In a suburban pocket of Centre County’s Happy Valley, Park Forest Village is as verdant as its name suggests. “Park Forest Village is a lovely, treed area with nature abounding. There’s parks and schools in the neighborhood and lots of great sidewalks to walk on,” says Steven Bodner, co-owner of RE/MAX Centre Realty who has 27 years of experience in the State College area. “The tree canopy is what’s unique. There’s only really a couple of truly suburban-type neighborhoods around here. The only negative is they make for a lot of raking in the fall.” Though it’s split between Patton and Ferguson townships, Park Forest Village’s sylvan air and master-planned subdivisions are as universal as the reasons residents settle there; proximity to plenty of parks, commercial life and the State College hubs of Pennsylvania State University.
Park Forest Village is a small commuter community made up mostly of single family homes just down he road from State College PA.
Downtown State College is just a five minute drive from Park Forest Village, offering locals quick access to all the jobs, shopping, dining and more.
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Owning or renting single-family homes in Park Forest Village
Curving streets that wind up gentle hills carry a cohesive aesthetic of well-groomed lawns and tree-shaded tranquility throughout the area, but the homes sitting behind narrow sidewalks carry the diverse architectural styles popular from the 1950s through the 1990s. "One of the nice things about Park Forest Village is there’s a wide range of sizes and styles, from ranch-style homes to nice big colonials and Tudors,” Bodner says. Higher-density developments, including townhouses and condos, are set along the edges of the community. Park Forest Village’s median single-family home price is around $330,000, lower than the national median. Due to Penn State’s influence, many residents rent single-family properties and units in larger multi-family complexes.
Quiet streets in Park Forest Village feature larger homes with spacious backyards and green spaces.
Renters in Park Forest Village can find newer condos and townhomes for a modern living experience.
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High ratings and new facilities in State College Area School District
State College Area School District earns an A-plus from Niche. Students at the A-rated Park Forest Middle School already spend time on the athletic fields across the street from their school, but they'll become even more familiar with that campus in the coming years. An updated middle school is one of the latest in the district’s expansion and new construction projects, and groundbreaking on the new Park Forest Middle School is expected to begin in late 2025.
Proud to have an A rating on Niche, Park Forest Middle School excels in education.
State College, PA is home to State College Area High School, where 2,410 students thrive.
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Recreation from the Scotia Barrens to Tudek Park’s horse stables
To the west of Park Forest Village, the forests that shade hiking trails in the Patton Township Nature Recreation Area transition into the thousands of acres of State Game Lands 176, where the ruins of a former iron mine company town hide among the scrub oaks of the Scotia Barrens. To the east, Tom Tudek Memorial Park also offers extensive walking trails, plus amenities that range from a dog park and horse stables to both a butterfly and community garden. Smaller parks pepper Park Forest Village, centered around playgrounds and swimming pools. Recreation hubs fill the hills that cradle Happy Valley, including a ski resort and a hiking trail up the mountain that gave the Penn State Nittany Lion mascot its name.
The community garden at Tom Tudek Memorial Park is open for residents in Park Forest Village, PA.
Hunters and sport shooters can take advantage of the sprawling facilities at State Game Lands in Park Forest Village.
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Shopping and dining off Atherton Street
North Atherton Street is the busy, dividing roadway that separates Park Forest Village’s tranquil subdivisions from strip malls and national retailers. Parking lots and roadways pocketed by bus stops wind farther north past shopping centers anchored by retailers like Trader Joe’s, Target and Walmart. Other retail and grocery anchors sit in strips south of the roadway closer to State College. Plenty of chain eateries operate nearby, but so do locally owned restaurants and breweries.
Find the perfect restaurant or pub for a fun time with friends and family in Park Forest Village, PA.
Atherton Street is the main thoroughfare with shopping, dining and more in Park Forrest Village.
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Driving, busing and bicycling around State College
Many of Centre County’s top employers are based in State College; Penn State University and Mount Nittany Medical Center are both less than 5 miles from Park Forest Village by way of Atherton Street or Interstate 99. Geisinger Healthplex State College is a couple miles west. While many depend on personal vehicles, Centre Area Transportation Authority buses, or CATABUSES, run from the community’s main roads to on- and off-campus hubs. Bike lanes parallel streets like Valley Vista Road, connecting many areas around State College. Flights to Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington take off from State College Regional Airport, about 6 miles from home.
Penn State events and fundraisers closer to home
Living in Park Forest Village means having the chance to attend some of Penn State’s favorite annual traditions, from football games at Beaver Stadium to the two days of live performances, fundraising and sleepless dancing at THON, the world’s largest student-run philanthropy. But the community’s own event spaces often host festivities and fundraisers of their own. Tudek Park is a popular 5K venue, including for the Race to Neverland, an annual run and festival where proceeds help send disabled children and their families to Disney. Small churches hold services throughout the community, and some like Park Forest Village United Methodist Church also hold events like trunk-or-treats and winter craft markets.
In Park Forest Village, PA, fans proudly wear white all day for the annual White Out event.
The Downtown State College Farmers Market closes local streets, making walking easier near Park Forest Village, PA.
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Crime data, weather patterns and flood risk in Park Forest Village
Park Forest Village is served by the police departments of its constituent townships. Patton Township experienced a 1.84% increase in overall crime between 2023 and 2024 while Ferguson Township saw a 14.79% increase, according to department data contributed to the Pennsylvania Uniform Crime Reporting System.
Park Forest Village experiences four temperate seasons, including hot summers and snowy, below-freezing winters.
A few narrow waterways carve flood zones through Park Forest Village. While most of the community is not impacted, buyers can consult maps to ascertain risk following unusually heavy rain.
Written By
Julia Szymanski
Photography Contributed By
Vincent Mauriello
Video By
Matthew Bloch
Interested in learning more about homes in this area?
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GreatSchools:
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Jennifer ZhouColdwell Banker Residential Brokerage - Princeton
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