Warren, PA

[bethany12]

I drove through in late spring and couldn't believe there was still snow on the ground. I wanted to go camping a couple weekends in the summer but it was too cold and wet up there. But in general, the weather is getting worse throughout the state of PA.

[bethany12]

One more thing...the murder and suicide rate for the county is pretty high considering the population is around 40,000 or less.

Forest County and nearby McKean county have state and federal prisons. That would account for the population increases. Warren County also has a state mental hospital. The prisons and mental hospital can't help with the crime stats and the type of people it brings to the area.

[Internet Superman]

Originally Posted by NoMoss

I see no one has posted to this thread for a long time, but maybe someone will be checking soon. After much soul-searching and life-changing events, I am thinking of moving back to PA after living elsewhere for 20 years. I am looking at:
1. Warren
2. Johnstown
3. Beaver Falls
4. DuBois
I am leaning very much toward Warren except I am worried that there won't be enough places to rent--I need low rent and very pet-friendly. I have 3 dogs and some house cats. I will have a good reference from this landlord when I leave, but from what I see in the paper there, there are a lot of ads that say No Pets. I will just need a small house (2 bedrms), not fancy, just a shack, really, with a yard and lots of windows. Is there any hope for me and Warren? Any comment, no matter now late, will be appreciated, as I am not going to move until spring 2010. Thanks so much!

Warren - you are probably going to have to rent a house to be able to have that many pets.

Johnstown - is so poor that you could take a dump on main street and no one would care. There is employment in Johnstown and also close to the malls and stuff.

Beaver Falls - is a knife and gun club. If you don't have a knife and gun when you come into the place - they give you one!

Dubois - you would have to rent a whole house to be able to have that many pets. There is no jobs and only one mall and it doesn't hardly have any stores and only a couple of fast food places. If you don't have a car, you are screwed in Dubois - because they have a bus that runs for the senior citizens and no taxi service.

[Internet Superman]

Originally Posted by GraniteStater

I was wondering if anyone on the PA forum knows why Forest County has seen its population increase 38% since 2000? I drove along some rural roads in that area, and it seemed quite isolated to me.

The reason why Forest county has seen a population increase is because people are retiring from their jobs and are moving to the country to get away from the city life and the county always had a lot of hunting camps and now people are using them as a second home.

When you get up to Marionville, there is not much of anything to do.

You can go to Ray's Wet Spot, The Dew Drop Inn, Kelly's, Vonwickle Hotel, or even up to Cougar Bob's if you are really brave.

There is no Lowes or Walmart or Sears or even a big grocery store to do your shopping in. You have to go to Clarion to get anything more then just the basic necessities.

Some people just like the peace and quiet and being left along and being able to drive their snowmobiles down the main road to the local bar on the weekends.

[Internet Superman]

I spent two days working on a power sub station up in Warren last summer.

It was on a street with the name of a tree and was near the park and borough building.

The sub was a direct feed into the refinery and you could not smell the refinery from a couple of blocks away. Even when you drive down main street and can see the refinery, you couldn't smell it. We ate hot dogs at the Quick Fill and couldn't smell it and you could see the tanks of the refinery from the fence in the parking lot of the Quick Fill.

There is a lot of motels along the road up there and also Hunters Paradise.

I couldn't see a lot of things to do except drink and do drugs and go four wheeling. But I was not there long enough to get to know all the locals.

Big Jacked up four wheel drive pickup's are the norm and no one pays any mind if you drive your four wheeler down the street to the quick fill to get some gasoline.

I wouldn't have any problem moving there or making friends. I doubt if it would take more than a keg of beer and a party to make as many friends as you could ever want.

There really wasn't much in the way of employment in that town unless you lived there and owned your own home and could live on minimum wage.

The refinery looks like something out of a Apocalypse movie with the rusted out towers and the open flames under the tanks. The place was really ran into the ground and I wouldn't use that oil in any of my vehicles, not even a lawnmower.