is worth it.

"We wanted to be the first family in our home," she

memories we make here are our own."

Cheap land

Flat land, lower construction costs and good schools are drawing people

out of Kanawha County and into Putnam, according to area developers and

real estate agents. That trend may not last forever, they say, because

eventually developable land will become scarce in Teays Valley

Developer John Leslie remembers moving to Putnam from Webster County

with his family in 1944. A traveler along Teays Valley Road back then

would see only four houses on a drive from the Kanawha River to Hurricane.

Leslie was one of the first subdivision builders in Putnam County, but

had a hard time convincing families who worked in Charleston to move to

Putnam County in the 1950s and 60s.

"Land was cheap, which gave us an edge, but we had a terrible time

St. Albans to move here before they built a bridge over the Kanawha

River."

St. Albans was the suburb of choice in the 1950s, Leslie said, for the

a better house at a better price.

Today, many Kanawha County homebuilders have to build on the sides of

hills because of the scarcity of flat, undeveloped land. That's more

expensive, he said, and forces developers to focus on higher-priced

housing to recoup their investment.

Teays Valley had sewer problems in the 1970s, when the state issued a

moratorium on building because of health concerns. When South Putnam

Public Service District expanded modern water and sewer lines in the 1980s

and '90s, the explosion was inevitable, Leslie

"Kanawha County's hands were tied. There was nothing they could do," he

Housing costs are a main force behind why people leave Kanawha County

for Putnam County, said Ava Crum, a real estate agent and former Winfield

teacher. "Most of the time, people who are moving from Kanawha County to

here are moving into a more upscale home, or they are getting more home

for their money."

The IRS migration data supports what Crum says: People leaving Kanawha

County for Putnam County have higher incomes than people going the other

direction. The average income of people leaving Kanawha County for Putnam

County between 1994 and 1999 was $26,448, more than $5,000 higher than

people going in the other direction. Those taxpayers took about $57

million in taxable income, spending power and taxes with them.

Putnam County's growth appears to be slowing down in recent

years. With less land to develop in Teays Valley, builders are raising the

costs of the houses they build, Leslie

First-time homebuyers are

having more trouble than ever finding an affordable house in the area

while Putnam's price advantage against Kanawha County is slowly

disappearing.

Left behind

Some of Putnam's population gain has come at the expense of its

larger neighbor to the east. Between 1960 and 1999, Putnam County has

doubled in population, from 24,000 to an estimated 52,000 people.

Kanawha County has lost more than 50,000 people in that same time period.

In one sense, the same number of people are merely spreading themselves

out, a process some planners call urban sprawl. West Virginia ranks first

in growth of sprawl in the nation, according to a recent study by

the American Planning Association.

The Charleston region is like other industrial metropolitan areas that

continue to expand physically, even if the area's population stayed

the same. A study by the Ohio Housing Research Network predicts more

"sprawl without growth" in Cleveland and its suburbs in the next

decade. By 2010, the number of total acres devoted to new businesses and

homes in outlying counties is expected to increase by 30 percent, even

though the area's total population is expected to decrease by three

percent.

The people who stay in Kanawha County will have to pay more for the

Mayor Jay Goldman. With fewer people remaining, services will have to be

cut or people will have to pay more to maintain current water, sewer,

fire, police and garbage service.

At the same time, Putnam County leaders struggle to provide services to

their burgeoning population. For example, the library system in the

county has some of the lowest funding per resident in the state, in part

because of ever-increasing usage. Teachers push carts from room to room at

Hurricane High School because of lack of classroom space.

Some leaders have advocated sharing of services between cities and

counties. The city of Nitro recently merged its 911 service with Kanawha

County. Putnam and Kanawha officials have joined in an effort to expand

bus service into Teays Valley.

Other efforts to share services have been less successful. Goldman's

push to form a city of 100,000 has been rebuffed by most other Kanawha

County mayors. Putnam County commissioners have rejected efforts to merge

their much-criticized ambulance service with Kanawha County.

Some political leaders may have reservations about working across town

and county lines, but people who move from Kanawha County to Putnam County

Suzanne Reid describe the town they left behind - Dunbar - they do so with

a lot of love and respect.

Reid says she doesn't want to sound critical of Dunbar. It will always

be home for her. She misses being able to drive down the street and

recognize every face. But her neighbors in Teays Valley are friendly, too.

The Gandees still go to church in St. Albans and to events in

Charleston. They still have fond memories and friends in Dunbar, but

they've made a new life for themselves in Teays Valley.

"We still consider Dunbar home in our heart," Judy said, "although

we're very comfortable here."

Look for Part 3 of "Valley on the Move," which will examine the slowing

of growth in Putnam, in Tuesday's Gazette.

To contact staff writer Scott Finn, use e-mail or call 357-4323.

If Kanawha County hadn't existed in 1999, Putnam County would not have

grown at all, according to data from the Internal Revenue Service.

Except for about 400 Kanawha residents moving in, as many people left

Putnam County that year as came in.

Most of Putnam County's growth in the last several years has

come at the expense of Kanawha County. Between 1994 and 1999, more than 80

percent of Putnam County's population increase came from Kanawha, a

Gazette computer analysis of IRS migration data showed.

About 2,600 people made the short trip west on Interstate 64 to settle

in new subdivisions like Teays Valley Meadows North, where former Dunbar

residents Lewis and Judy Gandee live. Judy Gandee said that number doesn't

"I've met a lot of friendly people since I moved out here," she

"Most are from Kanawha County."

Like a new car

Lewis Gandee pushed his 6-year-old granddaughter in her backyard swing

on a recent sunny winter afternoon. From his large, level yard, they can

one trampoline. The muffled roar of I-64 sounds in the distance.

The Gandees began to think about where they want to retire more than

five years ago. Lewis worked as a sales representative, Judy as a teacher

at Roxalana Elementary in Dunbar. They wanted a new house so they wouldn't

have to worry about renovations or repairs.

They drove around to new houses in other areas, but about

three-quarters of the new houses were in Teays Valley. Some new houses in

Kanawha County were surrounded by older houses, which concerned Lewis.

"If we're buying a new house, we want to live in a new neighborhood

where the houses all have comparable values," he

The Gandees settled first in White Pines subdivision, next to the

Winfield exit. After Judy's mother suffered a stroke and moved in with

them, they found a house in Teays Valley Meadows North, with a downstairs

bedroom for her mother.

Their daughter, Leah Gabhart, her husband John and daughter Sarah soon

followed the Gandees to Teays Valley. They were living in a Cross Lanes

townhouse built into a steep hillside. They couldn't put a swing set for

Sarah out back and Leah was afraid to let her ride a bike in the driveway.

"We didn't consider anyplace else," Leah

yard where the houses aren't on top of each other."

The Gabharts can see cattle grazing from their home in Moorefield Place

the creek or play on its sandy banks.

Sarah likes being able to walk to the Dairy Queen nearby. Leah likes

being so close to Sarah's school, Teays Valley Christian.

Leah feels the neighborhood is safe from both traffic and crime, and

crime statistics support her. Putnam County's crime rate is about half the

rate as Kanawha County's, although both are low by national standards.

According to the 1998 state Uniform Crime Report, Putnam County has a

crime rate of 23 incidents for 1,000 people, compared to Kanawha County's

rate of 52 per 1,000.

Leah doesn't know if anything could have kept her from moving to Putnam

County.

"There aren't that many new subdivisions in Kanawha County," she

"I like the newer neighborhoods. They have underground utilities, and

they're laid out better."

Lewis added, "It's like the appeal of a new car."

First families

Mike and Suzanne Reid are both "Dunbar kids." They grew up in Dunbar,

went to Dunbar High School and lived there after they married in 1982.

Mike works for AEP's John Amos Power Plant near Poca and his wife for

Acordia in Charleston.

Several years ago, the Reids remodeled their Midway Drive house. They

didn't think they would ever move, Suzanne

Two years ago, their son Nicholas turned 4. At the same time, Kanawha

County school officials announced plans to close the Reid's neighborhood

Suzanne went to school at Roxalana and felt it was the best she could

offer her son. The consolidated school was a wild card, something she

didn't know about. She already mourned the loss of Dunbar's high school,

which she still wished was open for her son.

A relative who works at West Teays Elementary gave Suzanne glowing

reports about that Putnam County

was its size - more than 700 students, larger than her high school had

been.

Knowing that Putnam County had top-notch schools made it easier for her

to move there, she

Stanford-9 test scores last year, while Kanawha ranked 14th out of 55

counties.

The Reids thought briefly about moving south of Charleston, in one of

the new houses being built near Corridor G, but the traffic at Southridge

They scouted back yards for bicycles, sandboxes and swing sets when

they looked for their future neighborhood. They wanted a place with lots

of kids.

"I wanted a quiet, safe, dead-end street," Suzanne

Nicolas to ride his bike or play kickball without cars zooming by."

They bought a two-story house in Fox Run subdivision, near Teays Valley

Road. The house has a modern, open layout with a family room, casual

dining area and kitchen all connected. They got to choose some of the

details of their new house, such as hardwood floors and gold-colored light

fixtures.

Moving to Teays Valley meant an extra half-hour drive to work for

Suzanne. More than 57 percent of Putnam County workers commute to a

different county for their job, the highest rate in the state. Kanawha

County only sends 7 percent of its work force out of county.

She has found it slightly perilous, having been rear-ended twice, once

recently on I-64 on her way into Charleston. But she believes the commute

is worth it.

"We wanted to be the first family in our home," she

memories we make here are our own."

Cheap land

Flat land, lower construction costs and good schools are drawing people

out of Kanawha County and into Putnam, according to area developers and

real estate agents. That trend may not last forever, they say, because

eventually developable land will become scarce in Teays Valley

Developer John Leslie remembers moving to Putnam from Webster County

with his family in 1944. A traveler along Teays Valley Road back then

would see only four houses on a drive from the Kanawha River to Hurricane.

Leslie was one of the first subdivision builders in Putnam County, but

had a hard time convincing families who worked in Charleston to move to

Putnam County in the 1950s and 60s.

"Land was cheap, which gave us an edge, but we had a terrible time

St. Albans to move here before they built a bridge over the Kanawha

River."

St. Albans was the suburb of choice in the 1950s, Leslie said, for the

a better house at a better price.

Today, many Kanawha County homebuilders have to build on the sides of

hills because of the scarcity of flat, undeveloped land. That's more

expensive, he said, and forces developers to focus on higher-priced

housing to recoup their investment.

Teays Valley had sewer problems in the 1970s, when the state issued a

moratorium on building because of health concerns. When South Putnam

Public Service District expanded modern water and sewer lines in the 1980s

and '90s, the explosion was inevitable, Leslie

"Kanawha County's hands were tied. There was nothing they could do," he

Housing costs are a main force behind why people leave Kanawha County

for Putnam County, said Ava Crum, a real estate agent and former Winfield

teacher. "Most of the time, people who are moving from Kanawha County to

here are moving into a more upscale home, or they are getting more home

for their money."

The IRS migration data supports what Crum says: People leaving Kanawha

County for Putnam County have higher incomes than people going the other

direction. The average income of people leaving Kanawha County for Putnam

County between 1994 and 1999 was $26,448, more than $5,000 higher than

people going in the other direction. Those taxpayers took about $57

million in taxable income, spending power and taxes with them.

Putnam County's growth appears to be slowing down in recent

years. With less land to develop in Teays Valley, builders are raising the

costs of the houses they build, Leslie

having more trouble than ever finding an affordable house in the area

while Putnam's price advantage against Kanawha County is slowly

disappearing.

Left behind

Some of Putnam's population gain has come at the expense of its

larger neighbor to the east. Between 1960 and 1999, Putnam County has

doubled in population, from 24,000 to an estimated 52,000 people.

Kanawha County has lost more than 50,000 people in that same time period.

In one sense, the same number of people are merely spreading themselves

out, a process some planners call urban sprawl. West Virginia ranks first

in growth of sprawl in the nation, according to a recent study by

the American Planning Association.

The Charleston region is like other industrial metropolitan areas that

continue to expand physically, even if the area's population stayed

the same. A study by the Ohio Housing Research Network predicts more

"sprawl without growth" in Cleveland and its suburbs in the next

decade. By 2010, the number of total acres devoted to new businesses and

homes in outlying counties is expected to increase by 30 percent, even

though the area's total population is expected to decrease by three

percent.

The people who stay in Kanawha County will have to pay more for the

Mayor Jay Goldman. With fewer people remaining, services will have to be

cut or people will have to pay more to maintain current water, sewer,

fire, police and garbage service.

At the same time, Putnam County leaders struggle to provide services to

their burgeoning population. For example, the library system in the

county has some of the lowest funding per resident in the state, in part

because of ever-increasing usage. Teachers push carts from room to room at

Hurricane High School because of lack of classroom space.

Some leaders have advocated sharing of services between cities and

counties. The city of Nitro recently merged its 911 service with Kanawha

County. Putnam and Kanawha officials have joined in an effort to expand

bus service into Teays Valley.

Other efforts to share services have been less successful. Goldman's

push to form a city of 100,000 has been rebuffed by most other Kanawha

County mayors. Putnam County commissioners have rejected efforts to merge

their much-criticized ambulance service with Kanawha County.

Some political leaders may have reservations about working across town

and county lines, but people who move from Kanawha County to Putnam County

Suzanne Reid describe the town they left behind - Dunbar - they do so with

a lot of love and respect.

Reid says she doesn't want to sound critical of Dunbar. It will always

be home for her. She misses being able to drive down the street and

recognize every face. But her neighbors in Teays Valley are friendly, too.

The Gandees still go to church in St. Albans and to events in

Charleston. They still have fond memories and friends in Dunbar, but

they've made a new life for themselves in Teays Valley.

"We still consider Dunbar home in our heart," Judy said, "although

we're very comfortable here."

Look for Part 3 of "Valley on the Move," which will examine the slowing

of growth in Putnam, in Tuesday's Gazette.

To contact staff writer Scott Finn, use e-mail or call 357-4323.