WV has some of the cheapest housing and land in the country. Plus, it has spectacular scenery, mild winters, close to everything.
But check for any lakes containing ash from coal power stations...mostly shut down now or converted to natural gas.
Known as a "blue lake" gets its color from a mix of arsenic, selenium and mercury ...from the dumped coal ash slurry.
A guy I know likes to take long, rather aimless drives. That’s just his thing. And on one such trip, he stopped at a rural West Virginia two-pump gas station.
My friend: Can you recommend a good place to eat around here?
Attendant: Yes. Try the Sunshine Diner. It’s about a mile up the road. You can’t miss it. Just don’t go there on Wednesday evenings.
My friend: Why not on Wednesday evenings?
Attendant: That’s when the Klan meets.
Don’t get me wrong. I’ve been to West Virginia many times. I love the place. But I don’t believe I’ll be patronizing the Sunshine diner.
Have to laugh. 2 of the 3 bullet pointed reasons people are leaving Florida are climate change and LGBTQ+ legislation.😂😂😂😂
Do not even think of drifting to the high plains of N.D., S. D., Wyo. and eastern Mont.
People go there and disappear. The weather is bad, wild beasts that can kill you exist, it’s a long way to a Walmart which might be the only store keeping he place from being a food desert, gardens are a tough slog, the soil is poor, the gov’t owns most of the land, the drives are long and public transport is poor. And that’s just the start of it....
WV - wild and wonderful, but medical care not so much. I know, I retired just across the river, and it’s no better here. Had to go back to Michigan to find a good cardiologist.
OTOH both WV and Ohio are Constitutional Carry states, property taxes in my county very low, politics generally pretty conservative.
I looked at WV preparing for retirement. The taxes seemed to work against us, it was in the middle of the pack (for us). Considered TN seriously, but ended up in KY.
It might just be our income formula, KY was one of the cheapest for our taxes. Housing wasn’t the cheapest (suburbs), but we got a nicer house here than we expected to. Insurance and property taxes have been very reasonable.
I’m familiar with Kanawha County and I would not call the winters “mild,” by any stretch of the imagination. But then I love the heat.
I’ve lived in 13 states and two foreign countries, but Florida, warts and all, is my favorite. Love, love, love the sunshine and warm weather.
Property taxes here vary widely depending on the county and, unless you live on the water, insurance is expensive but not prohibitively so. I shop around each year for insurance and we pay less here than we did for our last house in Tennessee.