Known as the Christmas tree capital of the world and the hometown of actor Jimmy Stewart, who played George Bailey in the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life,” Indiana is a classic American town that in many ways mirrors the movie. “Christmas tree farms are in the area,” says Realtor Jeffrey Boden with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices. “We have a museum devoted to Jimmy Stewart. When winter comes, the borough looks like a Christmas card. People come from miles around to see the town decorated like Bedford Falls. We do a lot to make it look like the movie.”
Situated in White Township, part of Indiana County, 60 miles east of Pittsburgh, the Borough of Indiana is also home to the main campus of Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP). “When the university is in session, the population practically doubles,” says associate broker and residential appraiser Jennifer Gonda-English with eXp Realty. Gonda-English went to IUP and got her real estate license while she was still in college, some 30 years ago. “We have students from other countries, like France and Uganda, who study here. Students come from Texas and California, too. The university attracts people from all over, and out-of-state tuition is not exorbitant.”
Indiana is also well known for its festivals and community events, like Third Thursdays at IRMC Park in the heart of downtown, featuring live music and food from local restaurants. The borough’s Italian Festival is held in August and brings together crowds with traditional food, music and art. The Northern Appalachian Folk Festival in September celebrates the history and culture of the region, and the city goes all out during the “It’s a Wonderful Life” Holiday Parade and Festival in December. “Something is happening every other weekend,” Boden says. “You don’t need to drive. Just walk a few blocks to discover live music or arts and crafts. It’s a walkable town.”
Indiana is in the heart of Indiana County Pennsylvania.
Spend some time at the Jimmy Stewart Museum and learn about Indiana's favorite actor.
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Downtown attractions and the Indiana Mall
Indiana’s diversity extends to its eateries, too. “The downtown has many restaurants, from Middle Eastern food to Thai and Italian,” Boden says. The Coney on Philadelphia Street, the main street that runs through the downtown area, stands out for its history: The restaurant was originally opened in 1933 two doors down from a hardware store owned by Jimmy Stewart’s parents. Josephine’s Pizzeria and Enoteca (Italian for “wine bar”) has a wood-fired oven shipped from Italy. It was so large that the back of the restaurant had to be built around it.
The Jimmy Stewart Museum is also in the center of town. It highlights the actor’s media career and life as a World War II vet, civic leader and family man. A few doors down, Artists Hand Gallery and Espresso Bar is a place for visual, written and musical artists to showcase their work. Philadelphia Street Playhouse along the same block is a community theater that stages plays and musicals. The Indiana Theater farther east is a historic movie house that shows blockbuster movies and hosts live performances.
The Indiana County Farmers Market occurs every Saturday morning from May until October in a parking area at 8th and Church a few streets south of Philadelphia Street. Large chain grocery stores like Martin’s and Giant Eagle Supermarket are southeast of town near the Indiana Mall. The mall features 25 stores anchored by JCPenney and Kohl’s. MovieScoop Indiana is a multiplex cinema inside, and the Palace Gardens Drive-In is nearby, a place to watch the latest flick under the stars.
The Coney is where true Indiana residents go for great food and drinks.
The Indiana Theater is a classic spot in downtown Indiana.
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Indiana County parks and trails
Like the downtown sector, city parks in Indiana are within walking distance of most homes. Indiana Memorial Park offers a shady retreat and a bandstand where summer concerts and an annual Memorial Day program are held. Sports facilities, like the baseball fields at Optimist Park or the tennis court at Triple Nickel Park, are each nestled within the community. The Indiana County Fairgrounds, where the fair takes place every August, is just south of town and part of Mack Memorial Park, a large green space with a community garden, playgrounds and a community pool.
State and county parks, trails, and beautiful covered bridges surround the borough. Yellow Creek State Park is home to a lake for fishing, pontoon boating and kayaking, as well as a small beach for swimming. Buttermilk Falls Natural Area features an impressive 45-foot waterfall and 48 acres of woodland. Hoodlebug Trail is a path used for hiking, biking and cross-country skiing that starts on the IUP campus and runs 10 miles south to Black Lick. “You can bike and brew along the way,” Gonda-English says. “Noble Stein Brewing and Levity Brewing are on the way out of town.”
Indiana Memorial Park is a peaceful space that honors the men and women of the military.
Go for miles on Hoodlebug Trail in Indiana.
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Vintage homes well suited for a college town
Homes in Indiana range from classic American Foursquares and colonial-style houses built around the turn of the century to vintage bungalows, Cape Cods and ranch-style homes constructed in the 1920s onward. The average home price in Indiana is $205,000, well below the national average of $550,000. Most homes in the borough are single-family houses on small lots. “My home sits on .07 acres,” Boden says. “It’s a postage stamp yard, but the entire town is your backyard because you can walk to most everything. It’s one of the perks or tradeoffs of living in Indiana.”
Homebuyers looking for more land, condos or more square footage might look outside the borough in White Township, Boden advises. Multi-family homes also account for about 20% of Indiana homes, a good investment living in a college town that welcomes thousands of students back to the community each fall.
“The Indiana housing market is extremely strong,” Gonda-English says. “Homebuyers are attracted to the community they find here. It feels more like a village than a small town. If I’d leave my door right now, I’d see 15 or 20 people I know. What drives this sense of belonging is IUP. The university has made Indiana a welcoming place for people from around the country and the world.”
There are Vintage Bungalows on the streets of Indiana.
You will find ranch style homes in the Indiana area.
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Indiana public schools and the university
The Indiana Area School District serves the borough and receives an overall B from Niche. Over 2,700 students from Indiana and Shelocta boroughs and the surrounding White and Armstrong townships attend the district’s two PK-3 elementary schools, two 4-5 elementary schools, one 6-8 junior high and one 9-12 senior high.
Indiana University of Pennsylvania is the second-largest university in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. Over 9,000 students are enrolled in IUP, and 23% are international or minority students representing 63 countries, many of whom identify as non-white. The university is the area’s largest employer.
Indiana area students start their educational career at Horace Mann Elementary School.
Indiana University of Pennsylvania has a large campus full of future leaders.
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Transportation and other resources in Indiana
The Indiana County Transit Authority offers IndiGO bus service throughout Indiana, White Township and surrounding communities. U.S. 422 is 3 miles south of town and connects to Youngstown, Ohio, 95 miles west. U.S. 119, also known as the Pittsburgh-Buffalo Highway, runs 2 miles east of Indiana and takes drivers to and from Pittsburgh, 60 miles west, and Buffalo, 195 miles north. Indiana County Jimmy Stewart Airport is a public-use, general aviation airport on the city’s northeastern side. Indiana Regional Medical Center just south of the borough next to the fairgrounds is a 164-bed acute care hospital known for being owned and operated by the community.
Indiana’s rising crime numbers and humid continental climate
Pennsylvania’s Uniform Crime Reporting System shows that violent and property crimes in Indiana have been rising, with an increase of 30% over the past three years. FBI crime data is missing 2021 crime numbers, but reports show a sharp drop in crime numbers for 2020 and a steep rise two years later.
Indiana has a humid continental climate, meaning warm summers and cold, snowy winters. The temperature can dip as low as 4 degrees during the colder months and as high as 91 degrees in the summer.
New science hall, power plant and behavior health facility
In November 2023, IUP’s $90 million John J. and Char Kopchick Hall opened with over 51,000 square feet of laboratory space for mathematics, anthropology, biology and other sciences. Also in that year, Pennsylvania’s largest coal-burning power plant in Homer City, 6 miles south of Indiana, closed and will be replaced with a new natural gas-fired plant that could double the energy output of the former coal plant. Opening in 2025, IRMC’s new 31,000-square-foot behavior health facility will provide inpatient services for adolescents, adults and the elderly.
Kopchick Hall is one of the newest buildings at IUP featuring 51,600 square feet of lab space.
Indiana Regional Medical Center is a not-for-profit area hospital located in Indiana.
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Written By
Christopher Kopczynski
Photography Contributed By
Alan Battles
Video By
Adam Lapallo
Interested in learning more about homes in this area?
Reach out to
Jennie Spohn-Rousseau,
an experienced agent in this area.
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