Kissinger Bigatel & BrowerRealtors®
Centre County Communities & Neighborhoods: Where to Live in Happy Valley
Local guides from Barb Alpert, REALTOR®, Associate Broker — Kissinger Bigatel & Brower
People say “State College” the way they’d say a city, but Centre County is really a chain of valleys with a university in the middle of one of them. Ten minutes in any direction and the housing, the price and the pace all change.
Happy Valley sits between Bald Eagle Ridge and Tussey Mountain, and where you land depends on what you’re optimizing for: walking to campus, a school district, acreage, a historic downtown, or simply the shortest drive home. These guides are here to help you narrow it down before you start touring.
Communities we know well
State College, PA
The borough and the townships around it — College Heights, Holmes-Foster, Highlands, Toftrees, Park Forest and Gray’s Woods, all in the State College Area School District.
Homes for sale in State College →
Boalsburg, PA
A genuinely historic village east of town, under Tussey Mountain, with a village green, good restaurants and a short commute to campus.
Boalsburg real estate →
Bellefonte, PA
The county seat: Victorian architecture, Talleyrand Park, Spring Creek, and some of the best price-per-square-foot in the county.
Bellefonte real estate →
Pine Grove Mills, PA
A small village tucked against the Tussey ridge in Ferguson Township — country quiet, roughly ten minutes from campus.
Pine Grove Mills homes for sale →
Centre Hall & Penns Valley
Over the mountain into farm country: acreage, farmettes, working agriculture and the most land per dollar in Centre County.
Centre Hall real estate →
Farms & Equestrian
Horse farms, farmettes and land across every township in the county — our signature specialty.
Horse farms in Centre County →
Also serving across Centre County
We work throughout the county. Detailed guides for these communities are on the way — in the meantime, just call and ask. Barb has sold in all of them.
- Port Matilda — west of town along I-99, with room for acreage and an easy run to Altoona.
- Pleasant Gap — between State College and Bellefonte, in the Bellefonte Area School District.
- Lemont — a small historic village at the foot of Mount Nittany, minutes from campus.
- Philipsburg — the county’s northwest corner, with the most attainable prices in Centre County.
- Howard — near Bald Eagle State Park and Foster Joseph Sayers Lake.
- Spring Mills & Millheim — deep Penns Valley, farm country with a genuinely charming main street.
Let’s Talk About Your Move
Whether you’re buying your first place near campus, selling the family home, or looking for a farm with room for horses — start with a conversation. No pressure, no obligation.