NW PA or Altoona to Somerset Surrounding Area? (Pittsburgh, Erie: mortgages, houses)
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The areas around the mentioned NE PA towns do look beautiful per google and bing maps. Lots of nice photos.
Homeschooling seems popular in many areas of PA. Here in Western NC (Asheville area) homeschooling is huge. PA does have a few more homeschooling hurdles, though.
Interesting that you have been to Confluence. I'm partial to Somerset County and the Laurel Ridge Mountains. I love the Yough and Ohiopyle. My suggestion would be in the vicinity of the town of Somerset. The advantages of that area of Somerset County are access to a hospital, Wal-Mart and the PA Turnpike. You're 3.5 hours from Lake Erie.
Route 31 West around Bakersville is a nice area that puts you close to Laurel Hill, Laurel Ridge and Kooser State Parks. Laurel Hill Creek, and Jones Mill Run are excellent trout streams. The area has some excellent hiking trails with large hemlocks and mountain laurel.
I would go no further south in Somerset County than New Centerville, Rockwood, Garrett or Berlin. I think it becomes too remote for access to healthcare, grocery stores and major highways. No issues with going further north in Somerset County since it puts you closer to Johnstown and Route 30 with access to Latrobe.
Somerset County does get a lot of snow and the avg. January temperature is 23.8°. Erie get almost as much snow with an avg. January of 26.9°.
When I passed through Somerset I remember exiting the Turnpike and heading south to Confluence. The rolling open hills were amazing. Very much like Upstate NY. What was really neat about the area was the Tulip/Poplar trees and other southern varieties mixed in with northern hardwood. A nice merger of north and south. Even magnolia groves.
The Somerset area seemed a little warmer/humid than Meadville-Erie area, at least for the short time I visited in late August, which I liked, after all it was the end of August.
If people down here WNC were to find out about some of the southern tier parts of PA, there would be a mass exodus out of the south, as south is getting crowded with poor infrastructure to meet the growing population demands.
Many people in Western NC like snow, hills, biking and outdoor activities, but not don't like the growing population and crime. Even so, the fishing sucks here and hills in WNC are like Jungles--steep rolling mtns of lush impassable forest, sometimes needing a machete to navigate through thick briars and vines, though the vegetation does thin a lot at 3500+ feet and looks more like Canada at 4500+ feet.
Despite the diversity of the Blue Ridge MTNS, the higher parts of Blue Ridge Parkway are completely inaccessible during the winter even if only 1 inch of snow falls. One of reasons I chose to move Western NC was for accessing the snow in the higher terrain, while living in a relatively snowless 2000' elevation. Little did I know that the Blue Ridge Parkway is not accessible during the winter(minus this recent snowless winter), thus winter activity is hampered, unless one pays large fees for VERY crowded ski resorts.
The area I live in is great for people with a good job or good income, because the good stuff cost money. Even state parks and other nature areas cost money to access. Sometimes over 15per person--like Chimney Rock State Park where Last of Mohicans was filmed or Grandfather MTN.
PA parks are free and their parks website is very user friendly. After living WNC for almost 7yrs, I'm ready for a change. Bring on the snow!
Those areas mentioned in the OP are pretty cloudy in the winter. I'm not familiar with Northeastern PA.
Have you considered any part of New England ? Have you considered the west shore of the Harrisburg area ?
No I haven't considered those areas. My work at home computer job limits my state selection. I did drive up/down 81 a couple of times, but realize 81 probably does not do many areas justice, as it seemed to me that many of higher elevations of 81 looked pretty scrubby(stunted, diseased, broken trees). I think it was near Wilkes-Barre in the higher elevations that the things looked rough. I don't remember, however, as we dropped down and approached the NY border the nature started to look lush and healthy again.
No I haven't considered those areas. My work at home computer job limits my state selection. I did drive up/down 81 a couple of times, but realize 81 probably does not do many areas justice, as it seemed to me that many of higher elevations of 81 looked pretty scrubby(stunted, diseased, broken trees). I think it was near Wilkes-Barre in the higher elevations that the things looked rough. I don't remember, however, as we dropped down and approached the NY border the nature started to look lush and healthy again.
West shore Harrisburg area is in Pennsylvania, and it's nowhere near Wilkes-Barre, much further south on 81. The mountains are beautiful around there. I think some of the scrubby appearance of nature around Wilkes-Barre is due to previous coal mining in the area.
In another post you asked about Altoona. The nature is pretty nice around there. But it's somewhat economically depressed. Also it's pretty cloudy/gloomy in the winter. More so than Harrisburg. There's a lot more to do around Harrisburg than around Altoona, unless you are totally the outdoors, hunting, & middle of nature type. In which case Altoona may be interesting enough.
I'd consider adding west shore Harrisburg to your list of areas to consider. Oh, and Yellow Breeches Creek is supposedly a nice stream for fishing. By west shore Harrisburg I mean the west shore of the Susquehanna River. It's a shallow river, but it's about a mile wide.
hahahahaha! Sorry, but you made me laugh when you said you wanted "well maintained roads in PA".
Personally I think you'd be okay in Erie. And any reason why you'd pick Altoona over other nearby towns like Ebensburg/Johnstown/Bedford? I cannot advise you on Altoona (I've only ever stopped briefly) so I don't really know what it's like, but I've spent a decent amount of time in the other 3 and I love them all. Even Johnstown. It's a little (extremely) quiet in the city, but the homes up at the top of the hill are amazing and peaceful. One of my favorite parts of PA.
EclipticX, I know that at least in Corry (smaller town in Erie county) there is plenty of low-cost housing. Only problem is, like you said, jobs. Not many job opportunities in Corry itself. Many people who live here work in Erie (40 minute drive or so) or Warren, Meadville or Jamestown, NY (all within about 40 minute drive or so). Most jobs in Corry are either factory work, retail, or food service, it seems.
That dam you went to, near Warren, is probably the Kinzua Dam and that area is the Allegheny National Forest. Beautiful and excellent place for boating, fishing, hiking, camping, etc. In the winter there's lots of people doing ice climbing, cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, ice fishing etc. and there's an annual snow/ice sculpture event on the reservoir. Great place if you like the outdoors, and breathtaking in mid-late October.
Corry itself doesn't have a whole lot to offer in terms of entertainment. Small-town stuff. Some nice antique shops, a used bookstore, two or three unique restaurants, a few bars, a bowling alley, an inline skating rink, a couple cafe/coffee shops. Just enough that if you REALLY wanted to have a "night out" in Corry, you could. Oh and we have a really nice park in town, with woods and hiking trails and pavilions and a pond and playgrounds and stuff. Quite nice for such a little place.
But most people go up to Erie or Jamestown, N.Y., if they want more culture. Erie, despite what some people might tell you, is thriving culturally for its size. There are a few really nice and unique pubs up there, and they have a thriving theater company, and a small symphony orchestra. Oh, and a really, really nice Tinseltown movie theater with cheap ticket prices. Even in my 4 years of college in the Pittsburgh area I never saw a nicer movie theater than the Tinseltown in Erie. There are several colleges in Erie, including Gannon University and Penn State Behrend, so like most college towns it has some interesting things to do. If it weren't for the colleges being there, the city might be a little more humdrum.
Only thing is, inland Erie county and nearby parts of Crawford and Warren counties get HAMMERED by lake-effect snow. Corry's average annual snowfall usually falls between 100 to 200 inches of snow. So, if you move to the area...I hope you like snow. The city road crews are used to it and are very good about promptly cleaning the snow off the roads, so that isn't usually a big problem...just shoveling the snow off your own sidewalk/driveway can be a pain sometimes. I'd advise changing your tires to snow tires at the first sign of snow if you come to this area.
hahahahaha! Sorry, but you made me laugh when you said you wanted "well maintained roads in PA".
Personally I think you'd be okay in Erie. And any reason why you'd pick Altoona over other nearby towns like Ebensburg/Johnstown/Bedford? I cannot advise you on Altoona (I've only ever stopped briefly) so I don't really know what it's like, but I've spent a decent amount of time in the other 3 and I love them all. Even Johnstown. It's a little (extremely) quiet in the city, but the homes up at the top of the hill are amazing and peaceful. One of my favorite parts of PA.
Roads around Asheville NC and surrounding communities are very curvy, hilly and scary. During the winter time they are not "drivable."
Huge ruts, no shoulders or guardrails. Many of people lose their lives where I live after slipping into a monster rut and either going off and hitting a tree or over correcting and hitting another vehicle.
I have lived in NY,FL,TN, and CA and so far nothing compares to the crappy roads of Asheville...especially West Asheville or less affluent areas around Asheville, which is every area.
I drove through some of PA and none of the roads compared to WNC disrepair. I was actually expecting crappy roads because some people on city-data forum complained about the bad PA roads, but I couldn't find them. Probably all relative.
Many people on the city-data forum said Meadville is a dump and this or that place is a dump, but I found them to be very nice compared to some of the backwoods areas of Western NC.
Last edited by eclipticX; 05-08-2012 at 02:19 PM..
Reason: because I can
The area immediately east of Somerset County surrounding Cumberland, MD (southern Bedford County PA, much of Allegany County MD, Mineral County WV) is about the driest area in three states. Hiking and fishing are big. Cumberland has much more history than present, rents are cheap (not yet affected by fracking boom) and MD roads are fairly well maintained. The local view of Baltimore and Montgomery/PG counties would seem very familiar to a former upstate New Yorker. Cumberland has basic shopping and healthcare. Snow is close by in Garrett County and the WV highlands. Winter access is moderate, perhaps better than WNC but not quite what it is in central NY.
The area immediately east of Somerset County surrounding Cumberland, MD (southern Bedford County PA, much of Allegany County MD, Mineral County WV) is about the driest area in three states. Hiking and fishing are big. Cumberland has much more history than present, rents are cheap (not yet affected by fracking boom) and MD roads are fairly well maintained. The local view of Baltimore and Montgomery/PG counties would seem very familiar to a former upstate New Yorker. Cumberland has basic shopping and healthcare. Snow is close by in Garrett County and the WV highlands. Winter access is moderate, perhaps better than WNC but not quite what it is in central NY.
Do you mean the are immediately south of Somerset County? Except for Bedford County, all of the areas mentioned are south of the Mason-Dixon Line.
This is a nice area with a great highway with Interstate 68. Real estate in Garrett County, MD is pretty expensive around Deep Creek and Wisp. Shopping and healthcare are also limited in most areas outside of Cumberland. Rocky Gap State Park is a very nice state park and resort just 7 miles east of Cumberland on I-68.
I'm getting a bit of the locals' axis tilt I guess, moving out perpendicular to the Allegheny Front would be more accurate.
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