Glassport, PA (Pittsburgh, McKeesport, West Mifflin: for sale, houses, buy)

[pat411]

Is anyone familiar with Glassport? Is it a safe place to live?

[PAman]

Glassport, from what I have heard\read, is pretty safe town, I know there is a large Polish population there, I'd guess probably 1\4 of the town.(Being Polish myself I tend to look for places like that)..Like any town in the mon valley there's a good chance its a little more run down than many other pittsburgh area towns, but overall I've never heard anything bad about the place. Housing market is reasonable from what I know. Pittsburgh is about 25 mins north.

[angellewis]

I never really hear anything bad about Glassport, it is a pretty decient down as well, older towns too. It has been years since i have been there.

[pat411]

Thank you so much!!! I'm looking to move to Pennsylvania as soon as my daughter graduates from High School and I think Glassport may be my future home. I really appreciate your responses since I'm unfamiliar with the area. Thanks again and I'm looking forward to my move.

[angellewis]

I am glad that you are concidering.

[PAman]

My last suggestion would be to take a visit to the port. I haven't been there in several years and am unsure if it has changed at all...But hopefully our fair commonwealth will give you what you're searching for!

[pat411]

I think that's a great idea. As soon as I can get away from work for a few days I'll be sure to check out the area. I currently live on Long Island and it's just too expensive to live here anymore. It's a beautiful place, but I just can't afford it.

[smt215]

I am sad to say Glassport is no longer a safe place to live. I lived there my whole life and we never used to lock our doors. Now I wouldn't keep my doors unlocked during the day let alone at night. I have never seen a show of police force there in my life and this past November I drove down the street and saw 3 cop cars and three police officers with shotguns and flashlights looking for a heavily armed robber.

You have two populations in Glassport: elderly and transient. The elderly are the ones in most danger as it continues its downward spiral. I know of an instance where a 94 year old woman was kept up all night because a gang of kids kept banging on her door. Poor woman was scared to death.

The main problem in this town is the transient population and their offspring. You have kids everywhere, with no parental supervision at all. They play in yards that do not belong to them, holler obscenities at you if you tell them to get lost and stand in the middle of the street when you are trying to just drive someplace. They hang out on corners and graffitti the town. They break windows of abandoned buildings and throw snowballs and iceballs at cars in the winter. In short, many of the kids in Glassport are terrible and they basically run the town. I know of a guy who had his car window busted in just a few weeks ago by kids. They wanted the change he had in his cup holder.

Most of these kids will never be disciplined because their parents don't care. As long as their parents get their check every month, the parents really don't care. It is sad though because their kids will never be anything either because they have no example from which to learn. These kids will probably live in Glassport their entire lives, and when they turn 18, they will join the welfare rolls just like their parents because they don't know any better.

This trend has emerged in the last ten years. People I grew up with have pretty much left this area. Anyone with a college education is either a teacher at South Allegheny School district or has fled the area. There are not many high paying jobs for someone with a college or graduate school education. But housing prices are low. There are houses for sale for $10K, mostly because no one wants to live there. From Baby Boomers to younger generations, anyone who can get out of Glassport tries like all hell to do so. Education and not getting pregnant/getting someone pregnant are how you get out. I consider myself one of the lucky ones. I never have to live there ever again.

While I know this type of thing happens "everywhere", in Glassport it is terrible and, to put it frankly, a damn shame. Politician after politician (see US Cong. Mike Doyle) promise to revitalize this area and bring jobs. They have been saying the same thing since the mills closed in the 80's and nothing has changed. I think Cong Mike Doyle should buy a house in Glassport and live there. Maybe once he has had the "Glassport Experience", he will realize why everyone is leaving the Mon Valley.

My advice is to stay out of Glassport if you can help it. It is my hometown and I wouldn't go back there if you paid me.

[MissShona]

Glassport? Hmmm....well let me just say that people in Clairton (which is right across the river) have a lot of bad things to say about it. Although in my own humble opinion...it's like the pot calling the kettle black. Glassport does not have the African-American population (so as Pittsburgh sees it...a "ghetto" ) but it is still a run-down, sleepy town; not too unlike Clairton. Kids from Clairton venture over to Glassport to get drugs and engage in other "mildly illegal" activities - like dog fighting. The area also has a high teen pregnancy rate. And I'm sorry to say this, but the youth in the area have the reputation of being "white trash". Again...this is coming from Clairton and McKeesport people...so it might just be projection. But I don't know...I wouldn't want to live there. Then again...I'm African-American...it's really not my type of crowd.

I would suggest White Oak, Jefferson Hills, jeez...even Elizabeth (although they have issues with racists in Elizabeth) or West Mifflin as more desirable places which are very close to Glassport in which to live in.

[mskip]

Agree with smt215. I grew up in Glassport in the 70s - 80s, and while it was far from being an upscale suburb then it was at least safe and relatively clean. In the last ten years, though, it's gone rapidly downhill. There aren't a lot of people left there with the energy or the desire to keep this town from going under and it shows. Parks and community centers are run down or closed, the pool has been closed for years, and the few businesses left on the main street look dingy and disreputable (How about that tattoo parlor? Eeesh. I have several tattoos and I wouldn't set foot in that place.). Private homes are looking worse and worse too, except for a few streets around the elementary school.

Most people my age with a college education are long gone and except for a few brave and decent souls, those who are left are either elderly or just don't care. You couldn't pay me enough to live there now, and I wish my parents would sell their house and get out before the property values get any lower.

It's sad, but Glassport isn't the kind of place that thoughtful parents would choose to raise their children in anymore. My advice to anyone thinking about relocating there is to look elsewhere. I don't foresee a renaissance for this community anytime soon.