Suburb of the week: Moon Township (Pittsburgh, Coraopolis: mortgage, townhouses, movie theater)

[eschaton]

Moon Township is a suburb on the western fringes of Allegheny County. It was one of the handful of original townships in the county of Allegheny when it was first formed, with all of the other townships in the far west of the county (Crescent, Findlay, and both Fayettes) being hived off over time. The rump area of Moon Township stayed basically undeveloped farmland up through all of the 19th and the early 20th century.

The first true suburban development in Moon was the Mooncrest development. This housing project, a number of small townhouses, was developed by the federal government in 1943 as housing for defense workers at nearby Dravo corp who couldn't find housing in nearby Coraopolis. Major development however started in 1951, with the oppening of the Pittsburgh International Airport, which replaced the Allegheny County Airport as the main terminal for the region. Moon developed a significant autocentric business corridor off of several exits on I-376 near the airport, particularly what is now called University Boulevard.

The late 20th century redesign of Pittsburgh International Airport in order to make it a hub for U.S. Airways caused some trouble for Moon Township however. The new landside terminal was located not in Moon, but in nearby Findlay Township, with traffic redirected away from its commercial areas and the airport having a direct exit off of I-376. The "Moon side" of the airport became focused on cargo, and the area started a slow rebound. The township shifted its commercial focus over time to being a business hub and a residential area. The township also has an asset that is virtually unique among Pittsburgh suburbs in that it has its own private four-year college, Robert Morris University. Originally founded in Downtown Pittsburgh in 1921 as an accounting school, it operated with dual campuses in Downtown and Moon starting in 1963, but only in 2010 did it sell its last building in Downtown Pittsburgh to Duquense and shift to almost fully being a suburban school.

Moon Township is certainly not my cup of tea, but it is doing well for itself. It is estimated that during the period from 2010 to 2016, the township gained about 5.8% in population. It is likely that the area will see sustained growth at least through the 2020s, if not longer, due to the combination of large tracts of undeveloped land and the presence of strong regional job anchors.

[ferraris]

My favorite thing about Moon is that it's home to the last remaining drive-in movie theater in the county:
Dependable Drive In

[svband76]

Originally Posted by ferraris

My favorite thing about Moon is that it's home to the last remaining drive-in movie theater in the county:
Dependable Drive In

Yes to this. And it's super busy and does well. I used to feed a Moon Twp friend's horses when they were out of town in the 1970s. Yes it was that rural back then. Could even walk to the old airport to hang out and watch the planes come and go.

[Copanut]

Yes to the drive-in as well. I believe the Great White North aka Town of McCandless is also home to a 4yr college, La Roche.

[Upthewazzu]

Both my parents are from Moon. They graduated from Moon High in the late 70's before leaving the area. Most of my extended family still resides there. It's pretty much the definition of suburbia. Safe and boring.

[erieguy]

Wings Suds n Spuds is in Moon and has excellent wings.

[svband76]

Originally Posted by Upthewazzu

Both my parents are from Moon. They graduated from Moon High in the late 70's before leaving the area. Most of my extended family still resides there. It's pretty much the definition of suburbia. Safe and boring.

And it serves a purpose for those who want safe and boring. Nothing wrong with that. Just a preference.

[Upthewazzu]

Originally Posted by zalewskimm

And it serves a purpose for those who want safe and boring. Nothing wrong with that. Just a preference.

Yep. I actually don't mind it, I just wish it was closer to the city proper. Parkway West is a mess most of the time and Ohio River Blvd isn't much easier. Although, I love how easy it is to get to from the airport.

[bradjl2009]

Originally Posted by Upthewazzu

Yep. I actually don't mind it, I just wish it was closer to the city proper. Parkway West is a mess most of the time and Ohio River Blvd isn't much easier. Although, I love how easy it is to get to from the airport.

It is one of only a handful of places that you can get to the airport from in a reasonable amount of time. The drive in is nice to have too.

[lprmesia]

Moon for a long time was also the unofficial Settlement Services capital of the US. At one point, almost half (if not more) of the Cherrington, Airside, and Airport Office Parks were taken up by companies related to Mortgage/Settlement Services in the mid 2000s. While a few other places operated (and/or still operate) in other western suburbs or along the I-79 corridor - Moon has traditionally been the epicenter until the mortgage bubble popped, combined with relocation of much of this work to Texas (mostly Dallas), India, Costa Rica, and the Philippines.

There's still a large presence in the area - with ServiceLink, Mortgage Connect, Title 365, and TitleSource still in business - but this is a far cry compared to 10 years ago when LSI, LandAmerica, Countrywide, and others operated in large/multiple buildings in the area, as well as others such as Nations, etc.

Traffic at the Thorn Run Rd exit has improved drastically over the past few years. At one point there were plans to reconfigure the interchange due to the traffic patterns/volumes near the office parks - but these plans never came to fruition.