Juniata College and Huntingdon (Orbisonia, Railroad: section 8, apartments, rent)

[sunsetwest]

Hi all,

We are beginning the college search and Juniata College comes up as a contender. I have read and gotten great insight and advice from city-data for years, so here are some questions:

1. How is the college and town relationship...is it friendly for the most part?
2. What is the town's "vibe;" that feeling of being there that only comes from being a part of the community or living near the community for a while? It's subjective of course, but is also not something that surveys or rankings can really pin down.
3. We're from the Sacramento, CA suburbs, so our kiddo is used to very different weather. Climate zones can only tell you so much when you're not living in the environment. So when do the daffodils start to bloom in Huntingdon?
4. Anyone willing to share their experiences with the university/college on their own are welcome too!

Thanks in advance

[RetireinPA]

well, the rents moved to the area in 83 till 95ish and I lived in town 00-08 off mifflin.


The town is as about rundown as you can get. there are no jobs other than service jobs as a result of the lake nearby. Its a weak mayor strong council government, meaning all the decisions are made by a gang of guys in a backroom at night. the TOWN proper, which is the north side if the juniata has no money, the college being the only thing in the black.


about 15ish years ago during the rendell admin, he moved about 15% of philly section 8 housing to small towns across PA as it was cheaper to pay the rent and utilities THERE, than in philly. he said it saved PA many millions per year


BUT, it bolstered the drug trade and culture such that like much of small town PA, legit businesses fled and if you walk down the main drags (washington, allegheny and mifflin) all the businesses are gone, or are 'second hand shops' or converted into mental counseling centers. almost no violent crime, but sadly a lot of property crime/pilfering to support various habits.


because of the college the town has a social class demarcation of uptown vs downtown. where I lived at 12th mifflin is sort of the unofficial demarcation line. in town there are some stunning restores of 150 year old buildings, next to s**tholes. as you go upward uptown, its more and more single familiy owner occupied housing. Go past 'uptown sheetz' (you will learn what a sheetz is) and there is still an elderly faction that walks to the weis (rhymes with ice, but pronounced 'wee-izz' by the true homegrown locals).


There is no animosity with the college, other than among the similar aged 3rd generation poor as the tuition (when I was last there was over 38K p.a. and I hear might be pushing 60k) is dang high and the college kids are seen as over privileged. since most if not all of the kids are from advantaged families, very few students engage themselves in the local labor forces. Most of the student body is on campus, when I was there, there was a yearly maxumin of students that would be granted off campus housing status. being strongly attached to its founding church, some aspects of student life are tightly controlled. when I finished my house, more than one student housing 'banks' contacted me about selling it as I made it into what could be 5 bedrooms and 2 baths on 3 floors...they wanted to make apartments out of it - I refused to sell.


now hunting, which being from cali you likely dont do if the stereotype holds, is abundant. the county is the oak tree capitol and we have massive squirrel and turkey populations. the 'rents were by the overlook and we took small game, deer and bear on the property. the fishing in the lake is also outstanding as is the summer boating - which your student might never get if they return home in the summer (if they do an enviro program, try to get in as a gs-3-5 summer intern with the ACoE - that is popular) I have been boating the lake since graduation myself - 35 years and will be vacationing there in a couple weeks)


what is there to do at night? the locals will tell you 'drink and f***' which is not far from the truth. the cool indoor mini mall is long gone, the roller rink is gone, the ice skating pond long gone. you can bike run and hike trails and walk the canal. altoona is half an hour west, state college (PSU) is half an hour north and lewistown is half an hour east( but who cares). its all lake and closed off mountains to the south (federal or private property). the train station is now an antique store and the 1 daily train might stop if arranged in advance.


Enterprising students oft partner up and make bookstore/coffee places, bagel cafes etc, but they never last past 4-6 years and the old ones never get torn down. if you visit, park the car, put on comfy shoes and walk it. I mean REALLY walk it and pay attention. it wont be hard to tell who is a resident in a house, who is renting, and who is a philly transplant. like I said, almost no violent crime, but lots of property crime. the cops are good cops, we still know most of them and the sherrif and jail is in town. and there are 2 prisons in smithfield, as well as a PSP barracks so 'serve and protect' is in force.


key visitation points: there are 2 'OIPs' in town-ish t oeat at and the one in town is the better one historically (plus I have been friends with the owners for over 30 years). the "Giant" grocery store is really there to serve more upscale, but shop there. do not stay at the huntingdon motor inn (the murder inn....long story from long ago) there are no unsafe streets to walk. but dont go into the local bars to converse. the farifield is prolly the best place to stay when visiting.



If you cross the river into smithfield boro and twp, a lot more stuff and money....years ago when cash strapped smithfield sought to merge, the huntingdown council said nope, and all the bizness dollars go into smithfield. there are no fancy restaurants, but all the chains are there as are many stores, hotels and food shoppers.


my lil bro, who is one of your highway patrolmen in big sur graduated from SAC, a number of years after he graduated from huntingdon HS, so it can be a positive.

[Wells5]

A Juniata College alumnus won the noble prize for physics in the 90s. That's Juniata College's big claim to fame. I passed through the area in the 70s and 80s on my way to Orbisonia, PA where the East Broad Top Railroad and the Rockhill Trolley Museum are located. At that time, the main industry was refractories.They've all closed. The area is very depressed. Coming from Sacramento, your kiddo won't like the area. It's in the middle of nowhere. The college is affiliated with the "Church of the Brethren," an Anabaptist sect originating in Germany.

[RetireinPA]

Originally Posted by Wells5

A Juniata College alumnus won the noble prize for physics in the 90s. That's Juniata College's big claim to fame. I passed through the area in the 70s and 80s on my way to Orbisonia, PA where the East Broad Top Railroad and the Rockhill Trolley Museum are located. At that time, the main industry was refractories.They've all closed. The area is very depressed. Coming from Sacramento, your kiddo won't like the area. It's in the middle of nowhere. The college is affiliated with the "Church of the Brethren," an Anabaptist sect originating in Germany.

this slipped my mind...but kovalchik finally coughed up the EBT - its coming back!