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However, two things for the original poster to keep in mind.
After doing a quick run through on realtor.com for Oil City in his price range, I see many of the houses are very old. We just sold a 110 year old house in the northeast that had been remodeled and lovingly cared for. Nonetheless, old houses settle and sometimes have less than ideal insulation. It was very expensive to heat.
Also, having lived in GA and the northeast, 45 can feel very different in the north than it does in the south. And a low temperature coupled with blasting north wind is very cold. Leave a little room for error in your thinking.
No, I am not very worried about crime in my city. I am licensed to carry a concealed weapon and have martial arts training. I carry a 9mm in my vehicle at all times, and another 9mm on my person when I go 'into' the city and feel the need to. I live in one of the 'suburbs' around Charlotte that everyone loves to talk about. We have very little crime in my area.
Location: Unlike most on CD, I'm not afraid to give my location: Milwaukee, WI.
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Cold
The average January temp in Oil City appears to be about 25 degrees. And northwestern PA gets more snow than many places. Also very cloudy. Weather-wise this area will be quite an adjustment from southern Florida. And I have been to NW PA (Erie). I like the area OK, but it's not for everyone.
If you're not used to it, scraping ice off your car, shoveling snow, etc., may be sort of fun and different for a while, but the novelty will wear off. It generally takes more effort (work) to live in a colder, snowy climate. Plus cold and freeze-thaw cycles are hard on things.. car, house, concrete/asphalt, etc. Your costs to maintain things will be higher.
And I'm willing to bet you will not like living/working in a house that is "heated" to 60 degrees or below. But time will tell.
A 30K house... get a good inspector, then prioritize what needs repair first.
trust me, things will need reapir and updating. Roof is important, and electrical wiring. If not properly maintained that house that you are depending on building equity in could actually go down in value. With bad electrics, it could BURN down.
With all that said, at age 25 you should be pretty adaptable, and it sounds like you want a new adventure. Go for it. I applaud people who dare to try new endeavors. I've done quite a few myself. And visit there in the winter, so you get a feel for the place at its coldest and dreariest.
Oil City has its name because the first oil wells were drilled in that area.Colonel Edwin L. Drake drilled the first commercially successful oil well on August 28, 1859. A number of boomtowns came to life in the area, including Oil City, Titusville, Petroleum Center, Pithole, and Rynd Farm.
We currently live outside of Atlanta in the Green Zone for now.
Of course when we head toward the Red Zone (Atlanta) we make sure were locked and loaded with parameter covered.
I don't worry too much about crime where I live. I live in a major metro area so of course regardless of my neighborhood's low crime, there is a bit of ingrained street smarts involving things like never leaving your door unlocked, not visiting the ATM at night and just always being mindful of your surroundings and such, but as a whole, I'm not really too concerned where I live with being the victim of violent crime.
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Please see the comparsion between my city and Oil city! I think apologies are in order for insulting Oil city and calling it a dump! You have never been to Oil city so you have no justification of that. I have talked to several who have been to Oil city or live in Oil city and all of them say its a nice quite low crime place. Its true theres no good jobs but ive said it a hundred times.......im self employeed! Oil city in the middle of nowhere? Wrong! Theres several towns all around Oil city and theres Erie city to the north and a huge metro city Pittsburgh to the south(less than hour and a half drive)
The climate is not as cold as I had feared. I checked the temperatures and the highs average 45 and the lows average 30. It can occasionally get colder when a cold front comes but otherwise I consider the winters mild because the highs stay above freezing. Yes I know it can and does snow and I can deal with it. In fact its a welcome change of scinery, a new experience that we Floridians never get(nonwithstanding a miracle)
The crime in Oil city is below national average, about half that in fact. I think id feel quite safe, especially in comparsion to WPB! Unless I spend at least half a million for an upscale house in an upscale gated neighboorhood, ill live in fear of a burgulary or find my car "missing" oneday. I could have a drug dealer or gang member for my neighboorhood!
Finally prices are ridiculous! I have yet to see any detached house worth buying that costs less than $300k(although theres townhouses for 80% the price or $240k) it should come by no supprise that you have to be rich to afford my city(ditto for many other cities and states) Crime is the biggest factor in my decision to relocate to a safe, quiet low crime city. Before you are so quick to negatively judge Oil city, check how safe it is!
You may need to look at some more up to date information. Oil City has around 12,000 people sitting in a postage sized city of just over 2 square miles. It is poor and depressed with no opportunities for the people living there. They have a police department with maybe 12 or 15 cops total and a few cars. Who knows how good these cops are, I have seen small town police departments and many aren't worth much. They don't pay much and don't tend to attract quality candidates. There is a very bad growing drug problem in Oil City like you would expect to find in a poor area like that. I don't see where you have gotten the idea this is some kind of paradise? The country is such a big place I can't believe you thing this is the best you can do.
I'm sorry to anyone who lives there, but I've been thinking the same thing! Even if it's the greatest place in the world, there's just something about the name - OIL CITY - that makes me wonder. Has anyone else noticed that you can often judge a town by it's name?
That's why I avoid any town or neighborhood that has the word view, good, or words that mean good or view. Mountainview, Bellevue, Fairview... all consistantly bad neighborhoods, even in different parts of the country. Quite remarkable.
Oil City, PA? Sounds cute. I'd think an Oil City Texas, if there was one, would be cheesy, though.
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As this thread is about crime, not NAH's lifestyle... what is a "safe" level of crime? If the "average" city has almost no crime, you could find a place whose crime is much higher and be fine. If the "average" city is a deathfest, you'd want to avoid anything but the lowest crime places. I know that city-data shows the average, but is the "average" city a place you'd feel safe?
I'm in Anchorage, I don't worry. But I wouldn't live in Mountainview- it's the "bad" part of town. Don't mind visiting friends, there, though. Should I worry? I don't know. Nothing bad has happened to me here, but I wonder how people who have been hit by crime feel about it. Would they see it as "bad luck", or as the character of the town?
I got a bike stolen in Fairbanks once. Sucked bigtime, had to walk home several miles. I filled out a police report, but never got the bike back. The moral? Don't leave you're bike behind the theater thinking it's safe and no one will see it. Always lock it up!
How did that theft affect me? Bike theft is now a pet peeve of mine, I will never buy a used bike as it might have been stolen, and I'm reluctant to buy an expensive bike as I might be able to afford it once, but not over and over again. But I don't see this as a Fairbanks thing, more like a "people steal bikes" thing. Doesn't matter where I go, I wouldn't feel safe leaving my bike lying around unlocked anymore.
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Cold
You have never been to Oil city so you have no justification of that. I have talked to several who have been to Oil city or live in Oil city and all of them say its a nice quite low crime place. Its true theres no good jobs but ive said it a hundred times.......im self employeed! Oil city in the middle of nowhere? Wrong! Theres several towns all around Oil city and theres Erie city to the north and a huge metro city Pittsburgh to the south(less than hour and a half drive)
