Cranberry vs. Seven Fields vs Mars?????

[Geeo]

Could be a lot of things: more infrastructure to maintain, more regional parks to maintain, more and wider roads to maintain and plow, more libraries and cultural attractions, more school districts, just more of everything in Allegheny County. Also, the sub-urban counties haven't had an assessment for 30 or 40 years.

I suspect that the outer counties will eventually have higher taxes as those new tract housing developments and roadways start to wear out and need maintenance. The township or county will have to buy more plows and paving material, trucks, and more workers. People will want more parks and municipal pools and libraries, etc. Right now it all looks shiny and new, but things begin to wear out pretty quickly. Those 3,000 sq. ft. houses will cost to heat and air condition, add lawn maintenance and general upkeep to the cost,too. And don't forget the added traffic as everyone funnels from their developments onto the main two-lane road to get to the four-lane road to get to the expressway.

Not sure that people factor in transportation costs when they boast of those "low taxes." If you need two or three cars and the accompanying gas, oil changes and general maintenance to get anywhere, those property tax "savings" don't look so great in the end.

[erieguy]

Originally Posted by Geeo

Could be a lot of things: more infrastructure to maintain, more regional parks to maintain, more and wider roads to maintain and plow, more libraries and cultural attractions, more school districts, just more of everything in Allegheny County. Also, the sub-urban counties haven't had an assessment for 30 or 40 years.

I suspect that the outer counties will eventually have higher taxes as those new tract housing developments and roadways start to wear out and need maintenance. The township or county will have to buy more plows and paving material, trucks, and more workers. People will want more parks and municipal pools and libraries, etc. Right now it all looks shiny and new, but things begin to wear out pretty quickly. Those 3,000 sq. ft. houses will cost to heat and air condition, add lawn maintenance and general upkeep to the cost,too. And don't forget the added traffic as everyone funnels from their developments onto the main two-lane road to get to the four-lane road to get to the expressway.

Not sure that people factor in transportation costs when they boast of those "low taxes." If you need two or three cars and the accompanying gas, oil changes and general maintenance to get anywhere, those property tax "savings" don't look so great in the end.

Interesting rationalization. The difference in Allegheny vs other counties taxes has been this way for many years...and you can bet if other counties raise taxes, Allegheny County will follow suit asap.

Many act like its such a huge difference in time and mileage in comparing counties. With 2 easily accessed 79 on ramps within 5 miles in Cranberry and Warrendale, its certainly extremely easy access compared to 1 in Wexford and Mt. Nebo, along with very quick access to the Turnpike...and picking up 279 off of McKnight Rd. isn't convenient.

If the Mars, Cranberry, 7 Fields areas weren't so convenient and "more bang for your buck" than Allegheny County, it would be such a desireable and populated area. The only people that complain about it are those in Allegheny County.

[erieguy]

Forgot to add, with all of the complaints here about the city and the county, I can't begin to imagine why the same ones that have all these complaints live there. If I had so many issues with an area, I would certainly move, which is why I did and haven't looked back once.

[bluecarebear]

Originally Posted by Retiredcoach

When we purchased our home 19 years ago, the argument was the same... Cross over to Butler County and our taxes would be markedly less. What we found was that the argument was not necessarily true. We were able to purchase more house in McCandless, on a superior lot, at a significantly lower price than we could in Butler County- more house, amenities, and superior lot- for slightly more taxes was a no-brainer for us. In other words, I believe that there is/was a pronounced mark-up in home prices in exchange for a perception of lower taxes in Butler County. As the years progressed, we received that added incentive of knowing that despite the re-assessments, our taxes in McCandless were very close (or less) to what we would pay across the county line.

I left the Seneca Valley School District and never looked back. The property taxes were about equal (sometimes more) in comparison to friends in Allegheny. It sucked.

[erieguy]

Originally Posted by bluecarebear

I left the Seneca Valley School District and never looked back. The property taxes were about equal (sometimes more) in comparison to friends in Allegheny. It sucked.

Sounds like the bizarro world where everything is backwards.

[Johnny C]

Originally Posted by erieguy

Sounds like the bizarro world where everything is backwards.

Indeed. Again, I just looked at dozens of houses in the 250-400K range in Allegheny county over the last 4 months. It is pretty depressing - we didnt even consider making an offer until the first time we looked at houses across the county line. I have no loyalty to either county and we were originally wanting to live in Allegheny county. After looking at the real estate market it became pretty clear that was a bad idea.

[cooky01]

We used to live in the Autumn Hills development in Cranberry, and liked it there.
If you do decide to look in Cranberry, stay away from Freedom Woods (one block from Autumn Hills)...a few people I personally know had to move away because of the HOA.

Generally speaking, you can get a newer/better house for the same amount of $$ in Cranberry & Seven Fields, comparing to Wexford.
However, North Allegheny is a better school district than Seneca Valley.

As you can see from all the other posts, what constitutes as better housing, or school is very debatable...this is just my personal opinion, and may not apply to your definition of good house/school.