Hey, if people want to write off an entire state due to articles like these, so be it.

I live out in the Eastern Panhandle, and I love it.

I thought this was arbitrary.....

West Virginia is a State of Mind.

Not only that, but the chemical spill only affected 9 counties, leaving 46 counties totally unaffected. If you take the southern part of the state out of the mix we have one of the best quality of life indexes in the country. We all pay a heavy price for the albatross down there in terms of national perception.

And yet, another recent Gallup poll shows that West Virginians are among the least likely to want to move out of state. We all know of course of the great migration of West Virginians north to look for work, which my parents did. It is curious how conflicting the Gallup polls are. Perhaps a love of hills is not included in the "Well-being" survey.

Half in Illinois and Connecticut Want to Move Elsewhere

I live right on the Ohio River in a city with a very low crime rate. In a few hours I can be in the mountains with some of the most beautiful scenery at least this side of the Rocky Mountains.

I used to dislike that it was 3 hours to see professional sports but with the way it is now priced I far prefer the short drive to Power Park now.

Last weekend I walked the rail trail at North Bend after visiting friends in Cairo. No, I don't have access to the newest Broadway show but I did catch Avenue Q at the Parkersburg Actors Guild last year and I thought they did a great job.

My folks made the trek north also. I was born in Cleveland Ohio......as soon as they had an opportunity to move back they did. I believe for most the place you grew up will always hold a special attraction and I do make it back to the north coast to see old friends when possible but I have no plans on ever moving. Granted I can see me spending winters down south somewhere in the future. LOL

Agree with you 100% about the Parkersburg Actors Guild. The Actor's Guild is a real gem right here in our small city. We saw Shrek last week, and they put on as good a show as I've seen anywhere.

Absolutely worth a shot.

I am a retired school administrator and had many families move into our area with great apprehension but when transferred out of the area, they were sad to leave.

Let the haters, hate. I love my WV!

It was sold out before we thought about getting tickets or we would have went.

Of the states I've lived in and/or visited at the very least I would have to say I rather live here than Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, California, New Mexico, Utah, Illinois, Ohio, or Indiana. And these are just the states I've visited.

All the states I would rank higher than West Virginia are south of here most notably the Carolinas, Virginia, Georgia, and Texas and SOME parts of Florida. Most other states are just tied and not particularly better or worse than here. I do have to say within West Virginia I like how Charleston and Huntington are not as cold or snowy as the rest of the state since I personally hate cold weather and snow. It does seem West Virginia is a cloudier state than most according to Wikipedia Charleston gets 30 more days a year with precipitation than Baltimore even though the overall amount of precipitation is similar. All the states I rank higher than WV are warmer and more conservative.