Best place to live for a Coraopolis commute

[ex-burgher]

I'm not sure why she should live in Moon, when the North Allegheny, Quaker Valley, and even Pine Schools are much better and also have a good commute.

[South Range Family]

Originally Posted by South Range Family

I would suggest Moon Township in the area near Flaugherty Run Rd. and Spring Run Extension.

For Beaver County I would suggest Independence Township off of Route 165. I'm specifically thinking of something near Saratoga Drive.

The aerial view of bing.com maps is great for checking out neighborhoods. Try a view of "Saratoga 15026" It's a Clinton address in Independence Township.


I know that you said Coraopolis, but I would be willing to bet that it's really in Moon Township. They share a post office.

Too late for me to edit. That's route 151 in Beaver County.

165 is by me in Ohio. Was having a brain fart.

[greg42]

Originally Posted by ex-burgher

I'm not sure why she should live in Moon, when the North Allegheny, Quaker Valley, and even Pine Schools are much better and also have a good commute.

Nothing wrong with checking it out. Moon Area is a perfectly good district, not as affluent as Quaker Valley or North Allegheny or Pine-Richland, but it's not one to stay away as far as I can tell. Moon is likely going to be much closer. Only the closest corner of Pine would have a reasonable commute. Any further and you might as well live across the border and save tax $$$$. Yes, Seneca Valley or Mars are not whispered in the same breath either vs QV, NA, etc but they're fine. SV is really big but so is NA.

Indeed, Moon is listed just 2 spots below Pine-Richland in this ranking: http://www2.bizjournals.com/pittsbur...rolllocal.html So how much of a difference could that be? Quaker Valley is listed at 9, Moon at 17.

This rank isn't the end all either, but it does suggest that Moon, Avonworth, etc. are not particularly off-base suggestions. People want good schools, they don't have to be the perfect #2, #5, etc top districts in the most affluent areas. They can decide this for themselves based on other merits of said areas, such as shorter commute, cheaper housing, etc.

[joannagraham77]

Thanks again for the insight into the areas. All of this info helps us start making some better opinions when we do start looking during our house hunting in the next few weeks. Two more questions:

- Is Moon in the flight path of the airport? Is it loud there? It seems like it's sitting on the airport from the maps.

- Do all places have basements? I noticed 95% of the listings show basements listed (or game room) in MLS, but I noticed a few of them don't have anything particularly in new construction. Is this just an agent not putting in details, or are there new houses being built that don't have basements now?

[greg42]

Flight paths go over everything really depending upon wind direction, but they'll be somewhat lower in Moon and similar areas over there for sure.

Not every place would have a basement, perhaps, but I can't imagine a house in the size and price range you're looking for wouldn't have one. There would always be a foundation. I suppose there could be some crawl space construction here as opposed to full basement, but it doesn't seem to be common. I don't think you'd find any slab construction here. Almost everything is on a bit of a hill, and it doesn't really work anyway when you have so much freezing and thawing. The basements won't all be finished, of course. And if you look at an old house you might find a working toilet, not enclosed, in the unfinished basement.

[Hopes]

There are some newer slab construction communities in the west where it's flatter. They're all one story homes.

I believe most are in those low yard maintenance communities with the large modern one story duplexes.

My girlfriend's parents bought one of those. They're not kid friendly communities though.

[greg42]

Oh, yeah, the one-story villa duplex, that makes sense. My mother lives in one of those (not around here), but it at least has a real foundation with crawl space.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by joannagraham77

Do all places have basements? I noticed 95% of the listings show basements listed (or game room) in MLS, but I noticed a few of them don't have anything particularly in new construction. Is this just an agent not putting in details, or are there new houses being built that don't have basements now?

When I responded to the basement question, I was responding to Greg's post. I just saw your post now. I can easily answer your question.

When houses are built in Pittsburgh, the basements are not finished. They are just concrete floors and concrete block walls.

After purchasing homes, most owners finish the basements into living spaces, like game rooms, eventually.

You don't see mention of basements in the listings for new construction----because the basements aren't finished basements.

There's just no reason for realtors to mention a basement unless it's finished. But I assure you that 99.999% of the houses have basements.