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Old 01-18-2022, 10:05 AM
 
Location: Missouri Bootheel (Eventually Pennsylvania)
51 posts, read 39,976 times
Reputation: 72

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Which one should I check out? I made a criteria of things I need.


Weather: Mild summers with lots of clear days and winters with tons of snow (I have always wanted to experience a White Christmas)

Things to do outside: A big lake with great fishing and terrain hilly enough for some awesome sledding

Culture: Would much rather be somewhere that feels southern or midwestern than northeastern. Very gun-friendly and traditional. No mask wearers.

Houses: Need housing cheap enough to feasibly get a mortgage while working at a grocery store (Minimum wage could also effect this)

Other things: Low crime, low traffic, not touristy, fun things to do in town, decent amount of shopping in the area, not run-down
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Old 01-18-2022, 11:13 AM
 
Location: Center City Philadelphia
443 posts, read 404,057 times
Reputation: 537
Meadville. Warren will be more rural but Meadville is closer to lakes (Erie but also Conneaut lake and Pymatuning) and has more of a midwestern feel. Neither one is touristy, though Warren is pretty close to Allegheny National Forest which does get a lot of tourists. Both have LOTS of snow.
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Old 01-18-2022, 11:29 AM
 
Location: Missouri Bootheel (Eventually Pennsylvania)
51 posts, read 39,976 times
Reputation: 72
Quote:
Originally Posted by bridge12 View Post
Meadville. Warren will be more rural but Meadville is closer to lakes (Erie but also Conneaut lake and Pymatuning) and has more of a midwestern feel. Neither one is touristy, though Warren is pretty close to Allegheny National Forest which does get a lot of tourists. Both have LOTS of snow.
Is Meadville (and Erie to an extent) hilly enough for some fast sledding?
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Old 01-18-2022, 04:54 PM
 
5,285 posts, read 6,083,303 times
Reputation: 5444
Quote:
Originally Posted by Super Bootheel Bros. View Post
Which one should I check out? I made a criteria of things I need.


Weather: Mild summers with lots of clear days and winters with tons of snow (I have always wanted to experience a White Christmas)

Summers in PA are hot and humid. The weather pattern is clear days become increasingly cloudy and humid until a thunderstorm clears the humidity out. Then it repeats. Portions of northwest PA are in the Lake Erie snow belt, that includes Meadville.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Super Bootheel Bros. View Post
Things to do outside: A big lake with great fishing and terrain hilly enough for some awesome sledding...

Northwest PA's topology is flat to rolling with some hills. Warren is hillier than Meadville. Lake Erie has the best fishing. Walleye are the most popular fish to catch. There are also salmon and steelhead.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Super Bootheel Bros. View Post
Culture: Would much rather be somewhere that feels southern or midwestern than northeastern. Very gun-friendly and traditional. No mask wearers.

I don't know of any cities in PA that "feel southern." A long time ago, York had a southern feel but many Hispanics have moved in due to local manufacturers needing workers. PA is gun friendly with "open carry" legal everywhere but Philadelphia. To quote from James Carville: "PA is Philadelphia and Pittsburgh with Alabama in between."

Quote:
Originally Posted by Super Bootheel Bros. View Post
Houses: Need housing cheap enough to feasibly get a mortgage while working at a grocery store (Minimum wage could also effect this)…

If you want cheap housing, depressed cities like Shamokin come to mind. (http://www.city-data.com/forum/north...nsylvania.html) Economy is terrible there. Warren has a lot of industry for its small size and Meadville is known as "tool city USA." There are hundreds of machine shops, tool and die and injection molding companies in and around Meadville. But unless you're a skilled worker, you'll have a tough time earning enough money to buy a decent house.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Super Bootheel Bros. View Post
Other things: Low crime, low traffic, not touristy, fun things to do in town, decent amount of shopping in the area, not run-down...

Small towns in rural areas like Emporium come to mind, but fun things to do and decent shopping would be a problem.
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Old 01-19-2022, 09:25 AM
 
Location: On the Chesapeake
44,878 posts, read 59,858,372 times
Reputation: 60419
I'm going to say that Warren is likely more isolated than Meadville. Warren also has an active oil refinery which does cause people to complain about the odor from it.

Both are in the snow shadow of Lake Erie so do receive lake effect snowstorms. Colder winters will freeze Lake Erie, which cuts down on the snow effect, the winters are colder when that happens. Cold as in highs in the 20s and lows below zero.

Meadville is closer to Ohio, which would be a downside for me.

I'm originally from Smethport, which is a bit further east than Warren. There is where I'd go.
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Old 01-19-2022, 11:55 AM
 
5,285 posts, read 6,083,303 times
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"I'm originally from Smethport, which is a bit further east than Warren. There is where I'd go."


With the closing of Smethport's "Christmas Store" in 2015, there's nothing in Smethport worthwhile.
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Old 01-19-2022, 12:05 PM
 
Location: On the Chesapeake
44,878 posts, read 59,858,372 times
Reputation: 60419
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wells5 View Post
"I'm originally from Smethport, which is a bit further east than Warren. There is where I'd go."


With the closing of Smethport's "Christmas Store" in 2015, there's nothing in Smethport worthwhile.
Except, with maybe the exception of "decent shopping" it does hit his wants. Being that I'm not into shopping I never know what's meant by "decent shopping".

I will say that most of the dairy farms that I went to with my dad on Saturdays when he tested milk sixty years ago are still there.

Last edited by North Beach Person; 01-19-2022 at 01:26 PM.. Reason: completed thought
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Old 01-20-2022, 04:55 AM
 
Location: Marshall-Shadeland, Pittsburgh, PA
32,604 posts, read 77,242,002 times
Reputation: 19066
Check out Kane, PA. Cute small town in McKean County. It is not far from Warren or Bradford for the occasional jaunt for a big-box store. The town itself has a growing restaurant scene and has a cute little main street (Fraley Street). It has a few thousand people. Very safe. Leans conservative and is in a very conservative county. Lots of snow. Great young female mayor who is bringing the town into the 21st Century. We love visiting that town and exploring the nearby areas like Jake's Rocks, Kinzua Bridge State Park, and the Allegheny National Forest. It's a great escape from the "big city", and you are still close enough to take day-trips to Buffalo, Pittsburgh, or Erie.

As far as your "mask-wearing" comment is concerned good luck with that. Most people across the country wear masks when in crowded indoor settings like shops and restaurants. I never found wearing a mask to be a big deal. I had COVID and got over it. No big deal. It was like the Flu. With that being said I would have felt terribly if I was maskless and breathing germs onto older people who may have died from COVID.
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Old 01-20-2022, 05:22 AM
 
Location: On the Chesapeake
44,878 posts, read 59,858,372 times
Reputation: 60419
Quote:
Originally Posted by SteelCityRising View Post
Check out Kane, PA. Cute small town in McKean County. It is not far from Warren or Bradford for the occasional jaunt for a big-box store. The town itself has a growing restaurant scene and has a cute little main street (Fraley Street). It has a few thousand people. Very safe. Leans conservative and is in a very conservative county. Lots of snow. Great young female mayor who is bringing the town into the 21st Century. We love visiting that town and exploring the nearby areas like Jake's Rocks, Kinzua Bridge State Park, and the Allegheny National Forest. It's a great escape from the "big city", and you are still close enough to take day-trips to Buffalo, Pittsburgh, or Erie.

As far as your "mask-wearing" comment is concerned good luck with that. Most people across the country wear masks when in crowded indoor settings like shops and restaurants. I never found wearing a mask to be a big deal. I had COVID and got over it. No big deal. It was like the Flu. With that being said I would have felt terribly if I was maskless and breathing germs onto older people who may have died from COVID.
Kane, "The Icebox of the US".

It has around 3000 people, so not big but not small necessarily.

As far as "bringing it into the 21st Century" goes, is that really a good thing? That happened here where I am and it's not pleasant. You lived in NoVA so know what Metro DC people are like.

Mask wearing is hit and miss across the region, although when we were up at the end of October Sheetz went from not requiring them to requiring them over the course of the weekend.
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Old 01-20-2022, 01:01 PM
 
Location: Western PA
10,168 posts, read 4,109,721 times
Reputation: 6279
Warren died 20 years ago. And found a way to get worse every year since.


But that being said, warren is a much better fit for your stated requirements.


warren is surrounded by tall hills and has a nice lake (kinzua) a few miles from town. warren is depressed so a local wage will buy a home.


Meadville is gonna have a lot of snowflakes - not the kind you can sled in - due to the liberal arts college. Meadville is 'up on the cap' sort of that surrounds lake erie. its going to be a lot like edinboro - also snowflake city in that respect. Meadville is going to have more diverse shopping and restaurants simply because nothing not named 'walmart or lowes' can stay open in warren.


Lake erie is out. unless you own a 30ft sport fisher and have your commercial license, its small craft like 300 days out of the year due to the shallow depth and unobstructed wind. stand on the banks at presque isle and if it looks like a herd of elephants out there - stay on the trailer. You will die and they wont find your body. You get limited to presque isle bay and thats like boating tionesta lake: its fun for the fist lap. only.


with warren at least you are right next to hearts content and tionesta wilderness and the ANF and a little farther out to cook/clearcreek state forests - if you are outdoorsey, plenty to do.
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