Connellsville? (Pittsburgh, Johnstown, Washington: real estate, houses, luxury)

[Madamex1968]

I'm looking for a new location to move to & start a home business. I spotted a place in Connellsville that looks like it might fit the bill.

I've never been there. Can anyone tell me anything about it?

Thank you!

[PeterRabbit]

It is kind of old-fashioned and run down/poor. I like the natural scenery. It is somewhat like a small Johnstown.

[escilade18]

I used to live near Uniontown (about 15 minutes from Connellsville) and will say that the area isn't booming. Some businesses will fare better than others, so I would really have to know more info about your business before giving you any real advice. (ex. ik this may be extreme, but a restaurant would likely do great business while a luxury purse store I couldn't see lasting 2 months)

[Madamex1968]

I'm opening a cats-only boarding facility catering to vacationers & business travellers.

[villageidiot1]

You could not have picked a worse town (unless you picked Brownsville) to open the type of business you describe. Connellsville has only two things going for it: the Yough River and the relative proximity to Seven Springs, which really isn't that close. There are no major employers left. Anchor Hocking Glass closed, the coal mines have been long gone, and the Volkswagon/Sony plant is closed. Many people also worked on the railroad or traveled to Pgh to work in the mills but those jobs have almost disappeared. Many of the buildings in downtown Connellsville are abandoned and falling down. The most recent bldg. collapsed on Pittsburgh Street in the past year. Around 10-20% of the houses are abandoned, and the city council has attempted to require absentee landlords to have property managers who live close to town. Read the C'ville Courier www.pittsburghlive.com/x/dailycourier/ or the Uniontown Herald-Standard heraldstandard.com: Your Online Local News Source. I think you would be better off opening your business close to a larger population center that is a little more affluent and closer to some major highways. New Stanton would be a better location or anyplace along Route 79 from Washington north to Route 80. Somerset would be a better location than Connellsville.

[greg42]

That's a decent business idea for some places, though I really don't see how Connelsville would be one of them. Have you considered somewhere north of Pittsburgh near Cranberry and vicinity? I'd consider being a customer myself it's within about 10-15 miles of here. There are a couple places not too far that board cats, but they're all sidelines of dog kennel businesses.

[escilade18]

Unfortunately I would have to agree with the majority here, Connellsville isn't really economically in great shape. I say for cheaper real estate I would pick Washington PA (where you would get clientele from places such as Peters twp and North Strabane.) Cranberry would be more expensive than Connellsville but there would be places to the north (such as Zeilenople) that would be more reasonably priced. If you are looking to keep in the Fayette County area I would personally suggest the Belle Vernon area with easier access to many different places, best of luck with you start up