Ellwood City or Vandergrift (Pittsburgh, Progress: environment, relocation, property taxes)

[WILWRadio]

Last year I received a lot of helpful information from the citizens of this forum about where to locate my small business. This time around I need your feedback about which place will be the best place to live.

For the last year I've been researching and visiting communities in the Northeast for relocation purposes. I've pared down the list to Ellwood City, Vandergrift, one community in Maine and another in NY. The location in NY is a real long shot at this point. Both PA communities seem to have a potential market for the small business my friend and I plan to start and now it is simply a matter of determining which one offers the most appropriate quality of life.

I'm single, mid 40's, straight and from Connecticut. Politically and socially speaking I am a Ron Paul kind of Conservative that detests the current crop of Republicans and Democrats that are running the country. I do have a live and let live "libertarian" attitude and can coexist with people that don't share the same views as I as long as they respect my right to exist. Some of my best friends are liberals. I will need access to employment opportunities at least for a while because it may take several years for our business to generate a full time income. I can work entry level office such as customer service, retail, restaurant or warehouse and light industrial. Willing to commute to the Pittsburgh area if necessary.

My friend is more of a do it your selfer when it comes to work and it is likely he'll be doing free lance paralegal work and legal research along side an internet business of some sort. His wife is a nurse and she'll need to work in a nursing home or hospital. She prefers a nursing home environment and is most comfortable working in that kind of facility.

I plan to start house hunting this Summer and hope to purchase by the Fall and then move no later than next March.

In your opinion which of these communities:

1) Offers a shorter commute to Pittsburgh metro towns for employment opportunities in the event I cannot find employment in either community?

2) Have nursing homes that are hiring nurses?

3) Has some real community pride and spirit?

4) Have respectable levels of grassroots volunteerism and people that are rolling up their sleeves and trying to make the community a better place to live?

5) Won't look at a single guy my age as some kind of oddball? Kansas City has been awful, especially the women around my own age. I won't go near 'em. Next time I date it will be a gal considerably younger than my own age.

6) Will welcome outsiders?

Whaddaya think?

[Bong477]

I'll be honest I've never heard of either location and had to look on the map to see where they even were. I could help you with commute times to Pittsburgh... but keep in mind if you don't have a job in mind you could be working at many different places within the Pittsburgh area. Pittsburgh does a substantial footprint and you could find a job in areas as far apart as Cranberry, Robinson or Moon township, or Monroeville. If you live relatively close to the city, all of those places are probably commutable, but when you already start 30-40 miles away, you are going to be somewhat limited in where you can look. Pittsburgh doesn't have a terrible economy, but it will take some effort to find a job, they aren't ridiculously easy to get especially if you don't have any connections.

To get to downtown Pittsburgh for a typical 8 or 9am to 4 or 5pm job, you'd probably be better off with Ellwood City but it would be a little over an hour each way on a good day maybe longer depending how long it takes from your house to the interstate. You're going to be paying a toll each way on I-76 & when you add in the price of gas to drive 80 miles a day, commuting won't be a neglibile cost for the sort of job it sounds like you'll be doing. There's generally much less traffic from the north as there are no major bottlenecks. From vandergrift, I'm not sure if you'd go down 28 or cut over to 376, but both have substantial traffic in the morning. 376 is particularly bad due to the tunnel.

I can also tell you that finding a job as a nurse here is generally no problem.

[dislusive]

I can offer one perspective, from the Vandergrift area.

I personally stay away from working downtown, now that I'm older. The commute sucks, paying for parking is outrageous, and the pay isn't worth the added factors.

There are MANY other options though, as mentioned by the previous poster, such as Monroeville and industrial parks; this negates the need to be bothered to travel downtown to find a job.

Vandergrift itself is a pretty much a rural area, with a small town lifestyle. Anywhere from there is a drive. Thirty minute drive to three Walmarts, literally. About the same amount of time to the Monroeville Mall or the Pittsburgh Mills Mall.

Most of the townships surrounding Vandergrift are very rural. Crime is pretty much non-existent. I'm not suggesting it doesn't occur, but not on any type of regular basis. I think it's more likely for someone to have a hunting accident than to be car-jacked.

There isn't a shortage for jobs in anything medical around the Pittsburgh area; just expect to have, no less than, a 45 minute one-way commute for work from Vandergrift.

*Edit* Oh, and I don't know if you intend to buy a house or not, but the property taxes in the Vandergrift area are *very* affordable.

[WILWRadio]

Thank you both for taking the time to respond!

[jeffm]

Ellwood City is a pretty old depressed town. I'm not sure I would recommend living there. It is also a good hour (with no traffic) to get into downtown Pittsburgh from there.

[stevejonichloe]

I was reminiscing of my hometown and just happened to find this site. Wanna live in Vandergrift uh? Well get ready for some loud, beer-drinking,blue-collar, Steeler-Fan, Iron City Beer-loving, Deer hunting fools. This small town has more bars than businesses. Last time I was in that town ( circa 2003 ), half of the downtown Grant Ave. was boarded up. A couple out-of-towners tried to open some swanky cafe-bar type thing and went under. This is no place for uptown business. Hole-in-the-wall dives make up this town. And whoever said that crime is non-existent, I don't know where he was hanging out, but it wasn't in Vandergrift. "...small town bank gets robbed....again....for the 3rd time...."....was a headline in the paper some time ago. Talk about a drug problem....forgetaboutit !
But I gotta tell ya....I do love it there. Maybe it's because I know most of the people and graduated from Kiski and Vandergrift is where my roots are. Trust me. I'm all for better business and booming economy. Vandergrift has it's pride. They shop at locally-owned grocery stores and get their produce along the river road between Vandergrift and Apollo at a place called Junta's. Good stuff. Fresh, great produce. Great camaraderie and local employment with the local concrete and construction contractors make for a cool small town. And the other guy was right: to get a job in this town or in the 'Burgh....gotta know somebody. Gotta have some connections.
But I wish you luck.

[WILWRadio]

I've more or less ruled out Ellwood City at this time. But Vandergrift still interests me.

When I visited the area it did not look nearly as bad as some people portray it. It was hardly a bombed out village like some people claim. And based upon what I am reading there is some real community spirit and people that are trying to improve the area.

~ The Vandergrift Revitalization Progress ~

VIP - About Us

I'm not too worried about finding a job. Most likely I can go via a temp agency and find something temp to perm or if I have to I can still make Pizzas or work as a food prep in an area restaurant. In other words, in order to make the business succeed, I plan to take whatever job I am physically capable of performing and have the requisite skills.

[PeterRabbit]

The Vandergrift mayor was on TV recently. He said it would be 30 years before the town is where it should be. The downtown looks rundown even with the few new businesses there. They also have a sewer problem and pollute the nearby river. A news article said the citizens will be paying for it because of the inept govt. there. The same article praised nearby communities of Hyde Park and Leechburg. Have you had a look at them? Much nicer and cleaner than Vandergrift.

If you do a Google search for Vangergrift News a lot of negatives come up about it moreso than the VIP thing. I didn't know it was in such bad shape.

[COPANUT]

Both areas are definitely on the decline, like so many other Western PA towns that have seen industrial jobs leave the area. You can leave very cheaply in other one, but if I had to choose I'd take Ellwood City.

[WILWRadio]

I'll do a little more research. I've had terrible luck trying to find a house in my price range in a suitable location in Ellwood City. Every time something comes on the market it gets sold before I have a chance to make an offer. Very frustrating...