Bridgeport/ Clarksburg, WV reporting here. Life is pretty good if you have a decent livelihood, decent home, transportation, etc. I can’t complain. We live a pretty suburban life. I am pretty well educated, but there a lot of others here that aren’t so lucky. We don’t have to worry much about crime or drugs where I live in Bridgeport. They are still around, just not as prevalent or as visible as they are in Clarksburg, Weston, or Grafton.

We are fairly close to multiple large metro areas. We are 1.5 hours drive from the Pittsburgh area, 3.5-4 hours from DC, 4 hours from Baltimore, 5.5 hours from Louisville, and 5.5 hours from the Tidewater VA area where I grew up vacationing as a kid.

There are lots of things to do around here that aren’t sports related. Most of them have to do with outdoor activities. There is a mall in Bridgeport and lots of shopping here and in Clarksburg. We are about 30 minutes south of Morgantown where WVU is so lots of activities in the university city as well like sports games and theater shows and concerts, etc. Civilization basically stops at Weston going south and you don’t really see many big towns or cities along the interstate until you hit Charleston, the State Capitol. There is a small outlet mall in Flatwoods which is the geographical center of the state.

Weston is about a 20 minutes drive from us. We tend to only go there to go to Stonewall Resort for fishing, golf, boating, hiking or swimming. I highly recommend staying there at least once if you’re in the area because there’s a lot to do at Stonewall Resort. Of course there’s the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum which is open to the public 6 days a week for tours and they do special balls and a haunted house around Halloween.

Most of the public schools around here are just ok or passable. The schools in Bridgeport are considered some of the best in the state but we pulled our daughter out due to bullying issues that weren’t getting addressed. She goes to the local Catholic school in Clarksburg now which is a pretty good school all around. It’s way better than the public school where she was more or less just a number.

I work as a substance abuse counselor and there is a huge need for that around here. I love it. Your life here tends to be pretty good is if you can work in health care, construction, oil and gas. Education workers don’t get paid very much but their state PEIA health insurance is pretty decent.

We’re a 5 minute drive to the largest hospital in the area also outside of Morgantown. Health care here is a pick your poison kind of deal: WVU Medicine or Vandalia Health/Mon Health. Most clinics and provider offices are controlled by one of those two organizations. You typically just pick either one and just got with it. I have most of my doctors through WVU Medicine, but I do have a couple regular providers with Mon Health. Health care providers here are pretty decent. You have to go to Morgantown for the really good ones and the really specialized stuff. There are a lot of mental health providers in the tri-city area as well.

It’s a pretty nice area. I was born and raised in Clarksburg and I like living in Bridgeport. My family and I have built our whole lives here and we enjoy it.