My husband and I have been researching different areas of the US on and off but recently, we’ve decided that we are ready to leave Chicago and move east. We are looking for a smaller city or town that has a decent amount of walkable areas or with very minimal traffic (we both have anxiety when it comes to driving in high-traffic areas) so that if we do have to drive, traffic is very minimal.
We’d also like a milder climate than Chicago but still love having 4 seasons (or close to it). Morgantown is on our radar but now it sounds like Fairmont and Bridgeport should also be considerations. I’ve been watching a lot of YouTube videos on WV and aside from the gorgeous landscape, there seems to be potential. We do want to visit soon so we can get a better idea.
Last edited by Ms_Rae; 04-26-2023 at 10:01 AM..
Reason: Spelling
Seems like a lot of good info here, but I’m wondering if anyone had anything to add since the last post. My husband and I have been researching different areas of the US on and off but recently, we’ve decided that we are ready to leave Chicago and move east. We are looking for a smaller city or town that has a decent amount of walkable areas or with very minimal traffic (we both have anxiety when it comes to driving in high-traffic areas) so that if we do have to drive, traffic is very minimal.
We’d also like a milder climate than Chicago but still love having 4 seasons (or close to it). Morgantown is on our radar but now it sounds like Fairmont and Bridgeport should also be considerations. I’ve been watching a lot of YouTube videos on WV and aside from the gorgeous landscape, there seems to be potential. We do want to visit soon so we can get a better idea.
Morgantown as a whole is definitely the more walkable of the two, although the few areas with walkability in Bridgeport are objectively nicer. "Morgantown's" growth is sprawling outwards, so the most vibrant areas are roughly 20+ minutes away. Downtown Morgantown is home to a small handful of luxury condos, and is surrounded by very old neighborhoods (some maintained, some neglected) built at a 65 degree angle that each have OK to good parks, sidewalks, trails, and "bike lanes". Bridgeport on the other hand, is home to newly developed master-planned communities equipped with both single and multi-family housing, hospitality stays, retail options, and office space. In addition, Bridgeport's growing core is home to a handful of housing developments that are surrounded by a small handful of thriving local businesses and well maintained roads.
All-in-all the better option is whichever you'd prefer. Morgantown definitely has more city traffic, that is definitely on-par with urban Pittsburgh, however it is not unbearable. Unfortunately, Downtown Morgantown has a LOT of truck traffic going through it, so the roads are always in poor condition, and during the first part of the day, it is extremely loud beyond measure.
Personally speaking, for sprawling suburban regions- I would choose "Morgantown", however, for walkable areas with a nice "towny" atmosphere offering a hometown feel and more vibrancy, Bridgeport is definitely the way to go. Also, Bridgeport is a much better maintained and well-managed city by comparison, so it's increase in development speaks for itself.
All three (Fairmont included) have major billion-dollar developments ongoing that will rapidly shape the entire region.
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