Suburbs of Pittsburgh (Bethel Park, Sewickley, McDonald: house, to buy, contractor)

[Alexia319]

Can somebody tell me how far you have to go outside the city (in any direction) to be in a country-like or rural setting? Are there smallish rural towns or areas within a reasonable commute of downtown?

[Mugatu]

Not very far at all. I live on the western fringe of the Robinson area, about 12 miles from the city, and things get rural very quickly once I head west. Towns like Oakdale, Imperial, and McDonald are all small rural towns but within easy driving distance of the city. And once you get south of Bethel Park in the South Hills, you get into wide open rural areas with small towns like Finleyville.

[TechieTransplant]

No matter where you are in PA, you are never all that far from "country".

My wife's friend lives off of the Mt Nebo exit on 279, past that shopping complex. We've been to their place before, definitely feels like you are out in the middle of nowhere in that area.

[robrobrob]

I agree with the OP but I add that there aren't too many rural towns of significance close to Pittsburgh.

Not familiar with Finleyville so that may be a decent town.

[ferraris]

Definitely not far at all.

North, South, and West get rural a little quicker than East in my opinion; but I think all directions get rural a lot quicker than most cities' outskirts do.

[Hopes]

Just imagine a mid-sized city built right in the middle of rural nowhere. That's Pittsburgh. You can be in a rural area within 30 minutes. An hour can put you in Deliverance.

[Impala26]

Yeah I grew up in the suburbs northeast of the city. With the exception of the many communities built up along the riverfronts, if you just move away from those you're likely to find yourself in a rural area.

But I suppose if by rural you mean rugged woodlands or farmlands, because where I'm from there's mostly woodlands.

[greg42]

Heh, just drive up I-279. After about 10 miles you'd never know you were that close to a big city. That's an illusion, though, just because the area right around the highway isn't suitable to large development. Housing developments are hiding, just over those hilltops (though visible more in winter when the trees are dormant).

You can find pockets of fairly rural settings all over the place. Much of Marshall Township, even though I-79 goes right through it, is rural. Parts of Ohio Township are kinda rural. Can we call Sewickley Heights rural? I'm mostly familiar with north and west; it's just where I've driven the most and seen this.

The thing is, those closer rural areas are not far enough away to have rural *towns*. That is a different matter entirely. These places are close to some suburban sprawl for shopping, not towns. And for anything else, there's the city. I don't know how far out we need to go to start calling the towns rural. Mars, perhaps, at one point, would have been a rural town, but I'd say now it's too bordered by growing, sprawling Cranberry. If you go a bit farther north on I-79, then you get some rural towns. Do we call Zelie or Evans City a rural town, or is that too big? Dunno.

My guess is you're driving somewhere around, eh, almost an hour to get to a true rural town. But rural setting can be had at half that distance if you know where to look, and can afford it (often these places are expensive to buy a house and wouldn't likely have a rental).

[PeterRabbit]

Saxonburg is a charming town that seems in a rural area to me. It's about 30 miles from downtown on good highways. Saxonburg, Pennsylvania - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



^^^ Oh No, a farmer died and they sold his property to a contractor?
I haven't been there for several years. I've never seen that street.

[Honest Bob]

Crabtree is rural once you get off main street...