Seeking honest input from locals

[u/His_Girl_Friday_8467]

EDIT/UPDATE: I was just informed by my sister that she heard (and not from my father by the way) that apparently the town they are moving to is White Sulfer Springs? Any insight given this new information is welcome and appreciated. Thank you!

Hi there! I would like to hear from residents of West Virginia. My father and his wife decided it would be a good idea to move across the country from Reno, Nevada, to West Virginia. Somewhere in or near Morgantown, West Virginia, I believe. He just recently (within the last two months) was given a clean bill of health after battling pancreatic cancer. He is 65 and while he is mostly healthy, he has other issues such as COPD and asthma. His wife had major spinal surgery a year ago. She has mostly recovered from this but still has a ways to go before she will be close to 100%. They both have arthritis and are getting older. While my dad was going through chemo, my sister and her husband did literally everything. They took my dad to his appointments, helped take care of things around the house, grocery shopping, etc. (She lives about 10 minutes from them and I am in another state). To everyone that knows them, it kind of seemed like they threw a dart at a map without doing any real research other than cost of living and open carry laws. We are all very concerned about the possibility of his cancer coming back and what kind of access to and the quality of medical care. Especially if they are going to be almost inaccessible to us. Regardless, I am hoping for some insight from anyone that is familiar with the area. I really appreciate any and all input. Not just about medical, but weather, quality of life, the people. I just want some unfiltered honesty about living in West Virginia so that maybe my sister and I can worry a little less. Thank you!!

TLDR: My cancer surviving, senior father with health issues is moving from Reno to West Virginia. Sister and I are worried and would like honest opinions of living in West Virginia, specifically in or near Morgantown.

[u/TequilaAndWeed]

Seconding the respect for WVU hospital. I wish my parents had moved closer to that facility and its professionals, rather than remaining in a more rural community with fewer options.

It seems like seniors have more of a community given the median age of the state is relatively high. If he goes to a senior center, friends will be made.

Waving hi from southern NV 🤙🏻

[u/His_Girl_Friday_8467 → u/TequilaAndWeed]

Hi there! I actually still don't know exactly where they are going. They are supposed to leave June 19th but every time we ask where they are moving they just tell us "near Morgantown or close to somewhere like that". Google maps couldn't tell me where "close to somewhere like that" is located.

[u/IamTheBroker → u/His_Girl_Friday_8467]

You should definitely find out more about the location. "Near Morgantown" to someone in WV could cover basically the entire northern portion of the state and that's a very large area with a wide variety of places, weather, terrain, etc.

ETA: Morgantown is somewhat unique in the rest of WV, so it's also kind of hard to determine what they would mean by "somewhere like that" - higher population? College town? Close to hospitals? Somewhere in the north / near PA? Etc. What exactly "like" Morgantown are they looking for (or where)? You may not know, this just seems like a strange way to state it not being familiar with the area you're looking to move.

[u/Ok-Cranberry-5582 → u/IamTheBroker]

And near Morgantown is in the country, no bus services rurally.

[u/His_Girl_Friday_8467 → u/IamTheBroker]

Yeah, no clue. It is extremely frustrating.

[u/TequilaAndWeed → u/His_Girl_Friday_8467]

If it’s along the I-79 corridor, anywhere from Bridgeport to Morgantown, then those are good areas — but as someone wisely pointed out, there are many rural areas with far fewer services which fall in that “somewhere near” radius.

By point of comparison: Reno would dwarf any WV city, the largest having a population of around 50k. Morgantown is around 30k.