Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Hello,
My husband and I are considering moving to PA in the next 2 years. We live in North Texas, and neither of us has ever been to PA. His family lives near Akron, OH, and we want to be close without being TOO close.
We are both in our mid-20s and have a 2 year old son. My husband is works predominantly in the oil field and I am in healthcare administration. I have a list of criteria for where we would like to live. Any suggestions of towns that sound like good matches would be wonderful.
I would like to live in a small town that is no more than an hour from a medium to large city with great healthcare.
Reasonably low crime rate
Great schools
Reasonable rental prices (less than 1000/ month for 3 bd 2 ba) as we are not planning to buy a home for a while
A good job market
Plenty of Parks/things to do
I also love the idea of a cute downtown area and festivals or parades throughput the year.
I LOVE holidays, so somewhere that really embraces the spirit would be wonderful.
Im not sure if my dream town does exist.
We are really hoping to find somewhere in western or central PA. So far, I am looking at the Hollidaysburg/altoona area, but some reviews online are making me second guess that area. I've also heard good things about Carlisle. If possible, we plan to make a trip up there sometime soon. Any input would be great.
Thanks!
And I apologize for errors; I am on my phone.
The rent requirement will be tough because it's cheaper to own than to rent here.
Areas north of Pittsburgh are convenient to Akron. Anything near I-76 and I-79 interchange.
Your metro will be Pittsburgh for healthcare jobs. Your husband can easily find work in the gas industry if he lives near that interchange I mentioned above. Towns that remotely fit your description would be Sewickley, Zelienople, Harmony and quite a few in Beaver County, but I don't know that county well enough to name specifics. We have many northern suburbs that are quite nice but they don't have business districts and aren't like small towns. They are close to downtowns so you could easily enjoy parades and festivals without living near them. All school districts are good for the areas I mentioned. All northern suburban school districts are good too.
The job(s) you can get will determine the towns to look at. Washington County, PA has a plethora of shale gas stuff going on, including training. UPMC is the biggest healthcare, and The Washington Hospital (now Wash. Healthcare System or something) has been buddying up to and partnering with UPMC on some things without being bought by UPMC (yet). There is Cannonsburg Hosp and the Mon Valley Hospitals. Also look at Greene County. (eta: "Anything near I-76 and I-79 interchange" mentioned above is Washington County.)
I don't think any of the towns in western PA fit that bill, because most of them have a declining and elderly populace, and the younger people are trending toward poorly educated, not very employable, and living on government transfer payments. I'm not saying that you can't live in such towns. I am saying that they are pretty much deadly dull and not very thriving, not much culture. You'd have to track down specific shale gas boom towns and see what they are like. The history of western PA was steel, metals, and heavy manufacturing, most of which didn't require highly skilled labor. It wasn't until perhaps the last 10-15 years that Pittsburgh started to retain college grads from local universities. Pittsburgh it ed and med, and some financial.
Buy is going to be the best or only option. The entire Allegheny and Washington County region is not pet-friendly at all, so far as rentals go. Rental houses tended to have no parking an/or be rather slummy, if they'd accept pets.
"Great schools" doesn't really go with small town, at least not where I am (Mercer & Crawford Counties.) The smaller towns just don't have the resources, and can't attract & hold the best teachers. Catholic schools might, because they are often running theirs as a business and are purposely offering higher quality academics than public schools in many cases.
Hello,
My husband and I are considering moving to PA in the next 2 years. We live in North Texas, and neither of us has ever been to PA. His family lives near Akron, OH, and we want to be close without being TOO close.
We are both in our mid-20s and have a 2 year old son. My husband is works predominantly in the oil field and I am in healthcare administration. I have a list of criteria for where we would like to live. Any suggestions of towns that sound like good matches would be wonderful.
I would like to live in a small town that is no more than an hour from a medium to large city with great healthcare.
Reasonably low crime rate
Great schools
Reasonable rental prices (less than 1000/ month for 3 bd 2 ba) as we are not planning to buy a home for a while
A good job market
Plenty of Parks/things to do
I also love the idea of a cute downtown area and festivals or parades throughput the year.
I LOVE holidays, so somewhere that really embraces the spirit would be wonderful.
Im not sure if my dream town does exist.
We are really hoping to find somewhere in western or central PA. So far, I am looking at the Hollidaysburg/altoona area, but some reviews online are making me second guess that area. I've also heard good things about Carlisle. If possible, we plan to make a trip up there sometime soon. Any input would be great.
Thanks!
And I apologize for errors; I am on my phone.
Have you taken a look at where the Marcellus Shale activity is in Pennsylvania? Over 52% of the existing wells are in Bradford, Tioga, Lycoming and Susquehanna counties, which is the region north of Willamsport. If you take a look this map, it shows where the permits have been issued. Hollidaysburg/Altoona is on the edge of the Marcellus shale region and Carlisle is outside of it. According to this article, drilling rigs have left parts of the Pennsylvania for gas fields in Ohio due to low prices for natural gas.
It would appear the best places to locate would be anywhere along Interstate 79 between I-80 and I-70. This would give your husband easy access to work in eastern Ohio and be withing an hour of major hospitals in Pittsburgh. There are plenty of good school districts in that corridor.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SorryIMovedBack
The job(s) you can get will determine the towns to look at. Washington County, PA has a plethora of shale gas stuff going on, including training. UPMC is the biggest healthcare, and The Washington Hospital (now Wash. Healthcare System or something) has been buddying up to and partnering with UPMC on some things without being bought by UPMC (yet). There is Cannonsburg Hosp and the Mon Valley Hospitals. Also look at Greene County. (eta: "Anything near I-76 and I-79 interchange" mentioned above is Washington County.)
I don't think any of the towns in western PA fit that bill, because most of them have a declining and elderly populace, and the younger people are trending toward poorly educated, not very employable, and living on government transfer payments. I'm not saying that you can't live in such towns. I am saying that they are pretty much deadly dull and not very thriving, not much culture. You'd have to track down specific shale gas boom towns and see what they are like. The history of western PA was steel, metals, and heavy manufacturing, most of which didn't require highly skilled labor. It wasn't until perhaps the last 10-15 years that Pittsburgh started to retain college grads from local universities. Pittsburgh it ed and med, and some financial.
Buy is going to be the best or only option. The entire Allegheny and Washington County region is not pet-friendly at all, so far as rentals go. Rental houses tended to have no parking an/or be rather slummy, if they'd accept pets.
"Great schools" doesn't really go with small town, at least not where I am (Mercer & Crawford Counties.) The smaller towns just don't have the resources, and can't attract & hold the best teachers. Catholic schools might, because they are often running theirs as a business and are purposely offering higher quality academics than public schools in many cases.
"Anything near I-76 and I-79 interchange mentioned above is Washington County."
No, I-76 doesn't run in Washington County. Anything near I-70 and I-79 interchange is in Washington County.
Your entire post is overly pessimistic about Western PA. To say that great schools doesn't go with small towns and that, "smaller towns just don't have the resources, and can't attract & hold the best teachers," is an exaggeration. Show me any kind of data to back this up.
Small towns that fit this description include Canonsburg, Bridgeville, Zelienople, Slippery Rock and Grove City. Regarding festivals and parades, how about this?
The job(s) you can get will determine the towns to look at. Washington County, PA has a plethora of shale gas stuff going on, including training. UPMC is the biggest healthcare, and The Washington Hospital (now Wash. Healthcare System or something) has been buddying up to and partnering with UPMC on some things without being bought by UPMC (yet). There is Cannonsburg Hosp and the Mon Valley Hospitals. Also look at Greene County. (eta: "Anything near I-76 and I-79 interchange" mentioned above is Washington County.)
You're wrong. The interchange I mentioned is in Butler County very close to the Allegheny County border. There are towns located in quite a few counties that were within easy distance of there. Cranberry also has lots of shale gas jobs, and Cranberry is located right at the I-76 and I-79 interchange. If the OP's husband ends up working in Washington, he can easily commute there via I-79. He might be a field worker who travels everywhere, which would mean it wouldn't matter where they lived as long as their residence was located near the major highways.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SorryIMovedBack
I don't think any of the towns in western PA fit that bill, because most of them have a declining and elderly populace, and the younger people are trending toward poorly educated, not very employable, and living on government transfer payments. I'm not saying that you can't live in such towns. I am saying that they are pretty much deadly dull and not very thriving, not much culture. You'd have to track down specific shale gas boom towns and see what they are like. The history of western PA was steel, metals, and heavy manufacturing, most of which didn't require highly skilled labor. It wasn't until perhaps the last 10-15 years that Pittsburgh started to retain college grads from local universities. Pittsburgh it ed and med, and some financial.
You have no idea what you're talking about since you don't get out of your immediate area very often.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SorryIMovedBack
"Great schools" doesn't really go with small town, at least not where I am (Mercer & Crawford Counties.) The smaller towns just don't have the resources, and can't attract & hold the best teachers. Catholic schools might, because they are often running theirs as a business and are purposely offering higher quality academics than public schools in many cases.
Sewickley is in one of the best school districts! It's a very wealthy school district! There's also a lot of wealth in the school district that serves Zelienople and Harmony. There's also a lot of wealth east of the Allegheny County too. You chose to move back to one of the most depressed parts of the region, and your opinion of the entire southwestern Pennsylvania is based on your miserable existence there.
The rent requirement will be tough because it's cheaper to own than to rent here.
Areas north of Pittsburgh are convenient to Akron. Anything near I-76 and I-79 interchange.
Your metro will be Pittsburgh for healthcare jobs. Your husband can easily find work in the gas industry if he lives near that interchange I mentioned above. Towns that remotely fit your description would be Sewickley, Zelienople, Harmony and quite a few in Beaver County, but I don't know that county well enough to name specifics. We have many northern suburbs that are quite nice but they don't have business districts and aren't like small towns. They are close to downtowns so you could easily enjoy parades and festivals without living near them. All school districts are good for the areas I mentioned. All northern suburban school districts are good too.
Beaver would probably be the only one in Beaver County (that I know of) that still has a functional downtown, and theirs never was very big. Beaver Falls and I believe Aliquippa used to have the biggest downtowns in the county, but most of the businesses are gone now and the shopping is mostly in the burbs and/or malls.
Beaver would probably be the only one in Beaver County (that I know of) that still has a functional downtown, and theirs never was very big. Beaver Falls and I believe Aliquippa used to have the biggest downtowns in the county, but most of the businesses are gone now and the shopping is mostly in the burbs and/or malls.
Thanks for sharing.
I have only been to Aliquippa. It's very depressed and crime ridden.
Carlisle is quite far from Akron (closer to Philadelphia than western PA). Erie or New Castle (both medium-sized cities about 1 1/2 to 2 hours north of Pittsburgh) aren't bad options if one wants to avoid Pittsburgh and its' headaches.
I didn't notice she was considering towns as far east as Carlisle.
Look into Selinsgrove or any of the college towns north of Harrisburg. There are quite a few. This area isn't depressed as a result.
Lewisburg would be a nice fit. Great parades and holiday decorations. It's Amish country so you'll see lots of horses and buggies.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
