Car-free in State College for older future grad student (Philadelphia: apartment complexes, rentals)

[ogre]

Hi everyone. For a couple of years I've been closing in on time to apply to graduate school. I've posted on several forums here at CD, with questions about areas with grad schools I'm considering. Now Penn State is looking like a school I'm likely to apply to. I have some questions about life in State College. Here are some details:

It won't be in the student budget for me to own a car, so I need to know whether a car-free life is manageable in State College. I'm in good shape physically, and would not mind a bit of a walk. I could reasonably handle living as far as two miles or so from campus. The qualification to this would be that if I lived that far from campus I would want to be very close to basic shopping (grocery, drugstore, a few eateries), as the time spent getting around would begin to add up if I had a two-mile walk to campus and also had a substantial walk in order to buy the basic necessities.

Another transportation concern is the issue of getting in and out of town for vacations. Is there a convenient means of transportation to larger cities, such as an overland bus? Does the university run shuttles to the nearest major airport (Pittsburgh, I'm guessing)? I've done some research and discovered that State College does have commercial service, but sometimes the puddle-jumper flights out of smaller airports are expensive, so access to a major airport would be a plus.

I'm on the mature side, even for a grad student, so I would prefer to avoid areas with a large student population, and the noisy parties often found in these areas. Are there a good number of rental possibilities in quieter parts of town? Also, keeping in mind the fact that I anticipate going car-free, are there some quiet areas more or less close to campus? And, it's not a make-or-break question, but I'm interested in knowing whether State College is purely a college town, or there is still some life to be found around town during the summer and other university break times, since, being older, I would be staying around town most of the year, not leaving town to spend entire summers with family.

How are the on-campus housing options for grad students, such as apartments, dorms for grad students, etc.? Are these areas clean and quiet, and generally reasonable residences for someone older than the typical student?

Thanks much for any info you all could offer about the above questions, or anything else that would be useful to know about the area.

[Lion11]

I'll try to answer most of your questions, so here goes! I would say that it sounds like living on campus wouldn't be your thing, since there is a large undergraduate population. But don't worry, State College as many nice neighborhoods really close by. You can find many rentals in parts of neighborhoods like Park Forest, College Heights, etc. I hear that the park forest apartments are nice, as well as Toftrees, but that's farther from campus. However, State College has a great public bus service in town, so you could really live anywhere and be at class within a few minutes. SC is also quite bike friendly. State College does have an airport, and it does fly out to some major cities. As for a shuttle to a bigger airport, I couldn't tell you. As for SC being just a "college town", it depends on your opinion. Sure, downtown is quieter in the summer, but that makes it easier to go to the restaurants and shops downtown. Plus, during the summer and breaks, families come downtown more often, so it is a nice change of pace. SC has a great 4th of July festival, plus a really nice arts fest in July. SC is not also just a college town because it has a nice blend of students, singles, families, and retirees. There are graduate housing on campus, and it is generally quieter and nice, because of the older people, so it could maybe work. Well, maybe I helped you some! Good luck with finding the right school and place for you; Penn State should definitly be on the short list!

http://www.statecollege.com/business..._id=12&Index=A
http://www.apartmentsstatecollege.co...est/index.html
http://www.catabus.com/
Great Video:
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[psulions2007]

You'll be fine...State College has a great transportation system. The vast majority of apt complexes or townhomes are on or very near a bus stop. The only problem is that the summer service with CATA requires patient waits, but otherwise it's good. As a grad student, I'd recommend you living in one of the quieter apt. complexes off campus...perhaps off Aaron Dr, in Toftrees, in Park Forest, etc. There are also some nice new townhouses in Patton Township near I-99. Careful, too, as there are some larger complexes off campus that are mostly comprised of undergrads...these are very noisy places and you probably would not enjoy them. I would not recommend that you live in the on-campus graduate housing as that is mostly international students.

As far as larger cities go, the bus system is good...though the Harrisburg station which is a required stop if traveling east isn't the best, but you get used to it. There are also some private companies that do shuttles to NYC and KoP...just look for signs around the union, especially near the holidays. If you rent a car, Harrisburg is a little less than 1.5 hours away, Pittsburgh is 2.5-3 hours, and Philadelphia is 3 (suburbs) or 3.5 (inner city) hours away. In terms of flights, sometimes SCE has reasonable prices, other times it is better to go to other airports. The easiest to get to without a car would be taking the greyhound to Harrisburg, and then either the city bus there or a taxi to the Harrisburg Airport (MDT). Generally, MDT can run 50-100 less than SCE. If you want a better deal, then your options are PIT, PHL, or IAD where PIT is usually the cheaper option, followed by IAD and PHL. All three airports are roughly 3-3.5 hours away (PIT is on the far west side of Pittsburgh, PHL on the east side of Philly, and IAD is in Virginia). I would highly recommend that you rent a car if you plan to go to these airports...it would be cheaper than a bus and less hassle.

Oh, and one more thing- in State College you have the benefit of having the #1 grocery store in the nation- Wegmans. Take advantage of it...you'll sorely miss it if you have to move out of the area.

[toobusytoday]

Originally Posted by psulions2007

Oh, and one more thing- in State College you have the benefit of having the #1 grocery store in the nation- Wegmans. Take advantage of it...you'll sorely miss it if you have to move out of the area.

Well, he could move to one of the other 68 towns in New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey or Virginia that have Wegmans.....

[psulions2007]

Originally Posted by toobusytoday

Well, he could move to one of the other 68 towns in New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey or Virginia that have Wegmans.....

There is a reason I said if he moves out of the *area* as in the Mid Atlantic. I live in the Southwest...no wegmans here.

[ogre]

Thanks for the info everyone. Hmmm, Wegman's must be quite a supermarket, to make it worth recommending the area for the presence of Wegman's alone! Okay, just kidding. Seriously, thanks for the detailed info. These details on specific neighborhoods and apartment complexes are exactly the kind of thing that is very helpful.

Lion, good to hear that the town does not completely die during the summer. My past experience in a college town that is home to a large university was at UMass Amherst. Amherst is quite a bit smaller than State College. Amherst is a small town, while I get the impression that SC is more of a small city. It could get awfully boring around Amherst during the summer. Glad to hear that SC gets a more relaxed pace without being really dead.

PSUlions, thanks for the info on airports. I'll do some checking on fares from the different airports. Regarding on-campus housing, besides the convenience of the location, and living in a place that is in decent condition, the main thing I'd be looking for in a place to live would be a QUIET atmosphere. I'm not sure why having a lot of foreign students in the apartments on campus would be an issue, though my experience at UMass opened me up to the reality that, unfortunately, there can be an atmosphere of really oppressive political correctness, as well as hostility toward Americans, in on-campus housing with a lot of foreign students. This would be something I would want to avoid, but if it were more of a live-and-let-live attitude among the apartment residents, and a generally mature view of the world, then this could work well. Something to check into, though.

Thanks again for the detailed and useful info. Take care, all.

[ki0eh]

PSU and State College land a lot further to the right on the political spectrum than Amherst and Northampton. Centre County went for Obama only by a hair's breadth and that was reportedly very uncommon.

And, how's this for summer relaxation: Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts in State College, PA near Penn State AND People's Choice Festival of Pennsylvania Arts*&*Crafts both going on the same weekend?

[ogre]

Thanks for the additional info, ki0eh. Looks as if there's definitely some activity around State College during the summer. As for the political leanings compared to those of Amherst/Northampton, interestingly enough, it's my understanding that the State College area has the nickname The Happy Valley, as does the Am/No area. However, from what I've heard, no one is quite sure how the State College area got that sobriquet, but it is generally seen as indicating something positive about the area. Conversely, the Amherst/Northampton area is known rather sardonically as The Happy Valley in the same way that the mental hospital is sometimes reffered to as the happy house, due to a view commonly held by those outside the area that people there are insanely, completely, totally out of touch with reality.

Now, even though the SC area may lean more to the right politcally than the MA version of The Happy Valley, what I was getting at with my reference to oppressive political correctness had to do with an earlier post warning that I might want to stay out of the on-campus apartments because the residents are mostly foreign students. My main concern there would be whether hostility toward Americans might prevail in that immediate setting, regardless of the political leanings of the SC area overall. If there were a bad vibe of that sort in the on-campus apartments, I'd probably want to pass on those. However, if there is more of a live-and-let-live attitude there, then I'd still want to consider living there--at least have those apartments on the list of possibilities--and I'd figure the foreign students and I would get along fine just as people-to-people.

Anyway, thanks for adding your insights on the area. I'm getting a picture of the area, and it seems workable for someone in my circumstances. Thanks to all who have replied.

[Lion11]

Happy Valley does indicate something postive about the area. Once sporting events, especially football, started to be broadcasted on T.V., the commentators called the area "Happy Valley", and the name stuck. It also goes back to the Great Depression, as State College was not hit hard because of the university. Whatever the reason, I agree with the nickname. State College is a rather happy place to be!

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