Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
The OP wants diversity and quality schools. Butler lacks both.
That's a far cry from North Allegheny's ranking of 8th in the state. North Allegheny is VERY convenient to Butler.
Fox Chapel ranks 20th in the state.
It's a no brainer that Butler County doesn't have the best schools in the region.
Seneca Valley is Butler County's best school system, and it ranks 81st in the state.
As I said, it depends upon exactly what the OP is looking for in a place to live. And you didn't say what your qualifications were as far as being considered an "expert" when it comes to talking about Butler.
I'm waiting to hear about that as that would determine whether or not your comments should be given any credence.
My comments specifically addressed what the OP wants for a place to live.
I have lived in Butler. I have three family members raising families in Butler. I have friends raising families in Butler too.
I'm in Butler at least three times a week. My house is not far from Butler.
You don't even live in Butler anymore. I'm not sure why you'd want to attack my credibility. Afterall, I had nice things to say about Butler Memorial.
Your comments about Butler Memorial were extremely condescending, as were your comments about the school system. If you feel so negatively about them I am surprised that you have not encouraged your family members to move out of Butler and go to someplace else where the schools are better (according to you).
And no, I don't live in Butler now but the rest of my family does. I lived there for 27 years before I moved. I miss it -- it's a wonderful place and it bothers me when people trash it to others. Sorry if you don't like that.
(and I see that you edited your post after you checked my profile -- which wasn't hidden like yours was. I have to thank you for that as I have now corrected that portion of this forum.)
Your comments about Butler Memorial were extremely condescending, as were your comments about the school system.
I feel my comments were so biased, I would have been negative about the hospital too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kanukook
If you feel so negatively about them I am surprised that you have not encouraged your family members to move out of Butler and go to someplace else where the schools are better.
Only one family has children in the public school system. The rest send their children to private Catholic schools for good reason.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kanukook
(according to you).
Not according to me. The statistics speak for themselves.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kanukook
And no, I don't live in Butler now but the rest of my family does. I lived there for 27 years before I moved.
It's been quite a while since you attended the schools.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kanukook
I miss it -- it's a wonderful place and it bothers me when people trash it to others. Sorry if you don't like that.
Perhaps after you spend more time here, you'll see that I'm not as biased as you like to believe. I've got quite a few years and posts on City-Data. I always try to help match people with what's best for them. I don't always trash Butler. When it's right for people, I have recommended it accordingly. When I drive down Main Street, I always think it has so much potential. It's not a dying town. I'm impressed with that since there are so many dying towns. I just don't think it's a good match for an Asian Doctor's family---especially based on what the OP shared.
(and I see that you edited your post after you checked my profile -- which wasn't hidden like yours was. I have to thank you for that as I have now corrected that portion of this forum.)
You mean my adding that you don't live in Butler or Pennsylvania.
I didn't check your profile. Your location is on your posts.
I have nothing hidden. I simply didn't fill out that crap when I joined.
I haven't kept it a secret where I've lived. Everyone who hangs out here knows.
I dunno about the methodology of that site, doesn't look great. But even given that, there aren't a ton of surprises. Read through and find the SW PA districts, hm, usual suspects (rank number is in the state, by district):
8. North Allegheny
9. Upper St Clair
20. Fox Chapel
22. Mt Lebanon
25. Quaker Valley
But if we want to round out their top 10 for the area, it wouldn't necessarily be ones off the top of my head:
5. South Fayette Township (yeah, they have it higher than all the others)
15. Penn-Trafford
17. Franklin Regional
23. Greensburg Salem
30. Avonworth
3 in Westmoreland County there. I don't know that area well. Avonworth is an improving district. South Fayette? Beats me. (Note, this is in Allegheny County, South Fayette Township.) Perhaps the site is doing it wrong, perhaps we're stuck on what we think we know. Truth, probably somewhere in between, as usual. 32 is Norwin, 33 is Canon-McMillan and 34 is Moon Area. Hm.
Note, based on paging through about the first 200, then searching, then testing a known search, Hampton and Pine-Richland which could be among usual suspects are not even in the rankings. Why, I don't know, but the site says they're not in there though recognizes the names.
yes I have driven around bulter. we already went for first interview. the BMH lodged us in cranberry. We will be going for 2nd interview soon. it will make or break the deal. my hubby will locum for a week. meanwhile i will chk out wexford.
I didnt know about north allegheny then. we stayed all but 2 days in the area, and every evening we would drive into pittsburgh for dinner. not a bad drive, it was a week day too.
I was given a map of cranberry and we drove all over to housing communities, and other pt of interest. and tested the commute to BHM.
granted i have been humbled by my current military town (marine), we used to live in boston while my hubby was at harvard medical doing residency.
what i like about cranberry/wexford area (that i don't have now):
1. more that one choice for shopping, groceries and lesuire (Walmart, yahooo!)
2. 90% of the population was NOT covered in Tattoos, and no teenage moms that i saw ;p (no comment on current town)
3. at most 30 mins access to activities (have to go to next town now, or closest big city 2 hours away)
4. 30 mins to decent int'l airport (at least 2 transfers now, or 2 hr drive to big airport)
5. It has an industrial park/office park (none, no jobs, just walmart ;p)
6. can go to good/great public school (currently my kid is in montessori, and havent' decided whether we will continue or go public. all depends on tuition, and drivability. there are 2 montessori schools that goes to 8th grade (30mins commute)
7.we like suburban setting. found we are not city ppl but like the access to city.
8. Close to major highway. straight shot to NJ on PA TPK (our commute home to NJ is really 7 hrs, but it's 10 b/c of small roads with traffic lights to get to our town. and 12 going through dc!!!)
9. Like the hilly setting and view (both my hubby and I went to lehigh univeristy, nostalgic ;p we went in fall, the foilage was beautiful and the weather was awesome)
I actually like cranberry, we had a great experience, just not sure of the school system. North allegheny is only 10 more mins. commute for hubby. we have a baby too, so have 18 more years for school tuition to pay if we go private. paying allegheny taxes may be "cheaper". is that a fair assumption?
Question: BHM expansion for the better? would you go to BHM for medical needs?
thanks all
Last edited by apirlrain; 12-30-2009 at 01:39 AM..
Western Pennslvania is a wonderful place to live. You are within driving distance of basically anything you could want to do (with the possible exception of visiting the ocean). Water sports enthusiasts have access to the Allegheny River, Moraine and Conneaut, Pymatuning and Lake Erie if they drive North up Interstate 79. Skiing is driving south. For Fall foliage, drive up to Cook's Forest (favorite retreat of many from Pittsburgh & western Pennsylvania) if just driving along our local "country" roads isn't a long enough exposure (some great cabins & hotels up in Cook's Forest). Shopping is abundant whether you are doing it around Butler, in Cranberry or further into Pittsburgh. You can also visit the Outlets in Grove City (right up Interstate 79) if you want to do some serious shopping. (I usually end up there for a bit most times I go home). Seriously check out that Butler County link I posted as they list a lot of the attractions of the area.
Just to let you know, we tend to take our sports teams seriously -- you will see many, many Steelers & Penguins fans. We also love our Pirates, even when they aren't doing so well. The people are something special (obviously there are probably a few exceptions as what area doesn't have those) -- they are very warm and friendly. I'm not sure exactly what specific kind of ethnic diversity you're looking for in where you settle but you will probably find pcokets of it wherever you end up. The area was initially settled by mostly European immigrants - Germans, Russians, Irish, Polish, Italian, etc. Butler has an "Ethnic Festival" every year on Main Street where one can get pierogies that are out of this world. I've also noticed a couple of Mexican restaurants in town. Since the demise of the steel industry in Pittsburgh, the city has moved more into the computer/high tech fields for businesses. This has brought an influx of people of other nationalities to our area to enrich our culture.
You will, of course, want to check out the local crime statistics for wherever you decide to settle. Obviously, there will be more crime in the urban areas or areas along the Interstate corridors.
I'm not sure what part of New Jersey you're visiting, but if it's central or north, you might want to consider going via Interstate 80 (depending upon where you eventually settle). It is a straight shot across the state of Pennsylvania that would eventually take you to NYC if you travelled it the entire way. I usually drive that way to Montclair,NJ. The turnpike has much more traffic, more accidents, and more tolls than travelling Interstate 80. And if you go in the Fall, be prepared to constantly drool over the fall colors through the hills and mountains. Just throwing that out there in case it helps.
As far as schools go, schools are what the parents make of them. Ratings on the internet are always risky to rely upon as one never really knows exactly what aspects are considered by the rating body. The best way to judge a school is to go there, meet the Principal and a few teachers and take a tour. I haven't seen a school yet that would not let you do that if you asked (and this is my field). You know your child (and baby) and you will know what will suit them best. Go see for yourself and ask questions!
As far as Butler Memorial Hospital goes, the expansion is definitely a good thing. They have needed space and for a while were even considering moving the facility to another location (wise move that they didn't). They have re-designed one of the roads leading to it to make a different entrance to the Emergency Room which will vastly improve that aspect of care as ambulances will have an easier time of it to get the patients there. There is a new traffic light to help things which wasn't operational on Monday but I'm sure will be fairly soon. As I stated before, the cardiac care there is exceptional. My Dad had his quadruple bypass done there. They are continually working to improve this area and bring a greater breadth of services to the Butler area so our citizens no longer have to travel down to one of the Pittsburgh hospitals for care. My Mom has also had a knee replaced there and various relatives, including my daughter have been treated there over the years. I would not hesitate at all to go there myself or have any of my loved ones treated there. (and on a side note -- if you're a coffee drinker, stop in their cafeteria in the Fall & treat yourself to some of their pumpkin spice cappucino! Mom and I actually considered just going there for that a couple of times, LOL!)
Best of luck to you and your family whether hubby decides to take the job or not. If he does, I'm sure that you will enjoy living near if not in, my hometown.
Here we see what I typically think of in my head, but it's clear I don't typically think of those Westmoreland places some of which are still near the top, and yes, there's South Fayette Twp (#7 instead of #1 in the area, but still. I suppose we should be directing those with kids looking to live near the airport to South Fayette, although Moon's showing is decent too.) The two numbers indicate 2009 rank then 2008 rank.
For the OP, Seneca Valley is the school district for Cranberry. It's an improving and wouldn't be a bad choice. It's a rather large district, though. It's clearly a top choice for staying within Butler County, and Cranberry can be fairly convenient as you've seen. But there could be other choices you want to look at. Here's what is essentially a sales brochure for Seneca Valley Schools:
Now of the Business Times list closer to the top, the ones relevant for being convenient to Butler are North Allegheny as you know (which covers much of the area considered "Wexford", which you'll eventually find isn't a real town, hehe), plus Pine-Richland (which covers anything remaining considered Wexford, over into the Rt 8 area) and Hampton (which is south of Pine-Richland in the Rt 8 area). Areas within Pine-Richland or Hampton are probably more convenient to Butler than most of the North Allegheny district and still plenty convenient to McKnight Rd, Wexford and Cranberry shopping areas and for driving into Pittsburgh proper. Some interesting stats on Allegheny County districts here:
Note this in particular:
North Allegheny total enrollment 8081
Seneca Valley total enrollment (see previous link) 7369
Pine-Richland total enrollment 4521
Hampton total enrollment 3097
NA and SV are very large. Keep in mind even with those large totals that is a single high school with over 2000 students there. (SV divides the high school numbers into grades 9-10 and 11-12, but I would think essentially the same. If there are two buildings, they are right next to each other.) Now you're a long way from worrying about high school, and you may not live in the same place by then. There are ways to look at just elementary school rankings for now, if you wanted. But there could be some merit in a smaller district.
All of these areas should be pretty much equal in terms of the things you highlighted in your last post. The Hampton and Richland areas might actually be more convenient to Butler as well as being more convenient to the city. The (relatively) straight road between Pittsburgh and Butler is PA Route 8, which goes through the middle of those areas. It's not a freeway-type road but is 4 lanes and does have an interchange with the PA Turnpike. Okay, the one thing that would get somewhat worse over there is access to the airport, that is true, but not by a lot.
Disclaimer: I am only looking at numbers and have some anecdotal info from others. I don't and have never had any children in any school district nor did I attend any district around here. Rankings are not always what they're cracked up to be. I have a friend who lives in Mars, purposely not Cranberry, for the smaller school district, even though Mars Area is ranked notably lower than Seneca Valley. You'll just have to take all info into account and make the decision that seems right to you.
Last edited by greg42; 12-30-2009 at 07:13 AM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
