Sep 11, 2025 By Tonya Yoders 4 min read

Earlier this year, the Today Show named Greene County, PA, one of the “Easiest Places to Buy a Home.” As someone born and raised there, I found that headline a bit jarring. While it is possible to buy a house in Greene County, living there and building a future are different matters altogether.

I grew up in Greene County in the 1990s assuming I’d always call it home. I expected to live there forever, buying a house close to my parents or even putting a manufactured home on some land like so many people around there do.

After graduating from West Greene High School, I worked locally in retail, pharmacy, and health care to make ends meet. The jobs that paid enough to cover a mortgage or even basic bills usually meant commuting an hour or more.

Eventually, that led me to move to Washington County. The housing options there were more abundant, and there were more stores, restaurants, and small businesses nearby to make it feel like a real community. Still, when my partner and I started looking to buy, I thought about going back home and settling in Greene County.

The more I looked, the clearer it became that the available homes in the county were not practical options for young people looking to start a life. We found houses with structural damage from longwall mining, homes miles from groceries or gas, and towns where beloved shops had disappeared.

In one town, Holbrook, a row of beautiful homes I admired as a child were demolished after the mine came through. In other parts of the county, people worry about water quality, from polluted aquifers in New Freeport to foul-smelling tap water in East Dunkard.

Meanwhile, community life has withered. Many, possibly most, of the “mom and pop” stores I frequented growing up had vanished. Post offices closed, schools consolidated, and small villages emptied out. What remains are vacant storefronts, collapsing houses, and neighbors still toughing it out against enormous odds.

This is the reality that doesn’t make it onto national TV. Those “affordable” houses come with hidden costs, and many people, like me, end up leaving.

For months, I researched homes all across Greene County. I did come across some homes I liked and that could have worked for us, especially near Waynesburg. But ultimately, the overlapping social, economic and environmental issues facing Greene led me to stay in Washington.

I still believe that Greene is worth fighting for. It’s a place of rolling hills, generous neighbors who will literally give you the shirt off their back, deep traditions, and resilience. The potential is still there. The question is whether leaders at the state level will recognize it.

In the coming weeks, the PA Department of Community and Economic Development is expected to release a Housing Action Plan that may allow rural communities like Greene to meet that potential. The plan is aimed at easing the burden of housing costs in Pennsylvania and could be a major opportunity for Gov. Josh Shapiro and the state legislature to finally prioritize housing in areas like ours through a number of policy commitments.

Fully supporting the PA Home Preservation Program would provide affordable repairs for older homes and low-income homeowners, leading to fewer condemned properties. Rehabilitating the housing stock in rural towns would help revitalize communities and draw small businesses back into the area. Investing in reliable utility infrastructure and affordable, community-powered clean energy in small towns would reduce electric bills for those who need it most.

For too long, housing policy in Harrisburg has been focused on enriching developers. It’s time for places like Greene County to receive the resources and investment we need to thrive. I encourage everyone living in rural communities like mine to pay close attention to what comes out of Harrisburg and to let your state legislators know our homes, our towns, and our futures deserve to be a priority.

Tonya Yoders is a community organizer with the Center for Coalfield Justice.