In the past six months, national news has recognized my home county as one of the “easiest” places to buy a home. Growing up in Greene County, I just assumed that I would always live there. I thought that I would either buy a house somewhere within the county or I would build one near my parents. I even thought of purchasing a manufactured home and buying some land to put it on, as is common in Greene. I wanted to go to school somewhere a few hours away, but then come back and replant myself where my roots are. Most of my family live in Greene, including my closest relatives. I was born at Waynesburg hospital in the early 90s, and that is just where I always called home.
After high school, plans changed as they so often do for young people. My school plans evolved and I started seeing so many of my classmates totally leaving the area. That shouldn’t have been such a surprise to me, as during my time at West Greene High School my friends and I often talked about how there “wasn’t much around”. The peers who stayed often sadly dealt with substance abuse or mental health issues. The lack of opportunities for residents, especially those just out of high school or those without transportation (as the area is very rural) caused a lot of my classmates, peers, friends, etc. to grab onto what they could. A lot of the time that turned out to be things that were harmful.
I ended up trying to stay in my home county for several years. I took classes that were available in the area and worked in retail, pharmacy, healthcare, and anything I could find on Indeed. Admittedly, there were not many jobs to choose from, so I expanded my search to include neighboring counties and finally found a job that paid me slightly better than what I was making. The commute one way oftentimes was an hour, and that is also common for people in Greene County. If they want to be paid a wage where they can afford to own a home, or even keep food on the table, they have to commute. I remember my dad at one point in my childhood having to drive over two hours one way just to make a living.
After entering my 30s, I realized that it would be much easier if I found a new home closer to work and outside of Greene. I did not have to spend nearly as much on gas anymore and the housing options were more plentiful and, to be honest, were in better shape than the places I was finding in Greene County. I rented a couple different Washington County apartments for a while, then after a few more years, and after being able to save some money, my partner and I decided to look for homes to buy. It had always been a dream of mine to own my home and not have the restrictions of renting.
While searching for homes, I considered returning to the county that raised me. Trulia, Zillow, Homes.com, etc. became my most frequently visited websites. I did come across some homes that I thought could work for us, and ones that I even really liked, near Waynesburg. Ultimately, however, we chose to buy a house in Washington County. The homes in Greene often needed a lot of work, were being affected by water quality or undermining concerns (and so had some structural issues), or were far away from “everything.” By everything I even mean things such as food stores or healthcare offices, not to mention our jobs that paid us enough to even consider buying in the first place. We simply could not justify making such a big decision and having it be in a place with so few opportunities and places to find necessities.
Many, possibly most, of the “mom and pop” stores I frequented growing up had vanished. Small, local businesses had very hard times trying to stay afloat in the past decade or so, and therefore had to close down. When I was a kid, we had to “drive into town” (that means Waynesburg) to go grocery shopping, but we at least had some smaller places to go for toilet paper and dog food if we needed to. Now, there were none of those. Driving into town back then, I always admired a row of houses through a little village named Holbrook in the western part of the county. Those houses were nice-sized, well maintained, decorated nicely (especially at Christmastime), and just seemed like homes that I would like to live in when I grew up. If you drive through Holbrook now, you will only find signs warning of “bumps” in the road or saying that the road is under 24/7 surveillance. None of those houses are still standing. All of them were demolished several years ago “when the mine came through,” as people in the area say. The mining companies, or oil and gas companies, frequently buy properties to either rent out or leave vacant, so they do not have to deal with the liability of subsidence from the mining beneath the houses. They buy people out of their homes because it is often easier for homeowners to take that buyout than to deal with the effects of longwall mining, which can cause foundational cracks, shifting of walls and floors degradation or total loss of water sources, among other things. People take the deal and move away from the county, eroding the tax base and increasing the tax burden on the homeowners who stayed. Once the companies are finished with some properties, it isn’t uncommon to see them then donated to the state for gamelands, which in turn makes the tax revenue from that property drop much lower, sometimes to nothing. Meanwhile, the county becomes less and less financially stable.
Small villages throughout the county, like Holbrook, that were little hubs of community have disappeared. Post offices have been removed from these areas, and kids have to ride the buses in the mornings further and further without stopping before getting to school. The two elementary schools that I attended back in the day have been shut down as well. Teenage me had thought that “there wasn’t much around,” so imagine if she could see Greene County now after almost twenty years.
Many of the houses that are still in Greene County are not in good condition and need a lot of money to be invested in order to restore them. There are also concerns about water quality in the county. From New Freeport on the west side to East Dunkard on the east, people are nervous about drinking their water. Residents in New Freeport have worried for three years now whether the water from their wells and springs is safe to drink. Prior to June 2022, those sources had provided reliable and safe water. There is no public water source. Residents have experienced rashes and illnesses, and they can physically see changes in their water since fracking chemicals and wastewater made contact with the aquifer there in 2022. In East Dunkard, residents have for years been experiencing foul-smelling, dark brown water pouring from their faucets. Unlike in New Freeport, “city water” is the source of water for homes in that area. Issues at the local water authority, along with the fact that the water is pulled from the Monongahela River, which is historically polluted from industry as well as waste dumped into it from a nearby West Virginia city, has resulted in undrinkable water. Questionable water quality reduces property values.
With all of this often on my mind, it was a big surprise for me to come across a video from NBC News saying that one of the “Easiest Places to Buy a Home” in the U.S. was my very own Greene County, PA. NBC’s Vicky Nguyen appeared on the Today Show on March 13, 2025 to explain a few things about the current housing market. Interest rates have been dropping and people have been more interested in homebuying as a result. Along with Greene County (PA), Okmulgee County (OK) and Jefferson County (AR) were named as easy places to purchase a home. Garfield County (CO), Union County (NJ), and Ocean County (NJ) were named the tougher counties in which to buy a home. It’s always a surprise to hear my hometown mentioned in national news, even more so considering the topic and my own observations and lived experiences in Greene County. While it may be easier to buy a home in the county, it might not necessarily be easier to live there. Qualities that once attracted people to the area – quiet roads to raise a family on, less traffic, good air quality, free water on site, a sense of community very close to home – have been significantly diminished since the 90s. From heavy well traffic from the oil and gas companies to higher school and property taxes, life isn’t as idyllic there as it once was.
While I chose not to buy a home in Greene County, PA for various reasons, I still see all of the good that is there. The rolling hills are picturesque, many of the people who live there will literally give you the shirt off their back if you need it, the rich history of the coal mines and early American life, the resiliency, unique traditions (Rain Day for example), wildlife everywhere – all of that is still there. Seeing so many people leave the area has repeatedly saddened me. I wanted so much to stay and do anything I could to make it even better than it once was. I had to leave for practical reasons, but I am still trying to get the word out that it is a beautiful place and that the potential of the land and people in Greene County is very much still there.
Some hope may be on the horizon for existing houses in Greene County
Some hope for existing houses in the county could be on the way, at least. Governor Shapiro’s proposed budget allocates $50 million for the PA Home Preservation Program. This program would help homeowners finance essential home improvements and maintenance. Almost 60 percent of homes in PA were built before 1970, and similar could probably be said about Greene County, where the housing stock is typically older. This would be a needed investment in the communities and would help bring in younger people and families to the area, improving the economy as well.
Though the Whole-Home Repairs Program is no longer in effect, it is serving as a sort of pilot for the proposed PA Home Preservation Program. The WHRP diverted $125 million to financing home improvements for lower income households, some of which were in Greene County. I spoke with a family who was able to do much-needed maintenance on their home and they were pleased with the outcome, as well as relieved.
CCJ is keeping an eye on this program, as well as other housing issues, investments, and programs. In the past, we have not worked a lot on housing issues, but we definitely recognize how important they are. If you have any questions or comments regarding housing, please reach out to us and we will try to help.