West Virginia. Good place to live?

[FeistyKat]

We've been talking about moving out of Kalifornia as a family. Or at least as many kids & spouses/partners as possible.

Texas is our planned destination, but our daughter brought up West Virgina as a destination, because it's cheaper. And it has 4 seasons.

I've only been to West Virginia twice, driving through once & we stayed a few nights another time. I know it's pretty & we'd never do without food. There were deer grazing on the side of the highway and roadkill everywhere.

But what's it like as a place to live?

Is there a lot of poverty?

Lot of snow? My wife says she refuses to shovel snow, so hopefully Texas will prevail.

I much prefer the sunbelt.

[Sharp Guy]

Don't know about WV other than it's pretty. I'm sure it's nice and probably just enough snow to make it nice. I'm from the Chicago area and I've seen my share of snow. I miss it a tiny bit at the beginning of each Winter but that's short-lived. I definitely don't miss the frigid cold

Where in Texas are you considering? I've been here 7 years and I'm happy. Where I'm at isn't the most scenic place but it's a nice place to live

[FeistyKat]

Where in Texas are you considering? I've been here 7 years and I'm happy. Where I'm at isn't the most scenic place but it's a nice place to live

Somewhere off I10 between Junction and San Anton, preferably more towards Junction.

Where do you live?

[Doc Dan]

I'm not sure about WV. I've been there, but never lived there. Huntsville, AL is the #1 most liveable city in the USA. It has high tech, a good university, great parks, mountains, a river, a lake, and a lot of wonderful stuff. Just leave CA values behind.

TX is a good choice, too. I like TX quite a lot. I've got family there. There are good universities, lakes, ocean, lots of stuff.

[yablanowitz]

Texas does have 4 seasons. There's December, January, February and Summer.

Just a thought, but when you say a place is "cheaper", is that just the prices or the wages as well? When I hear people talking about how things were so much cheaper "back home" and ask them why they came here, it was for the higher wages. You make a higher wage here because the cost of living is higher. You may not be gaining any ground.

[TomAiello]

I've never lived in WV, but I've visited often. I'm not sure how living there would be, but if you're just looking to get away from the rush and have family close, it seems pretty nice. I'm not sure about jobs and such, though.

If you aren't willing to live in snow I'd recommend Texas. If you're ok with sub freezing temperatures, your options open up a lot in the mountain west. Just be aware that if you come to Idaho, there is a minimum required count of both knives and firearms for new immigrants. If you come up short you'll be required to either fill up your quota or be sent back to California.


To echo Doc Dan, I actually really liked Alabama (we lived there for a couple years just after we got married, while my wife finished up at UAB). Huntsville is nice, and there are lots of good part of the Birmingham metro area (and some to avoid) as well.

Have you looked at Kentucky? Or is that too cold? One of my friends in Orange County (California) bought a couple hundred acres in Kentucky to retire to, and it's absolutely beautiful. Forest, rolling hills, creeks, he even has a couple waterfalls.

[Sharp Guy]

Where in Texas are you considering? I've been here 7 years and I'm happy. Where I'm at isn't the most scenic place but it's a nice place to live

Somewhere off I10 between Junction and San Anton, preferably more towards Junction.

Where do you live?

I'm in Flower Mound, TX (just north of DFW airport). It's a nice community, very similar to where I was living in N. IL but with much easier Winters

[JD Spydo]

You might want to check out the great state of Missouri. I've lived here in Missouri most of my life and the older I get the more I like the place. We've got the Ozark mountain region close by as well as The Mark Twain National Forest and several other nice vacation spots throughout the state. If you like city life I can personally attest that Kansas City, MO has about anything you would want in an urban area.

From where I'm living I can drive 20 minutes in almost any direction to find good fishing and recreation spots. Now I would bet that real estate in West Virginia might be cheaper than Missouri. But I guess that would boil down to what you would ultimately want in a place to live. As far as a rural state goes I would also take a look at the mountainous northern part of Arkansas.

[benben]

Never lived in or even visited WV so I’m no help there. I live in NC and love it, but of all the states I’ve visited that could make me leave NC, it’d probably be Tennessee!

[jpm2]

Texas does have 4 seasons. There's December, January, February and Summer.

Haha, pretty close.

[MacLaren]

Never lived in or even visited WV so I’m no help there. I live in NC and love it, but of all the states I’ve visited that could make me leave NC, it’d probably be Tennessee!

Hear Hear!!!
It's so hard to beat Tennessee.....

[MacLaren]

As far as West Virginia goes, a lot depends upon what area of the State you wanna live in.
That being said, make sure (& this goes for anywhere really) check the quality of the water.
Some parts of West Virginia, the water smells like rotten eggs and & you can't see thru a glass of it.
I can't remember if it was limestone or sulfer or what the helll ever it was but, it was freakin awful
This was in Southwest, West Virginia super close to the Virginia State line.
Good H20 is worth its weight in gold imo
& I'm extremely fortunate to have it where I live.
I reckon that's why I brought the water situation up to begin with.....it's so nice to have a well or spring and just drink from the spigot or faucet or garden hose or whatever lol.....

[JRinFL]

As far as West Virginia goes, a lot depends upon what area of the State you wanna live in.
That being said, make sure (& this goes for anywhere really) check the quality of the water.
Some parts of West Virginia, the water smells like rotten eggs and & you can't see thru a glass of it.
I can't remember if it was limestone or sulfer or what the helll ever it was but, it was freakin awful
This was in Southwest, West Virginia super close to the Virginia State line.
Good H20 is worth its weight in gold imo
& I'm extremely fortunate to have it where I live.
I reckon that's why I brought the water situation up to begin with.....it's so nice to have a well or spring and just drink from the spigot or faucet or garden hose or whatever lol.....

To echo Paul, check for good H20 and do not forget to check air quality and allergies. There are some places that are beautiful, but miserable to live in.

[Josh Crutchley]

We've been talking about moving out of Kalifornia as a family. Or at least as many kids & spouses/partners as possible.

Texas is our planned destination, but our daughter brought up West Virgina as a destination, because it's cheaper. And it has 4 seasons.

I've only been to West Virginia twice, driving through once & we stayed a few nights another time. I know it's pretty & we'd never do without food. There were deer grazing on the side of the highway and roadkill everywhere.

But what's it like as a place to live?

Is there a lot of poverty?

Lot of snow? My wife says she refuses to shovel snow, so hopefully Texas will prevail.

I much prefer the sunbelt.

I lived there for 13yrs before moving to Michigan. If you don't like snow I would avoid WV. In the eastern panhandle where I lived it wasn't uncommon to get 24" or more in a single storm. In the 09-10 winter we got 50"+ in one week.

[MacLaren]

As far as West Virginia goes, a lot depends upon what area of the State you wanna live in.
That being said, make sure (& this goes for anywhere really) check the quality of the water.
Some parts of West Virginia, the water smells like rotten eggs and & you can't see thru a glass of it.
I can't remember if it was limestone or sulfer or what the helll ever it was but, it was freakin awful
This was in Southwest, West Virginia super close to the Virginia State line.
Good H20 is worth its weight in gold imo
& I'm extremely fortunate to have it where I live.
I reckon that's why I brought the water situation up to begin with.....it's so nice to have a well or spring and just drink from the spigot or faucet or garden hose or whatever lol.....

To echo Paul, check for good H20 and do not forget to check air quality and allergies. There are some places that are beautiful, but miserable to live in.

+1. Due Diligence is what it's all about.

[Doc Dan]

I lived in San Antonio for a while a long time ago. I liked it and I've been in Houston, Galveston, Katy, and other places for a couple of weeks at a time. Texas is a great place to live and I've got family there. Huntsville is superb, as I said, but I liked Florida, when I lived there, too. Just stay away from Miami.

[Mrj]

It’s almost heaven. Greatest place in the world

[vivi]

I've got family there so I've visited often. I've also ridden through the entire state five times on a bicycle during different bicycle tours through the country.

I've gotten to see wildly different parts of the state, from small towns with populations under 800 with no gas stations, post offices or grocery stores, to Charleston, Beckley, Parkersburg etc.

It's a beautiful state that was probably jaw droppingly gorgeous before the strip mining operations moved in. Lots of elevation and beautiful trees and it's definitely got all the seasons.

The people are very friendly and down to earth. I've visited about half the US and WV have given me some of my most positive social interactions with strangers.

Some areas are very, very poor. Others have been hit hard by the opioid epidemic. While I feel safe throughout the state when I travel, if I were moving there I would take the time to research the high crime areas (seems to mostly be certain pockets on the outskirts of the bigger cities.) Granted I do this any time I move regardless of the state....

Most of the buildings are old. Something to think about if you're buying a house.

Cost of living is very low, but there are also fewer employment opportunities compared to states with greater population.

New Graham Knives is located on the southern tip of the state, and they're awesome. I stop by any time I'm in the state if I can.

There's no real distinctive cuisine and finding high quality ethnic foods can be tough even in the biggest cities, and you'll have zero options for good BBQ, sushi, texmex, pho, indian food etc. in most the state.

The state definitely gets snow, especially the northern parts, so if that's a deal breaker you'll want to look elsewhere. Doesn't get hit nearly as bad as the great lakes region or new england though.

One nice thing as far as the weather goes is there isn't much in the way of natual disasters. You're not in tornado alley, no hurricanes, blizzards are rare (2 notable ones in the last 50 years IIRC), etc.

It's a pretty religious state, which can be a pro or con depending on your view.

Lax gun & knife laws. I think around 7 years ago permitless concealed carry passed, and open carry has been legal for a while. If you're old enough to drink at a bar you can carry most types of knives witbout restriction.

All in all I have a pretty positive outlook on the state. I wouldn't mind living there myself one day.

[Naperville]

My 8yr old desktop system has a problem so my prepping files are not all available but I think that WV was one of the states to live in to survive SHTF!

There are few military bases and few nuclear reactors in the state...so there are few targets for an adversary.