Facts About Retirement Business or Potential Businesses in Huntingdon County
Huntingdon County is growing as a retirement community for many of the reasons explored below. The growth in retirement living has spurred some new businesses to develop and will continue to offer unique opportunities to grow of launch new businesses as well.
Reasons retirees move to Huntingdon County include:
- Access to the Great Outdoors - Retirees in general like the beautiful scenery of the Alleghany Mountains and the resources of several large rivers and Raystown Lake, the largest lake in Pennsylvania at 28-miles long and 170 miles of shoreline. The area abounds with State Game Lands for hunting, fishing, hiking or birding, miles of bike/hike trails, and opportunities for nearly every outdoor activity including fishing, canoeing, kayaking, snow shoeing, x-county skiing, snow mobiling, camping ... the list is endless!
- Access to Colleges - Most retirees look for towns with good colleges so they can have access to the arts, entertainment venues and continuing educational opportunities. Huntingdon County is the home of Juniata College, a prestigious college offering a new performing arts center, numerous sports programs and an art museum (www.juniata.edu) and Penn State University, with 50,000+ students is only 30-45 minutes away and offers a huge selection of sports and entertainment venues. (www.psu.edu) Altoona, located about 30-40 minutes from Huntingdon County, has several colleges, a large convention center and several theatres and arts centers.
- Close to Family Members or Big City Life - Huntingdon County offers retirees who want to leave the suburbs, easy access to family members or entertainment in several major areas including State College (home of Penn State Univ), Altoona, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Washington D.C. and Pittsburgh. All are from 30 minutes to 3 hours away from Huntingdon.
- Slower Pace - No Traffic - Huntingdon County, with about 45,000 people, is a small community with several towns to reside in or near. Huntingdon, along with Smithfield Township, has a population of about 12,000 people and is also the county seat.