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First off, let me say I you all have been most generous in helping people like me who are giving serious consideration to moving into the area. This speaks very well of the kind of people who will eventually be my neighbors and I would like to say thanks to everyone here.
I need everyone to know that I've read through everything I was able to find on this forum about Monessen but haven't really got any idea what's going on there. I know it's not on Pimp's list of bad neighborhoods (thanks for that list, by the way) and while I understand Monessen has its share of difficulty the crime rate seems relatively low as are the property prices.
Please, if anyone can provide me with their thoughts about how they feel about Monessen I would appreciate it.
Whatever it was that they used to make in Monessen, they don't make any more. I've driven through the area (and Charleroi, Donora, Belle Vernon, and Rostraver) and there are some nicer homes in the rural bits, but you'd have to pick and choose carefully, and be content with a Wal-Mart and a Giant Eagle and a Lowes and an Eat-N-Park and a McDonalds in Rostraver, or a half-hour commute to more shopping in Washington or West Mifflin, and an hour-long drive up to Pittsburgh for culture.
I think Monessen made steel, Charleroi made glass (Corningware), and Donora made zinc. Someone please correct me if that's wrong.
As a Monessen native, it is sad to see the decline in my hometown. It was home to Pittsburgh Steel for many years (my dad worked there) a solid working class town with many ethnic groups, a strong family-oriented community. Once the mills closed, the young people moved away. What was a vibrant downtown is now empty storefronts. There is nothing there and doesn't seem to be anything on the horizon. Most young people leave once they graduate because there are no jobs. While there are nice residential areas, my old neighborhood is now a ghetto; filled with once nice homes now crackhouses with broken windows, overgrown lawns, pothole filled streets, you get the picture.
My aunt recently passed away and my cousins have been trying to sell the house, which used to be in a nice neighborhood for $15,000 and no takers for a year. Since there is no business tax base, the cost of services are paid for by residents, mostly senior citizens, widows pensioners, and Social Security. They pay a HEFTY property tax and a school tax although they no longer have kids in school. There is a large population on welfare....
I'm sad to report this, but it is the truth. I would consider someplace else to live.
It sounds a bit like Port Jervis NY. Only thing is you have a WalMart any real business that was in Port has long since left (as a teen I hung out there a lot).
Drugs are EVERYWHERE in some places you see them and the results of them in others they are still hidden beneth the surface but they still loom.
All I need to make me happy is a decent home, ok schools, a WalMart, a McD or a BK and a place to buy my grocieries close to home
Maybe Im stupid but I've never worried about break ins any where I take my dog - wonder what I'd do if something where to happen to her - and shes not even a nasty dog but I've noticed people tend to respect her
Let me give you some helpful tips, since I spent the first 23 years of my life growing up in Charleroi (just across the river from Monessen, or Motown, as we refer to it).
All of the towns in the mid-Monongahela River valley (locals call the river The Mon and the valley the Mon Valley), are dead. Most of the towns were one industry towns. Donora and Monessen were steel towns and Charleroi was a glass town (formerly Corning Glass now World Kitchen). When I was young, people in these towns WORKED. People kept up their properties and there was quite a bit of shopping. In fact, Charleroi was known as "the shopping hub of the mid Mon-Valley, with over 200 stores!". No more. Major industries died off and nothing came in to replace them. What are the problems with the valley? In a nutshell:
1. One Party Rule. The residents, mostly seniors, who registered Democrat during the Depression, tend to pull the party lever. I am being dead serious when I say this: an election could feature the Pope as the Republican candidate and Ted Bundy as the Democrat and Ted Bundy would win! Too many sheep pulling the party lever. With no political competition, the Democrats have run the area into the ground (as they did in Pittsburgh).
2. All the young people moved away as soon as they could, due to lack of jobs. This means that there are no people to pay taxes or support the businesses that would pay taxes. The tax base has been cut drastically. There are higher costs to be spread amongst fewer taxpayers. Houses are not kept up. Property values decline. The only people who can or want to buy a home are welfare wards, who get taxpayer money to finance their crack.....er, dream, house.
3. Poor infastructure. Crumbling roadways, run down bridges, dirty commercial buildings, abandoned industrial structures, lousy landscaping, lack of community, lack of government services, lack of investment capital, pollution. etc. Also, the valley is, by nature of its topography, not easy to navigate. To get from Charleroi to Pittsburgh, you can either drive to Route 51 North or take the toll road, 43 North, to fight the traffic lights and bumper to bumper, white knuckle frustration that is 51 from West Mifflin to the Liberty Tunnels. You can take a two lane, run down, unsafe road called 837, which winds its way up the valley. If you want to get a good view of the graveyard of industrial America, take this road. Or you can drive about 25-30 minutes to Washington Pa for shopping or I-79 north to Pittsburgh. I work in West Virginia and West Virginia has better highways, roads, shopping, infastructure and services than the Mon-Valley!
Please stay away from the dead coal and steel towns of the Mon-Valley! Mediocre schools, no tax base, lousy public services, a hospital that almost guarantees death, run down properties, no businesses, nothing to do, and a growing crime rate (ie. robbery, assault, burglary, car theft, drug trade and the occasional murder) as well as political and judicial corruption.
If you need to live near the valley for whatever reason, choose the nicer areas of Rostraver, Forward or Fallowfield townships. Stay away from Charleroi, Belle Vernon, Monessen, Donora, Webster, Monongahela, New Eagle, California, Fayette City, Jefferson, etc.
Sorry for the rant. I just want to save as many as I can........
Let me give you some helpful tips, since I spent the first 23 years of my life growing up in Charleroi (just across the river from Monessen, or Motown, as we refer to it).
All of the towns in the mid-Monongahela River valley (locals call the river The Mon and the valley the Mon Valley), are dead. Most of the towns were one industry towns. Donora and Monessen were steel towns and Charleroi was a glass town (formerly Corning Glass now World Kitchen). When I was young, people in these towns WORKED. People kept up their properties and there was quite a bit of shopping. In fact, Charleroi was known as "the shopping hub of the mid Mon-Valley, with over 200 stores!". No more. Major industries died off and nothing came in to replace them. What are the problems with the valley? In a nutshell:
1. One Party Rule. The residents, mostly seniors, who registered Democrat during the Depression, tend to pull the party lever. I am being dead serious when I say this: an election could feature the Pope as the Republican candidate and Ted Bundy as the Democrat and Ted Bundy would win! Too many sheep pulling the party lever. With no political competition, the Democrats have run the area into the ground (as they did in Pittsburgh).
2. All the young people moved away as soon as they could, due to lack of jobs. This means that there are no people to pay taxes or support the businesses that would pay taxes. The tax base has been cut drastically. There are higher costs to be spread amongst fewer taxpayers. Houses are not kept up. Property values decline. The only people who can or want to buy a home are welfare wards, who get taxpayer money to finance their crack.....er, dream, house.
3. Poor infastructure. Crumbling roadways, run down bridges, dirty commercial buildings, abandoned industrial structures, lousy landscaping, lack of community, lack of government services, lack of investment capital, pollution. etc. Also, the valley is, by nature of its topography, not easy to navigate. To get from Charleroi to Pittsburgh, you can either drive to Route 51 North or take the toll road, 43 North, to fight the traffic lights and bumper to bumper, white knuckle frustration that is 51 from West Mifflin to the Liberty Tunnels. You can take a two lane, run down, unsafe road called 837, which winds its way up the valley. If you want to get a good view of the graveyard of industrial America, take this road. Or you can drive about 25-30 minutes to Washington Pa for shopping or I-79 north to Pittsburgh. I work in West Virginia and West Virginia has better highways, roads, shopping, infastructure and services than the Mon-Valley!
Please stay away from the dead coal and steel towns of the Mon-Valley! Mediocre schools, no tax base, lousy public services, a hospital that almost guarantees death, run down properties, no businesses, nothing to do, and a growing crime rate (ie. robbery, assault, burglary, car theft, drug trade and the occasional murder) as well as political and judicial corruption.
If you need to live near the valley for whatever reason, choose the nicer areas of Rostraver, Forward or Fallowfield townships. Stay away from Charleroi, Belle Vernon, Monessen, Donora, Webster, Monongahela, New Eagle, California, Fayette City, Jefferson, etc.
Sorry for the rant. I just want to save as many as I can........
You're right on. MO-town! LOL never heard that one before about my hometown! It is a sad but true picture that needs to be pointed out to many folks who see extremely cheap housing from other places and wonder about moving here. I was very LUCKY to sell my parents home in 1999 for $24,000, which is a ridiculous amount of money. I wouldn't get that price if I had to sell it today, believe it or not! This gives you an idea of the neighborhood.
You nailed it, Nick, with the political climate--one party system. They really would vote for anybody as long as thery are a Democrat!!! Because many still believe that if a Republican wins, they will take your Social Security check and throw you out on the street!! They will complain and complain, but keep on electing the same old people and wonder why there is no change!
Another big money drain that outsiders need to consider is the school system, not just in the Mon Valley but the entire state. Each little town has their own school district, school board, bloated administration, hiring is based on nepotism to a high degree. I feel sorry for outsiders, because if you aren't from there, it is difficult to be accepted. Unlike other systems that are run by the county and eliminate duplication of bureaucracy. Senior citizens who've worked all their lives now on fixed incomes are mostly footing the bill for the schools, which is very unfair, while others on public assistance get a 100% free ride.
I really hope that positive change is around the corner, but I don't know what it will take to revitalize these areas.
monessen has gotten a bad rep because of some peoples negative thoughts and comments. monessen is not a bad place to live thats why so many people are moving in to the city. Yes there are old buildings, potholes in the roads, and crime, but thats everwhere. Monessen has a great school system! So if you are looking for small town living and a great place for your children to get an education, Monessen is the place!
3. Poor infastructure. Crumbling roadways, run down bridges, dirty commercial buildings, abandoned industrial structures, lousy landscaping, lack of community, lack of government services, lack of investment capital, pollution. etc. Also, the valley is, by nature of its topography, not easy to navigate. To get from Charleroi to Pittsburgh, you can either drive to Route 51 North or take the toll road, 43 North, to fight the traffic lights and bumper to bumper, white knuckle frustration that is 51 from West Mifflin to the Liberty Tunnels. You can take a two lane, run down, unsafe road called 837, which winds its way up the valley. If you want to get a good view of the graveyard of industrial America, take this road. Or you can drive about 25-30 minutes to Washington Pa for shopping or I-79 north to Pittsburgh. I work in West Virginia and West Virginia has better highways, roads, shopping, infastructure and services than the Mon-Valley!
LOL...I had to laugh when reading this. I actually don't mind 837 so much; except when you run past the mills and they have that lovely sulfur smell in the air . And everyone knows that West Virginia has better roads than PA (not just the Mon Valley). The running joke is that WV spends more money on it's roads than it's schools. LOL....j/k...hey, I went to WVU...I love West Virginia.
Well, WV has the better roads because they have the ancient Senator Byrd, who is King of Pork. He re-routes more money back to his home state than anyone else.
The reason these places are like they are, is that there is no reason for them to exist anymore. These towns were built to serve the factories that were sited nearby. With the factories gone, they exist by inertia. The desire to revive them is basically driven by nostalgia, and other emotional factors, not logic. Republican rule won't help. If it would, why did the Commonwealth continue to struggle during 8 years of total Republican control?
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Used to be a good town
Well said
. And everyone knows that West Virginia has better roads than PA (not just the Mon Valley). The running joke is that WV spends more money on it's roads than it's schools. LOL....j/k...hey, I went to WVU...I love West Virginia. 
