Rank the "suburban counties of the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Area (Greensburg: crime, hotel)

[Evergrey]

What are your favorite "collar counties" in the Pittsburgh Metropolitan area? What are your reasons for liking or not caring for certain Pittsburgh region suburban counties? These can include anything from style of cities and suburbs, natural beauty, transportation access, economy, culture, schools, etc.

I am exempting Allegheny, the hub of the Metropolitan Area... containing roughly 50% of the metropolitan population and well over half the metropolitan economy. I am also exempting Lawrence, which is included in the broader "Consolidated Statistical Area"... but not the Metropolitan Statistical Area.



Your options are:

Armstrong County

Population: 68,941
Density: 105/sq m
Area: 664 sq mi
Seat: Kittanning
Population change 2000-2010: −4.8%
Total Personal Income in thousands (2009): 2,311,482
Per Capita Personal income (2009): 34,067







Beaver County

Population: 170,539
Density: 393/sq mi
Area: 444 sq mi
Seat: Beaver
Population change 2000-2010: −6.0%
Total Personal Income in thousands (2009): 6,097,550
Per Capita Personal income (2009): 35,518







Butler County

Population: 183,862
Density: 233/sq mi
Area: 795 sq mi
Seat: Butler
Population change 2000-2010: 5.6%
Total Personal Income in thousands (2009): 7,515,554
Per Capita Personal income (2009): 40,692







Fayette County

Population: 136,606
Density: 173/sq mi
Area: 798 sq mi
Seat: Uniontown
Population change 2000-2010: −8.1%
Total Personal Income in thousands (2009): 4,332,812
Per Capita Personal income (2009): 30,383







Washington County

Population: 207,820
Density: 242/sq mi
Area: 861 sq mi
Seat: Washington
Population change 2000-2010: 2.4%
Total Personal Income in thousands (2009): 8,433,986
Per Capita Personal income (2009): 40,667







Westmoreland County

Population: 365,169
Density: 352/sq mi
Area: 1,036 sq mi
Seat: Greensburg
Population change 2000-2010: −1.3%
Total Personal Income in thousands (2009): 14,347,819
Per Capita Personal income (2009): 39,607

[SteelCityRising]

Interesting topic for a thread, but I'm afraid I can't really proclaim a profound "like" or "dislike" of an entire county.

I suppose I'm inclined to favor Westmoreland County the most of the suburban counties since I adore Greensburg, its county seat, and I like the potential that post-apocalyptic places like New Kensington, Irwin, Latrobe, Jeannette, New Stanton, etc. all have to be more desirable someday. Ligonier is quite a quaint community. I'm obviously not fond of Murrysville, North Huntingdon Township, or Hempfield Township, given my disdain for urban sprawl.

I haven't explored much of Beaver County, but I feel as if I'm long overdue. I've heard great things about the town proper of Beaver. I also feel as if many of its old industrial communities (i.e. Beaver Falls, Aliquippa, Ambridge, Monaca, Rochester, Baden, Conway, Midland, New Brighton, etc.) can make a comeback.

[bradjl2009]

Personally, there aren't any I dislike but in order of how I like them, I'd go with Butler, Westmoreland, Washington, Armstrong, Beaver, and Fayette.

[Love2Golf09]

I'm not very familiar with Armstrong, so I will list it last for that reason. Here is my ranking.

1) Washington. I'm most familiar with Canonsburg, Peters Twp, and North Strabane. I love the easy access to Pittsburgh from Rt.79, the cost of living in cheap, crime is low, lots of affordable mcmansions in North Strabane, the casino and outlet mall are close too. Simply lots to do around the area and if I want to go somewhere else getting to South Hills Village or Robinson is really easy from 79.

2) Westmoreland. I'm more familiar with the Rt.30 Irwin-Greensburg area. North Huntingdon and Hempfield are very nice and there is a fair amount to do on Rt.30 with shopping and restaurants. Greensburg is ok, Latrobe is nice, Westmoreland Mall is decent, but the only mall in the county. I think Murrysville is overrated and Rt.22 sucks. It's very busy and seems pretty dangerous at times to do. I would assume there are a fair amount of accidents in the Monroeville/Murrysville area. People drive like maniacs there. And driving 30 or 22 into Pittsburgh is way worse than taking 79 i think, so I put it high on the list, but behind Washington. Also, I believe the Filly Corral is in Westmoreland, so that puts it high on my list, too.

3) Fayette. I'm most familiar with Uniontown and the Ohiopyle area. I've been through the dumps, like Connellsville and Brownsville, but never really had much contact with folks there. I assume it's as bad as people say. Uniontown seems very similar to Greensburg to me. A small, quiet, hick town with very little to do, but also a good place to raise the family. The scenery in Uniontown is amazing, especially in the fall. Ohiopyle is one of the best places around for outdoor fun. Jumonville is a nice place. I've been to the giant cross there and it's really cool. Fallingwater is nice. There's always something going on in Nemacolin and it's close to Morgantown and WVU, which has a lot of awesome parties. There are also some great gulf courses there, like Mystic Rock at Nemacolin, Cedarbrook in Belle Vernon, and Linden Hall around Perryopolis. Fayette and Washington Counties both could use new malls. Uniontown Mall and Washington Crown Center both suck pretty bad.

4)Butler. I don't know why, but I just don't like Butler County. The city of Butler is complete garbage. I really have nothing positive at all to say about it. It's like Uniontown without the scenery and charm, if you can imagine such a horrific place. Butler is very flat compared to the rest of swpa and has a ton of farms, which doesn't really catch my eye too much. Nothing wrong with this lifestyle, just not what I'm into. I want to like Cranberry, but I don't. My main problem with it is Freedom Road, which is horrible. Too much traffic for just one road, too many lights, and every place I'm going to is on the opposite side of 228 from where I am it seems. Yes, I know the locals there claim that they take backroads, but just driving Freedom Rd all the time would drive me insane. It's like driving through Oakland! No thanks.

5)Beaver. I really can't think of anything nice that I've ever seen in Beaver County. It's basically a giant Connellsville. Again, no thanks. There are much better places in swpa to live. It doesn't have the best schools, best scenery, best roads, best shopping, or best restaurants, so what good is it? I'll pass.

6) Armstrong. I think I drove through it once or twice, but that's about it. I really have no idea what this place is like and probably would have to think for a while to name some towns there.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by Love2Golf09

I want to like Cranberry, but I don't.

Glad I'm not the only one.

[Copanut]

I have some long time friends in Cranberry. One built his house there on 3 acres back in '78. He used to ride his snowmobile up and down Rt 19, probably can't do that today. That area is not as soulless as some people think. As Yogi would say, That place is too crowded, no one goes there anymore.

[PreservationPioneer]

Here is my personal ranking of the counties, based on my impressions of them, excluding Butler County (never been there):

Westmoreland County / Fayette County (tie):

The county seats of Greensburg and Uniontown are both awesome small cities. Greensburg has the more elegant residential neighborhoods (there is a neighborhood full of old mansions), while both have impressive downtown architecture and restored historic buildings. Uniontown has the more impressive scenery, since it is in the mountains, which provide some spectacular vistas.

Westmoreland County has the gorgeous scenic beauty and historic small town charm of Ligonier, nestled in the mountains, while Fayette County has the dilapidated early 19th century charm of Brownsville, which is a veritable museum of early architecture in Western PA and a surviving frontier city.

After that, both counties have some fascinating, run-down places that are fun to explore.
Westmoreland County has the city of Jeannette, which offers some great antique shops. Fayette County offers the wonders of Fayette City, a dilapidated early 19th century village!

Armstrong County:

Armstrong County has an amazing rural feel to it. You do not feel like you are in a metropolitan area. It almost feels like you have stepped into eastern Montana. Kittanning is a great-looking, but small, county seat. The courthouse and jail are especially beautiful pieces of architecture, and there are gorgeous historic residential neighborhoods around downtown, with plenty of Victorians.

Beaver County:

Beaver County has some nice small towns, such as Beaver and New Brighton, most near the Ohio River. It also offers some beautiful river and mountain scenery. Ambridge is a great slice of early Americana. The Old Economy Village historic district has some of the oldest architecture in western PA. However, Beaver County also has a lot of run-down mill towns, such as Aliquippa, which are in absolutely deplorable condition. I have never been to a more hopeless town than Aliquippa. There was not one sign of any kind of revitalization effort. The abandoned buildings (most of the buildings in the business district) were not even boarded up.

Washington County:

The county seat, Washington, is nice, but the downtown did not seem quite as big or as impressive as that of Greensburg or Uniontown, which both have nice skylines. The Washington skyline, as I remember, was dominated by the courthouse and the George Washington Hotel, which are both beautiful historic buildings. I see Washington County as the county I have to drive through to get to Wheeling. Cannonsburg has some nice antique shops. It's a small town with a tiny downtown. Overall, it doesn't have the isolated rural charms of Armstrong County, or the beautiful natural scenery of Fayette Co. and parts of Westmoreland County, or the wealth of early American architecture (unless I just didn't find it) that Fayette Co. offers. Obviously, my priorities and criteria for favoring one county over another will be different than that of someone else.

[ditchdigger]

I have never been to a more hopeless town than Aliquippa. There was not one sign of any kind of revitalization effort.

Take a look at your own photo tour. See the young trees along the street, and the ornamental iron street lights, along with the new sidewalks and fences along the vacant lots? That's all new within the past few years.

Lipstick on a pig, I know, but it's an effort...

[Kippy]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

Interesting topic for a thread, but I'm afraid I can't really proclaim a profound "like" or "dislike" of an entire county.

I suppose I'm inclined to favor Westmoreland County the most of the suburban counties since I adore Greensburg, its county seat, and I like the potential that post-apocalyptic places like New Kensington, Irwin, Latrobe, Jeannette, New Stanton, etc. all have to be more desirable someday. Ligonier is quite a quaint community. I'm obviously not fond of Murrysville, North Huntingdon Township, or Hempfield Township, given my disdain for urban sprawl.

While Jeanette might be considered post-apocalyptic, I don't think that Irwin or Latrobe fall in those categories. Sure, they have seen better days, and neither is as vibrant as Greensburg, but I don't think that they lean that far on the spectrum of decay.

New Stanton is a truck stop off the highway. It's "business district," which is not walkable, is comprised of a Cracker Barrel, a Bob Evans, fast food places, and motels. Were you perhaps thinking of nearby Youngwood?

Another important point is that it is the money from the residents of Hempfield Township that is feuling the revitalization of Greensburg. Similarly, it will take the people of North Huntingdon to spur growth in Irwin and the people of Unity Township to create growth in Latrobe. All three of the communities have active revitalization organizations.

Greensburg: Greensburg Community Development Corporation | GCDC | thinkGREENSBURG | Grensburg, PA
Irwin: The Irwin Project
Latrobe: Community Revitalization

Edit to Add: As for the OP's question, I am not familiar enough with all of the surrounding counties to rank them. I will say that it seems like every county, even besmirched Fayette, has assets.

[BrianTH]

Different strokes for different folks--one of the things I appreciate about the Pittsburgh Metro is you can choose among a wide variety of lifestyles on an affordable basis, and different counties will undoubtedly appeal to different people of varying preferences in combination with practical issues like commuting needs.

In fact if I was forced to choose a place to live in an outlying county, I would undoubtedly go for a place like Greensburg, but the same underlying preferences led me to live in the core part of Allegheny County to begin with. So asking me to rank the outlying counties is like asking me to rank ballets--it just ain't my thing to begin with, so I don't think my ranking would be terribly meaningful.