Coudersport PA, anyone know this area? (Warren, Bradford: rent, condo, mortgage)

[speagles84]

It's one of the most remote places east of the Mississippi. Really, look at the population density of the nearby townships

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whar...,_Pennsylvania
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summ...,_Pennsylvania
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stew...,_Pennsylvania
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home...,_Pennsylvania

Where are you moving from? As another poster said, the winters are brutal in Northern PA - here is nearby Smethport s weather averages. It also averages around 100" of snow per year. Perfect for me, but I know that's not always the case.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smethport,_Pennsylvania

[bradjl2009]

Originally Posted by speagles84

It's one of the most remote places east of the Mississippi. Really, look at the population density of the nearby townships

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whar...,_Pennsylvania
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summ...,_Pennsylvania
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stew...,_Pennsylvania
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home...,_Pennsylvania

Where are you moving from? As another poster said, the winters are brutal in Northern PA - here is nearby Smethport s weather averages. It also averages around 100" of snow per year. Perfect for me, but I know that's not always the case.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smethport,_Pennsylvania

I would love to live in a city that gets that much snow. Maybe someday . A lot of the snow in McKean and Warren Counties is from lake effect snow which is a little less potent by the time it gets to Potter County as well so while they certainly get more than us, I doubt it's at the level or Smethport and Warren.

My tax professor said he had to go to Coudersport as part of the bankruptcy process with Adelphia with the accounting firm he worked at then and he described it as one of the worst towns he ever had to spend time in. :O

[North Beach Person]

Originally Posted by bradjl2009

I would love to live in a city that gets that much snow. Maybe someday . A lot of the snow in McKean and Warren Counties is from lake effect snow which is a little less potent by the time it gets to Potter County as well so while they certainly get more than us, I doubt it's at the level or Smethport and Warren.

My tax professor said he had to go to Coudersport as part of the bankruptcy process with Adelphia with the accounting firm he worked at then and he described it as one of the worst towns he ever had to spend time in. :O

Snow is fine until you have to get up and shovel/plow/blow it every single morning just so you can go to work or even just get out.


The Adelphia bankruptcy hit Coudersport, really the whole region, with a body blow. People were in shock.

[ki0eh]

Its TV market is Buffalo, meaning if you're on the cable TV in the motel room, it's Buffalo local news you see. (If you go one county south to Renovo in Clinton County, motto: "If you think Coudy is the sticks, check us out," the TV market is, get ready, Scranton.)

To my mind, what Adelphia proved is that one could run a successful business from anywhere. I doubt the self-dealing was much different than any executives at that level do anywhere else. It may have been more visible because they actually spent some of their money locally, instead of just in the usual chichi spots. Perhaps the prosecution of the Rigas family resulted from them exposing a threat to the monopoly our coastal metropoli exert over the levers of our economy.

If you compare Potter to, say, Tioga County to the east, there's more snow and even more trees. The Eastern Continental Divide catches the last of the lake enhanced snows due to the prevailing winds. If you drive out of Coudersport to the northeast, you can see tiny culverts crossing a jump-over stream named "Allegheny River." One local resident who was on Survivor compared Potter County to the island nation of Palau, saying that they both had similar population numbers and density, but only Palau had a seat at the United Nations.

Here is the website of a local talented photographer, who used to shoot calendars for Adelphia: Curt Weinhold's Photo Galleries at pbase.com

[that412]

Originally Posted by Herodotus

When I hear Coudersport, I think of John Rigas.

I can't think of a story that better represents postwar America than that saga. Driving past the would-be Adelphia palace in Coudersport still feels surreal to me.

[sirron]

Still have a ball cap from a little place called Ansonia Station just east of Coudy. Took a trip across route 6 years ago. One of the most relaxing weekends ever.


Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not ok

[Craziaskowboi]

Coudersport is so remote that nearby is Cherry Springs State Park, which is the second designated International Dark Sky Park in the world. There's so little light pollution that you can see gegenschein on the horizon on clear nights with low humidity.

[szug-bot]

mind blown....i would like to visit Coudersport for an afternoon! I'm not kidding. The gegenschein ! I never even heard of this.

[Jay_F]

Lots of interesting, informative reading provided, and much to consider. I'm a former state park Interpretive Naturalist, and my favorite programs to present, always dealt with astronomy. Have always wanted to go to Cherry Springs, aka, the darkest spot E. of the Mississippi. If you have never experienced true dark skies star gazing, seen the bright Milky Way, there is no way to explain its primal beauty, and how powerful the experience is. You will understand clearly, and very quickly why indigenous cultures so valued the heavens. I miss it a lot. Also miss the solitude this area seem to have in spades. I was also a survey manager for the DNR (Dept of Forestry), and it took me to places, I would like to see and experience again.

Have to say the look of the area (thanks ki0eh), feels right in my bones; the culture, other needs as I get older and single, proper housing, and things you can't know until you experience a certain place, remain to be known. Maybe I should rent, as much as I despise doing so. Looks like an area that would be hard to find a rental home.

Originally Posted by bradjl2009

My tax professor said he had to go to Coudersport as part of the bankruptcy process with Adelphia with the accounting firm he worked at then and he described it as one of the worst towns he ever had to spend time in. :O

Could you expound on this please?

My current place in Hermitage gets some snow, but nothing like when I lived on Conneaut Lake, or northern mountainous Utah for that matter. Being retired is nice in the fact that I do not have to shovel out right away, on most days. I generally liked the CL area, especially Meadville, but RE taxes seemed very steep in the general area. It was nice having the many cultural events Allegheny College offered near by, but its non-profit status, I think is why RE taxes are so steep. Have also looked around Oil City/Franklin/Titusville, but something just does not click, at least what I have seen.

I think in conjunction with this thread, I will add another, asking about potential places to relocate, at a certain housing cost and criteria. Thanks again everyone.

[adam36]

I'm familiar with the town, and many others in the area. Someone looking to get away would do well to relocate there. The winters are longer than usual, the women (and the men, no doubt) less attractive, the children excel only in under-achievement, and the people complain incessantly. Paradise to some, I suppose.