My first learn me thread! 
So my wife is finishing her last year in pharmacy school and graduating with her PharmD in May. In June we will me moving to Charleston for a year of clinical residency for her.
I already sought out the local scca chapter and their autocross site and its 15-20 min away. That was honestly the first thing I checked. 
So learn me what parts of town are cool, where (if anywhere) to avoid, craft beer/micro brew scene? Any other GRMers in that area? I don't think there'll be a large market for auto glass replacement techs so any leads for a job possibly?
Avoid the west side. Beer, eh. Thank the state govt for that hurdle. Safelite has a large shop in the area plus some others are around , so you just never know.
Where is she's doing her residency?
Overall, i don't think its too bad there but it could be a million times better. I just work there, so I might have a different perspective than most....
Best thing is it's only one year. My daughter lives in St Albans but works in charleston. She can't wait to get out of there. Having no family and the winter weather are killers. Charleston is kind of interesting.
I'd recommend Charles Town WV instead. Much, much closer to Summit Point and civilization and hour-thirty away in DC.
spitfirebill wrote:
Having no family and the winter weather are killers.
I can understand the first but the second is puzzling. If you can't stand about 2-3 weeks of winter, I don't know what to say....
motomoron wrote:
I'd recommend *Charles Town* WV instead. Much, much closer to Summit Point and civilization and hour-thirty away in DC.
Dude, this is what I thought she said at first and I got all excited. My good friend lives just outside DC and does PCA track days there all the time and I loved karting there when I visited. Then she corrected me. 
Ranger:
by avoid the west side, you mean like South Charleston and Dunbar? I'm not sure where she's gonna be working but it'll be at one of the hospitals there, I'm pretty sure anyway. This whole residency matching process is all wacky to me.
In reply to Lancer007:
Charleston proper, north of the river.
I work at one of them hospitals hence my asking. 
just looking where it is on the map, probably some nice twisty mountain roads within an hour drive.
I live in Charleston (actually South Charleston on the River). I have been there for about two years now. The car culture is pretty good and I know several of the local auto crossers. If you like ATV/Motorcycle or 4x4 fun check out the Hatfield and McCoy trails. There is often music shows downtown at the Levy and a couple big car shows downtown each year. When in town check out Pies and Pints beer and Pizza. Apartments are a little hard to find so if you find one you like snap it up quickly or someone else will. The mountains and curvy roads make for some fun driving
Ranger50 wrote:
spitfirebill wrote:
Having no family and the winter weather are killers.
I can understand the first but the second is puzzling. If you can't stand about 2-3 weeks of winter, I don't know what to say....
Two or three weeks?? Are you kidding?
In reply to spitfirebill:
No. On average it isn't very long. It does suck for those few weeks but it isn't like living in Michigan either.
Growing up in Southern West Virginia, Charleston was the BIG city. Town Center Mall was an honest treat for us.
Aren't you from Pittsburgh? I would call Charleston a small scale version of the Burgh. Rivers, hilly terrain, cold cloudy winters (Ranger is wayyyyyyyy off base), small houses, some newer overpriced new const homes, no apart complexes compared to similar cities. It's a small city, the biggest in WV, so you have a lot of amenities that you probably wouldn't expect.
I'm not much up to snuff on living expenses, but I'd say relatively low compared to Wheeling where the gas (fracking, oh God noooo) has raised a lot of prices.
Re: winter.
Seriously, even this winter was maybe 4 weeks long of being in absolute misery. It didn't even really didn't start until mid January and end early early March. It's already been 70 this past week for a couple of days. Of course if you are moving north, winter is "unbearably long", but if moving the other way, winter doesn't really exist.
Well, being that we are coming from Arizona pretty much anything below 50 is gonna be freezing for us lol. I grew up in Indiana though so I'm not unfamiliar with winter though.
I also tried signing up on the forums at www.swvrscca.org to say hi but its really slow and I never got the account verification email. But I'm glad there seems to be a couple autocross sites relatively close.
I think housing might be the biggest thing. If anyone has any leads on a rental house as opposed to an apartment it would be much appreciated. I'm just spoiled and have always had a garage or a carport to work on cars in but apartments aren't out of the question. As long as they are pet friendly as we have two cats.
Swvrscca also has a fb page too.
See if the wv gazette or daily mail has a classifieds listed in their site. Barring anything else look up property management companies. Tons of places around that aren't ever listed for rent.
I live in St. Albans and work in Charleston. My wife works at CAMC (one of the hospitals). I was the editor of the SWVR SCCA newsletter and once an active member. As far as I know, they only have one lot now; Riverside High School.
When we moved here, we rented an apartment from Porter Properties on Roundhill Terrace. Very close to the hospital, two car garage, and pet friendly.
For a small town though, there is a fairly high concentration of pretty interesting/rare cars.
If you know CAD, I know of an immediate job opening.
The West side has little to nothing to offer. The East side is pretty much the same. Not much in the North either, but if you go South... far enough...eventually you'll hit the beaches of North Carolina. Just stay there.
So you guys know if they salt roads in the winters there?
Thanks for all the info guys, I really appreciate it. I'll be looking forward to finally meeting some of you folks finally.
Salt like a margarita glass rim....
Yes, they salt the roads but with only two weeks of winter it shouldn't be enough to rust your car.
Yeah, from what I've read the winters aren't bad and snow is limited. I'm just spoiled by spending the past 20 years in the land of rust free cars and year round summer tires. So the idea of salt makes me anxious way more than it should.
I know that there is. Tim Hortons there, not much else.
Do you have a dirt capable bike with plates and a tent?
BYOB Rally at the Hatfield / McCoy Resort.
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1010309
Some of my trail workin' buddies helped put the Hatfield-McCoy trail together. Bucket list...
Curmudgeon wrote:
Some of my trail workin' buddies helped put the Hatfield-McCoy trail together. Bucket list...
Me too, hence the search for an ATV which is ongoing.
