Someone's always leaving here, it's just that kind of place

It's just that kind of world today, you learn to live with loss

The grass is always greener there, just on the other side

The air is always cleaner there, the sky is twice as wide

I'm not the type to argue, I won't say it isn't true

It's just the kind of place for passing through.

These are the opening lines of a song by talented and inspired West Virginia songwriter Colleen Anderson.

It also describes the quandary that inspired a group of young West Virginia professionals to see if they could discern why West Virginia is losing its young people.

It's easy to disregard what's happening to the young in West Virginia or grow cynical about the problem. The fact is there are an estimated 650,000 people in the state between the ages of 18 and 44 years and far too many of them, especially the educated ones, are planning to leave.

Generation West Virginia is the name of the group that would like to stop the out-migration.

Paul Daugherty of Morgantown, co-founder of Generation West Virginia, notes that those people represent "the present and future base of workers, intellectual capital and leadership" in West Virginia. If most of them leave the state, it is a serious drain of our most important natural resource.

That's one of our problems, of course. We don't recognize people as the state's most important natural resource.

Ask 100 West Virginians what our most important natural resource is and I suspect 98 of them would say "coal," without hesitation. And that's sad.

Generation West Virginia has launched a campaign in which it will poll young West Virginians about the things that keep them here and what makes them think about leaving. It's a worthy endeavor indeed, because leaving West Virginia is endemic.

The second verse of Anderson's song gives evidence of the problem:

Tom's in California now and John's up north in Maine

Will went down to Raleigh, says he won't be back again

Annie's in Chicago and she likes it by the lake

Someone's always leaving here, it's just that kind of place

It's just that kind of world today, you learn to live with loss

The grass is always greener there, just on the other side

The air is always cleaner there, the sky is twice as wide

I'm not the type to argue, I won't say it isn't true

It's just the kind of place for passing through.

These are the opening lines of a song by talented and inspired West Virginia songwriter Colleen Anderson.

It also describes the quandary that inspired a group of young West Virginia professionals to see if they could discern why West Virginia is losing its young people.

It's easy to disregard what's happening to the young in West Virginia or grow cynical about the problem. The fact is there are an estimated 650,000 people in the state between the ages of 18 and 44 years and far too many of them, especially the educated ones, are planning to leave.

Generation West Virginia is the name of the group that would like to stop the out-migration.

Paul Daugherty of Morgantown, co-founder of Generation West Virginia, notes that those people represent "the present and future base of workers, intellectual capital and leadership" in West Virginia. If most of them leave the state, it is a serious drain of our most important natural resource.

That's one of our problems, of course. We don't recognize people as the state's most important natural resource.

Ask 100 West Virginians what our most important natural resource is and I suspect 98 of them would say "coal," without hesitation. And that's sad.

Generation West Virginia has launched a campaign in which it will poll young West Virginians about the things that keep them here and what makes them think about leaving. It's a worthy endeavor indeed, because leaving West Virginia is endemic.

The second verse of Anderson's song gives evidence of the problem:

Tom's in California now and John's up north in Maine

Will went down to Raleigh, says he won't be back again

Annie's in Chicago and she likes it by the lake

Even Katie crossed the border, finally made the break

And if I had a dollar for every time I said goodbye

There's nothing in the world I couldn't buy

I suspect part of the problem is the state's inability to lure youngster to the state from other states. Kids like to move away from their parents, especially those trained for good jobs. That's likely to be a nationwide phenomenon.

But only a few states are likely to find it difficult to attract youngsters.

Say all you want to about the poor business climate in West Virginia, but even if business were booming in West Virginia, we'd still have to fight the state stereotype that's promulgated by too many people, including the current vice president, who recently made snide remarks linking West Virginia and incest.

I'd like to think his apology was sincere, but I'm sure it wasn't.

One of the ways West Virginians cope with the loss of the young and our dwindling population is to applaud the loss, because it gives those of us who stay more room. I've heard that since the 1950s, and the result is a state populated by old people such as I am.

It's a rationalization no one in the state should be proud of.

So young folks continue to leave for whatever reason, putting the state's entire future in jeopardy. Perhaps Generation West Virginia will be able to tell us why.

I suppose I should feel fortunate to be one of those described in the chorus of Anderson's song, entitled "West Virginia Chose Me."

But a few of us are staying and it's not a point of choice.

It's not we who do the choosing, we are chosen by the place

And West Virginia chose me, sure as my own mother knows me

If I leave you, West Virginia, it don't matter where I roam

I don't know where I'm going, but I know I'm coming home.

Peyton may be reached by e-mail at david.pey...@gmail.com.