Your thoughts on Ambridge? (Pittsburgh, Beaver Falls: real estate, rental market, crime)

[stevo6]

I know very little about Beaver County. I have been down rt. 65 along the river and know that it is very industrial. I know about Alliquipa, but what about Ambridge? Is it on the way up, or on the way down? How is the crime rate? Air pollution? Thanks in advance.

[Uptown kid]

Short answer... It's definatley on its way down! Crime= overall isnt that bad, though it becomes notable only in the Crestview Village Projects, Economy Village Projects & Down the Hill (area south of Duss Avenue)... In Beaver County only the bad parts of Beaver Falls & Aliquppia are worse in shape! Although the section known as Up the Hill (north of Duss excluding the housing projects) is pretty decent. It's a suburban area that's still gritty because most residents haven't forgot about their roots.

*I don't recommend relocating to Down the Hill, especially since it's declining; while Up the Hill is fine, but idk how long that'll last.

[PreservationPioneer]

Ambridge is cool! It's overall a decent town, however what makes it stand out is Old Economy Village, one of the most historic communities in the Pittsburgh area.

http://www.oldeconomyvillage.org/

[greg42]

It's tough to call. I would think long term that Ambridge could come back up, but certainly it's been on its way down for ages. It may be at bottom now but it's kinda staying there, pretty flat, not really on way up that much if at all.

[John15003]

In the last three years, Ambridge has turned itself around. Prices of residential properties have gone up tremendously over that time but, they are still well below Sewickley. With the new streetscape due to start on Merchant Street early next year, in Ambridge, we all believe Ambridge will once again become a boom town. Safe, quiet neighborhoods, easy access to Rt 65, Old Economy Village and old-town values... Ambridge in my opinion, is a great place to live and raise a family.

[Rust Belt Kid]

I grew up in the Ambridge area, have family that still live in Ambridge, Baden, and Economy. I'm not up on the day to day of current Ambridge politics, but as someone who goes there often and knows a lot of people there that are trying to make it a better place--I think you are wearing some rose colored glasses. Ambridge is not down and out, but it has a long way to go. Real estate prices have not gone up "tremendously", the school millage is the highest in the county (the local SD is mediocre), there is a huge vacancy rate along Merchant street, and drug crime continues to be a problem. Ambridge has some things going for it, such as location (borders Allegheny county, so similar commute to Pittsburgh or Airport with Beaver County taxes), good bang for your buck real estate prices, and a commercial district with a lot of potential. Safety is still an issue in the projects on the hill, and between 1st and 4th streets. There are various other areas that are sketchy at best. There are also some very safe, stable blocks.

That said, I sincerely hope that Ambridge can improve. I think it's best days are behind it (like most mill towns), but I think with the cracker plant and some very motivated locals trying to improve the town it can have some upward trajectory. I don't think it will ever be a boom town, but there is potential. It really could go either way at this point. To suggest otherwise only suggests some hyper-optimism that has no basis in fact.

[PGH423]

Why bump every Ambridge thread just to say the same thing?

[liz-momof2]

As someone else who lives here in Ambridge and is in the process of house hunting out of the school district, I can say that the other poster is definitely wearing rose-colored glasses. Our school district is a nightmare. So far, we have had a horrible superintendent who resigned but only after fulfilling enough of her contract so that we pay her benefits/retirement, even though for the majority of the time she was our superintendent, she was out on "sick leave." While she was on "sick leave," we were paying for an interim superintendent. Yet, she was well enough to run her dance studio and even perform in the studio's recital. Then, there was the three week teachers' strike in December, another one is looming on the horizon, and a continuation of the same mess next year. The elementary schools are mostly okay, the junior high is old and some of the teachers' don't give a darn, and from what I have heard the high school is even worse.

The area in Ambridge we live in used to be one of the good areas but the bad is moving across Duss and up into the hill. Drug bust down the street, unmarked police cars watching the house down the street. My kids found needles and alcohol bottles in the alley behind our house. We have a pack of unruly kids that aren't supervised and cause problems regularly. Talking to their parents does little to no good. After 3 years of dealing with it and the good neighbors we had moving out or in the process of moving, we are done. My husband has discussed getting into the rental market with our current house but I couldn't look someone in the eye and flat out lie that the neighborhood was great.