Need Info About New Castle, Pa (Pittsburgh, Erie: low income, for sale, apartments)

[kittjim]

Hello,

Does anybody have any info about this city? From what I've learned on the Internet it has little crime, but the houses are very cheap. I guess that's because there might not be many jobs in the area. Do you happen to know if this is the case?. If you happen to know anything about New Castle kindly let me know your thoughts.

ONe more thing, how far driving distance is Pittsburg from New Castle? Could I live in New Castle and travel 2 times a month to pittsburgh?

[Tallysmom]

According to google maps New Castle is about 53 miles away from Pittsburgh, and the drive would be a little over an hour. That doesn't take into account traffic.

I haven't been to New Castle in about 26 years. (I now live in California) but when I was younger, NC was more a bedroom community for Youngstown OH, but Youngstown Ohio also suffered major economic hits from steel closing...

But if you check this New Castle website, you can get a feel for what they are trying to do now

http://www.newcastlepa.org/default.htm (broken link)

I remember when I was young New Castle was more a sleepy generic town, but as I age I see the appeal of that....

[Geeo]

I was born in New Castle and live in Pittsburgh now. It's about one hour from downtown Pittsburgh via I-79 or the Beaver Valley Expressway. It was a busy manufacturing center at one time, but fell on hard times in the 1980s when industry left. Now the center of the town is pretty deserted, but the outlying townships are very nice (Neshannock, Shenango and Union). Some people live in the New Castle area and commute to jobs in Pittsburgh, Cranberry, or the Airport Corridor, and there is a commuter bus from New Castle to downtown Pittsburgh that runs frequently during weekday rush hours with a park and ride in New Castle.

So yes, it's an easy drive if all you have to do is twice a month.

[gswpa]

Lawrence County has some great homes/land for sale. Just beware of the property taxes. The taxes vary throughout the county. I know someone who works in New Castle. The good jobs are rare.

[springpure]

My wife and I moved to New Castle in 2004. We needed to simplify our lives because of financial reasons.

We could not afford anything in our immediate area, so we started a search online at Realtor.com. Dismal. We actually wanted to buy something for no more than $60,000 in 2004. Now depending on where you live, that is probably a joke. One of my former residences, a comfortable 2600 sq ft colonial, was recently on the market for over $700,000, so I do understand if you laugh.

Most of the areas we looked at online had NO houses for $60,000. Not even apartments. Hardly a decent lot. We had to move our search from the eastern U.S., to west of the Appalachians and east of the Rockies, into what folks call the Midwest. Now we began to see things for $60,000, Most were very sad, but things were about to improve.

As we searched smaller towns, you know, 15,000 to 40.000 population, there seemed to be some housing that could be livable for our price. In fact a few, very few, towns with houses in that price range, seemed downright nice. After quite a search, we looked at a small town in Western Pennsylvania, 50 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, called New Castle. (click)

New Castle has had a more stellar past, but is just beginning to go through a small-town renaissance. Brand new state-of-the-art high school, new parks, classic street lights with huge hanging planters everywhere. The factories, for the most part, have gone years ago. But there are now smaller companies sprouting up. And a new industrial park or two. And some new shopping centers. Because New Castle is only 40 miles by divided highway from the world-class Pittsburgh airport, folks who do a lot of flying for business are buying here. Pittsburghers are discovering the area, and deciding that the prices, quality of life, and low crime rate, justify the commute.

Through its ups and downs, New Castle has maintained with pride, a lot of quality housing. And some not so quality housing. We bought somewhere in the middle.

We are just blocks to our hospital, a huge deli-type Giant Eagle grocery store, Sears, Super Wal-Mart, Staples, Lowes, Kmart and more. 20 minutes to an enclosed mall, and 30 minutes to one of the largest outlet centers in the country. We have nearby access to one of the best hospital systems in the world, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. We are 6 and 20 miles from two of the highest ranked small colleges in America. (Westminster and Grove City) Sporting and cultural events are available to the public at both schools. Marvin Hamlisch and the Pittsburgh Symphony perform in New Castle. There is a professional quality playhouse. The homes in our area are generally well-maintained, as well as the lawns. The people are welcoming and super friendly. The climate is spectacular in the summer-spring-autumn, and becoming more temperate in the winter. If it snows, the roads are quickly cleared. There is easy access to other areas on interstates 79 and 80, each just a few minutes away, and State Route 60 which is about to become an interstate. It is 5 minutes away. The crime rate is very low in the whole county (Lawrence). New Castle is surrounded by idyllic rolling farmland, largely occupied by the Amish. We employ Amish to work at our home on occasion, at a great price for quality hard work. Perhaps best of all, we have a mayor who reads your email, and actually calls you to see what he can do to help you. Seniors ride most routes on our bus system free, non rush hour. Round-trip bus fares to Pittsburgh are only $6--for everyone, from a brand new (May 2007) $2.5 million park-and-ride lot in downtown New Castle.

We bought our 3 br, 1.5 bath 1600 sq ft craftsman style home for $49,500 in a great neighborhood. We are happy as a bug in a rug!! I loved the Washington DC suburbs, but this is one great community.

On September 5, 2007 Pennsylvania approved a $430 million project to be built just outside the city limits of New Castle. Valley View Downs will include a harness racetrack and casino. Taking into consideration the surrounding development that is planned, the project is expected to generate up to 4,000-5,000 new jobs in our immediate area. It is hard to overestimate the economic impact this will have on our town, as well as Lawrence County. This is the largest dollar project ever to be built in our county. We wonder how long our discount housing prices can last. As well as a great affordable retirement destination, we may have to think of housing in New Castle as a really great investment!

[Katdoll]

I was born and raised in New Castle; graduated in New Castle. Growing up most of the cities streets were good. But as times changed, Steel mills went out of business; now most families are low income. But if you need to know about how the pricing is on houses, check out the city on realor.com; or any of the local areas surrounding it. THere are several townships that actually are really nice. Neshannock is very nice, but taxes are unbelievable on housing. I live in New Wilmington now, and love it. Taxes are fair, and nice little quaint town that have a mixed population, as well as AMish too.
Schools in the townships are best too. THe city school in NEw Castle is very populated and students don't get much help from teachers in classrooms. The township schools are less populated and teachers are able to have less students in each class.
Shopping is everywhere: Walmart- Outlet mall (15 minutes drive) - Sears, Penneys, Macys, in another town north of New Castle called Hermitage -15 minutes drive too. Youngstown Oh has a nice big shopping mall, and only 30 minutes away.
Jobs would be hard to come by unless transferring from a large city somewhere. Unless you don't mind the distance traveling to Pittsburgh, PA (1 hr); or YOungstown, OH (30 minutes); Akron, OH (1 & 1/2 hr), or even Cleveland OH or Erie, Pa (both 2 hrs away).
Good luck in your search. Hope this was helpful