Looking for advice-town in SW PA (Pittsburgh, Johnstown: ski resort, gated community, taxes)

[jlk56]

Hello All,

I am looking to narrow down options in our search for an eventual retirement place. It needs to be within 2 hrs of Pittsburgh, preferably more than 2,000 feet in elevation. Within 20 minutes of a town >5,000 people. The ability to kayak nearby.

The land can be undeveloped at this point. I do not want to live in a gated community. Just want a nice town within 10 min. for minor shopping.

I know this sounds vague, but I think I have narrowed my choices down to Somerset or Bedford counties. Can anyone else offer suggestions?

Thanks to all of you!

[ki0eh]

Bedford County has very little inhabited area (other than places associated with Blue Knob Ski Resort, Pennsylvania's Highest Skiable Mountain. ) over 2,000' - that would be more likely found in Somerset or Cambria counties. It has an REI distribution center but no REI store. Recreation on that side is more land based or pretty flat small rivers. The vibe is very much church on Sunday and family, possibly even more so than in Somerset.

Confluence area in extreme SW Somerset County would be influenced by but less crowded than the Yough tourist developments, but shopping would be pretty minor. You might want to stay closer to Somerset for accessibility. Garrett, Rockwood, and Meyersdale are not too far from recreational opportunities, they used to be pretty economically downtrodden after the trains stopped stopping, but have had some rebirth from the rail trail.

Frostburg, MD would put you closer to other whitewater, and to minor shopping to be found on the west side of Cumberland. Might be able to find places near there but just on the PA side of the line to avoid some taxes.

The country around Johnstown gets high pretty fast. Johnstown is a larger city with more diversity and more shopping choices than anything in Bedford or Somerset, but it's still pretty small.

[Bazzwell]

There are parts of eastern Fayette and Westmoreland counties that would certainly be within your specs.

[jlk56]

Thanks. I will be looking the 2nd weekend in October.

[jlk56]

Thanks again to all who replied. We definitely have narrowed our choice down to Somerset County!

[Honest Bob]

If Kayaking is part of the criteria of what you are looking for and a population of at least 5,000 people and within 20 minutes of a town, you ought to look at something around Turtle Creek.

Sorry son, I had to get that one in.

Once a year the creek floods and you can go down the river with the other turds.

Other then that, I don't think that anyplace along the clarion river is over 2,000 feet and within 2 hours of Pittsburgh and The Monongahela valley is all over populated and you are not going to find any free space.

The big ruckas in Summerset County right now is the windmill projects poping up all over the place. You are going to have to get used to hearing whoosh, whoosh, whoosh all day and all night.

You would be better off moving to West Virginia to someplace nice like Beckley where you would have a city and a low cost of living and cheap housing and lot's of things to do for entertainment.

A nice river to ride your Kayak on and the New River Gorge to visit when you get too old to do other things. The elevation is pretty high there and they weather is much milder then it is in Pittsvburgh.

[TelecasterBlues]

Fayette County comes to mind...however, I wouldn't really suggest it as a whole if you want a cultured area. But the area around Ohiopyle State Park is gorgeous. I'd give Ohiopyle and Confluence a look, maybe try taking a weekend trip to see the fall colors while they last. Tons of bike trails, waterfalls, kayaking is big, Nemacolin Woodlands resort/skiing is right there, Seven Springs is close, Falling Water is right there, same with Laurel Caverns...it's what you want from a nature perspective. Morgantown WV is within driving distance, and you do have Uniontown down the mountain(not a fan of U-Town or any other Fayette cities). You'd just have to do some homework to make sure that you're in a good spot and away from the Fayette County yokels and whatnot.

[mams1559]

As you've narrowed your choice to Somerset County I could give a bit of info for you.

There's Seven Springs Resort or Hidden Valley Resort (both on Rte 31 I believe) that offer different outdoor activites based on the season of the year.

Kayaking can be done near Confluence, or over in Ohiopyle, which isn't far away from Somerset County or even in the new white water park near Benscreek/Davidsville on the Stoneycreek River... just outside of Johnstown.

There's the Quemehoning (sp?) dam/lake that offers fishing and restricted boating.

As for communities to retire to in Somerset County that also meet your criteria... that's pretty much anything around Somerset borough or towards the northern part of the county that is closer to Johnstown. So you could check out Davidsville, Hollsopple, Boswell, Jerome, Hooversville, Friedens ... etc. Mostly they run along the US 219 corridor, which will be expanding south as a four lane to Meyersdale in the next 5 yrs or so (so they say... you know PennDOT).

Just thought I'd throw that out there. Happy hunting!