Tarentum (Pittsburgh, Greensburg, Butler: low crime, houses, construction)

[ohiofem44511]

Moving to Tarentum. Let's hear the Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

[markbugno]

Judging by the user name, I'm going to assume that you are moving to Tarentum from the Youngstown, Ohio area as my wife and I did. We've rented a house here for almost 6 months.

The good: Tarentum is affordable, safe and relatively quiet. The East of town seems nicer than the West End. Close to shopping at Pittsburgh Mills and across the Tarentum Bridge in New Ken and Lower Burrell. A lady in South Park sells "I Hate Route 28" magnets for your car. Read on to see if you'll need one.

The Bad: Not much in the way of shopping or businesses. Some bars, a rite aid, a dunkin donuts and umm... The houses are very close to each other and the street and have small backyards if any. The town comes off to me as a dying industrial town. Not much going on here. Reminds me of Campbell, Ohio only way more cramped. Oh, and if you work in the city of Pittsburgh or need to go through the city of Pittsburgh to get to work, you might want to rethink your choice of living here. Route 28 is a nightmare once you get near the city at drive time.

The Ugly: We do not want to live here a minute longer than we have to. Would not live here on a permanent basis if they gave me a free house.

Mark

[mattjd]

Originally Posted by markbugno

Judging by the user name, I'm going to assume that you are moving to Tarentum from the Youngstown, Ohio area as my wife and I did. We've rented a house here for almost 6 months.

The good: Tarentum is affordable, safe and relatively quiet. The East of town seems nicer than the West End. Close to shopping at Pittsburgh Mills and across the Tarentum Bridge in New Ken and Lower Burrell. A lady in South Park sells "I Hate Route 28" magnets for your car. Read on to see if you'll need one.

The Bad: Not much in the way of shopping or businesses. Some bars, a rite aid, a dunkin donuts and umm... The houses are very close to each other and the street and have small backyards if any. The town comes off to me as a dying industrial town. Not much going on here. Reminds me of Campbell, Ohio only way more cramped. Oh, and if you work in the city of Pittsburgh or need to go through the city of Pittsburgh to get to work, you might want to rethink your choice of living here. Route 28 is a nightmare once you get near the city at drive time.

The Ugly: We do not want to live here a minute longer than we have to. Would not live here on a permanent basis if they gave me a free house.

Mark

How can you say there isn't much business in Tarentum? They just opened Pittsburgh Mills Mall not long ago. Sure, nobody is going there because they built it in the middle of nowhere, but it's a decent place to shop. Monroeville isn't that far away either. Tarentum is kind of run-down and crappy and I don't think I'd live there if I had a choice. Also, Rt. 28 is horrific. Maybe worse than Rt.51 for a commute. It's really that bad. Also, you should move this to the Pittsburgh board. You'd get a lot more responses there.

[saturdayskids]

Originally Posted by mattjd

How can you say there isn't much business in Tarentum? They just opened Pittsburgh Mills Mall not long ago.

Can't tell if this is a joke or not.


There most definitely is no real business in Tarentum.

[ki0eh]

What's the "official" pronunciation of Tarentum?

[PeterRabbit]

Originally Posted by mattjd

How can you say there isn't much business in Tarentum? They just opened Pittsburgh Mills Mall not long ago. Sure, nobody is going there because they built it in the middle of nowhere, but it's a decent place to shop. Monroeville isn't that far away either. Tarentum is kind of run-down and crappy and I don't think I'd live there if I had a choice. Also, Rt. 28 is horrific. Maybe worse than Rt.51 for a commute. It's really that bad. Also, you should move this to the Pittsburgh board. You'd get a lot more responses there.

The Mills isn't in Tarentum, it's in Frazier Twp. Tarentum is used to give a directional/locational idea since nobody ever heard of where it actually is. Tarentum is dead.

Rt. 28 is possibly the best highway around. It doesn't get bad until you get to the city like the 40th Street Bridge. Rt. 51 has always sucked big time. There's no comparison.

[spears]

Tarentum is a quiet, low crime (half the national average) town near many amenities without paying taxes for them. Plenty of shopping within minimal driving distance (Pittsburgh Mills Mall, Lower Burrell, Natrona Heights malls), affordable housing (2 bedroom between 500 and 650 per mo.), good schools. approx. 4200 households median age is 41 with 76% white collar (only 24% blue collar) median income $40,000

Should you get involved with a church community, you will find some really great and giving people you can count on.

There have been many road improvements on Route 28 between harmarville and downtown Pittsburgh. Most are completed now. There is also the possibility to commute to Oakmont, Murrysville, Monroeville, Irwin, Greensburg, Kittaning, Butler, Sarver, etc. The I76 turnpike is nearby.

[Internet Superman]

I worked at Siemens in Upper Burrell - Hunt Valley.

The first time I drove through Tarentum, I stopped 3 places and asked for directions - because I had the address for the lower shop that is somewhere down in town - across the bridge and the shop I was looking for was 9 miles away up near Aluminum City.

Would you believe that the people in Tarentum doesn't even know where something is at - 9 miles away or even know the roads.

I was there Saturday and forgot my way and had a truck and trailer and did not want to roam all around town and asked a guy if he knew which street I needed to be on to get to Penn State New Ken - and he didn't know...

I heard someone mention Campbell Ohio. I had a great aunt and Uncle that lived in Campbell Ohio and spent many weekends at their house.

They called it the city of churches, but for every church there was 2 bars!

My relatives lived right next to St. Lucy's Church.

The funny thing was my cousin and I were big for our ages and we were drinking in the bars by the time we were 15!

At least Campbell had the steel mill, in Tarentum about the only thing you have is PJ Grecco. The place is pretty dead. The first time I drove through in the morning, I swore I would find a easier way to get to work!

28 is really bad, and you might have to get up 2 or 3 hours earlier then the time when you need to be at work - if you work in Pittsburgh - just to get in the city.

[dislusive]

Tarentum, pronounced Ta-ren-tum, is a small steel workers town (Allegheny Ludlum) which has seen better days. With the steel mill in the state that it's in, the towns in the area are also suffering. It's pretty much a run-down place.

It is close to route 28, easy access to Pittsburgh, and minimal distance from the turnpike. It's in Allegheny county, high property taxes, and is considered a Pittsburgh suburb.

There are a number of places to shop around the area, also fairly close to Monroeville, Oakmont, Harmarville, Fox Chapel, etc...

Pittsburgh Mills Mall is ~5minutes away, and 2 Walmarts with 5minutes as well - one being at the mills mall.

There are many bars, churches & parks in the area, but really nothing for night life. Have to go to Pittsburgh for that.

Why are you moving to Tarentum?

I seriously doubt that you asked someone from the area that did not know how to get to Penn State - New Ken. Did you consider that they, like yourself, were not familiar with the area?

2-3 hours to get into Pittsburgh? Seriously? That is a grand over exaggeration. Unless there is an accident on 28, I never heard of that. It doesn't even take that long from Tarentum to the airport in rush hour traffic.

There is *always* construction on 28, always. They finish up a project, move to another section of the road, rinse and repeat. It's been that way for a long time.