Where do the stay-at-home moms live? (Pittsburgh, Bethel Park: mortgage, day care, how much) - Pennsylvania (PA) - City-Data Forum

Hopes · 03-30-2007, 05:20 PM

While driving through Upper St. Clair, Mt. Lebanon, Bethel Park, South Park, Brentwood (Okay, I'll admit it, I was lost!) today, I couldn't help but notice that all the housing plan streets were ghost towns.

It was a beautiful warm spring day with blue sunny skys! Any stay-at-home mother would have been outside with her children today!

I remember someone inquring about housing developments where the mothers stay at home.

I started wondering if there is ANY greater Pittsburgh area neighborhood where MOST of the mothers stay at home......

elfgirl · 03-30-2007, 06:41 PM

I think that stay at home moms are pretty much scattered throughout the whole area.... I don't know of a single community where *most* of the moms stay at home. I'm a stay at home mom myself and know lots of other SAHMs and it seems we're all scattered about!

Stonecoldharbours · 03-30-2007, 11:23 PM

Yes, we are! I know of NO one who stays home where I live today, no one, everyone works outside the home, many have too and have no choice, I am grateful I can! We are growing however, we are def growing in number!!!

Hopes · 03-31-2007, 12:16 AM

I read a magazine article about the small towns dying in the midwest due to large farming corporations pushing family farmers out of business and the young people moving away as a result. I remember thinking the solution to the problem would be to give land away like in the old days when the settlers would move out west. With the way many people are employed at home via the internet, it would be possible for them to move there----and they would be bringing revenue into the area. The free land/house would merely entice them.

Each town could develope it's own identity---one could be town for artists, another could be a town for musicians, one could be for the athletic, one could be for single people who wish to not live near children, one could be for only families, etc. I remember sharing the town identity idea and someone gave me crap about segregation and diversity. lol

Just imagine a whole town filled with stay at home moms! It's an exciting and frightening thought all at the same time!

Drover · 03-31-2007, 03:31 AM

A little OT here, but . . .

Small towns have been dying in the Midwest for a while now not necessarily because of corporate farms pushing family farmers out of business -- after all, someone still has to be there to farm the land even if they don't own the actual acreage -- but because mechanization has drastically reduced the amount of manpower required to farm. This is why the percentage of persons in the U.S. who derive their livelihood directly from agriculture fell from 70% to 2% over the 20th century. This process was already well underway before corporate farming came to be regarded as a force of evil.

Regardless of who or what caused the population decline, you can't just give away other peoples' land. Just because the population of rural areas is declining doesn't mean the property is no longer economically productive and/or has been abandoned. It's not just sitting there for the taking. A 2,000 acre farm that maybe used to have 4 farmhouses on it but now only has one farmhouse is still being cultivated by its owners who will not be so inclined to "give away" a portion of it. Also bear in mind that rural households in particular used to have rather large numbers of kids. The number of households has not shrunk nearly as drastically as the overall population, because the number of persons per household has shrunk. So most of the homes are still occupied; just by fewer persons per home.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled thread.

Katarina Witt · 03-31-2007, 08:40 AM

Agree with Drover on the farm-town analysis. There is little abandoned farmland along the I-76 and I-80 corridors between Denver and Chicago. Many of the Great Plains cities, such as Omaha, are actually growing as people leave the farm. Iowa is dotted with smaller size cities such as DesMoines and Iowa City. (That is the best way I could say that; I know someone will object.)

Regarding stay-at-home moms, it's getting hard to do. Two incomes seem to be necessary to run a household. Though I do have my questions about how much someone with two kids, say, in day care is actually taking home. The many single moms have no choice, of course.

Hopes · 03-31-2007, 09:52 AM

Thanks, Drover! I was just talking about how my mind went off into neverland after I read the article. I appreciate your providing me with a broad perspective on the cause of the problem.

You have to admit that an entire town filled with stay-at-home mothers can be a frightening thought!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pittnurse

Regarding stay-at-home moms, it's getting hard to do.

There was a women moving to Pittsburgh who was looking for a neighborhood that had lots of stay-at-home moms. Her post seemed to imply that she came from that type of neighborhood. I found it perplexing because no such neighborhood exists in Pittsburgh to my knowledge.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pittnurse

Though I do have my questions about how much someone with two kids, say, in day care is actually taking home.

You're right. When you factor in child care, clothing, travel and parking expenses, some people aren't taking home much money at all. Yet they drag out there anyway. I guess medical benefits probably play a huge role in the decision for some families. If a husband is self employed, the wife might not be making any money going to work---but it would cost them way more money to pay for the family medical benefits if she didn't work.

While some people certainly need two parents working in order to raise a family properly, there are certainly people who are doing it for personal enrichment or a higher standard of living. It's a keep-up-with-the-Jones world today.

Katarina Witt · 03-31-2007, 10:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hopes

Thanks, Drover!

There was a women moving to Pittsburgh who was looking for a neighborhood that had lots of stay-at-home moms. Her post seemed to imply that she came from that type of neighborhood. I found it perplexing because no such neighborhood exists in Pittsburgh to my knowledge.

My nephew and his family live in Wexford, and his wife stays home. How many other people in that area stay home, I have no idea. Seems not many from what I hear.

elfgirl · 03-31-2007, 10:31 AM

Well, for my family, we purposely made the decision to buy an inexpensive house and cut expenses as much as possible so that I could stay home with the kids. It worked great for a while but the neighborhood is declining and now we are looking for somewhere more stable, that means our mortgage payment is going to go way up! I hope we can make it so that I can still stay home and homeschool my kids. I'm not knocking working moms at all - we all have to make the choices that work best for us! It's very hard to make it one one income these days though. It always cracks me up when I tell people I am a stay at home mom and they say "ooh must be nice", assuming we are super wealthy and don't need the second income! No - we just live very modestly!!!

Tallysmom · 03-31-2007, 10:33 AM

In California, SAHM's are scarce... and a lot of times not in their homes either. They take the little ones to the park... to meet up with other SAHM's...

It's funny -- in my neighborhood, which is lower income and poor -- there are lots of people at home during the day. I work about 2-3 hours a day, and come home to paperwork and other stuff, I have a few neighbors that are retired and we see lots of moms with strollers walking to and from the store and a lot of the men get home from work around two. Now maybe when Daddy gets home, Mom goes off to work -- I don't know. But it seems my little neighborhood just buzzes with activity and my friends who live in "better" areas have the ghost town thing.