Indiana, PA (Williamsport, DuBois, Clearfield: rent, crime, houses)

[pinetar10]

Does anybody know anything about Indiana, PA, such as is it a nice place to live and are drugs and crime a problem there?
I know it has IUP, but what else is there in Indiana?
Finally, what are the home prices like, and would it be possible to buy a nice home in move in condition with 2-3 bedrooms for under $100,000?
thank you for any info

[stretch00]

I lived there for a while.

It is a small, socially, politically and religiously conservative town. Nightlife is virtually non-existent, restaurants are poor. The economy is languid, job prospects are not good.

It is very safe. Crime is mainly students cited for public drunkenness. Drugs are available, but not what I would call a problem. No traffic to speak of.

You can probably buy a home in the price range you are looking at. Be careful that you do not move in next door to a house rented to students. They can be noisy and litter filled.

[mach]

I live about 45 mins from Indiana. I highly doubt you will find a nice home under $100k. traffic seem ok. Yes the town is a college town. IUP has lots of females. Not sure why. Not sure about drugs i'm sure they are there. Night life a few bars. Forget going out on IUP homecoming. I was there one time and well lots of people. cops on horse back that was nice to see. I guess it's what you want.

[stretch00]

You are correct about the traffic thing. For a couple of days/year, traffic is unbearable in town. Move-in weekend is the worst in my memory. Traffic jams from the university at the center of town all the way to the outskirts of town. Homecoming is not great either.

But the regular day to day traffic is non-existent.

[Bailey28]

I've lived in Indiana for over 3 years and believe it's a great place to raise my children. I have lived in two other University towns. I enjoy the culture and events the university has to offer and in exchange I do have to deal with some college student issues - like hay bales being stolen from the porch during Halloween. I disagree with the other posts about the restaurants. Downtown Indiana has a diverse selection of restaurants that are reasonably priced. There's ethnic foods and american fare. I can take the kids out some nights and there's still a couple of nice restaurants for just my husband and I. As for nightlife -there's a movie theater, community playhouse, lots of service organizations to join and yes a couple of bars to frequent before the college crowd arrives. There are jobs here - not as many as everyone always wants but the unemployment rate is low.

Yes, you can find a house for under $100,000 especially if your willing to put some work into it and you can imagine how it will look when you do get it updated. The school system is great with lots of parks around.

As for drugs - yes there are drugs on campus and it is a problem. There's also drugs in the community - which is not unlike many communities. However, the community is small enough that I can find out who's using drugs and educate my children about that.

I highly recommend Indiana if you enjoy small town living. I miss the big box stores and the chain restaurants but there's enough in Indiana to keep me here and we only go to the "Big City" every once in awhile.

[Kamojin32]

It is a college town, so the majority of residents are college students. I would try not to live too close to the University, because that’s where a lot of frat houses and other college kids party a lot. There are drugs, but no more so than any other college campuses. There are some good restaurants, a lot of bars, and not many jobs. Before moving here I would suggest looking at houses on websites like zuberrealty.com or coldwellbanker.com. I would also use a site like monster.com to search for jobs. With the current economy though, it’s going to be hard to find a job anywhere (unless you are a nurse).

[bobsmith]

This isn't strictly relevent but....I was taking a bus home to Williamsport that happened to pass through Indiana, Pennsylvania (as well as Puxatawney, DuBois, Clearfield, all cities I had never been to before). When it stopped to pick people up, I was like "After all this time, I'm back in Indiana"...because I had started travelling from Hammond, Indiana the previous day. Bad pun, worse delivery, I know.

[CHIP72]

I went to grad school at IUP. I think Indiana is one of the nicer towns in western PA.

[michele]

Originally Posted by pinetar10

Does anybody know anything about Indiana, PA, such as is it a nice place to live and are drugs and crime a problem there?
I know it has IUP, but what else is there in Indiana?
Finally, what are the home prices like, and would it be possible to buy a nice home in move in condition with 2-3 bedrooms for under $100,000?
thank you for any info

Indiana sucks! It's backwoods and hicky!

[Internet Superman]

I went to school there - back in the late 80's and it was a awesome town.

Night life? Woofendales is the place to be on Friday and Saturday nights.

Then there was Scro's, Al & Patties, The Kangaroo, the down stairs of the Kangaroo, the Coney Island.

Then when you went out of town, you could go to the Rose Inn - which is now nothing more then a bar and no more dances. I was good friends with Billy when he owned it.

For under 100G - you are probably going to have to look out on East Pike.

My brother had a house out there - new - and he moved after 2 years of living in trailer town. We even built him a $25,000 garage and I know he didn't get $100K out of it.

The further you get out of town, the nicer it is!

There is most every Chain Department store and fast food restaurant in Indiana PA.

Country people knows how to have a good time - without having to be entertained 24 hours a day. That is what is so nice about the place.

Bad side would be high taxes the closer to the mall you get and high rent due to the college kids and their rich parents willing to pay what ever it takes to get off campus housing.

Parking is the worst thing in Indiana, you pay through the nose and the meter maids are a real pain.