The closer in Butler County Cities... (Lancaster, Fernway: apartment, high crime, construction)

[JMadison]

Looks like I could have a reasonable commute from the close in towns in Butler to the airport area.

Any thoughts on the character and quality of life in these or others?

The cities look like:

Cranberry Township
Fernway
Fox Run
Mars
Valencia
Zelienople
Harmony
Middle Lancaster

etc.

They all seem like small towns. Possible to get a decent apartment to scope the region out for a while, then settle in if I like it?

[LiveinPA]

Cranberry Twp. is the only one in that list I would consider. It's not a "big city" but there's everything you need including plenty of shopping and a hospital. It's also right on I79 and the turnpike so you can get places quickly. Traffic can be a bear during rush hour though.

Any of your other options are very small towns and not convenient to the airport at all. (Mars isn't that far from cranberry though)

Is there a reason you want to live in Butler but commute so far?

[JMadison]

Originally Posted by LiveinPA

Cranberry Twp. is the only one in that list I would consider. It's not a "big city" but there's everything you need including plenty of shopping and a hospital. It's also right on I79 and the turnpike so you can get places quickly. Traffic can be a bear during rush hour though.

Any of your other options are very small towns and not convenient to the airport at all. (Mars isn't that far from cranberry though)

Is there a reason you want to live in Butler but commute so far?

Pretty much trying to avoid the city and as much of the auto inspection aggravation as possible.

The city demographics scream "crime zone" to me, whereas the surrounding counties don't. Classic city surrounded by suburbs format, for lack of a better description. Pretty much the format for every city in the U.S. these days. Don't want to live, shop, sleep, etc. in that sort of environment. I prefer suburban or rural as long as it's not industrial rural, like heavy farming involving pesticides and such.

Even when I didn't live near a city my commute to work has always been at least 20 miles, with the exception of Vegas, where it was 3 blocks, LOL!

Just always seemed the business centers and the suburbs are about that far apart.

So 20-30 miles I can live with. At 40-50 I start to think about commute time and vehicular wear and tear.

S. Butler county along the I-79 corridor seems to work out for the mileage.

[LiveinPA]

Originally Posted by JMadison

Pretty much trying to avoid the city and as much of the auto inspection aggravation as possible.

The city demographics scream "crime zone" to me, whereas the surrounding counties don't. Classic city surrounded by suburbs format, for lack of a better description. Pretty much the format for every city in the U.S. these days. Don't want to live, shop, sleep, etc. in that sort of environment. I prefer suburban or rural as long as it's not industrial rural, like heavy farming involving pesticides and such.

Even when I didn't live near a city my commute to work has always been at least 20 miles, with the exception of Vegas, where it was 3 blocks, LOL!

Just always seemed the business centers and the suburbs are about that far apart.

So 20-30 miles I can live with. At 40-50 I start to think about commute time and vehicular wear and tear.

S. Butler county along the I-79 corridor seems to work out for the mileage.

I would suggest you make the drive more than once before deciding. Any of those towns you listed can take more than an hour to get to the airport thanks to the geography and traffic. In rush hour it would take me an hour and a half to get to the airport from butler area. Sometimes two thanks to construction.

Cranberry is not high crime by any stretch of the imagination. It's a suburb/strip mall type area.

As far as auto inspection...the entire state requires the full inspection. Allegheny also requires the emission test, but I hear word that others will soon too.