What's Life Like in Franklin? (Pittsburgh, Sharon: real estate, houses, buy)

[JonathanA]

Hi. I'm researching a move to smaller-town PA from the Pittsburgh area, and Franklin/Oil City caught my eye.

Oil City has tons of info on these forums, but Franklin, not so much.

Can anybody tell me what Franklin is like? From the pictures, it looks like it has a small, vibrant downtown, with most of the residential areas within a mile of that strip. (Liberty?)

Other things I'd like to know:
- Is there a decent library?
- What's the YMCA like? (The website is "under construction.")
- What are rents like for a 1br?
- Is there decent internet service? (I don't need blazing, but I need better than dial-up if I'm going to work.)

And heck, anything else you can think of. I'm looking at a relocation not too far after September 1, so the more I find out quickly, the better!

[Rtom45]

If you do a search for Franklin on this site, you will find something. Be aware though, some threads on Franklin County - a different place entirely, show up in the search. For the most part, any information you see on this site for Oil City also applies to Franklin.

[JonathanA]

I've looked quite a bit. A handful of threads with Franklin in the title, but no real responses. One Oil City photo tour that shows pics of Franklin, but very little info beyond the photos.

Just wondered if there were any locals who could talk about Franklin in a little more detail.

If all else fails, I sent off emails to the Y and the library there, and will post whatever info they send me, in case anyone else is curious.

[CosmicWizard]

Jonathan wrote:

What's Life Like in Franklin?

Get up at 6AM, brush teeth, shave, take a shower, eat breakfast, drive to work, spend 9 hrs at work including a 1hr lunch break, drive home from work, eat dinner, do yardwork or chores around the house, take a shower, fall asleep in front of the TV, get up and go to bed. This process is repeated 5 days a week for about 40 years. After that, the weekdays more closely resemble the weekends, which offer slightly more variety, but only if you complete all of the yardwork and chores during the week. If you don't get the chores and the yardwork handled during the week, weekends are more of the same old same except you're working around the house instead of working on the job!

Life in Franklin is probably very similar to your life where you are currently living. Moving to Franklin is not likely to change it much at all, except you might have a little more snow to shovel.

[JAG_HRD]

We are considering retiring there from the central coast of California in a few years. Big change but we have friends and family there and have visited three times. I surf the real estate sites daily. Many good values to be found.

While we will buy a more rural property, we have thoroughly enjoyed Franklin. It has a great old town that is mostly non-existent in CA. Definitely slower pace than here.

[dugdogmaster]

Originally Posted by JAG_HRD

We are considering retiring there from the central coast of California in a few years. Big change but we have friends and family there and have visited three times. I surf the real estate sites daily. Many good values to be found.

While we will buy a more rural property, we have thoroughly enjoyed Franklin. It has a great old town that is mostly non-existent in CA. Definitely slower pace than here.

Although I do not live in Franklin(I live near by in the Sharon/Hermitage area), I can say it is a very nice, quaint town. The Franklin/Oil City areas though may see a boom of business and population in the coming years as big oil is poised to come back to the area it was first discovered. So if you retire to the area, chose a rural area that may not be taken over by sprawl in the coming years, if it happens.

[doc_medich]

On a serious note, Franklin is a nice quiet community. I've passed through there many a times during the 1980s and 1990s. There are many older mansions there built by the Oil Barrons when Oil had its hey day.

[JAG_HRD]

Originally Posted by dugdogmaster

Although I do not live in Franklin(I live near by in the Sharon/Hermitage area), I can say it is a very nice, quaint town. The Franklin/Oil City areas though may see a boom of business and population in the coming years as big oil is poised to come back to the area it was first discovered. So if you retire to the area, chose a rural area that may not be taken over by sprawl in the coming years, if it happens.

Point well taken. Rural is what I am looking for. Having moved from La La Land to paradise (Monterey area of CA) I want even MORE elbow room. 100 well placed acres ought to do it

[dugdogmaster]

Originally Posted by JAG_HRD

Point well taken. Rural is what I am looking for. Having moved from La La Land to paradise (Monterey area of CA) I want even MORE elbow room. 100 well placed acres ought to do it

You'll definitely find that kind of room in the mountains surrounding the Franklin/Oil City areas.

[JAG_HRD]

Originally Posted by dugdogmaster

You'll definitely find that kind of room in the mountains surrounding the Franklin/Oil City areas.

Mountains? I haven't seen any mountains near Franklin. I've seen some low hills but no mountains.

Well I may have exaggerated a little bit. We currently have a house on an extremely well-placed acre and cannot see our neighbors. None of the other 13 houses in our area have that privacy. I 'spect I'll want 3-10ac. Do not want to spend 24/7 mowing. Did look at 100ac. during our visit last June that had a gas well with free gas and royalties. Hmmm.

Not being a hunter/fisher (actually a bit adverse to hunting) I shy away from properties that say "close to state game lands". Having grown up in SoCal the thought of hearing MORE gunfire does not thrill me!