Happy Valley (Pennsylvania)

Happy Valley State College, PA MSA Centre Region Council of Governments
Metropolitan Statistical Area
Clockwise from top left: Downtown State College at Allen Street, Nittany Lion Shrine, Beaver Stadium, and The HUB at Penn State
Map of Happy Valley
Country	United States
State	Pennsylvania
Principal cities	State College, College, Harris, Patton, and Ferguson
Elevation	351 m (1,154 ft)
Population (2010)
• Metro	MSA:158,742 (US: 257th) CSA: 236,577 (US: 124th)
Time zone	EST (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	EST (UTC-4)

Happy Valley, Pennsylvania, also known as the "State College, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area", is a region of Centre County that contains the borough of State College, and the townships of College, Harris, Patton, and Ferguson. Collectively, these municipalities comprise the "Centre Region Council of Governments." By definition, the region is bounded by Nittany Valley to the northeast, Penns Valley to the east, and Bald Eagle Valley to the north and west. The region is part of the State College-DuBois, PA Combined Statistical Area.

The name "Happy Valley" is the name given to the area since the Great Depression of the 1930s as the area was generally not hit hard financially because of the presence of Pennsylvania State University. Though the term "Happy Valley" is generally synonymous with State College Borough, the region also includes the townships of College, Harris, Patton, and Ferguson.

The culture of Happy Valley is largely dominated by Penn State University. The activities that occur in this region largely surround the student activities, such as "student arrivals", football Saturdays, Homecoming, and graduation. Though the region is also home to the State College Spikes, a minor league baseball team, the area is most known for the Penn State Nittany Lions football team.