Oil City, Pennsylvania (Erie, Reading, Wilson: apartments, rentals, home)

[speedracer1]

Originally Posted by grewupinoilcity

I also grew on the south side of Oil City.
Oil City is like the twilight zone. It was like running in place. I like Oil City but my wife...well we won't go there.
I would love to talk about Oil City with past residents or anyone considering a move to Oil City.

Interesting comparison; Oil City and the Twilight Zone. I must say OC in the mid to late 70's was sort of like that. I came here in '74 (not by my choice )from a large, metropolitan area in another state. It was like time travel to the past for me and as a teenager I did'nt appreciate the low crime etc. But then came MTV and the television revolution, not to mention the internet and most importantly online shopping. Oil City still has characterisitcs that remind one of bygone eras but for the most part folks are with, or at least aware of current times. Oil City,like many other US cities,will always be a shadow when compared to former times but considering the community in today's terms reveals a good city with many people working hard to make it even better.

[m4birchtrees]

HI Scott, Sorry its taking me so long to get back to you.
I did find the answer's to my question's.

[m4birchtrees]

I' m so happy to hear about the new changes in OC.
Finally the owner's of those run down home's are going to be forced to do some thing about them.
Even the Fire Dept. had some issue's with the run down home's.
So glad you spoke up at the meeting.
My hat is off to you.

[Tatianalee]

Hi Lainie, I'm a newbie here so I just saw this old posting here about growing up in Oil City. I think I read that you moved to California? I myself have never been that far west although I have been up and down the eastern seaboard---all the way south to an island near South America.
My brother lives in Petaluma Calif and he said he would never come back to PA to live because he loves the weather there. My other brother lives in Boston so it is easier for him to come home. As for Oil City, it seems rather drab looking compared to Franklin! We used to live in Franklin and are considering moving back there. When my bro comes down from Boston, he likes to go on the Allegheny bike trail along the river. I myself love the river and the beautiful rock-side cliff going up the hill. And one of my favorite of all is the ancient nunnery/abbey up on the hillside overlooking the river.
Oil City should consider being part of Franklin as Franklin does a great job of making the town presentable. Of course there is the history of the name of Oil City to be taken into consideration too.
I grew up in Meadville which is an ok town (home to Allegheny College) but it can't boast the Allegheny with its bridges. Oh yes, the ice carving festival is fantastic as well.
Wanting to see California but living on a meager budget, Tatianalee

[tinypurse]

have heard many neg. comments about the house and there conditions and i agree that there are alot of very run down houses and buildings in town. it is such a shame that people let these great old homes fall into such a state! i purchased a big old home/store just a little over a year ago. hubby does home remodeling and we intend to restore this wonderful old house. last summer we came up for three weeks and started the process of putting on new roof. we had the whole street so pleased that someone was finally doing something to this place!(ed just wanted it tore down along with some of the neighbors) all things take time and money. we were not able to come up this summer and it saddens us because we hope that our new neighbors in oil city havent given-up on us because we havent given-up on oil city. times are tight but soon we will be back to complete our house and move up. we are looking forward to the future and see great things again for this town, and my family wants to be part of it!

[mritchey1980]

Visiting with my dad on the weekends and summers I spent a good bit of my childhood / early adult life in Oil City. I grew up on Colbert Ave right across from the old Oil Well Industrial Complex ( for those of you that know the area it was the first house right after that large parking lot). I used to spend many nights walking the town without a care in the world. Even in 3rd grade walking around at 2A.M all alone, I had no worries. 5 1/2 years ago, on a whim I got bored and decided to move with a cousin of mine to Summerville SC (about 20-30 miles outside of Charleston)

Talkin about culture shock for someone from a big city moving to OC.........I'm still goin through it being from small towns and moving to this ( my mom/stepdad and fam. lived mainly between Cuba NY and President villiage.........so I went to school in Tionesta but spent much more time in OC). I drive 18 miles to work every day and it takes me damn near an hour each way. (and god help me if there's a wreck on one of my 2 main routes) I'm jockying for road space with about 15,000 other people.

I can't wait to get back to PA. Just biding my time, trying to get some $$ saved up for moving, housing, etc. A lot easier to just pack my crap and move down here than it is to pick up a wife and 3 kids along with me.

It's great to sit here reading all these positive posts about Oil City. Really reenforces my wanting to get home.

[mystree]

Originally Posted by mritchey1980

Visiting with my dad on the weekends and summers I spent a good bit of my childhood / early adult life in Oil City. I grew up on Colbert Ave right across from the old Oil Well Industrial Complex ( for those of you that know the area it was the first house right after that large parking lot). I used to spend many nights walking the town without a care in the world. Even in 3rd grade walking around at 2A.M all alone, I had no worries. 5 1/2 years ago, on a whim I got bored and decided to move with a cousin of mine to Summerville SC (about 20-30 miles outside of Charleston)

Talkin about culture shock for someone from a big city moving to OC.........I'm still goin through it being from small towns and moving to this ( my mom/stepdad and fam. lived mainly between Cuba NY and President villiage.........so I went to school in Tionesta but spent much more time in OC). I drive 18 miles to work every day and it takes me damn near an hour each way. (and god help me if there's a wreck on one of my 2 main routes) I'm jockying for road space with about 15,000 other people.

I can't wait to get back to PA. Just biding my time, trying to get some $$ saved up for moving, housing, etc. A lot easier to just pack my crap and move down here than it is to pick up a wife and 3 kids along with me.

It's great to sit here reading all these positive posts about Oil City. Really reenforces my wanting to get home.

I can see exactly where your coming from,I lived most of my life in NW Pa. Union City,Cambridge Springs and Oil City and now live outside of Columbia SC and it's not my cup of tea.My husband and I have had a stuggle deciding between Florida,Pennsylvania and Minnesota.Like you I'm small town and never adjusted here,hubby is from Minneapolis so finding that happy medium hard. Even though some people put Oil City down I would recommend it to anyone looking for a nice small town.

[speedracer1]

Those of you looking to make a change and considering small town Northwestern PA might want to make a connection and keep tabs on what is happening. There are pros and cons to most areas and it is just a matter of what is important to the individual and what they can overlook.

A lot of work is being done to revitalize the economy here and while that takes time and patience we are beginning to realize benefits. Another area that folks have been working on is inter municipality cooperation. That will be a slow moving project but some progress is tuly being made and some benefits are already evident. There will always be some competition among the communities and differences in the "feel" of them. Much attention is being paid to quality of life; how to protect what we have here and how to enhance it. And the smaller communities are being recognized and coming together for their mutual benefit. The local newspaper, "The Derrick" captures some of what is happening but really only the tip of the iceberg.

Right now there is plentiful housing stock at basement prices but that may not still be true in a few years. Yes, heating costs are a factor especially in the older larger homes and we do have winter here. 15" - 18" of snow last weekend here, depending on who you talk to. It was a hassle when it happened but now that the work of digging out is over the effect is beautiful.
A friend's co-workers drove up from a neighboring city to help dig her driveway out since a plow truck can't get in there. Some school kids saw my elderly Mom trying to dig her car out on their way home after school and came back to help after putting appropriate clothing on. And they refused her offer of a money tip. You don't see that in a lot of communities.

So if these things hold any appeal to you, give Venango County a closer look.
My English Teacher always said "Don't judge a book by its cover".

[dickens]

I lived in Oil City from 84-89. It was a fun, safe place to be a teenager. I look back on my time there fondly. Sadly, the experience can't be replicated today.

Does anyone remember Brody's? That was a cute department store. The view of the "city" from the cemetary on the north side was amazing too.

[DUMPSTA D]

Originally Posted by speedracer1

Those of you looking to make a change and considering small town Northwestern PA might want to make a connection and keep tabs on what is happening. There are pros and cons to most areas and it is just a matter of what is important to the individual and what they can overlook.

A lot of work is being done to revitalize the economy here and while that takes time and patience we are beginning to realize benefits. Another area that folks have been working on is inter municipality cooperation. That will be a slow moving project but some progress is tuly being made and some benefits are already evident. There will always be some competition among the communities and differences in the "feel" of them. Much attention is being paid to quality of life; how to protect what we have here and how to enhance it. And the smaller communities are being recognized and coming together for their mutual benefit. The local newspaper, "The Derrick" captures some of what is happening but really only the tip of the iceberg.

Right now there is plentiful housing stock at basement prices but that may not still be true in a few years. Yes, heating costs are a factor especially in the older larger homes and we do have winter here. 15" - 18" of snow last weekend here, depending on who you talk to. It was a hassle when it happened but now that the work of digging out is over the effect is beautiful.
A friend's co-workers drove up from a neighboring city to help dig her driveway out since a plow truck can't get in there. Some school kids saw my elderly Mom trying to dig her car out on their way home after school and came back to help after putting appropriate clothing on. And they refused her offer of a money tip. You don't see that in a lot of communities.

So if these things hold any appeal to you, give Venango County a closer look.
My English Teacher always said "Don't judge a book by its cover".

im from pittsburgh,been in phoenix for 17 years. i cant come back during the winter. it is too cold. but my dream is to have a small summer home there. i miss the motorbike riding roads. the roads here are boring. the summers too hot as i get older, they get hotter it seems. do you know of any 55+ retirement in the oil city area. do you know a guy from oil city named phil. he worked with me for allegheney county as graphic artist back in 1977. he looks like the keyboard player for the doors, but i dont know what he looks like now.