Best suburb/town in the Pittsburgh area? (Greensburg, Washington: theatre, high school)

[safak]

morgantown

[ex-burgher]

I agree with Morgantown though it's a bit further. It's a college town so there is more to do and the surrounding area is beautiful.

[PreservationPioneer]

Originally Posted by SorryIMovedBack

I lived in a rental in Washington for about a year and I explored all over that town. I intended to rent or even buy a home there. The first thing the real estate agent (female) said to me (female) was a stern "You probably don't want to buy or rent a home in Washington itself." It's basically a lower socioeconimic dump, in spite of Interstate 79 giving it a connection to Pittsburgh. The town is full of migrant Marcellus shale gas employees, many of which are just laborers. The elderly populace is rather "country." I think WashPA was a steel town (Jessop Steel) and as such, was a typical western PA mill town that was very blue collar and not well-educated. The is a massive drug and crime problem there, and the town is a hotbed for the heroin trade. There are no good jobs there except ed and med and the shale business. The younger people tend to be welfare recipients.

If you want a seedy old western PA mill town with decaying infrastructure, old houses carved up into 1BR apartments, schools full of kids from the projects, WashPA has a lot going for it. I believe 2014 might have kicked off the new hiring policy of BSN required.

I think you're being too hard on Washington. What small city in PA doesn't have these problems? There is a major nationwide problem with the decline in towns and cities, while suburban sprawl grows. Instead of telling people, "don't live in the city," why not offer solutions for people who do prefer to live in urban places and towns. For example, recommend neighborhoods, or school options, or options for people who want to live in town. There are certainly nice areas within the city of Washington, as there are nice areas just about everywhere. I would rather live in Washington than a bland suburb. Even with the urban problems it has, the affordability of homes there, as well as the historic architecture, walkability, and sense of community, are big draws.

[Merge]

Originally Posted by PreservationPioneer

I think you're being too hard on Washington. What small city in PA doesn't have these problems? There is a major nationwide problem with the decline in towns and cities, while suburban sprawl grows. Instead of telling people, "don't live in the city," why not offer solutions for people who do prefer to live in urban places and towns. For example, recommend neighborhoods, or school options, or options for people who want to live in town. There are certainly nice areas within the city of Washington, as there are nice areas just about everywhere. I would rather live in Washington than a bland suburb. Even with the urban problems it has, the affordability of homes there, as well as the historic architecture, walkability, and sense of community, are big draws.

Well said.

[tclifton]

I think Zelienople might fit the bill...

[robrobrob]

Not sure how far you want to be from Pittsburgh but Clarion and Indiana are both nice college towns that are removed from Pittsburgh.

[Nomad14]

Thanks everyone I will add these to our temp list and start looking into them! We intend to make trip in next 6 months to look around..Been long time since I was in Pa at all and only then was to Pittsburgh.

[DunyaWolf]

East washington is much nicer than downtown Washington. I don't think Washington schools are very good; Trinity is supposed to be better but I don't know how much.

[Nomad14]

Originally Posted by DunyaWolf

East washington is much nicer than downtown Washington. I don't think Washington schools are very good; Trinity is supposed to be better but I don't know how much.

Does East Washington have its own schools? Our list right now is Greensburg,Washington,Indiana I believe that's about it.Might change once we come look around see what areas we like and what we can afford.

[Nomad14]

Also curious about the schools for these 3 areas. I have a child with an IEP and a need for a strong willed experienced special ed teacher that can deal with him. So used to how things are done as far as IEP's are done down here where its just transferred but this would be all new experience for us all.