Moving to Southern Alleghenies
Moving into the Southern Alleghenies means planning around a genuinely rural, mountainous four-county region with limited direct air service, real winter driving conditions given the region's elevation, and meaningfully different drive times between member places than a typical single-metro region.
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Learn moreLimited Direct Air Service
This region has no major airport of its own; Altoona-Blair County Airport offers limited commercial service, and movers relocating anywhere in this region should generally plan on driving to Pittsburgh International Airport (roughly 60-90 minutes from most of this region's member places) or Harrisburg International Airport for a fuller range of flights.
Mountain Terrain and Real Winter Driving
This region sits squarely within the Allegheny Mountains, and the same terrain that makes the Horseshoe Curve a historic engineering feat also means real, genuine winter driving challenges -- steeper grades, more frequent snow and ice at elevation, and longer winter commutes than flatter parts of the state. Movers relocating here from a lower-elevation or more southern climate should plan accordingly.
I-99 and Route 219 Connect the Region
Interstate 99 runs through Altoona, connecting the city north toward State College and south toward Bedford and I-76 (the Pennsylvania Turnpike). U.S. Route 219 connects Somerset and, further south, links toward Johnstown, forming the region's other primary north-south corridor. Neither route offers the interstate-density found in Pittsburgh Metro or Greater Philadelphia -- expect genuinely longer point-to-point drive times within this region than its low population might suggest.
Visiting the Flight 93 National Memorial Respectfully
Movers relocating to or through Somerset County should know that the Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville is a real, solemn national site, not a typical tourist attraction -- it draws a steady, respectful stream of visitors (roughly 350,000 a year) and is worth understanding as a genuine part of the county's identity and daily life, not simply a landmark to note in passing.
Key takeaways
- This region has no major airport of its own -- plan on driving roughly 60-90 minutes to Pittsburgh International Airport or to Harrisburg International Airport for a fuller flight network.
- This region's genuine Allegheny Mountains terrain brings real winter driving challenges (steeper grades, more frequent snow/ice at elevation) worth planning for.
- I-99 (through Altoona) and U.S. Route 219 (through Somerset toward Johnstown) are this region's primary north-south corridors -- expect longer point-to-point drive times than the region's low population might suggest.
- The Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville in Somerset County is a real, solemn national site and a genuine part of the county's identity, not a typical tourist stop.
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