Possible move to PA - HELP!

tsagona

tsagona

Cathlete
DH has been offered a promotional opportunity in Mt. Pleasant, PA. OMG! I've lived in alot of different areas but never in PA. We are from Louisiana but have also lived in CA, KY, VA, and currently in MO. We LOVED living in VA. It was a bit cold but the beautiful area made it all worthwhile.

Is there anyone out there that lives, or has lived in PA? The opportunity is about 50 miles from Pittsburgh. Mt. Pleasant is a very small town. My experience with small towns has not been great. They didn't accept new people and my children had a difficult time. We left after 2 years. My kids are grown now but I don't want to find myself in a similar situation. Everyone needs friends.

Can anyone tell me anything about PA? The good, the bad and the ugly. I'm googling to get details but real life testimony is the best information one can get.

TIA
 
I lived in State College, PA, home of Penn State Uni for 7 years. It was my first experience of the US.

PA is horrendously humid and hot in summer, but then, you are from Louisiana so you may not even register it. I hated it and was pregnant through two summers in addition, which added to the general climactic unpleasantness! Thank heavens for the basement.... Winter, State College got loads of snow as it is in something of a trough. I think the Pittsburgh area also gets loads of snow, piling up at the roadsides.

I never once went to Pittsburgh, cannot comment on it. I went to Philly twice, art museum and the Liberty Bell stuff. Philly goes on forever. If you don't take the freeway it takes forever to get out of it. It was not the city for me, I could never have lived there, never.

If you drink, be aware that no alcohol is sold in supermarkets in PA. You have to go to specific liquor stores. Coming from the UK, this was mighty strange to me.

PA has hills, and loads of wooded hills. If you love to hike, you might not like it in PA because the hills are so wooded, you rarely get a view. It's also not the Rockies! Yeah I know, it's obvious, but I love the Rockies and would adore moving to Colorado or Washington State.

I don't think the problem with making friends is isolated to small town America. I live in a small city, here in Ann Arobor, MI, and have found that people are friendly, I am part of a community and people know who I am. Yet nobody makes overtures of friendship. I do not know to what to attribute this. I have lived here for 14 years and still feel like an outsider.

I cannot comment on quality of schools either as my kiddies were tiny when I was in PA.

My experience in PA was coloured by the horrendous treatment I received as a grad student within/from the Spanish department of Penn State. If these comments seem overwhelmingly negative, well, there it is. I will not go back to PA to live unless a job offer came along that rocked my world. Chances of that?

Perhaps some native PA residents will chime in with all the state's glories?

Clare
 
The more I google, the less reason I find to go to PA. Looks like the property taxes there are out of this world. Geez! Looks like one works simply to pay their property taxes. I'd be an employee of the federal goverment, boo! :(
I'll keep looking. Maybe I'll find something positive about going.
 
Don't be afraid - I spent part of my childhood in that area and didn't require therapy or anything :D Mt. P. is a little bit rural, as I remember. What about Greensburg? There's a little more going on there, and it's not too far from Mt. P if you have to commute for work.
City of Greensburg, PA - Home

I don't think the taxes are bad at all, but maybe that's a matter of what we're used to. I've lived in a lot of other places and would put that area into the medium to lower tax category - but just based on my personal experience. If you think Westmoreland County is out of this world, take a look at Allegheny County (Pittsburgh area). Really, Mt. Pleasant is pretty decent relatively speaking.

Pittsburgh is the closest 'big' city and I always enjoyed being there. I lived and worked there for a few years, both in and outside of the city limits. I'm still loyal to the Penguins, Steelers, and Pirates no matter where else I've lived! There are lots of ethnic festivals, music, universities, etc. so there's always something to do. The whole SW PA area has a lot to offer, actually. Lots of events, great food, art, music, outdoor activities, museums, etc. TONS of heritage type stuff, too. From Scottish Highland gatherings, to Italian street fairs, to Bavarian beer gardens, to Rib Cook-offs, Renaissance Faires, Art festivals, music bashes, etc. etc. etc. I really miss all the great weekend entertainments there. There are a lot of universities and colleges in that area, which I think brings a lot of activity and opportunities. I used to take classes all the time. In fact, I used to work at the West. Cty. Community College, which is right between Mt. Pleasant and Greensburg. Just being near something like that, you get a lot of interesting events and activities.

What kind of things do you like to do? I can point you to some great resources if you need them. I still have family in that area and I go back for frequent visits, so if there's anything I can do to help, just let me know. I've lived across the country and back, and I have to tell you, PA isn't so bad! :D Ask me about Nebraska, on the other hand... ;)
 
Thanks madiesmum and gracenote for the details of your experiences in PA.

I have continued to look at the real estate market in SW PA. Particularly in Greensburg. It looks like it really depends what county, even neighborhood or school district you live in as to your property tax bracket. There was a website that even stated it to be that way. Ugh! My children are grown and gone so schools are not an issue except from a resale standpoint. We like newer construction and Greensburg doesn't appear to have alot of that. It isn't a growing area so not alot to choose from. Maybe I'm looking at the wrong realtor websites. There is SOME newer construction but it is largely older homes. We currently live in one of those rat maze neighborhoods and I can't stand it. My neighbors are 10 feet away and it drives me nuts. I require a bigger yard next time, lol.

I've lived in areas with snow. I currently live in an area where it snows. I can tolerate some snow but I don't think I will be happy if I have to shovel my driveway everyday before I can leave. I haven't checked on the annual snow fall yet. I'm afraid to, lol.

I think I would rather live a bit further south. I just can't picture myself in PA. Hmmm. I think I'm making a decision as I type :eek:(

Thanks again for yalls input.
 
Hi, I grew up in the Pittsburgh area. I haven't lived there in many years, but my mother still lives there so I visit regularly. I'll admit I was REALLY surprised at the comment about how "hot and humid" it is there in summer. Overall, simply not true in comparison to the other areas that you've lived in (my in laws are in MO, I currently live in VA, and I've lived in FL and all have summers that are much hotter and more humid in a "normal summer" than anywhere in PA). The winters can be brutal (one reason why DH and I don't want to live there---he has stated that he will never, ever, ever EVER shovel snow again for the rest of his life! :D) but again it's not too much worse than MO.

That said, a number of small towns in PA are a bit depressing since a lot of the industry is gone or severely reduced. I agree with the person that said that the closer you are to Pittsburgh the better off you would probably be. The housing in a number of areas is relatively cheap, but the taxes aren't, at least in my opinion. Some of that comes from the "layers" of government, local, county, city, and state. And the amount of school tax, which you've mentioned varies a lot depending on the school district.

Have you visited the area or has your DH been there? That might help. It's hard to tell from websites. The worst place I have ever lived had a nice website (I won't mention it for fear of offending someone!) and it's all so dependent on what kind of lifestyle you want.
 
Hi cataddict,

Great info. Thanks. After living in LA for 30 years, I really don't think heat and humidity in PA would be a factor. Nothing compares to the humidity in the deep south.

The cold and snow are more a factor to us than heat and humidity. We lived in VA for 10 years and shoveled snow fairly regularly. But I think PA would be much worse. Or at least I'm thinking it would be since it is 5 hours further north.

We have not been to this part of PA (except when we visited the Liberty Bell and all that touristy stuff). I have traveled through PA for short visits to Allentown and that wasn't too spiffy but it was during the summer. Things aren't beautiful in August, lol.

Maybe we should investigate areas closer to Pittsburgh. I don't know how far that is from Mt. Pleasant. DH doesn't want to commute. He's doing that now and wants that to end. idk - a visit there would likely clear up alot of questions. It usually does. We've moved alot and lived a lot of places. Usually when you are hesitant though, it's not the right thing for ya. We'll see.

Thanks for your input.
 
Thoughts from a PA Resident!

Hi Tracy,

I'm probably about 60 miles west of Mt. Pleasant. Yes, PA does get snow, but you would be west of the snow belt. Many times I've left my house thinking why am I heading that direction, only to find they don't get nearly the amount of snow I do. Often the roads are bare in that area. You have to pay closest attention to areas around the Seven Springs & Hidden Valley Ski Resorts.

I can't comment on the friendliness of the entire area, but I have some friends who I only met last summer from that area who have become great friends. We all belong to an organization and I was the newbie in the group - they have welcomed me with open arms! BTW - one is a real estate agent.

I enjoy the outdoors, so one thing I love about PA is having four distinct seasons. We have anything from skiing, lakes, hiking, biking, camping. But we're also within easy driving distance to DC, Baltimore, etc. (for weekend trips) when you need your bigger city fix! PGH would be very close for you.

I know many people who moved away from Western PA who were ecstatic when they had the opportunity to move HOME. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them if I can.

Lisa
 
I think the thing to do is to focus on silver linings.

I have had some horrendous moments in life and my time in PA was not the happiest of my life. And yet, some good things came from those years. I would not, personally, choose to live in PA ever again. It's not that I am in love with MI either, although I do prefer it. But I think if you focus on the big picture, the reasons why you are moving to PA, you can make it a positive experience. You are not loving to hell after all! There is something positive to be taken from every experience, just look for it and focus on those things.

For me, as a Londoner, PA was awful climate-wise, and I did specify that this was a personal experience. We don't have anything like either the snowfall and frigid temps or heat and humidity in the UK that PA "enjoys." So for me, this was unbearable. I would not be able to live in Florida or Louisiana either, for the same reasons.

I know what suits me, weather wise, topography wise, culture wise. I know where I would choose to live and where not. Having said that, sometimes a move to a less than desirable locale (doing an MA and then PhD in PA for example) is a requirement. So, you find the best possible location and setting for yourself within than undesirability and you make it work. There are, after all, far less fabulous places to live on the planet. How happy would we all be, for example, in a Brazilian favela?

You'll be just fine in PA: make it work for you! Give PA and its people a chance.

Clare
 
Well, we decided to pass on the "opportunity". I just don't want to live in PA. It's too far north.....too cold. I despise cold weather. It's too cold in MO for me. But it is REALLY cold here. Like 5 degrees. That's awful. I like 4 seasons but I like the mild winters. Don't think I'll find that in PA. Had to pass. But thanks to everyone for your input. But like Clare was saying, you kind of know where you're going to be happy and she could never live in LA. I can easily live in LA, lol. It's a matter of what you're used to. I can take the heat but not the cold. Oh well. Maybe another opportunity will come along in a different part of the country. Or Australia, lol.
 
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