To New Castle or not to New Castle, that is the question?!!

[katr]

Ok, so I think I am doubling up on this post. I am a single parent looking to retire from the military in about a year and 1/2. Affordable housing and good schools are a priority. Can you tell me specifically what areas to stay away from? Also, I'd like to open a tea shoppe, so living close to downtown would be preferable. Of course, I'm assuming that there is a walking, town center?

[PeterRabbit]

^^^ It would be better if you start a new thread. This is about New Castle which after we answer some of your questions you might decide on a different area. You are saying PA in general so we can get down to brass tacks once we know more specifically what you want.

[bon2mom3]

reply: katr

Just wondering if you ever came to New Castle? I haven't seen any tea shops open, at least not where I run around. But if you haven't and are still in need of info. here's my 2c:
We moved here 4 years ago, new to PA, and live in Neshannock. I personally would not buy a house for $10-20K. It would need tons of work and the utility bills alone would drive you to the poor house. You will probably need to spend closer to $40K, which there are alot of homes for sale in that range. You wouldn't get into Shenango or Neshannock twp, need closer to $80k at least. As far as your tea house, I don't know if it would work out or not, considering I don't drink tea. There is not a starbucks here, only 2 private owned coffee shops, one does really well and the other is new, haven't gone to it. NC down town is cute and well kept up, but has alot of vacant buildings. It would depend on how high-end your tea shop would be. Certain areas will probably keep a higher end shop open, but not others. Maybe New Wilmington, it's cute and quaint walking community with a college and some tourist. Good luck.

[jimmyev]

Originally Posted by bon2mom3

There is not a starbucks here, only 2 private owned coffee shops, one does really well and the other is new, haven't gone to it.

Where are these coffee shops? I've been going through good coffee withdrawal every weekend for the past year that I've been living here unless I have to go to Boardman or Sharon.

[PA-native71]

If you were planning to move to New Castle there is another place you can look into Slippery Rock and Harrisville, PA these places have been flying under the radar for home buyers for years, some of these homes you get more space for the dollar and some of these homes are 75+ years old and are quite beautiful, now this is just an example of the kind of homes you can find in the area Slippery Rock Boro, PA, 16057 - MLS #805067 - Single Family Home real estate - REALTOR.com® (http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/Slippery-Rock-Boro_PA_16057_1114827831 - broken link) and here is a home from Harrisville
Harrisville Boro, PA, 16038 - MLS #796393 - Single Family Home real estate - REALTOR.com® (http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/Harrisville-Boro_PA_16038_1113081093 - broken link)
The nice thing about these locations is that you can drive to Butler and take a bus down to Pittsburgh by way of the park and ride and if you need to you can see about leasing out the home to someone for a couple months at a time or go thru a realtor for that, there is plenty of people who prefers to live in a home when on the road for work or someone who just want to find a nice vacation home to lease with out the investment of buying a place or you can see about getting a house sitter some people fresh from school needs affordable places to stay while starting a new job or someone transferring into the area that needs time to look for a place of their own is also good candidate plus gives them time to save their money and get used to the area, so there is options.

[jimmyev]

Originally Posted by PA-native71

If you were planning to move to New Castle there is another place you can look into Slippery Rock and Harrisville, PA these places have been flying under the radar for home buyers for years, some of these homes you get more space for the dollar and some of these homes are 75+ years old and are quite beautiful, now this is just an example of the kind of homes you can find in the area Slippery Rock Boro, PA, 16057 - MLS #805067 - Single Family Home real estate - REALTOR.com® (http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/Slippery-Rock-Boro_PA_16057_1114827831 - broken link) and here is a home from Harrisville
Harrisville Boro, PA, 16038 - MLS #796393 - Single Family Home real estate - REALTOR.com® (http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/Harrisville-Boro_PA_16038_1113081093 - broken link)

But the Shenango Area School District has test scores that top Seneca Valley. You can't say that for the Slippery Rock Area School District. With houses in Shenango starting at $80K, a 20-30 minute commute to Cranberry, and a $3 bus to Pittsburgh (50 minutes), that's not bad. Plus the taxes are way low too. If I had kids, I'd stay right here.

[alleghenyangel]

Home prices in the Pittsburgh, and the quality of the neighborhood or outlying town, are not necessarily related to the crime rate in that particular area. Most of those old outlying towns, like Natrona and McKees Rocks and New Castle and Jeannette (to name only a few) have very little crime, but are economically poor. The housing conditions in these areas are sometimes blighted, but there are plenty of fixer uppers available. I bought a $10k house and the utilities and repair costs have been low.

If New Castle appeals to you, go for it. If not, there are lots of old towns with affordable homes in the region that you can choose from. The reason these homes are cheap has less to do with crime and more to do with perceived status and prestige (lack of it) and an overabundance in housing relative to population.

[WILWRadio]

I also looked at New Castle a few years ago and while I thought it was a bit rough around the edges, I've seen a lot worse looking communities. Crime rates are not all that bad there and the downtown area is being fixed up. Clearly the loss of manufacturing jobs has led the the dramatic population loss resulting in so many empty commercial and residential properties. But housing costs being so cheap and the proximity to the northern and western Pittsburgh suburbs for employment may help NC to rebound in the years ahead.