Altoona? (apartment, to rent, crime)

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I've been looking into moving into the area for about a year now and in many ways Altoona looks like a great place to live but I do have some questions that people in the area might know the answers to.

My children are high-school age but they are special needs so they don't drive. Is there school bus service to the school or will they have to use the dart service to get to and from school?

Does anyone know of dog friendly places to rent? I thought I found an apartment that accepts dogs but they never returned my calls. I have 2 small dogs, one is 15 pounds and the other is 3 pounds. Neither dog sheds and both are clean and well behaved.

Is the community accepting of people with special needs? On paper the community where we live looks great but in practice crimes tend to be overlooked or underinvestigsted which makes things look safer than they are. In my experience I would rather live in a place with a higher rate of crime and honest reporting than a place that hides crime in order to make things look better than they are.

Lastly, how affordable is Altoona compared to the other areas?