Agree with "Don't Move Here" and Jeff
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5/9/2006
We had to move here from another state almost 10 years ago, and I have never found a more morose, unhappy place as the Steubenville/Weirton area.
Schools are horrid; my son was actually told, at age 16, that he was old enough to work in the mills so why did he want to continue his education? He had been ill and wanted to continue his classes to go to college, but they did not offer college-level courses. In fact, the kids he went to school with didn't know basic grade school knowledge, let alone high school to college level. When we asked the vice principal why they stated this to our son, we were told that most of the courses in the school are for the kids to graduate high school, not to continue on to college level schools. We couldn't believe it, but it was true! Our youngest now attends a parochial school (which really doesn't test his intelligence, either, but it gets him out of the overcrowded, low teacher-high student ratio [32-40 to one teacher] schools of this area) in a town 10 miles from the house we live in on the PA/WV border. He does well there, but he really needs a school where his brain is challenged. Since this is not an area of great importance, for some reason, to the OH/WV area, we are praying that we find a GOOD school for him before he enters 9th grade! Good luck to us!
There are some "colleges" around here. WV Nothern Community College, Jefferson College, Franciscan University...Don't know about the University, but I don't hold any hope for the two colleges. My son tried them both and didn't get squat out of them. He headed out of state to a GOOD college and did SO much better. Better teachers, better classes, more intelligent thinking and challenges. Lots friendlier, too, and LESS EXPENSIVE if you can believe it!
Finding work here is hell. Once the steel mills started closing down (which is why my husband was hauled over here...they put computers in the steel mills that they wanted him to run and now his job is elminated) the towns just up and gave up. I don't know where all this "we have a lot of spirit and gumption" comes from, but there isn't any that I can see. People walk around acting like you are the worst person in the world if you say "hi," wave or even look them in the eye. It took seven years (7 YEARS) before someone would actually talk to us, and that was a cashier who had seen us around several times before. She is now a dear person to me, but still...SEVEN YEARS before someone cares to know
wolfy | Weirton, WV