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Tell me something about Somerset PA

General BS :bull: and other irrelevant chit-chat :kumbaya:
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21783mike
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Tell me something about Somerset PA

Post by 21783mike »

I know a few members here are from up that way so............

Well the Paper I work for is outsourcing production so I will be unemployed in about 6 weeks...... I have a few resumes out now to places within reasonable commuting distance, but......
I also may have an opportunity for a decent job that I am looking into in Somerset PA. I ride up that way a few times a year but other than knowing it gets DAMNed cold up there, the area is beautiful and the real estate prices and taxes are really attractive, I really don't know much else.
I have an 8 yr old so how are the schools?
Water and Sewer rates reasonable?
Is the law tolerant of hooligans on bikes? :lol2:
Crime rate - in other words will a GPS dissapear out of a unlocked car along main street?
Any suggestions on a cheap place to stay if I go up on a trial basis for a few weeks?
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Boom Boom
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Re: Tell me something about Somerset PA

Post by Boom Boom »

PM OldmanX or Mullet, they both live close.
Hope you like snow :harhar:
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Re: Tell me something about Somerset PA

Post by mdubya »

Mountain Ridge is very close. :deal:

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Post by 21783mike »

Good Offroad riding in back yard +
Close enough to go riding with Wheeler more often +
Snow - Or Snowmobile ownership actually not useless +
Hmmmm good so far
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OldmanX
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Re: Tell me something about Somerset PA

Post by OldmanX »

I know a few members here are from up that way so............ I've lived here my entire 56 years. The only reason(s) that I'm still here is that my elderly parents live next door. I strongly dislike it here. As for the snow, yeah it might seem great when you're trailering a sled here to ride. When you deal with it day after day in the winter, it becomes a drag. In town you'll have sidewalks, that by law, you're responsible to keep cleared, In the country its your driveway that you'll be playing in. You might have to sell/trade a bike for a plow or a snowblower that you get to look at all summer long...like the bikes get looked at during the winter. Go 20 miles east or west of Somerset to get off the mountain and its a different situation. Spring comes a month earlier and fall a monh later. That said, the grass always appears greener elsewhere.

Well the Paper I work for is outsourcing production so I will be unemployed in about 6 weeks...... I have a few resumes out now to places within reasonable commuting distance, but...... After 35 years in a manufacturing facility, I'm also unemployed because the foreign ownership moved the bulk of our production off-shore and closed the facility. That was 450+ jobs lost. Thank you Robert Bosch Corp. Remember that name when going to buy their junk Chinese made hand tools, etc. The local Fleetwood/Coleman folding camper facility just closed...another 120 jobs lost/600+ in their heyday. The biggest employers are the state with their 2 correctional facilities, the local hospital which has a less than glowing rep., and the local ski resorts. The largest ski report is Seven Springs, which was purchased a couple of years ago by the primary owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates. He's running it into the ground in a way similar to how the Pirates organization is run...19 losing seasons. Right now the Marcellus shale boom is hitting the area, and coal mining is booming. And how long the coal thing will last is speculative. The Russians are primary owners of the largest operations. Outside of that, there isn't much here.

I also may have an opportunity for a decent job that I am looking into in Somerset PA.
If that's for the local paper, ???, its just a local paper, if you catch my drift...


I ride up that way a few times a year but other than knowing it gets DAMNed cold up there, the area is beautiful and the real estate prices and taxes are really attractive, I really don't know much else. Taxes have been increasing steadily. Several/most districts, including Somerset, have been increasing them by the annual max. legal amount and then filing for some type of exemption to allow them to take them past that point. I'm sure that this is going on elswhere in the country, too.

I have an 8 yr old so how are the schools? It'll depend upon who you ask. If your child is a good, self-motivated student...probably okay. My son fit into that category, and my stepson did not. Even so, in my son's first year at a good college he found that he wasn't challenged enough in high school. I think that my stepson is still working at KFC... A substantial # of local parents had been taking their higher achieving children to a Catholic school, 25 miles away. That says something.

Water and Sewer rates reasonable? Can't answer...have no clue. I live in the "country", with my own well and septic system.

You didn't ask about this... As far as shopping goes, if you can survive on WalMart, Lowes and a couple of grocery stores, then you'd do okay in Somerset. Need/want anything more than that, or want to see a movie and its 25 miles to Johnstown or Cumberland, 50 miles to Pittsburgh.

Is the law tolerant of hooligans on bikes? Don't know. I stay legal and I've outgrown the urge for on-the-street shenanigans. Loosescrew and the Mullet would be better ones to answer to the hooligan aspect. And if you're meaning flying around on a Hypermotard, you'll have antiskid residue left on the roads to deal with into April.

Crime rate - in other words will a GPS dissapear out of a unlocked car along main street? About the only reason to park along Main Street would be to shop at the local produce store or to visit an attorney. Other than a couple of restaurents, jewlery stores and an office supply, there'd be no reason to park there. Town is dead. And the only place that I'd leave my car unlocked is when I park right in the front of the all-glass front produce store. GPS's, cell phones, Mp3 players, etc. leave unlocked cars on a regular basis due to thieving punks with a drug problem. The local cops are more interested in running their speed traps and seatbelt checks throughout town than they are with dealing with the drug issue. And the local schools decided to drop the program where they had a local police officer in-house during school hours because of funding issues. This was after a multi-million dollar upgrade to the football field and an atrificial turf installation/field upgrade that was done on the school baseball field. See, those things look nice to persons thinking of moving here. A cop in the school raises questions as to why he'd be needed...

Any suggestions on a cheap place to stay if I go up on a trial basis for a few weeks? Check with the local realtors. If its after the ski season is over, you can pick up reasonable lodging like that in a townhouse at the Hidden Valley ski resort. That would keep you away from local fleabags located around the Pa. Turnpike interchange.
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OldmanX
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Re: Tell me something about Somerset PA

Post by OldmanX »

Here's your March 6th weather update from Somerset, Pa.
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Rut Row
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Re: Tell me something about Somerset PA

Post by Rut Row »

If I lived there, I think I'd drug my parents, sell everything and move...
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OldmanX
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Re: Tell me something about Somerset PA

Post by OldmanX »

Kyler wrote:If I lived there, I think I'd drug my parents, sell everything and move...
That picture was taken a 1/2 hour or so ago. There's again that much on the ground now and it continues to come down at a good pace.
If I could leave, believe me I would!!
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OldmanX
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Re: Tell me something about Somerset PA

Post by OldmanX »

And here we are, 3.5 hrs. and 2.5" or so later...

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Re: Tell me something about Somerset PA

Post by Rut Row »

I feel for ya!
Ken
Die young as late as possible, remember who you were before the world told you how it should be. -- Barry Morris
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