Where to live on the Montour Trail? (Pittsburgh, York: rent, homes)

[pitachips]

My family is looking to move somewhere close to the Montour Trail. My husband is a distance runner and just loves it. I grew up in Imperial but haven't lived here since I was a kid. My husband is leaning towards Peters but I find it too bland and it has some weird personal associations for me. Coraopolis has beautiful older homes and seems more like the city which I like. He thinks it's kinda dumpy and the schools are supposedly bad. He's from New York and I don't think he has a good grasp of the different vibes, but I don't really know too much either. Any ideas? Other trails? Help me build a connecting trail?

[shadowfax]

Cecil has been rates as one of the best places to raise a family in PA. The Montour trail runs right through it.

[Charley Barker]

Maybe Library or Bethel Park. Nice thing is that there` s a spur running north that connects it to South Park and all the running trails there. Also, the dedicated section of the Montour Trail trail currently "ends"at Library where it turns into a share the road situation for a stretch until it picks up again near Stewart Ave. They are working to complete this section and one more section to connect to Clairton but it is probably a year or two away. Library is also the terminus of the T (light rail). If you hop on there it is about a 35 minute ride to the South Side where he can connect with the Three Rivers Heritage and Great Allegheny Passage trails, and run all the way to Washington DC. ;-)

[svband76]

I use all trails everywhere often and run daily. Why Montour only? We need more info from you.. You have school kids, want urban, suburban?

City rail trails are excellent as well. Why not Greenfield? You have the Eliza Furnace/Jail Trail which can link to the SouthSide trail which goes to Homestead. Many option for a good long run. If you want suburban rural, I'd pick Carnegie or McDonald area which is near the Panhandle Trail (29 miles long). Very nice and quiet. Not a fan of the Peters, Cecil area. It's becoming sprawl, McMansion homes, etc.

[pitachips]

that is the real issue in part, i want to be close to some kind of walkable town area but my husband says he'd be fine with the burbs. of course i grew up playing in the woods and he was a big city kid. we have 2 kids, one in school and one younger.

[Knepper3]

Yeah a little more detail would help, what about price ranges, rent or own, any commute to consider?

[Charley Barker]

The only issue with the Panhandle Trail is that much of it is paved, which isn't always favored by runners as opposed to crushed stone. Here's a link to Trail Pittsburgh. Play, Join, Volunteer - Trail Pittsburgh It is mostly focused on mountain biking but many of the trails depicted are multi-use. I do love Carnegie as a compact walkable business district. Housing stock is a little spotty in some of the town. Yep, Peters is pretty boring, but older sections of it with modest mid-century homes, and a great old tree canopy are quite lovely.

[ChrisFuamatuMaafala]

Worth noting that there are currently TWO developments under construction that are literally built on the Montour Trail.

First you have McConnell Trails being built in Cecil. The developers have installed a tunnel here for their road to pass over, thus avoiding an at-grade crossing for trail users. The trail bisects this development.

Second is Summit Station in South Park, where the developers have helped build a new section of trail and have invested in a bridge for trail users to again avoid an at-grade crossing with the road leading into their development.

Google recently updated its satellite imagery so you can easily see where the land has been cleared and construction started on both of these (images from late last summer).

Hard to call Peters “bland”, there are some truly magnificent homes there. It does lack any sort of downtown....they’re trying to create something at the McMurray/Valley Brook intersection but it will always be suburban in nature, and it’s going to be the most expensive community along the trail.

No offense to anyone from Coraopolis but I’ve always gotten the “dumpy” vibe from it as well and I hate the one way separated traffic pattern there. With that said, they are literally completing the Coraopolis connection and it will be open by this summer. This is a crucial connection and passes through a new park on remediate brownfield, and passes under the busy route 51. Honestly this could be a game changer for the town as it turns it into a destination for trail users, and eventually will link up to the planned Ohio River trail. One more thing, I hear the section through the woods in Moon township is among the most beautiful on the entire trail, and I know the local conservancy up there has a lot of adjacent land locked up that will remain wooded and includes several other trails that branch off the Montour and head up the creek valleys. Big difference between Moon and Coraopolis and I don’t know either very well, so hopefully someone else can chime in on this area. I just know the trail efforts and conservation efforts and they are great in that area.

Once you get towards the eastern terminus, you end up with difficult access as it runs through a rugged valley and what appears close on a map may not at all be walkable or direct to get to the trail. The Clariton/Large section runs through a coal wasteland, crosses busy route 51, and shares the road with Peters Creek Road for a long time, and passes through a crazy dangerous tunnel with a blind corner and only room for one car despite being a two lane road. Currently no plans to reopen the old “Green Man Tunnel” and bypass the dangerous car route, and we may never actually see a separation from Peters Creek Road as the road itself uses the old rail bed for a portion of its length.

As far as the Panhandle goes. It’s true it’s paved but there’s also a large unpaved section east of McDonald, and runners can always run in the grass off the pavement for a softer surface. While there are coal patch towns dotting both the Montour and Panhandle lines, the Panhandle passes directly through the middle of Oakdale, Sturgeon, McDonald, and Midway, each of which have at least one or two businesses (McDonald and Oakdale have several) for trail users to stop and patronize...grab a drink or an ice cream or a bite to eat. This is lacking on the Montour aside from Library and Imperial. Even in McDonald, Montour users must take a couple of miles detour via the Panhandle connector and Panhandle trail to access the trail station and business district.

[ChrisFuamatuMaafala]

Originally Posted by Charley Barker

I do love Carnegie as a compact walkable business district. Housing stock is a little spotty in some of the town

Worth noting also, the Panhandle does not reach Carnegie, and one would need a car to get to the nearest access point safely, as Noblestown Road is very dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists in that area.

With that being said, it is like a 5 minute drive from the town of Carnegie; and Carnegie would be much more urban than any of the other options discussed, as well as the closest to downtown PGH

[eschaton]

The only "town" sort of thing I can think of directly along the Montour Trail is the Library area of South Park. There's really not all that much there, but you could take the T into town.

Edit: There's also McDonald, which has a much bigger downtown, but where your husband would have to walk about a mile to get to the trail.