Sorta Oakmont but further Out? (Pittsburgh, Bethel Park: house, camp, living)

[gethome]

long time East Enders, now one spouse retired and one working, can commute.
Retired wants small town walk to grocery/hardware/ etc, with ~ 1200 SF house and garage. Sorta Oakmont but further out. Suggestions ?

[robrobrob]

Ligonier. Nice town but pretty far from Downtown. Beaver would be another choice. A while back I went to a bike store which I though was in Ambridge which was surprisingly large. Maybe someone else can confirm this.

Oakmont actually has a pretty rough commute from Downtown because of Allegheny River Blvd.

[SteelCityRising]

Meh. One thing I hate about Oakmont is how confusing it is to drive through. You have the railroad tracks running right up the center "median", so to speak, of Downtown, which means the minor cross-streets have the right-of-way when turning onto the main drags. I've had more than one jagoff behind me honk at me to proceed into the intersection while I've been stopped to yield to someone (as I should be doing) who is crossing the tracks and approaching the intersection. Do they still use those tracks actively? If not, then why not remove them to enhance the town's aesthetic appeal or just make each intersection a four-way stop? Oakmont is such a lovely little town, but I'm always white-knuckled driving through it. Ditto the southern entrance to Verona with that confusing intersection that completely surrounds that store that's housed in that old Victorian home. Traffic advancing from the south or east has to yield to oncoming traffic from the south, but traffic from the south can't back up into the next nearly adjacent intersection to block traffic from the east, which often pulls out into gaps in traffic while in effect blocking those coming south!

[greg42]

Good luck finding a hardware store to walk to. Ambridge comes closest for that (there's an independent home center that that's not close enough to Home Depot and Lowe's to be crushed), but it's still a bit rough around the edges living right in Ambridge. There may be some doable spots there though.

Yeah, the bicycle shop is still there as far as I know. There's also a shop in Beaver which I think might do a bit better job.

Beaver is not a bad choice either.

Where would the commute be too, though? If you're going to commute to downtown Pittsburgh I don't think you want to be that far out.

[feanix]

I don't consider Oakmont confusing at all. That house in Verona at the intersection used to house the Verona Police Department. Just a bit of history about it. That intersection is a PITA during rush hour and I've had several near accidents there.

Ligonier is a nice town heading further east. Hmmm, all I can think is Kittaning, Holidaysburg, and Derry though I don't know if any really fits. One town I do think that fits but it isn't East is Mercer. I used to camp up there in the summer (and Ligonier) and loved both towns.

[deathegg88]

Originally Posted by RestonRunner86

Meh. One thing I hate about Oakmont is how confusing it is to drive through. You have the railroad tracks running right up the center "median", so to speak, of Downtown, which means the minor cross-streets have the right-of-way when turning onto the main drags. I've had more than one jagoff behind me honk at me to proceed into the intersection while I've been stopped to yield to someone (as I should be doing) who is crossing the tracks and approaching the intersection. Do they still use those tracks actively? If not, then why not remove them to enhance the town's aesthetic appeal or just make each intersection a four-way stop? Oakmont is such a lovely little town, but I'm always white-knuckled driving through it.

I have to say that if you're "white-knuckled" driving through Oakmont, you should most likely stop driving, because Oakmont is very easy to drive.

I have no idea what you're talking about when you mention the intersections that let the minor cross streets have the right-of-way? Perhaps you haven't driven in Oakmont for many years. There used to be no stop signs for traffic coming down Pennsylvania or Washington onto ARB, but years ago they installed more stop signs, so now Everyone must stop; they are essentially 6-way stops (three stops on each side of the tracks). But the traffic coming UP Washington and Pennsylvania still has the right of way of course coming over the tracks.

And there are now lights at the intersection of Hulton/ARB.

And yes the tracks are still used for several businesses in Oakmont, and of course the AVRR serves many businesses up and down the valley, so the tracks aren't going anywhere.

[BrianTH]

The AVRR is using it for freight, and that is also the line they would use for commuter rail during the daytime, which would be great for Oakmont. So they definitely should not be ripping up, or feel otherwise hostile, to those tracks.

[JoshM25]

*Beats a dead horse*

I'll chime in and agree that driving through Oakmont is quite simple. I never really thought about the intersections at all. They just follow basic rules of driving, really. The traffic coming over from the other side of the tracks has the right of way -- as it is pretty much everywhere else. Like Brightwood and Library Ave in Bethel Park, actually.

The train tracks add to the aesthetic appeal, in my opinion. Very historic and adds a touch of small-town charm.

[gg]

Originally Posted by greg42

I wish this thread would get back on track though. It's not about Oakmont, it's about finding someplace for the OP to live that might be similar in scope to Oakmont.

How about Blawnox? Easy to get around and kind of cool. Reasonable and is a town.

[gethome]

thanks!