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Old 03-19-2011, 07:04 AM
 
1,072 posts, read 1,946,246 times
Reputation: 1982

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Hold onto your wallet living in Franklin Park or anywhere in Allegheny county. Be prepared to pay anywhere from double to triple the property taxes!

I moved to Cranberry 5 years ago after 15 years in Franklin Park/ North Allegheny schools. Sold my house for $315K (property taxes were $9K/yr). Bought a bigger (and nicer) house for $300K and my property taxes are $3.3K yr.

Don't buy into all the hype about how good NA schools are. I had 3 kids through the NA school district and it's highly overrated. For 15 years I could have saved $6K a year in taxes which would have made a large impact on our lifestyle at the time.

I bought into all that NA hype and in the end, spent $90K more on property taxes than I needed to to. Children who pass thru the Seneca Valley school district serving Cranberry are educated just as well as the NA kids. NA's money goes to huge teacher salaries and high end athletic facilities. If your kids aren't a top athlete (and I do mean the top..... lots of competition there with 800 kids in each graduating class) they won't even get to play HS sports.

Choosing Franklin Park & NA over Cranberry & SV was one of the worst mistakes I could have made in moving onto the area, and I'm here 21 years now.

SoButCounty
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Old 03-19-2011, 12:13 PM
gg
 
Location: Pittsburgh
26,137 posts, read 25,977,619 times
Reputation: 17378
Quote:
Originally Posted by SoButCounty View Post
Hold onto your wallet living in Franklin Park or anywhere in Allegheny county. Be prepared to pay anywhere from double to triple the property taxes!

I moved to Cranberry 5 years ago after 15 years in Franklin Park/ North Allegheny schools. Sold my house for $315K (property taxes were $9K/yr). Bought a bigger (and nicer) house for $300K and my property taxes are $3.3K yr.

Don't buy into all the hype about how good NA schools are. I had 3 kids through the NA school district and it's highly overrated. For 15 years I could have saved $6K a year in taxes which would have made a large impact on our lifestyle at the time.

I bought into all that NA hype and in the end, spent $90K more on property taxes than I needed to to. Children who pass thru the Seneca Valley school district serving Cranberry are educated just as well as the NA kids. NA's money goes to huge teacher salaries and high end athletic facilities. If your kids aren't a top athlete (and I do mean the top..... lots of competition there with 800 kids in each graduating class) they won't even get to play HS sports.

Choosing Franklin Park & NA over Cranberry & SV was one of the worst mistakes I could have made in moving onto the area, and I'm here 21 years now.

SoButCounty
I suspect your experience would be very true. I really can't stand the North Hills at all, due to the crazy traffic and it all looks the same, but there are tons of good kids that will never play sports in a school that big. Lots of kids might be good enough to play as well, but politics is huge in those giant schools. I was just up that way today and it took me forever to get anywhere. I was so happy to get back home.
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Old 03-19-2011, 01:11 PM
 
Location: Mid-Atlantic
12,526 posts, read 17,546,779 times
Reputation: 10634
I live in the NASD and can confirm that the taxes are a tad on the high side, and I'm at least 80K under assessed. As to the large class size, I went to a high school with a graduating class of 650, felt lucky just to be able to ride the pine on the b-ball team.

I have to admit that Butler county, which is only 3 miles north from me, is looking pretty inviting.
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Old 03-19-2011, 08:40 PM
 
Location: Pittsburgh
62 posts, read 98,974 times
Reputation: 72
During our move to the region 5 years ago, we chose to move to Cranberry. We have 3 kids now. 2 are in the Seneca Valley School system, and we are very happy with it. In fact our kids are very happy with their schools as well (which is something parents always worry about). My daughter's school just got some big state award too.

My one complaint about Cranberry is that it is not very walkable or bikeable, but I believe that is slowly changing. Besides Cranberry, I would recommend looking at Seven Fields and Wexford.

The original poster stated she was born on an island. Well, I lived in Hawaii my entire life before moving to the Pittsburgh region. Although Hawaii will always be in my heart, I really <3 Pittsburgh. My only warning, although the cold/snow in December/January may be enjoyable, it's really depressing when you get 6 inches of snow in March a week after 50 degree weather. =)
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Old 03-20-2011, 10:21 AM
 
Location: Cortland, Ohio
3,343 posts, read 10,936,541 times
Reputation: 1586
^March is my least favorite month. I love snow, but after January and Feb i'm soooo done w/the snow and cold. I also hate rain unless the temp. is over 65 degrees.
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Old 03-20-2011, 11:29 AM
gg
 
Location: Pittsburgh
26,137 posts, read 25,977,619 times
Reputation: 17378
Quote:
Originally Posted by CortlandGirl79 View Post
^March is my least favorite month. I love snow, but after January and Feb i'm soooo done w/the snow and cold. I also hate rain unless the temp. is over 65 degrees.
You know, I used to dislike March, but I cycle and ski and I have done both this month. It now is a month I enjoy very much. I confess just a few years back I would look at the month with the glass half empty instead of half full. If you ski and enjoy outside activities it is great.

Well, off for a bike ride with a few friends. It sure is an amazing day, just like yesterday!!
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