[Skunkabilly]

Good? Bad? Ugly?

Any caveats like no CCW, double edged weapons, etc.?

***IF*** I do apply for this job out there, am I going to be the second AzN after Agony? :D

[Glock Glockler]

Skunk, why arent you trying to get a job in NH, it is the free state after all?:)

[telewinz]

WV is VERY pro-gun with liberal CCW.

[The Reaper]

Wild and Wonderful is the state motto.

Gun friendly. Lots of good twisty roads if you ride a bike (motorcycle that is).

I don't think you'll be the second AzN, maybe 100 or so, if students at State U count. :D

Just don't say nuttin' bad about Sen. Byrd. ;)

Whereabouts in WVa?

[Navy joe]

Well, as long as you know the state song on banjo you'll be fine. WV is a nice state where it is flat but they have a predilection for some nanny statism given large union and poor populations.

[XLMiguel]

Almost Heaven, West Virginia, Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River . . . . .

What Telewinz said, very pro-gun, 'shall-issue' CCW, reciprocal with VA, PA (i think) and others (see Packing.org). Also,as noted, pretty 'populist'/liberal political climate, but full of some of the nicest real people you'd ever want to meet.

Depending on where you setle, not to far from Bal'mer, DC, Philly, Pittsburgh if/when you need an urban jolt.

Worth lookin' into:cool:

[WvaBill]

CCW reciprocal with KY and VA(only two states WV recognizes). But WV CCW is recognized by about 10 other states per packing.org. OC is alright also, even in a vehicle. I have been told some of the big city PD's frown on CC(Charleston), but I have never been stopped and nearly always carry.
Edged weapons--you have to check. I have a couple double edged knives, but would not assure you they are legal. I don't know what one would have to do for it to become an issue.

I think that the lack of LE coverage (45-60 minute responses late at night) has a lot to do with tolerance.

Most of the hassle for carry of any gun is when DNR KNOWS you are a game violator, but can't directly prove it.

Just be ready to hear, "Ya ain't from round heah, er ya?":p :neener:

[444]

Man !!!
Talk about a complete change of environment. kalifornia to West Virginia. I would live in West Virginia in a heartbeat, but I couldn't make a living there.

[Bill Hook]

Forget skunk, possum is WAY preferred in WV. :evil:


A very schizophrenic state, with a heavily pro-democrat, pro-union vote, yet pretty much anti-gun control. I never cared much for Charleston the few times I was there, but Huntington didn't seem bad. Never been to Wheeling, but the descriptions make it sound like Cleveland, only smaller.

Oh and since you're Asian, Sen. Robert "KKK" Byrd will probably ask you to launder his white sheet for him...don't tear the eyeholes.

[444]

I grew up across the river from West Virginia. My dad worked in West Virginia and I worked briefly as a paramedic in Wheeling.

[Ladybug]

West Virginia, mountain mama, take me hoooome country rooooads....

ahem

I always wondered if West Virginia actually exists. I mean, you never hear about anything ever happening there, .... that may be a good thing.

[444]

One thing you hear about is that for years they lead the nation in unemployment.
The steel industry moved overseas and the EPA doesn't allow WV coal to be burnt in the US due to Acid Rain.
When I was a kid, the air pollution was unbelievable. I believe that Steubenville Ohio was named the worst polluted city in the US at one time (accross the river from Weirton WV). But, everyone was working. The economy was booming. My dad rode the crest of the wave from pretty much the beginning of the American steel industry to the end. 47 years in the mill. Everyone I have been related to for the last 100 years worked in the steel mills until my generation. Now you can't buy a good job in that area.

[cordex]

Haven't lived there in a long time and when I did, I was too young to be concerned with much in the way of laws. Absolutely beautiful area, though. I do remember a nice old fellow who had manufactured more than a few cane-guns ... what I didn't learn until later were considered by our betters at the BATFE to be AOWs. Something tells me that he didn't have Uncle Sam's permission to do so.

Careful what you drink, too. I know that the mason jars that my dad was given way back when did not contain government approved spirits.

Something about the areas we lived and visited there didn't lend themselves too much to strictly following the letter of the law.

(edited for clarity)

[telewinz]

For retirement its great! Very low cost of living, and a decent home can be had for $50,000. If you can pull in $30m or so a year you are doing pretty good and eating high off the hog. Sadly, once you get 10 or so miles away from the cities you see alot of poverty. I believe the average state employee makes way less than $20M a year. If you have a decent job and enjoy a great deal of freedom, WV is hard to beat. I live across the river but work in WV. Their politics (Bird) are a little too backwards for me, lots of "Bible Thumpers" down south. If you liked the 50's you will enjoy WV.

[WT]

I remember seeing a large billboard in Charleston, WV which said

"The Few, The Proud, The Underpaid - West Virginia State Police."

[Soap]

It might be hard for you to get a good job. I grew up 15 minutes east of the WV panhandle. It is a physically beautiful state that's for sure. Basically if you can deal with not making much buck but having natural beauty, WV is for you.

telewinz- I think you mean "K" not "M" after those numbers ;)

[sm]

Its only about 900 miles from me...I've been a few times. Beautiful scenery, some of the best BBQ I've ever had ( and I'm in, born and raised in the south).
Gun friendly, and the nicest people. Yep with my mulitple tickets I was legal to tote...but everyone I met and came accross was totin'. Went out for steak one night, both of the ladies strap on 1911 styles after changing into jeans, then get the kids rounded up we pick up hubbys and off we go.

I will visit again, great people.

[Quartus]

A very schizophrenic state, with a heavily pro-democrat, pro-union vote, yet pretty much anti-gun control.



Ah. Dat 'splains it. I looked into WV, cause it looks like I've got a new job in VA, and the property prices there are scary. Had to cross it off my list because of the home-schooling laws - VERY nanny state. VAs laws are much better.


Sure is pretty country, though.

[TallPine]

Almost Heaven, West Virginia, Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River . . . . .
Except neither the Blue Ridge Mountains or Shenandoah River are in WV :rolleyes:

John Denver was apparently on one of his rocky mountain highs when he did that one ... ;)

[Bill Hook]

Maybe he meant western Virginia?

[md2lgyk]

I live in WV (well, technically). The eastern panhandle, and mainly Jefferson County (I live in Charles Town), isn't very much like the rest of the state. Refugees from Maryland and Northern Virginia have "discovered" it. The population is rapidly expanding and housing developments are going up everywhere, along with prices. Most decent sized single-family homes now being built start at $200K and up. Nice older homes below $150K are scarce. Most who buy them work outside the state (as do I).

That said, it's a great place to live. Shall-issue CCW, nice weather, plenty of jobs if you don't mind a 30-45 minute drive to somewhere else (I work in Frederick, MD).

[Joe Demko]

My first wife's family lived in West Virginia. They moved there from Australia back in the early 60's. When I used to spend time there in the 90's, the locals still referred to her family as the "new people."
Outside the couple cities, poverty did seem to be pretty wide-spread. Wages and salaries were very low. I researched income levels when giving some consideration to moving there. All things considered, it wouldn't be a bad place at all to retire or to own a summer home if you're wealthy. With the internet an all today, though, it might well be possible to live there and run an internet-based business and live quite well.

[444]

"Charles" was one of my relatives, md2lgyk. Or so I am told, I never knew the man. :D

[Bill Hook]

it might well be possible to live there and run an internet-based business and live quite well.

Makarov.com

[Quartus]

John Denver was apparently on one of his rocky mountain highs when he did that one ...


Quite a bit different from his San Francisco Bay low, eh?


But related, no doubt.

[Mal H]

"Except neither the Blue Ridge Mountains or Shenandoah River are in WV."

Sorry, gotta disagree. The Shenandoah runs through the pan handle of WV and meets the Potomac at Harpers Ferry. The "Blue Ridge Mountains" is kind of a catch-all term for most of the mountain ranges from PA to GA including a lot of the Appalachians which run through WV.

WV is still a poor state, but it has some of the finest down-to-earth folks you'll ever meet. Work prospects are much better in VA, however.

WV has liberal (the good kind of liberal) gun laws. And most important for me, they have full reciprocity with VA!

[WvaBill]

Forget skunk, possum is WAY preferred in WV.

It's the other White Meat.

Wheeling IS a lot like Cleveland only smaller and poorer. Wheeling is on a ~5 mil spit between PA and OH.

[Lennyjoe]

The wife's family all live in WVA.

Kingwood/Masontown area. Bout 15 minute ride south of Morgantown.

I personally love the area where her family lives. Plenty of nice folks, good hunting, rolling hills and seems everyone ownes a gun. I have seen a few guns for sale at the local swap meet too.

I usually go there at least once a year.

Not alot of high paying jobs in the area her family is from and from what Morgantown looks like, I would say the same there. Only thing Morgantown has going for it is the University.

Cheat Lake off Interstate 68 is a beautiful area.

Pittsburg is just under 2 hours north of Morgantown with Washington PA between the two.

Personally, I like the area North of Pittsburg around exit 2 of the PA turnpike.

[kentucky bucky]

I live right next door and frequent the state regularly. I have no second thoughts about carrying concealed there. They honor KY's CDW permit and are gun friendly. That, on the opposite side, is why I hardly go to OHIO for anything that I can get elsewhere, even though it's closer. They have some inkpen slinging state police that hate CCW from their top leaders down. Their boss leads the anti CCW crusade and is their socialist governor's lap dog. There is alot of good fishing waters, hunting and many other attractions over there, if it weren't a foreign country.:D West Viginia is a beautiful state(it has it's warts like every state) and it gets a bad reputation through the ignorance of the media, movies, etc.

[WvaBill]

KY Bucky
Does Louisa still have that conveneience store that sells beer by the soingle in the drive-thru?

[MPFreeman]

I've worked a few times in WV. Pretty area, fo' sho'. There is some industry along the river.

It's a banjo picker's delight.