Liberal college town- with a small town feel? Within an hour or so drive from pittsburgh? (Carnegie: high school, universities)

[ferrarisnowday]

So if it is the small town community you desire rather than physically and geographically a small town then I still don't see why you wouldn't go with somewhere in the East End, especially if being near Pittsburgh is a priority. All the invididual neighborhoods are relatively small, can give you that small town community feel, will have things in walking distance, and most have active neighborhood associations that will be a good way for you to meet people at first and they also might organize community festivals and farmer's markets.

[nuwaver88]

This thread is like pulling teeth. It is pretty lame. That is my opinion. It is like talking in circles. You are not going to find any liberal college towns in Western PA outside of the seat of Allegheny County. That would be Pittsburgh. Period. Morgantown. No. Indiana Pa. No. State College No. Slippery Rock. No. California PA. No. Comprende?

[mrgonk]

Originally Posted by alchemistpa

Thanks so much for the input! I know that finding a Berkley in western pa is impossible. Currently I am in Irwin, Pa- so I would be happy to find an area with the "town" feel that has a at least "some" liberally minded people, yoga place to walk to, a farmers market now and then and a decent university. Small towns have always oozed this really great sense of community for me. I hate to quote John c. melloncamp- but "i can breathe in a small town"!

State college and morgantown look pretty appealing- like I said- may not be berkley... but a giant leap from where I am.... a little less of the "N" word would be fabulous!

Does anyone know if Indiana PA has neighborhoods... like family'ish neighborhoods within walking distance of downtown... or is it pretty much ALL occupied by students? I went to undergrad in Carbondale IL... which I loved- but it was COMPLETELY saturated by the students. Families didn't seem to live too close....

yeah, you're not going to hear the "n" word in state college or indiana...



seriously, by far the best place in western PA for what you're describing is the east end neighborhoods of the city - shadyside, regent square, squirrel hill, bloomfield. hell, even lawrenceville now. that or maybe the northside - like east allegheny or central northside or allegheny west. as a matter of fact, those neighborhoods are probably the only places within a 200 mile radius of pittsburgh that meet your qualifications. some of them even really do feel like small towns (like central northside especially). the only thing these places lack are that they are not, in point of fact, technically small towns.

try pittsburgh. irwin is not pittsburgh.

[greg42]

I have the perfect place for you: Shepherdstown, WV, where I grew up. It has turned into a perfectly hippy liberal college town. Except, it's about 3 hours from Pittsburgh. Also, it got kinda pricey, though maybe the housing collapse has eased that a bit. Okay, so if you need to be near Pgh, it won't help. :-)

Seriously, the East End neighborhoods of Pittsburgh are it. Small towns are not as described around here, as has been repeated, college or no college. There isn't a town as desired. If you're not familiar with the city of Pittsburgh and haven't spent time in these areas, you don't know how much the neighborhoods keep things a bit less urban feeling. No, it's not the same as a small town, but it's not as far removed as you might expect, that's all I'm saying. About the only thing you won't get vs a small town is a house with a large yard (unless you have a million bucks or so to spend on it).

[creepsinc]

Yeah, put me in the "move to Pittsburgh" category. Most neighborhoods here feel like small towns.

[BrianTH]

By the way, today we are going to the Community Day in Edgewood, held in Koenig's Field (a small park with a couple baseball fields, playground, and fieldhouse):

http://www.edgewood.pgh.pa.us/Downlo...ule%202009.pdf

I'm noting this because this is the sort of thing that really makes this part of Pittsburgh (Edgewood is technically its own municipality, but to me is part of the greater East End community) feel like a bunch of small towns that happen to be in the city.

[Wind-Up]

I live in Indiana now, having just moved from Point Breeze. I have to agree with the majority in this thread - what you're looking for sounds like East End. But if you really have to have a small town, Indiana isn't too bad. The university brings it up a little, however most of the students seem to be from central PA, and bring their indifference and love for Fox News with them (I've heard some interesting stuff about Obama...). The faculty are, naturally, much more open-minded, and as they represent a large part of the economy in town, there are things that cater to more progressive people (including a coffee shop that compares to Aldo or Tazza D'oro, in Mt. Lebanon and Highland Park, respectively). I live in a 'family' part of town three blocks north of Philadelphia St (the main street) and it's very quiet.

[Brookline_sylvia]

I agree with the posters who wrote that the best bet will be a college here in Pittsburgh, but none of them are that small, and, outside of the state universities and community colleges, none of them are cheap (actually, I wouldn't call the state schools cheap, either). Outside of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia you're not going to find many pockets of 'liberalism' in PA...maybe some on the campuses, but not in any of the towns. Maybe Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts, or New Hampshire?

Going to college can be great if you get the right degree, but steer clear of the humanities - $30,000 of debt to make $25,000 a year for the rest of your life is not a good deal.

...just stay away from Grove City, lol - they're expensive and ultra-conservative. ...and very selective - GCC is for budding conservative intelligentsia, haha.

[bethany12]

I have to agree with the others. Only in the cities will you find what you are looking for. You have to understand that most colleges and small towns do not co-exist peacefully in PA. There is always tension between the students/administration and residents. The problem is the college slums/bar crawl mentality. The current trend in PA (and throughout the US) is that the residents either are leaving the small college towns or cracking down on the students/landlords/colleges. College kids are terrible for real estate values.

[khlav_kalush]

You basically just described Indiana, PA