Reviews & Comments
Belpre, OH
re: sub-standard schools, no jobs, falling house v -
8/5/2010I wouldn't listen to this guy. I just moved here from Las Vegas, NV and it's WAY better here, and I love the city more than small towns. I found 4 jobs in about two months here. I currently have two of them, and dropped the other two. There are jobs here if you don't mind actually working and earning what you bring home. You may start out at a low wage (i.e. $8.50 per hour) but it's easy to work your way up if you care about doing so. If you want a lot of money to start out, then no, you probably won't find that job. But, that's capitalism, and that's how America has been for centuries. Work hard and you'll get what you deserve. That's how Belpre is. Either way, the low cost of living makes it acceptable to receive a lower starting wage because you'll be living great once you do get a few raises. As for failing small businesses: the place I'm working for has been failing at one thing. Finding hard working individuals that want to work for a living. Most people want to just hang on a broom handle and watch everyone else do the work. As for the schools buying things that enhance the sports dept. of their school over the music and arts: that's every school I've ever heard of. I don't know of any school that doesn't do that. Just about every school in Illinois (where I grew up), every school in Las Vegas (where I just moved from), and apparently here in Belpre. Why am I not surprised. As for driving through the surrounding areas, I've found just about any business you can think of. Almost all the food and department store chains you can think of. All the auto brands you can think of (aside from rare Italian sports cars). Computer repair shops, Granite counter top shops, Auto body and mechanic shops, bakeries, all of the ethnic foods that are common in most places, strip clubs, beautiful parks, organic food markets, dairy bars (whatever that means), insurance agents, book stores (both big chain and small local), freemasons (they're everywhere), marine water sports, fairs, carnivals, circuses, tanning businesses, hair salons, cell phone stores, game stores, pool and jacuzzi stores, coffee shops, musical instrument stores, and so so very much more.
Belpre, OH
The Truth about the Belpre, OH/Parkersburg, WV are -
8/5/2010I've read some bad things posted by other people and I just don't see where it's coming from. I've lived here for only two months (moved here from Las Vegas, NV.....it's really really bad there in many many ways) and in this short time I've gotten 4 jobs.
Obviously I don't work at all 4 currently, I have two jobs currently. One as a Stone Artisan, installing and fabricating granite and quartz counter tops. The other is a Pizza Delivery driver on the weekends. The other jobs I found? One was at an auto body shop, though I don't recommend it because policy and law are pretty much just guidelines here, not set in stone. In other words, under the table and against the law. But that was in Parkersburg, not Belpre. The other job was a Coin Operated Laundry Machine Mechanic. Great job, but I didn't get it because I was 5 minutes late to orientation (orientation was in Pittsburg.....about 2 hours and thirty minutes away). But now I'm at the job I'm going to stay at as a Stone Artisan. Hard hard work, but lots of room to grow.
Which brings me to my next point: failing businesses. I haven't seen them. In fact, I've been damn near bombarded with businesses that are almost unbelievably thriving here. I wouldn't think that a Granite counter top business would thrive here, but we've got more work than we can handle and are STILL looking for more workers. But you've got to actually do work, because it's not easy. Granite is heavy and not easy to cut or polish. The pizza place I work for has been doing great. Busy almost every single day. They have stores in about 9 or 10 surrounding towns and cities as well. Even the owner has said, "how we're doing so well in this economy is a welcome surprise." The laundry machine job was another one where they were experiencing unexpected growth!
Housing cost seems quite low as well. Quite affordable and even comfortable for anyone earning about $10-$12 per hour, or about $8-$9 per hour if you get a decent amount of overtime. Also, prices for amenities and such are about 20% cheaper than Las Vegas was. That too helps with cost of living.
So all in all, Belpre isn't bad at all. It's pretty good here. The only thing I can think of that I don't like, is that it's really hard for me to find musicians for an original band here (more than enough for a cover band though). Las Vegas had an over abundance of musicians to the point where nobody cared about any band there. At least in the Belpre area, original bands are usually paid more than cover bands (if you stick it out and get a following).