Butler VS Washington Counties (Pittsburgh, Canonsburg: health, home, college)

[Ken_B.]

Seems both are up and coming, can you Pittsburgh veterans offer us new comers the pros and cons of one versus the other?

[guylocke]

I would look into Westmoreland County, too, I prefer it over both Butler and Washington Counties. It isn't growing quite as fast or strong as say Peters in Washington or Cranberry/Adams in Butler. That being said, several large areas are growing at a very nice pace, much higher than the state average, but not nearly so fast that prices are completely hijacked (like the pre-mentioned places). All of the growth in all three counties are pretty much along the border of Allegheny County. Everyone still wants to be close to Pittsburgh, they just don't want to be paying Pittsburgh taxes. lol.

In Washington County, at least at this point, Peters Township is really the only big player, although Canonsburg has been taking a lot of spill.
In Butler County, you have Cranberry, but in my opinion, Adams Township (Mars) is even nicer and will be out-growing Cranberry in terms of construction if it isn't already.

In Westmoreland County, you have several options and I'll also give you the school district if that's important to you. Every one I name has a very fine reputation.

You have the North Huntingdon and Irwin area (Norwin School District). North Huntingdon has been growing for a long time, it's a really beautiful area that I highly recommend.

You have the Trafford and Penn Township area (Penn Township is currently the fastest growing area of Westmoreland County) and they go to Penn-Trafford school district. I've never been to Penn Township, but apparently is it growing like crazy, I predict it will be more like Peters.

You have my personal favorite, the Murrysville area. Some of Murrysville is kind of old and outdated looking, but there is a ton of land there and it's really growing and I just love the neighborhoods. It is along Route 22 which is quickly becoming an important artery to and from Pittsburgh (lots of traffic to state college, too). It is becoming quite the bustling town and they go to Franklin Regional school district.

I would highly recommend looking into these areas. Peters and Cranberry/Adams are great and Butler and Washington Counties have much lower taxes than Allegheny. However, the growth is just too much and too fast, it's overwhelming to me. I'm not sure about Peters, but I know the infrastructure in Cranberry cannot keep up. They just raised taxes to keep up, this past year, too. It's just happening too fast, it is isn't a healthy sort of growth, kind of like what Pheonix is experiencing.

[kpoeppel]

I know Butler County doesn't do property tax re-assesments. It's a "base year" system. I'm not sure what Washington County does.

[AngC]

We looked at Washington and Butler Co. Washington was definitely growing, but still too early in the process for us. Peters Twp now is Cranberry 10 yrs ago. For some people that would be a positive. Taxes in Butler are very still low but home prices in Peters were much lower so it may balance out.