Tell me about LaTrobe please (Pittsburgh, Greensburg: new house, teaching jobs, neighborhoods)

[Tilbat]

Hello, we are considering moving to LaTrobe / Pittsburgh area. We are British, know nothing about the place and I certainly would welcome any comments. We have 2 children under six. So info about schools, activities and family events would be good. Cheers!

[Tilbat]

Thanks Chinenjim for the info. It was very helpful indeed. If you can pass on any other info about LaTrobe area, especially the elementary schools I would be grateful. I was beginning to give up hope of getting a reply from my question. I was wondering if I'd posted it in the wrong forum.... It's all very mindboggling, reading threads about a place I have no idea about and trying to make sense of it.... thanks again, Tilbat

[StaceyPSU]

I have lived in Latrobe my entire life. Overall this is a safe town. I still leave my doors unlocked and can leave the car running when you run into a convenience store. Latrobe has the best schools in the area. Employment is slow here and I am actually planning on moving south next year for a teaching position. It is almost impossible to get a teaching position in this area. Alot of other big employers have also gone under in the last few years. Rolling rock was sold and LeNatures went under. Housing is affordable compared to California, however you will not be able to find a new house for less than 200,000. For kids, they have the zoo and Kennywood in Pittsburgh. I always take my children to IDLEWILD, this is in Ligonier PA, only about 15 minutes away. This is one of the top childrens park in the US. We usually get a season pass which cost 50. per person. THis is relatively cheap. There are also several state parks and playgrounds in the area. YOu will be close to skiing at seven springs. Overall it is a great place to live, if you already have a job. If you have any other questions please let me know.

[sealerpal]

Latrobe is a nice town. Stacey was right about teaching jobs though. Landing a teaching job in the area is like winning the lottery.

[Tilbat]

Stacey, Many thanks for the info about LaTrobe, it's very much appreciated. We will be moving out that direction in the Autumn once we have our visas in place. Can I be really cheeky and ask you about Greensburg? We are also considering that as a place to live. We've heard good reviews about Maxwell Elementary School and Mount View. Is this correct? Hope you don't mind me picking your brains about stuff but any info about the future place we shall be living in is great especially as we've obviously never lived in the States and don't know what to expect....

[Katiana]

How on earth did you choose this place? Just wondering.

[sealerpal]

Pittnurse I'm no fan of Western PA, but Latrobe is a pretty nice town. It's clean, little poverty, and actually somewhat progressive by Western PA standards. I really don't mind the place at all. I live right outside of town and I grew up in the area. It's actually gotten alot better since I was a teenager. It's very hard to make that statement about most places around here.

[Drover]

Even if Latrobe is the nicest little town on Earth (with an Interbrew/InBev-owned brewery, by the way -- I presume tilbat knows who I'm talking about -- they're everywhere!), I too am curious as to what makes someone pick out this particular town or area, presumably sight unseen. Move from another continent to NYC or Philly or Boston or DC sight unseen, I can see that. But Latrobe??

[EDIT] I stand corrected, Anheuser-Busch recently bought the Latrobe brewery from InBev.

[Katiana]

sealerpal: I just meant, how did someone from Britain choose Latrobe? I would ask the same question of someone who chose Louisville, CO where I live now. I mean, throw a dart at a map, extensive research, what?

[sealerpal]

Originally Posted by pittnurse70

sealerpal: I just meant, how did someone from Britain choose Latrobe? I would ask the same question of someone who chose Louisville, CO where I live now. I mean, throw a dart at a map, extensive research, what?

You'd have to ask them. At any rate, it was a good choice over most towns in the area, including Pittsburgh. Latrobe is different from the rest of Western PA in many ways. The families who have been here for many generations have assimilated themselves quite well, as there is very little old-fashioned and out-dated bigotry amongst people who hail from different European backgrounds. For example, if you take a look Pittsburgh and most of the suburbs there is still plenty of self-inflicted racial and religious segregation between Italians, Irish, Polish, Catholics, Protestants, etc. There are neighborhoods where you will see more Italian flags than American flags. I personally wasn't exposed to that way of thinking until I became an adult and started meeting folks who lived in or near the city. That's when I started to hear questions like "what are you?" quite a bit. I soon found out the "right" answers to some of those questions, depending on who was asking them. I was also shocked at how important it was to know what part of Europe my ancestors were from and what religion I practiced. I wound up marrying an Italian Catholic girl from the Pittsburgh area, and I've gotten the cold shoulder
from some of her relatives and friends in a big way because I'm German and Protestant. It is very surreal. I never gave a thought to my wife's Italian heritage or Catholic faith when I met her. Apparently for many in the Pitt region, those things are very important when choosing a spouse.

I only say all of this because if the OP did their homework, they might have discovered this little quirk about Western PA, and found that it's almost non-existent in this neck of the woods. For those of us "in the know" about this stuff, it would be easy to lie when asked "what are you?" from people. However it would be pretty hard when you've come here from another country
and have an accent. Sadly, I'm sure the OP would be met with some hostility from some of the people in and around Pittsburgh who still think like this.