Meadville (Pittsburgh, Erie, Edinboro: amusement park, home, unemployment)

[bondbabe]

Tips on the city and what sort of mom type activities there are. We're moving from a very large city (San Diego) and want to know what to expect?

[ML North]

I am a big fan of the Market House. I think there's still a restaurant around the corner where you can get breakfast and lunch. Pretty sweet place.

[Retiredcoach]

Meadville is much closer to Erie than Pittsburgh, and the only real familiarity that I have with the town is that my family owns a cottage near Conneaut Lake.

To me, Meadville is an area that exemplifies small town America. It is a very safe, established area with an excellent small, private college (Allegheny) within its borders. Walmart and/or the local bowling alleys are the local "places to be" when the heavy snow flies, as it seems everything else lies dormant. When summer arrives, boating, swimming and fishing are close-by in Conneaut Lake.

[hornet67]

That is quite a large helping of culture shock, moving from San Diego to Meadville. Apart from the huge difference in size, the weather contrast is also significant.
Meadville lies in the "lake effect" snow belt, north of I-80, and often gets significant snowfall in winter, typically much higher than the Pittsburgh area.
As an earlier poster stated, Meadville is much closer to Erie than Pittsburgh; it's a straight shot on I-79 north to Erie, and south to Pittsburgh, about a 2 hour trip.
For any significant cultural activities, you will want to visit Pittsburgh, or even Cleveland to the west. Cost of living, taxes, housing, etc., should be MUCH lower than California.
Allegheny College has a good reputation, with plenty of cultural activities available.
Your nearest beach will be Lake Erie, less than an hour away.

[gg]

I can tell people don't know the area at all. Meadville is a quite town, but also a college town. Allegheny College is there and that college has plenty of class. The area is small, but not that far from Chautauqua, which is an amazing little place with a pile of great shows during the summer months and a lovely atmosphere. Meadville has great fishing and hunting of course. Erie is much closer than Pittsburgh to that area. Edinboro University isn't far away. Less than a 40 minute drive to the outlet malls. Easy access to Erie. I always enjoyed Meadville. You don't need to speak Spanish up that way, unlike San Diego.

Might be a great move. Yes there is winter there, but I suspect you knew that already. Some people love snow and winter. I am a skier and love this season. Most wouldn't understand.

Enjoy the move, you might really enjoy living amongst people that take a while to get to know, but when you know them, you are in and they will do anything for you. Quite a step up from San Diego.

Home - Chautauqua Institution

[WestLibertyAve]

Pretty much what everybody else said. Nice small town feel. Tons of snow. Allegheny College is a tiny D-III school but has a very high acceptance rate for graduate schools (something like 98-99%) and from what I hear has a pretty good reputation. I used to visit friends there a few times a semester and I met people from as far away as Texas and NYC who somehow were drawn to this little college town. Meanwhile there are plenty of people in Pittsburgh even who have never even heard of the school.

Along with Conneaut Lake being a short drive away (a small amusement park is there too), Pymatuning is only about a half hour drive away. Linesville Spillway is on this lake, and it's supposedly the second most visited tourist attraction in PA behind the Liberty Bell..although I've never seen that verified. The carp are so abundant below the spillway that it got the motto "where the ducks walk on the backs of the fish". Adults and kids alike throw pieces of stale bread and watch the madness that ensues.

If San Diego had a polar opposite, it'd be a town like Meadville. You'll likely see several snowfalls per season that lay down 10-12" and often times more than that. Your closest city will be Erie, which is pretty small but is a popular weekend getaway spot with camping, beaches, a small amusement park, a zoo, and probably a lot of other things that would be worth checking out. Buffalo, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh are all within a 2 hour drive though.

[Saegertown22992]

As a previous poster said, you are definitely in for quite a culture shock. I live in Saegertown (hence the screen name) which is about 7 miles from Meadville. I've lived here for about 14 years, and also lived in Pittsburgh, Pa for 4 years, and I can tell you that life around here is as different from city life as possible. You may suffer from big-city-withdrawal for quite some time, but if you manage to get past the not-so-booming social scene and lack of jobs, you [mightI][/i] come to like this area.

[TechieTransplant]

Originally Posted by Saegertown22992

As a previous poster said, you are definitely in for quite a culture shock.

LOL culture shock isn't the word! I worked in Meadville for around a year before I moved to Pittsburgh. I commuted from Erie every day, and had been thinking of moving there, but glad I did not. There are some hot, easy women there, but the backwoods redneck feeling was overbearing to me.

[SorryIMovedBack]

^ What Scott said. The populace of this region is not very well educated, not very affluent, and is aging rapidly. Unemployment in Mercer County is over 10%, and Crawford, as I recall, has a higher number of households living below the poverty line and might have higher unemployment. This whole region of PA is rural, and about the only things to do there are men's outdoorsy hobbies. Women primarily stay at home with kids and grandkids. Drinking and bedhopping seem to the norm.

CCHS Heritage Societies
Crawford County Convention and Visitors Bureau | visitcrawford.org | Crawford County, PA (Says "Crawford County is Hunting and Fishing Paradise!")

[Copanut]

Originally Posted by scottrpriester

LOL culture shock isn't the word! I worked in Meadville for around a year before I moved to Pittsburgh. I commuted from Erie every day, and had been thinking of moving there, but glad I did not. There are some hot, easy women there, but the backwoods redneck feeling was overbearing to me.

Yeah, but how did the people drive up there?