Cost of living is very low due to a heavy emphasis on retirees living off saved moneys and not demanding the volume and type of services that 'normal' middle class families expect. The quality of life is pretty good and the spring/summer/fall seasons are (nearly) wonderful. Winter, as any resident will tell you is the 'pits'. Housing stock is varied with emphasis on that built in the 1920's-30's and then in the 1960's-70's. Turnover is relatively low. My family lived here in the 1980's and it was wonderful to raise a family. Job moves kept us away until now. We live today in Fairfax, VA and when selling our home there, the net proceeds will allow us to pay cash for a very nice home in J'twn. I too am from Maine and would add to the prior comment that taxes (property and income) in PA are much more civilized (lower) than my beautiful Maine. (sob!!)

Melissa, my name is also Melissa and my family and I are also looking to move there also but for a little different reasons than you. we have done a lot of research and just visited Johnstown this past weekend. we found out the reason why prices are so low is because Johnstown is still in a resession from 15 years ago when the steal industy died. the city lost a lot of citizens due to this and also lost the tax income from the steel buisenesses. also i would imagine that the many floods have had a damper on it also. We are looking to buy a duplex for under $30,000 and move there also with my mother and stepfather. some houses we looked at need a lot of work and some are in good move in condition. you can definatly find an extremelly nice single family for between $19,000 and $50,000. of course you can also find $600,000 houses in the Richlands area too, But were i live in Maine the $600,000 houses up here aren't half of what they are in Johnstown. hope this helps you. P.S. The recession is a good thing for us but will hopefully revitalize the town when others move there due to the low prices.

Melissa,
I am a Realtor in Johnstown, PA. My wife and I moved back here after living in Philly for the past 8 years. The home prices are much lower than the national average. When the rest of the country was going through the great boom in increased prices, Johnstown never really experienced this huge increase. however, when so many other national markets started going south Johnstown did not experience that either.

You can learn more about the are by going to my website and researching local businesses, schools, etc. Be prepared to purchase a nice home in need of updating. You can purchase a 3BR Brick Ranch for less than $200,000, but it will need a new kitchen, bath, carpets or hardwood floors, etc.

I trust this helps.

Hi Melissa,

The closest major city would be Pittsburgh, with Pittsburgh International Airport being the closet major airport, 2 hours away. Housing prices in Western PA are drastically lower when compared to many places in NJ.