Johnstown!! Please help! (Pittsburgh, Erie, Washington: best city, hall, rent)
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Not sure where this would go so I am putting it out there!
I am recently moving to Johnstown from Pitt for my rotations at conemaugh. I got a nice place only 400 rent near Russell avenue. Even though the neighborhood seems run down but what I am really concerned about is safety. How is the crime down there? If my parents come to visit me, would they be safe by themselves (when I have calls or nights) living alone?
Also I read on some other forum that utilities are way to high? Is it correct. Here in Pitt I was paying like 100 bucks or less for 2bdr but I heard there it is like 400? How true is that?
Any gym you guys recommend? Any other activities like a running trail if they have?
Also don't laugh but any Chinese or other asian take out place? lol
And is the city friendly to people with color? I am a brownie. I saw a house with confederate flag flying on the porch. How common is that?
I also notices that they don't have a very good internet reception on T-mobile phones. I used to get LTE but there I only got E. I also scheduled my internet setup with atlantic broadband (I couldn't find comcast there). How is their service?
Any ideas for library? or study spaces? Starbucks? Panera?
Not sure where this would go so I am putting it out there!
I am recently moving to Johnstown from Pitt for my rotations at conemaugh. I got a nice place only 400 rent near Russell avenue. Even though the neighborhood seems run down but what I am really concerned about is safety. How is the crime down there? If my parents come to visit me, would they be safe by themselves (when I have calls or nights) living alone?
Also I read on some other forum that utilities are way to high? Is it correct. Here in Pitt I was paying like 100 bucks or less for 2bdr but I heard there it is like 400? How true is that?
Any gym you guys recommend? Any other activities like a running trail if they have?
Also don't laugh but any Chinese or other asian take out place? lol
And is the city friendly to people with color? I am a brownie. I saw a house with confederate flag flying on the porch. How common is that?
I also notices that they don't have a very good internet reception on T-mobile phones. I used to get LTE but there I only got E. I also scheduled my internet setup with atlantic broadband (I couldn't find comcast there). How is their service?
Any ideas for library? or study spaces? Starbucks? Panera?
Thanks
Crime is pretty high for a city its size, but the surrounding areas are safer. There also seems to be a collective drug problem among much of the younger population in the city. As for Asian food, you'll probably find some Chinese take-out and some imitation Tex-Mex, but there won't be a cornucopia of different Asian cuisines, nor will there be much of anything authentic other than some ethnic European cuisine.
Racism can b a problem at times, though people seldom do anything more than make nasty remarks or scribble graffiti. Every now and then you'll find some bozo flying a Confederate flag, but it's not as common as people claim. In fact, the reason the flag is so easily noticed in the area is because it sticks out like a sore thumb, as opposed to being part of the daily backdrop like it is in other parts of the country.
Not sure where this would go so I am putting it out there!
I am recently moving to Johnstown from Pitt for my rotations at conemaugh. I got a nice place only 400 rent near Russell avenue. Even though the neighborhood seems run down but what I am really concerned about is safety. How is the crime down there? If my parents come to visit me, would they be safe by themselves (when I have calls or nights) living alone?
Also I read on some other forum that utilities are way to high? Is it correct. Here in Pitt I was paying like 100 bucks or less for 2bdr but I heard there it is like 400? How true is that?
Any gym you guys recommend? Any other activities like a running trail if they have?
Also don't laugh but any Chinese or other asian take out place? lol
And is the city friendly to people with color? I am a brownie. I saw a house with confederate flag flying on the porch. How common is that?
I also notices that they don't have a very good internet reception on T-mobile phones. I used to get LTE but there I only got E. I also scheduled my internet setup with atlantic broadband (I couldn't find comcast there). How is their service?
Any ideas for library? or study spaces? Starbucks? Panera?
Thanks
You've probably been in Johnstown for a few weeks so you've probably discovered it is not the best place to live. I don't live in Johnstown but I have spent a good bit of time in the area.
As far as a gym, there is a YMCA not far from the hospital on Haynes St. I would recommend that you use the UPJ facility. It is fairly new and you should be able to use it for free.
You won't see many people running in Johnstown, as compared to Oakland. Regarding a running trail, there is a short trail in Ferndale that you could run to. Any other trails that I'm aware of will require driving. A trail that is fairly close is the Path of the Flood Trail. It is around 4 miles long and you would have to drive north on Route 219 to access it. Another trail is the Ghost Town Trail, which would require driving north of Johnstown on Route 403 to Dilltown. All of these trails are listed here: ExplorePATrails.com
Regarding a library or study space, again your best bet might be UPJ. There is also a Panera and Starbucks, and a few other restaurants near UPJ in Richland. You will be driving to this area to do most of your shopping since virtually all retail business in Johnstown is along Route 219 at either the Walmart shopping center or the Galleria Mall.
I can't really comment about crime, internet reception or utility costs. I never had trouble with Verizon. Most of the crime around Johnstown will be drug related.
Location: Central Texas. Wait, I mean South Texas. Actually, both Central and South Texas
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Originally Posted by Pisiform
Not sure where this would go so I am putting it out there!
I am recently moving to Johnstown from Pitt for my rotations at conemaugh. I got a nice place only 400 rent near Russell avenue. Even though the neighborhood seems run down but what I am really concerned about is safety. How is the crime down there? If my parents come to visit me, would they be safe by themselves (when I have calls or nights) living alone?
Also I read on some other forum that utilities are way to high? Is it correct. Here in Pitt I was paying like 100 bucks or less for 2bdr but I heard there it is like 400? How true is that?
Any gym you guys recommend? Any other activities like a running trail if they have?
Also don't laugh but any Chinese or other asian take out place? lol
And is the city friendly to people with color? I am a brownie. I saw a house with confederate flag flying on the porch. How common is that?
I also notices that they don't have a very good internet reception on T-mobile phones. I used to get LTE but there I only got E. I also scheduled my internet setup with atlantic broadband (I couldn't find comcast there). How is their service?
Any ideas for library? or study spaces? Starbucks? Panera?
Thanks
Born and raised in Johnstown.
Russell Ave is in Moxham, one of the worst neighborhoods in Johnstown. Pretty much all of J-Town (except for Westmont and Richland) is just drugs and welfare. You really should have spent a little more money and got a place in Westmont or Richland. Westmont is only 10-15 minutes from Conemaugh Hospital and it is a nice, safe and clean area. Safety in Moxham? As with the rest of Johnstown, most of the crime is drug related. But Moxham, and most of J-Town, is really just depressing. Again, I would move to Westmont or Richland quickly. Westmont might be a better option because it's a shorter commute.
Snap Fitness is a good 24 hour option.
Peking Place in Westmont has decent food.
Like most towns in Western Pa, you have a Black Population and a White Population, not a lot of other diversity. Most racism in J-Town occurs behind closed doors, however.
I visited Johnstown for a day-trip on my day off on Tuesday after initial day-tripping plans to Presque Isle State Park in Erie were nixed due to inclement weather. I'm a history buff who has always wanted to learn more about the devastating 1889 Johnstown Flood, so I figured a rainy day would be the perfect time to finally explore and learn more.
I arrived in town from the northwest via Route 56 from U.S. Route 22. Shortly before entering the city limits I was impressed by a nice scenic overlook, and I was also intrigued by what seemed to be some sort of natural spring fountain directly along the road's shoulder. There was nowhere safe to park, though, to check it out. I found Route 56 to be an awesome drive except for a plethora of speeding dump trucks. As I came into the city limits I was greeted by dozens of large planters on the sidewalks filled with pretty flowers---obviously SOME people in Johnstown still possess civic pride!
I immediately made my way towards the Johnstown Flood Museum, housed in an ornate old library donated to the city by Andrew Carnegie due to his feelings of guilt for being a partial contributor to the city's 1889 destruction, and I was dismayed to see there was nowhere to park. I ended up driving a few blocks and found an open meter right across from City Hall, though. I then walked back to the museum and found out they didn't open until 10 AM---it was only 9:20 AM!
I walked around Downtown to kill some time for forty minutes. I was shocked by how little retail there was, and there weren't even that many restaurants, either. I stumbled upon Central Park, which I thought was absolutely gorgeous! There was a stretch of handsome old buildings---mostly underutilized---along Main Street between Market and Bedford/Clinton. What I found most shocking is that it was 9:40 AM on a Tuesday in the heart of the city, and there were almost no other people around. Very little traffic. Very little foot traffic other than people who looked like they were coming from or heading to receive some sort of social service. It was eerie.
At exactly 10 AM I headed into the museum. I returned to my car at 11:30 AM and, wanting coffee, navigated myself to the Starbucks in Richland Township. After recharging from a mocha frappucino I head up U.S. Route 219 to the National Park Service's Johnstown Flood Memorial. I found this to be preferable to the museum, as it was a sprawling campus that enveloped much of the land surrounding the old South Fork Dam and Lake Conemaugh---where the avarice of Pittsburgh's elite led to the deaths of 2,209 mostly working-class people in Johnstown in 1889.
I then decided I wanted to explore Westmont a bit, so I headed back into town right during a tropical deluge. I enjoyed the harrowing drive up Millcreek Road in the blinding downpour---it reminded me much of the steep, narrow, and windy East Sycamore Street heading up to Pittsburgh's highly-elevated Mt. Washington neighborhood from East Carson Street. I parked my car near the top of the inclined plane and waited for the rain to let up a bit. I then walked up Edgehill Drive and up a set of stairs to a huge U.S. flag that offered pristine views of the city! I explored some of the historic streets of Westmont on foot before getting back into my car and heading back to Pittsburgh.
Overall Johnstown left me feeling a bit depressed. Westmont felt like the region's epicenter of "old money". Richland Township felt like sterile newer suburbia---where most of today's young upwardly-mobile families would settle down. Johnstown itself felt like nobody cared about it. Until more people in the region start to care about the city, it's never going to make a comeback.
Wow, honestly, all of your previous replies probably haven't tried to see any of thr good qualities of the city.
I was born and raised in Johnstown and I still live here. My husband and I have three children who go to Johnstown school.
I love how the people say that Johnstown is bad with crime, drugs and welfare. I don't know if they've been outaide of Johnstown and to other cities like it. But it isn't Johnstown, it's just how the world is now. Unless you're moving into Beverly Hills, you're going to have drugs, crime and welfare. Johnstown definitely isn't the richest city but it isn't the worst. Yes, there is crime. Yes, there is drugs. But there is also a lot of good things. Moxham isn't the best city but it's not horrible. I've lived on the line of Hornerstown/Dale/Moxham. We keep to ourselves but some of our neighbors are amazing.
We often g to the movies, go out to eat. There is sports leagues you could join(even roller derby!). You can join clubs in the area or volunteer. Some of the local bars/clubs aren't half bad.
If you think positive, invest in TRYING to find some good in the area and making some good friendships, you can make Johnstown and any other city are very good city to live in.
Two major motion pictures were filmed in Johnstown. Slap shot starring paul newman (1976) & all the right moves starring tom cruise (1983). I enjoyed both movies.
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