Find out what’s new and what’s tried and true around Morgantown’s dynamic neighborhoods.
Greenmont
Median Listing Price*: $147,000
Schools**: Mountainview Elementary, South Middle, Morgantown High
Fastest Food Run
- Green Arch Market
- Mountain People’s Co-op
- ALDI, Don Knotts Boulevard
- Giant Eagle, Green Bag Road
- Kroger and Save-A-Lot, Earl L. Core Road
Fun Fact
The wildly popular Halleck Pale Ale craft beer is made at Chestnut Brew Works in Greenmont.
*realtor.com, accessed April 2017
**street-specific school district information can be found at boe.mono.k12.wv.us
Bridging the Gap
Greenmont boasts of so many great qualities that contribute to livability, including its proximity to town with amenities nearby. By the end of the year, residents should be able to add quicker access to the Deckers Creek Trail to that list. Construction on a pedestrian bridge should begin soon. The span, which will connect Deckers Creek Avenue in Lower Greenmont to the rail-trail under the Walnut Street Bridge, will mean a short walk to take advantage of the rail-trail or Marilla Park, probably by the end of the year.
Hop Around the ’Hood for Some Hops
When Beertopia opened last October at the hogback turn on W.Va. 7, Greenmont’s vibe as a suds-friendly neighborhood was cinched, with the presence already of town favorite Gene’s Beer Garden and the newer Chestnut Brew Works brewery and tap room. And that’s fine with Ivy Deal, president of the Greenmont Neighborhood Association. “It is a craft beer mecca,” she says. “The craft beer craze has been very popular here. I think it’s also a reflection of our demographic, which tends to be younger and hipper.” Phoenix Bakery and Green Arch Market also offer food options for the neighborhood, which Deal describes as a mix of homeowners, renters, and students. “Some consider that a downside, but we consider it an upside. We like the diversity and the vitality.”
South Park & First Ward
Median Listing Price: $215,000
Schools: Mountainview Elementary, South Middle, Morgantown High
Fastest Food Run
- Mountain People’s Co-op
- Giant Eagle, Green Bag Road
- ALDI, Don Knotts Boulevard
History and Hipness
Stately Victorian homes, brick streets, hip and friendly neighbors, close proximity to restaurants, and breathtaking views of downtown—what’s not to love about South Park? Morgantown native Connie Merandi has called the neighborhood home for 17 years, living in the tony Hopecrest section. “I drive up that street and the trees are hanging over the cars and when we’re at the very top of the hill, it takes my breath away,” she says. When Stan Cohen zeroed in on South Park 43 years ago, the Brooklyn native liked that he could walk to his job on WVU’s downtown campus as well as to High Street and points nearby for dinner and other events. “If I really hoof it, it takes me 17 minutes—10 minutes to get to downtown and another seven minutes to Oglebay Hall,” he says.
A Little Bit of Country in the City
First Ward has a lot of the same charm as South Park as well as its proximity to downtown. But it also reaches over to Green Bag Road and encompasses White Park, home to the Morgantown Ice Arena. All those characteristics were a big draw for Joey James, a project scientist at Downstream Strategies, who loves to have a nearby green space for his Great Pyrenees, Aspen. “We walk and she chases deer,” he says. Jack Roberts Park is also located in First Ward. “We are very passionate about the parks,” says Rachel Fetty, secretary of the First Ward Neighborhood Association. Fetty also loves the sense of family and community, down to the school bus stop. “We have the best bus stop, with good neighbors and parents—lots of folks who help kids get on the bus.”
Woodburn
Schools: Eastwood Elementary, Mountaineer Middle, University High
Fastest Food Run: Practically equidistant to all three Kroger stores
Fun Fact
Established in 1963 by Rose and Mario Spina, Mario’s Fishbowl is a restaurant and bar that serves beer in distinctive goblets known as fishbowls. This year marks the 20th anniversary that the establishment has been owned and operated by Mark and Karen Furfari.
It’s All About the Bass—And the Arts and the Neighbors
Woodburn, nestled between downtown and Jerome Park, has earned a reputation as an artist enclave. In fact, six bass players live in just one block of Ridgeway Avenue, including Jake Hiles of The Soul Miners, Nathan Wilson of The Jenny Wilson Trio, and Tim Mashburn. “We’ve got all kinds of stuff going on,” says Mashburn, also vice president of the Woodburn Association of Neighbors.
Morgantown Mayor Marti Shamberger—whose daughter plays bass—has lived in the neighborhood for 30 years. “Woodburn is kind of magical,” she says, noting that residents can walk downtown and can drive to Sabraton in five minutes and the interstate in seven. “It’s like an isolated gem.”
Well-known sculptor Jamie Lester lived in Woodburn for eight years and moved back in 2013. And even though he’s better known for his statues of Jerry West and Don Knotts, he and his band, Lester’s Standard Preparations, will play at an August 12 festival, called Celebrate Woodburn: An Arts Community. To Lester, arty neighbors are just a bonus. “Woodburn is in the heart of Morgantown, and it’s made up of smaller houses with bigger yards than some of the neighborhoods in Morgantown,” he says. “It’s very peaceful.”
Also playing during the festival, notes Jenny Wilson, will be Chris Haddox, a WVU professor and old-time fiddler and guitarist, and The Soul Miners. All these vibes have attracted other creative pursuits. The former Woodburn Elementary School now houses The Pop Shop, known as a “School of Rock” for kids, while M.T. Pockets Theatre moved not long ago into one of the auxiliary buildings. And KOR Creation Dance Studio recently took over the location vacated by Richwood Grill a few years ago, leaving the iconic Mario’s Fishbowl as the neighborhood’s walkable restaurant.
Evansdale, Wiles Hill, & Highland Park
Evansdale Schools: Suncrest Elementary, Suncrest Middle, Morgantown High
Evansdale Fastest Food Run: Kroger, Patteson Drive
Fun Fact
Evansdale only includes seven streets and does not get much through-traffic.
Wiles Hill & Highland Park Schools: Suncrest Elementary, Suncrest Middle, Morgantown High
Wiles Hill & Highland Park Fastest Food Run:
- Kroger, Patteson Drive or
- Suncrest Towne Centre
- Sheetz, 2151 University Avenue
Evolution of Evansdale
Close to campus and Towers student housing, Evansdale features some grand residences, including WVU President E. Gordon Gee’s home, Blaney House. Riverview Drive lives up to its name and affords spectacular views of the Monongahela, some from backyards. Penny Kostka grew up in the community and recently moved back, so she has seen this tiny residential section of town—on the west side of University Avenue near the WVU College of Law—as it has evolved over the years. She loves the vibrancy and the fact that she can walk her dog and easily stroll to Ogawa, the new Ta-Khrai Thai Café, and even the IHOP at University Park, as well as the Patteson Drive Kroger.
“Hidden Neighborhood”
Charlie Byrer can walk to Milan Puskar Stadium in about five minutes and Ruby Memorial Hospital in 10. “We’re the hidden neighborhood between Evansdale and downtown,” says the former president of the Wiles Hill-Highland Park Neighborhood Association. Wiles Hill sits on the east side of University Avenue and along Williowdale Road and Stewart Street. Highland Park is the small community on the back of the hill. The old Wiles Hill Elementary School serves as a community and senior center run by BOPARC.
Suncrest
Median Listing Price: $228,000
Schools: Suncrest Elementary, Suncrest Middle, Morgantown High
Fastest Food Run: Kroger, Patteson Drive or Suncrest Towne Centre
Fun Fact
Several Suncrest streets are named after Ivy League schools, including Harvard, Princeton, and Yale.
Not Too Cool for a New School
In Suncrest, just about everything residents need is within walking distance—or, perhaps just a short drive. Nearby are locally owned restaurants, not one but two Kroger supermarkets, two hospitals, WVU football and basketball, green space including Krepps Park, a gym, yoga, and a new, state-of-the-art elementary school that opened in January. City councilwoman Nancy Ganz loves the diversity of her neighbors as well as the ability to get out and about on foot. “There is a lot of melding that goes on as people walk their dogs and bike around.”
Sabraton & Jerome Park
Median Listing Price: $127,000
Sabraton Schools: Brookhaven Elementary, South Middle, Morgantown High
Jerome Park Schools: Eastwood Elementary, Mountaineer Middle, University High
Fastest Food Run: Kroger and Save-A-Lot, Earl L. Core Road
Modern Conveniences
To some, Sabraton might seem like a big strip of fast-food restaurants and convenience stores—the key word being “convenience.” Residents in nearby communities such as Jerome Park, Norwood Addition, and South Hills have easy access to an updated Kroger and local treasures like Woodburn Shanks and Pizza Al’s. There’s the nearby Deckers Creek Trail plus the skate park, tennis courts, and swimming pool at Marilla Park, and, in the works, more amenities at Paul Preserve, a green space in Jerome Park.
Cheat Lake
Median Listing Price: $273,000
Schools: Cheat Lake Elementary, Mountaineer Middle, University High
Fastest Food Run: Mid-Atlantic Market, Shop ’n Save, Glenmark Center
A Quiet Community with a Lot Going On
There are those who like to walk around their neighborhoods and be in the middle of the action. And then there are others who like to swim, glide through the Cheat Canyon on a speedboat, or do an early morning sun salutation atop a paddleboard as the mist rises off of calm waters and birds chirp nearby. “We love Cheat Lake,” says Christy Goodstein, who has lived there for 19 years. “It’s kind of quiet. You have property out there, which is wonderful. You have privacy.” She also appreciates the laid-back lifestyle, like dinner out on the deck of Crab Shack Caribba or The Lakehouse. “You drive your boat right up. We have friends with boats and we watch them pull in. They join us, listen to music and have an appetizer, and back on the boat they go.” Cody Sustakoski grew up in Cheat Lake but only recently discovered how much he loves the water. “Just last year, I bought my first boat, a starter boat, and I loved it so much that I just bought a new boat,” he says. Downtown Morgantown is about a 20-minute drive away, but residents don’t seem to mind the trade-off. Plus, with the development of commerce centers off Exit 7 of Interstate 79 such as Coombs Farm—offering a coffeehouse, yoga studio, karate school, physician offices, and more—Cheat Lake residents are finding more amenities closer to home. “It’s a quiet community, but it’s still so close to everything else in Morgantown,” Sustakoski says. “It’s just not as busy, not as crowded.”
Star City
Median Listing Price: $200,000
Schools: Suncrest Elementary, Suncrest Middle, Morgantown High
Fastest Food Run:
- Kroger, Patteson Drive or Suncrest Towne Centre
- Giant Eagle & Walmart at University Town Centre
Fun Fact
The city was developed around a riverside cluster of about a dozen glassmakers.
Reclaiming Heritage
Star City is on an upswing, in part thanks to accountant Dominick Claudio, who has been buying up old buildings on University Avenue and rehabbing them into attractive office space. His mother runs Unique Consignments, an upscale furniture and household goods resale shop; across the street, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon is moving into a newly renovated medical suite next to Claudio. “I like the opportunity in Star City,” says Claudio, a fourth-generation resident who lives on Herman Avenue, where his family settled after World War II. For exercise, he likes to hop on the rail-trail at the end of University Avenue and also appreciates that Terra Cafe’s scrumptious array of sandwiches, salads, smoothies, and baked goods is nearby.
Westover & Granville
Median Listing Price: $172,000 (Westover) $148,000 (Granville)
Schools: Skyview Elementary, Westwood Middle, University High
Fastest Food Run: Giant Eagle & Walmart at University Town Centre Granville
Old Traditions, New Progress
There’s a lot going on in Westover, but some things never change—such as St. Mary’s Orthodox Catholic Church. And Colasante’s Ristorante & Pub, which burned in April 2016, is expected to reopen as early as late May following new construction. Westover, home to about 4,000, is a separate municipality, but its location just across the Monongahela River means it’s within walking distance to Morgantown for many residents, who also have easy access to Interstate 79—and the new exit 153 and all the amenities of University Town Centre a mile up the highway.
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