Moving to PA... Where would you live (rural areas only) ? (Pittsburgh: rental, homes)

[bridge12]

Originally Posted by trackstar13

I agree with the exception of Butler County, which is deeply red and has been experiencing population and economic growth recently.

This is true. It's way too simple to say that "the growing parts of PA are blue".

The thing is, PA is really just several metros/cultures with a rectangle drawn around them.

The Pittsburgh metro has a gentrifying, liberalizing core but overall it's more culturally similar to a midwest metro which may have a blue center but deep red suburbs. This is in contrast to the Philly metro which is only red around the fringe and otherwise has blue suburbs. When the Philly metro expands the state gets bluer. But the Pittsburgh metro has growing red suburbs *and* formerly-blue suburbs still trending red which counter-balances that.

Other growing parts of the state - think Franklin, Adams, and York counties - aren't getting bluer. They are growing because of migration from Maryland which are mostly conservative people looking for a lower cost of living. The Lehigh Valley's blue shift has even been stunted the past few years - perhaps because in general, it is more in line with the NYC suburbs which sort of got redder during the Trump years.

So you have a mix of growing parts of the state that are blue and red. I think overall, the state's trend is rather stable. Not really getting bluer but not redder. However, it's interesting to note that if anything, PA has gotten redder compared to the U.S. as a whole.

[RetireinPA]

having lived in pa all my long life and having houses in multiple places, this is my take...


If you want to be left alone, left to live regardless of blue/red/left/right...consider NW PA like clarion forest elk counties. If you want modern services (read: internet and cable) then you have to be picky as verizon sold off all the phone lines to 3rd world comm company (thats sorta a joke) so look where 'armstrong' has a presence. I myself have a home in clarion county, 20 minutes or so from clarion. Schools are 'ok', no problems, no crime, no sewer (its all septic) and I have cable and faster internet than my place in pittsburgh. BUT, as you age its a 30 minute plus drive to a doctor or store...we have DGs galore...but these counties have a unique distinction: 30%


Of all the houses, only 30% are occupied by residents. all the rest are 'camps'. There is no inventory on the market just like the rest of PA so there are not many deals of any type out there now, just be patient. your kids will grow up rural and hopefully get some of that rural ethic in them from watching others. At my place in clarion county, I have zero problems with anyone, save perhaps the more snooty terrorists, er I mean tourists that drive by the rustic front porches we all have and make smart comments when you try to relax. But, they are afraid of deer and bear and we got them a plenty. sometime its fun to watch mr and mrs 'city-culture' scream like little girls when a fisher crosses in front of their car...but I digress


Next up I would look at huntingdon county due south of state college. It goes from blue to red real fast by 'mac fort' and there are deals on land and housing, but this is mountain country. A lot of it is clinging to steep hillsides and unless you get close to the county seat, you get zero modern services. But the lake....I no longer have a property there...sold it a few years back, but I keep my boat near the lake...its my lake (I own it or at least I tell people I do). 34 years on it and try to get on it every time I can. If that is not your cup of tea, move on.


In east central PA (state college is the exact center of pa: n/s or e/w) look at cumberland county near carlisle. If you are a car guy like me, you will love the carlisle fairgrounds car shows. Carlisle has a lot of ex farmland going up and while prices and taxes are way lower than cali, they are healthy - not like allegheny cty or philly - but you notice them AND you get a lot of service, you are near anything you want. plus its so damn quiet. I have been on the fairgrounds with 50 thousand other people during the spring car show and can hear myself think. they do a good job there with 'curb appeal'.


If you want to be near pitt and the best river confluence in the world, dont look at allegheny county - look at westmoreland. westmoreland county is the hottest single fam housing market in PA, prolly the US right now. taxes are held low (and no increase for 2022!) and the schools are among the best. The norwin district is in the top 5 in the USA for the advanced/gifted program (they invented it) and college placement is tops. sadly, they get dings - literally - for being too white! Im not a fan of this reverse stuff. But you are like 11 crow flying miles from pitt and all it has to offer in amenities, but you are across that important county line.



allegheny: startling lawlessness in some areas, its not chicago no, but not for lack of trying, but westmoreland picks up the trash that crosses the line. westmoreland is a fine bedroom community, lots of food and shopping and it has its rural end. and right now EVERYONE is hiring. At good dollars too.


it has all modern services (except for comcast - of which I am not a fan) and like I said the taxes are low and we have perhaps too much health care...we have 3 providers UPMC, excella and AHN - vying for your dollar so not only are 'rates' low, you are never a few minutes from any offices! and of course, not far from the rivers. I boat them as well and its hard to beat that skyline. (see attached). Biggest negative about pitt that is consistent is the traffic. Its a 'star built' town rather than a 'beltway town'. All roads go in, to come out and the old color coded belt system is about 40 years outdated. here, miles times 3 = minutes to get somewhere. It can get aggravating.



When we moved here 4+ years ago we hired a real estate agent to act as our agent. houses sell hours after going on the market. our was on less than 24 hours and we paid 4% over ask. 4 years later, people in my plan selling are oft sold by noon after a 10-20% over ask bid war from no-see buyers. its THAT hot. almost like say bay area cali in 2000. my own place has nearly doubled in value and I get at least 1 postcard a week from realtors begging me to list (not gonna) (to be fair I have updated the whole place to account for the increase but still...)



If you are still in cali ,doing the long distance research is gonna be hard...almost all the properties are contingent by the time zillow or realtor posts them and you have to 'feel' it. from being in huntingdon for so many years, I can say state college is nice, great place to visit but be warned, its population triples each year in august and the fun factor of in town restaurants and entertainment drops fast during this time, plus as others said, its a little too 'blue' and you have to listen to a lot of nonsense...but still coming from cali this will still be way better for you.


but regardless of where you go, pay real close attention to 'services' - namely telecomm. This is the future and just about everything you do is online. especially in the last year when work AND school were online. You need fast reliable service and because we are sooooo hilly, you need good cable...its hard if not impossible to get OTA broadcasts. and pay attention to taxes. If I cross that line from westmoreland to allegheny, same house, taxes double for no apparent reason

[Truth11]

I'm pretty much done with the soul sucking northeast,but if I did live in PA it would probably be in the Pocono area(due to rising summer temperatures it's getting like Florida here)...or I would live on the border of Ohio so I could be that much closer to the midwest.

[retiredtxn]

We're moving back to PA (Erie) next spring from AZ after being gone for 7 years. We lived in a small town in NW PA between Erie and Pittsburgh, called Meadville. Loved the town, my neighbors, and not too far from Erie or Pittsburgh if we needed (wanted) to go.



Can't wait to get out of AZ!

[Dee1323]

State College is very liberal because of the huge university population there. Also, although it is in the center of the state, it's not "centrally located" to anywhere. There's just mountains and a few tiny towns for miles. It doesn't seem like it matches what you are looking for.

I would suggest looking at the lower half of the state, west of Chester County and where there's more rolling farmland, better weather, and easier driving. The area is sometimes referred to by tourists as "PA Dutch Country".

[Marv95]

Westmoreland and Butler Counties have been gaining population(probably from Allegheny County) and are solid red at this point. Same with south Central PA with York, Adams, Franklin and even Lancaster. Conservative transplants from Maryland and the logistics industry have helped.

There's more to the state than Philly. A Presidential race isn't the only thing determining whether a state is blue or red. Rs flipped a couple of state seats and defeated Wolf earlier this year with the limits on executive authority. This state is one solid GOP candidate away from regaining a red trifecta next year.

I'm also done with the Northeast but if I had to choose a rural spot and if I had a car it would be south Central PA. It seems more flat.

[Tweb66]

On the flip side, Dems are an ungerrymandered state legislature map away from having a trifecta themselves. Given this is the first time since 1990 that Republicans can't control the entire process, I'd expect a much more Dem friendly map in 2022.



A lot of stink was made about the congressional redistricting in 2018 but bear in mind the state legislative maps were untouched and heavily gerrymandered.

[PeeAye Native]

Check out Clarks Summit and the Abington Heights School District, which is highly rated for a small town school district. Clarks Summit is a well to do suburb of Scranton, has a small town lifestyle but you could go full rural if you go a few miles out in the north, NW or NE direction.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by Marv95

Westmoreland and Butler Counties have been gaining population(probably from Allegheny County) and are solid red at this point. Same with south Central PA with York, Adams, Franklin and even Lancaster. Conservative transplants from Maryland and the logistics industry have helped.

There's more to the state than Philly. A Presidential race isn't the only thing determining whether a state is blue or red. Rs flipped a couple of state seats and defeated Wolf earlier this year with the limits on executive authority. This state is one solid GOP candidate away from regaining a red trifecta next year.

I'm also done with the Northeast but if I had to choose a rural spot and if I had a car it would be south Central PA. It seems more flat.

Butler County is growing gangbusters.

Westmoreland County's population is in freefall. Don't be fooled by all of the new housing subdivisions going up there. It's just existing households shuffling around.

Cambria, Blair, and Fayette Counties are also in freefall.

[villageidiot1]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

Butler County is growing gangbusters.

Westmoreland County's population is in freefall. Don't be fooled by all of the new housing subdivisions going up there. It's just existing households shuffling around.

Cambria, Blair, and Fayette Counties are also in freefall.

You're correct about Westmoreland County's population. It is currently estimated at 345,000. In 1980 Westmoreland County had a population of 392,294.

Fayette County's population has fallen faster than Westmoreland's over a longer period of time. Fayette has fallen from 201,000 in 1940 to 127,000 in 2021.