Uniontown Pennsylvania Message Forums - WWW.UNIONTOWN.COM

Just to start off this is great site for those who are residents or past residents to post anything about the general area and its people. I am a former resident having attended the local high school and colleges. I moved out of the area in the late 1970's (1979) but returned every few years to visit with my remaining family and a few friends who still reside in the area. Recently I am back for a few months as a consultant for a national contractor assigned to a job along route 40 near the Uniontown Mall. This additional time has allowed me to make a fair and impartial assessment of the area and the residents. The general area has changed since I last lived here and for the better when it comes to new businesses or the potential for growth once the final leg of the Mon-Fayette Expressway is completed. What I have been hearing is this part of Fayette County will spring to action once the final link is completed and Uniontown and the surrounding towns will become the next Monroeville. After years of a declining population this is good for the region but I hear grumbling from lifelong residents that they do not like change and would rather have Uniontown as it was in the past. Sorry folks but change is good and each one of you needs to learn to accept the change and adapt to it the best way possible. Its great seeing the area developed around the area, new roads, a great community college in Penn State Fayette and so much more to look forward to over the years. There are areas in this country that would give anything to be where Uniontown and
Fayette County are today. Give yourself a chance and you will realize just how fortunate you are living in this area today.

Socially things have not changed at all. I see more single mothers in this area which is second only to the Philadelphia area. Divorce rates are up in this county as are the number of children that are homeless and living in group or in the custody of the state. Alcoholism and drug usage is higher than it was 30 years ago and that is sad. I have seen and read about more domestic violence than ever before and with this area being smaller than the Orlando Florida area which is my home now that should be a warning signal to the local officials. While living here it was a difficult place to meet a young lady with whom I would have wanted a committed relationship. For whatever reason most of the women then and what I have heard about today still have issues and carry with them much psychological baggage. A few weeks ago I ran into a friend from college who returned to this area a few years ago and he and I talked about what we have accomplished and where we have been for the past several decades. He changed careers and wanted to make a positive difference in the youth of this county. He works with children that have behavioral problems with one of your intermediate units in the area. He was telling me of a young lady that he met that really caught his attention and one he was very interested in getting to know. He told me so many wonderful things about her and how kind and gentle she was with children and how much he thought of her. He was divorced for a number of years and thought he would never meet someone again who he would consider a lifetime partner until he met this young lady. From what I understand she was never married but always wanted to get married but never met the right person. This friend of mine was my crutch years ago while in college and I knew him to the most honest and loyal friend that I have ever met. So I know he knows how to treat a woman with the utmost respect and would make a great husband again someday. He told me he wrote her poems and did little things for her just to show he cared. He thought everything was going well and during the holidays sent this young lady a card for Thanksgiving and one for Christmas and wished her and her family a great holiday together. She never mentioned the cards to him but he continued to be kind and respectful to her during work and afterwards.
I ran into him again a few weeks ago and he was devastated. This young lady told others at work that he invaded her privacy by sending her cards without her permission and wondered how he got her address. ( her address is in the phone book) He told me he was never so hurt in his life. This all came about two months after the holidays and rather than speaking directly to him she was telling everyone else at work. I bring all this up because as I stated earlier in my post I had experienced the samething years ago. Most of the women that remained in this area have a problem with men doing something nice for them. For whatever reason they are attracted to men who abuse them, do not treat them right and show no respect toward them. When someone does treat them right they find these men odd and dismiss them just as the young lady dismissed my friend's honorable and good intentions. This is not an isolated case and with residents not embracing change in this region I have a hard time believing that this area will ever attract new residents to move into this area. I grew up here and will always call this my hometown but as it is now I would never move back to this area to live. I hope to hear comments from others regarding my post and for them to add their own insights as well.

I totally agree that change is good, *especially* for Fayette County. When I had the job where I had to drive route 40 from Uniontown through Brownsville every day, the drive on route 40 was so unbearable it was the sole reason I wanted either out of the job or to move closer. It was (I think) only 6 miles of my 40-50 mile drive, but it was the only part I dreaded. Now that the new road is in, it's opening all sorts of possibilities for me personally, even more so when the leg to Morgantown is completed. Absence or presence of the leg to Morgantown solely closes or opens the entire job market to me in the Morgantown area, assuming that I want to live in Fayette County.

The one big thing that concerns me about Fayette County is that it appears to me that the local economy is all now retail driven. I worry that the local economy won't sustain itself if that's all there is, we need more in Fayette County where we can actually have money coming IN to the area, not circling around the area. Retail tends to just allow money to circulate around, if Fayette County isn't really producing anything and bringing actual revenue into the region, how can this sustain itself? Something like the Volkswagen plant, or Sony, or ?.

This is where I think the new roads can pay off. Use me as a perfect example. Right now I am really liking the idea of living in Fayette County/Uniontown, but there are zero jobs for what I do, which is a higher-end tech position. I make roughly triple the national average salarywise, and I'd love nothing more than to spend my paycheck in Fayette County. Without the new roads this wouldn't be possible. With the new roads, this now makes it possible for Uniontownians to work in Pittsburgh or Morgantown, and live in Fayette County and spend their money in Fayette County. This means money coming in to the area.


I see the same sort of thing, not just with women though. I went to Kentucky a while back and noticed something odd. When I accidentally make eye-contact with someone there, they wave! Almost out of instinct or something, they are fundamentally kind people. This was different for me because in Uniontown I often make accidental eye contact with someone and it's almost as through they think I have a problem with them or something. Polar opposite.

But yes, people do seem to be different here. Back when I was single, I too met a lot of women with baggage. The phrase that women like men who treat them the worst is epitomized in Uniontown. The girl your friend sent the cards to may have originally thought it was a nice gesture, but maybe she was poisoned by peer women around her to think that way. It's a shame.

floridian,

Your friend is to sensitive, and her reaction to his jestures of affection or just kindness are part of the life's game. So why should he be so upset, unless the words he wrote within the cards were also disclosed. But if thats the way he felt why keep it a secret.

As far as women there is a singles site PlentyOfFish.com, from the old saying plenty of fish in the sea. Your friend needs to get out more. If he moved back to Uniontown then he will need to live with the fish in that sea. By last count Fayette County is about 174000, or 87000 females, maybe 10% (8700) single or divorced between 30 and 40.

I used to frequent the Holiday Inn when Bobby Nicholas sang there about 1977. I really liked his voice and the feeling he put in his music. Same people every Friday or Saturday night, looking for something different doing the same things. The hardest thing to do is seeing something from a bigger picture, when you are part of the picture.

While economically depressed, Uniontown was a wonderful place to grow up in the 70's and early 80's. There was still some culture left from families who remember their heritage. Now it just seems to be crackheads and yo yo yo white boy meatheads.


Still no hope.

Still no change.

If you measure by culture and heritage, isn't what you said true about every small town in the US?

I too am from South Union, near old Kennedy School is where I mostly grew up. Yea, I have fond memories of the 70's and 80's too.

I haven't been spending much time recently in Uniontown since I was living out near California PA and my job is in Wheeling. I have very recently moved back to Uniontown and should soon have a feel of how the culture/heritage is holding up.

I am hoping to reduce my time I invest in my job which will result in me spending more time in the Uniontown area. Until then I can't really say you are right or wrong to be honest.

Very cool Mark. I went to Kennedy also. Lived on Devan ave. Went to the old North Laurel JHS for a while too. We probably know each other.

I guess what I am lamenting is the richness and unique traditions that I remember in Uniontown. Everything, especially where I live now, just seems so bland and generic, or "pop". I used to look forward to coming home for a friend or relative's wedding because it would actually have traditional cultural elements. Music, food, dancing, ceremony, etc. No silly DJ or rock band in a room full of strangers who don't speak to each other. Am I making ANY sense?? Just try and explain going "racking" (do you remember throwing corn) at Halloween to someone.

I can't believe they built a house on our old football field on the corner of Leslie and Chaffee. Where "The Rock" was.

Yea, I bet we know each other. I lived on Jane Street. Went to JFK and North, graduated LH Class of 85.

I remember the rock and kids playing football there, although I wasn't the sportsy kind of kid. It was right across the street from the Hunt's house.

My big brother is Butch if that helps you.

Anyway, I understand what you are saying about the culture, but maybe it's like one of those things where I can't see because I've been in this general area this whole time.