[gffyfnhdv]

“Morgantown, West Virginia [...] We were in the heart of Appalachia“

BS! Morgantown is definitely not the heart of Appalachia:

- It’s only 9 mi into WV!

- has population that doubles during the school semester

- has three or four federal agencies (FBI, NETL, NIOSH)

- showered with federal and state largess (thank you senator Byrd)

- has traffic jams worthy of a city with 10x it’s population

- has one of my favorite restaurants in the US

- has a significant private sector economy (Mylan, for one)

-if I recall, technically it didn’t have a recession in ‘08.

I’ve lived in Morgantown for a while. And while I certainly caught a glimpse of Appalachia, it certainly isn’t the heart. Maybe it’s about as redneck as the president of WVU dares to venture.

[gph]

Maybe the author meant more in a geographic sense. Like I've definitely heard people say Austin is in the heart of Texas, but they're mostly saying it's centrally-located in the state not that the city itself is a canonical representation of Texas culture at large.

Edit: And while Morgantown is only 9 miles into WV, really the entire state of WV is the heart of Appalachia. No matter what part of the state you leave from you're still going to be in Appalachia, just in a neighboring state.

[gffyfnhdv]

It isn’t the geographic center of Appalachia either. Pittsburgh, 90mi north, is as much a part of Appalachia as Atlanta, almost 600 mi south.

I get it. The author uses “heart of” as an expression, like I use “literally” in a figurative sense.

But, it also gives me a sense that it betrays the authors almost complete ignorance of Appalachia; which the article purports to explain :S

[gph]

>It isn’t the geographic center of Appalachia either. Pittsburgh, 90mi north, is as much a part of Appalachia as Atlanta, almost 600 mi south.

I don't know about that, that's weird logic to me. Atlanta is barely Appalachia, at best it's at the very terminus in the south. Pittsburgh is much more a part of Appalachia to me, though honestly I'd say both those cities have their own unique culture that's perhaps related or influenced by Appalachia (yinzers are kinda Appalachia). I guess somewhere around Roanoke would probably be the true geographic middle, but eh. Close enough.

[gffyfnhdv]

I agree Pittsburgh is more Appalachia than ATL; it’s Appalachia proper.

But Atlanta is really close. at the “Piedmont” of the if you will ;)

[panzagl]

The article also has pictures of Asheville and Berea, the former famous for it's ties to the super-rich, the latter a long time artists' colony. Was there even a picture of a trailer in the article? Or a church?

[gffyfnhdv]

“... or a church” +1

[RegBarclay]

I agree. I'm originally from Charleston and have always said that it's not like the rest of WV.

I'd say the real heart of Appalachia is Pikeville KY.

[atwebb]

Well, Hillbilly Bear is the representative picture for Pikeville on Google Maps which is a vote in your favor.

[gffyfnhdv]

Btw, I’m not from Appalachia, I just did a post-doc at WVU.

Beautiful state and people.