HELP... Moving to Western PA (Butler, Franklin Park: houses, elementary school, price)

[Pitt Chick]

Originally Posted by robrobrob

Not sure if there is one in Latrobe or Beaver. With Latrobe you may have to go to Delmont or Indiana.

Nope!

Latrobe's home ice is Kirk Nevin Arena in Greensburg.

Beaver plays at Brady's Run in Beaver Falls. (at least it was when my son played....)

[ocndvr]

Where we live now we have to drive 40-45 min in order for my son to play hockey... After our commitment.... I realized I would not want to do this again. So living close to a hockey rink would be a plus. Another thing is that e currently live on 5 acres, on a street with 20-25 homes, but to my wife.... it is like living all by yourself. A neighborhood with other children, close to shopping, restaurants, parks etc. is good! We are not set against living in close proximity to other homes, old or new. A commute time of 25-30 min. is okay too. Off street parking would be a plus. Thanks

[ocndvr]

Originally Posted by Burghgirl17

I would think the Beaver office and living somewhere in the Robinson/Moon area would be good.

Latrobe is the furthest out and I would guess the least diverse.

I personally don't care for the Monroeville area, but there are plenty of families that do.

There are a lot of Indian families in Pittsburgh (just in my small development of ~60 homes, they make up about 10%), so I don't think acceptance will be an issue.

ETA: will your spouse be looking for a job as well? That may impact the advice.

My husband is retired from the military, so he stays home with the boys, but he is thinking about coaching football at a high school, or perhaps at a small college. Also he is considering getting his real-estate license.

[pittperson]

If I were to choose out of the three I'd pick Monroeville and Beaver over Latrobe. All three are nice towns, although I am much less familiar with Latrobe than the other two. What I see as an advantage of Monroeville is it's close to the city and has a wide variety of school districts to chose from. Monroeville's School District, Gateway, is good to begin with. But, you also get the option of neighboring Franklin Regional (The SD I'd pick, located in Murrysville) and Penn Trafford, which are both great school districts. Or you could live in the city in neighborhoods like Squirrel Hill. Squirrel Hill is Allderdice High School which is supposed to be on of the more diverse and better performing schools in Pittsburgh Public Schools (I personally, however, would recommend the burbs over Allderdice).

Beaver school district, from what I've heard, is solid. However, you have the choice of living in Sewickly (Quaker Valley), Wexford (Pine-Richland/North Allegheny), Gibsonia (Pine-Richland, Hampton, Deer Lakes), etc, which are some of the safest towns with the best schools around and are much closer than Beaver to the city. For hockey I'm sure all of the suburbs will have great teams for your kid. I know here in Pine-Richland we have great sports team overall---especially hockey.

Beaver is cheaper than Monroeville if price is an issue. The North Hills Area (North Allegheny, Pine-Richland, etc.) is the most expensive. If price isn't an issue I'd try to go there.

Hope I've helped anyone looking at this thread for more info on the areas

[ocndvr]

I wanted to thank you and everyone that took the time to answer my questions. An update... we accepted the job in Beaver, so wanting only a 35 min commute, we will begin our search for homes. We are looking at Sewickley, Bell Acres, Pine Twp, Wexford, Moon Twp, Marshall, and Cranberry Twp area. I think Gibsonia, and Hampton are too far out. Thanks everyone! We are excited about our move in Aug.

[Shenandoah]

Originally Posted by ocndvr

I wanted to thank you and everyone that took the time to answer my questions. An update... we accepted the job in Beaver, so wanting only a 35 min commute, we will begin our search for homes. We are looking at Sewickley, Bell Acres, Pine Twp, Wexford, Moon Twp, Marshall, and Cranberry Twp area. I think Gibsonia, and Hampton are too far out. Thanks everyone! We are excited about our move in Aug.

Good choice! I was going to post to take the job in Beaver, then look at neighboring areas to live in. North Sewickley Twp in Beaver County - Riverside Schools are highly rated, very active, lower costs for housing than Cranberry. Plus we've got a castle! If you golf, Olde Stonewall Golf Course is in the top 100 courses in the US. Zelienople, New Brighton, Moon Twp are other areas to consider.

blessings, Shen

[pittperson]

Originally Posted by ocndvr

I wanted to thank you and everyone that took the time to answer my questions. An update... we accepted the job in Beaver, so wanting only a 35 min commute, we will begin our search for homes. We are looking at Sewickley, Bell Acres, Pine Twp, Wexford, Moon Twp, Marshall, and Cranberry Twp area. I think Gibsonia, and Hampton are too far out. Thanks everyone! We are excited about our move in Aug.

I will tell you what I try to tell others moving to the area. Pick a school district then start looking for a house. Now, Out of the towns(hips) you named the only two I wouldn't go with would be Moon and Cranberry. Seneca Valley School District (Cranberry, Evans City, Zelienople) has a bit of a drug issue and the district has started to make students get drug tests. Now, Academically SV performs great.....but it would by far not be my first choose. As for Moon, I personally wouldn't live there when I have the option to live in Wexford or Sewickley, which are better areas (not trying to hate on Moon but if it's between Moon or Sewickley I'll take Sewickley).

Now onto the other places you mentioned. North Allegheny, Pine-Richland, and Quaker Valley all perform above and beyond on state tests, so it more comes down to which area you like more, if great sports are a must, and the size of the district. North Allegheny is the biggest of these districts...with 2,668 students in grades 9-12. Next is Pine-Richland with 1,442 students in its high school. Last is Quaker Valley with just 619 students in their high school.

On the sports end of things PR and NA are both AAAA high schools.

Lastly, both the towns of Wexford and Sewickley are safe, nice, and just great all around. However, the commute from Beaver to Sewickley is a bit shorter than the commute to Wexford so that may be a factor in your choice. Both are about the same price as well. You know the town of Mars is about the same distance away from Beaver as Wexford, but the difference is Mars is much less expensive. Mars Area School District is also very good, and very similar to Pine-Richland (just a bit smaller).


Need any questions about a particular school or area fell free to ask

[Copanut]

Wexford is a town?

[pittperson]

Originally Posted by Copanut

Wexford is a town?

In the technical sense its a unincorporated community. In the sense that you can drive through it and pass by the shops and other things that make a town a town, yes its a town.

[greg42]

Originally Posted by pittperson

In the technical sense its a unincorporated community. In the sense that you can drive through it and pass by the shops and other things that make a town a town, yes its a town.

It's an overlay though, a designation preserved mainly by the post office (and possibly the census), which by nature of the use of addresses causes many other entities and people to use the name. It is very odd to me to say Wexford is an unincorporated community. Unincorporated suggests to me there is no municipal government, and we all know that doesn't exist anywhere in PA, let alone Wexford. In some ways this is a quirk of the fact that there are NOT unincorporated areas in PA.