Sharon PA- hmmm (Columbia, Farrell, Avalon: apartments, lofts, high crime)

[turboredcart]

I had the chance to check it out. It is not for me. One poster over-rated the town.

But whatever.

It is very "inner city" like. Ripe with decay.

[boardmanite]

Haha this one made me laugh... Sharon, PA, inner city and ripe with decay? There's one high crime spot on the border with Farrell, but the majority of the town could not be classified as inner city or rapidly decaying. Sharon is actually one of the nicer towns of its size this side of the Alleghenies. Anyways, it's Western PA, what did you expect?

[PennsylTexan]

Quaker Steak and Lube is the only reason to even go into Sharon.

[Icy Tea]

MMMmmm, wings.

[OmertaCat]

The skies used to glow at night when i was a kid looking out my bedroom window because the steel mills ran 3 shifts a day, 7 days a week and most of the men in my family worked there, sweating (and then of course later drinking), bleeding (my greatgrandfather lost a hand and two fingers at Sharon Steel and my grandfather lost a thumb at Wheatland Tube), and dying there...just like the mills have died and the mood is as depressed as the economy. When you wrote "ripe with decay" I nearly cried but you nailed it.

[James16146]

Sure, Sharon's seen some hard times (come on, it's an old steel town and there are plenty of others like it), but my best advice is to come back in a few years. There's a lot going on in this town that is easy to overlook right now, but will manifest itself very shortly.

Some of the projects either in the works or recently completed include:

*The opening of Avalon Golf & Country Club at Buhl Park ($8 million)
*The construction of a $4 million manufacturing school on Dock Street
*Nearly $10 million in upgrades and expansions for Penn State Shenango
*New infrastructure in the downtown business district, including a riverwalk, decorative lighting and signage, and the brand-new State Street bridge
*A local partnership (Shenango Ave. Associates) will construct two brand-new buildings in the downtown--the first ("The Lofts at Centre City") will be completed this fall and will feature eight stories of retail/office space and two-bedroom apartments; the second ("The Renaissance at Centre City") is still in the planning phase
*Plans are in the works to redevelop the Buhl Armory building downtown into an arts center with dance and art studios, a restaurant/microbrewery and an exhibit hall
*A new residential development featuring 25 single-family homes is in the works
*A state grant recently came through to rehabilitate and resell historic homes in the city's West Hill neighborhood for single-family dwellings
*Ongoing and growing support for the Vocal Group Hall of Fame will result in a music museum and renovation of the historic Columbia Theatre

In short, there's been a tremendous surge of pro-Sharon sentiment as local residents have begun to see its potential. 2007 was a great year for the city, hopefully 2008 will be even better!

[boardmanite]

Originally Posted by James16146

2007 was a great year for the city, hopefully 2008 will be even better!

I hope so too! I'm glad to hear some good news coming from Sharon. I was born there, but eventually moved on. However, whenever I visit my grandparents who still live there, I always read the Herald, just to catch up on what's happening around town. It was a great place to grow up.

[dickens]

My parent's recently moved to Sharon . I visted a few times. I like it there! It has everything I needed during my stay: a gym (Buhl Center), Starbucks, and interesting shopping --The Winner is divinely retro.

I live in Baltimore so anywhere is going to seem better than what I'm used to.

[sick-o-FL]

which is more on the upswing and has more going on at the moment: Sharon or Newcastle?

[dugdogmaster]

Originally Posted by sick-o-FL

which is more on the upswing and has more going on at the moment: Sharon or Newcastle?

Sharon/The Shenango Valley