Lancaster, Easton, Williamsport - please compare (Philadelphia, Pittsburgh: sale, real estate, rental)

[Muinteoir]

Originally Posted by Max and Catriona

This is such great info, thank you so much! It makes me uneasy about picking the wrong one since they are apparently quite different from one another. I wish I understood more about the meaning of some of the terms in your post. They're terms I've heard before but don't necessarily have a full understanding of - Pennsyltucky, Appalachian culture, Pennsylvania Dutch culture, East Coast feel. I don't want to go off of my own stereotypes and assumptions about those terms, I want to learn more about how the different cultures might impact one's experience living in each of these places.

So tell us more about what your ideal city or area is like. All the things I said are based on broad generalizations, and you can surely find different neighborhood vibes and niches in each place. Where are you moving from?

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by Muinteoir

That's a good point about the city's politics. However, no hate to Lancaster, but I would not personally say it has "a rather cosmopolitan vibe." Maybe that 'vibe' is more prevalent than an outsider may assume, but during my visit it felt pretty Pennsylvanian through and through. I actually commented to my friends that it's like the Pennsylvanian version of Ithaca, NY. Or perhaps Ithaca is the Upstate NY version of Lancaster. But Lancaster, and the area as a whole, is way less liberal.

Than Ithaca, I assume you mean. Well, given that (it seems to me — I've never visited Ithaca) Cornell University has a greater influence on that city than Franklin and Marshall or the Pennsylvania College of Art and Design have on Lancaster, this wouldn't surprise me at all.

[pman]

Originally Posted by Muinteoir

I appreciate you using my post as a skeleton for yours, but for some people the politics of an area is more than just culture war BS. As a gay man in an interracial relationship, it truly impacts my quality of life. There are plenty of others who feel similarly. There's nothing wrong with talking about an area's political leanings if you're not doing it in an inflammatory way.

Everyone has an opinion on on politics and while many people unfortunately do prioritize living in a vacuum it isn't always necessary to out ones views on politics forward first. I tried to provide a less biased summary. Since you did not specify that you mean gay friendly versus gay unfriendly I had no way of knowing. I understand now why yours ss more upfront in your view., whether or not the OP shares the same I don't know but it's not exactly like I posted anything controversial

[Jessie Mitchell]

Not speaking for the OP, but I really appreciate people who described the political and cultural character of various places when we were looking to relocate. It's one of many factors that contribute to how it actually feels to live somewhere. I am, for example, not gay, but I find LGBTQ welcoming communities more comfortable to live in for temperamental and philosophical reasons than conservative religious ones. Someone who is the opposite of me would probably also like to know about the community culture they're considering moving into. It isn't about living in a vacuum in the sense, I think, that you mean it. It's about not living in a vacuum where you feel isolated by your views, your politics, your affiliations. If the vacuum I was living in was conservative, religious, gun packing, trump flag flying, I would feel unhappy there. (Rural Lancaster county is not quite that far right on the whole, not like rural Idaho or Texas, but it is very religious and very conservative and resistant to progressive social movements. The city of Lancaster, quite the opposite, the suburbs are mixed as they are in so many other places.)

[pman]

Originally Posted by Jessie Mitchell

Not speaking for the OP, but I really appreciate people who described the political and cultural character of various places when we were looking to relocate. It's one of many factors that contribute to how it actually feels to live somewhere. I am, for example, not gay, but I find LGBTQ welcoming communities more comfortable to live in for temperamental and philosophical reasons than conservative religious ones. Someone who is the opposite of me would probably also like to know about the community culture they're considering moving into. It isn't about living in a vacuum in the sense, I think, that you mean it. It's about not living in a vacuum where you feel isolated by your views, your politics, your affiliations. If the vacuum I was living in was conservative, religious, gun packing, trump flag flying, I would feel unhappy there. (Rural Lancaster county is not quite that far right on the whole, not like rural Idaho or Texas, but it is very religious and very conservative and resistant to progressive social movements. The city of Lancaster, quite the opposite, the suburbs are mixed as they are in so many other places.)

I didn't understand the dog whistle my apologies. People who put politics first are absolutely looking to live in a vacuum and it's a huge part of the problem the nation faces as people seek to limit their exposure to people who don't agree with them. I better upstanding what he meant in context of being more open to the gay community.
I would agree that lancaster county isn't a hotbed of progressive politics and that's some to know. If progressivism is your priority then philly might be a better fit as progressives have much more sway there.

[Muinteoir]

Originally Posted by pman

I didn't understand the dog whistle my apologies. People who put politics first are absolutely looking to live in a vacuum and it's a huge part of the problem the nation faces as people seek to limit their exposure to people who don't agree with them. I better upstanding what he meant in context of being more open to the gay community.
I would agree that lancaster county isn't a hotbed of progressive politics and that's some to know. If progressivism is your priority then philly might be a better fit as progressives have much more sway there.

I’m not sure why this is the hill you want to die on, so to speak. Again you’re being overly dismissive of the real impact an area’s political leaning can have on lived experience. I for one could live in a politically moderate area so long as I felt the vast majority of people did not make me feel unwelcome for who I am. It’s not always a desire to live in a vacuum- I have plenty of conservative family members whom I’m in touch with TYVM. For many, it’s truly about livability. Also, there is no inherent “bias” in simply describing an area’s politics; there are plenty of objective measures we can look at to draw these conclusions. There’s no inherent judgement in these observations. It’s just about providing more information that someone may find useful.

[Higherho]

Do you like traveling? I mention this because Williamsport Airport is a joke now and does not have any flights going out of it. Which mainly were connectors to Philly. Takes well over an hour to get to a somewhat decent airport. I went to College in Williamsport and while I like some aspects of it, it isn’t going places. Downtown is starting to thrive again after the mall basically went belly up. Having Kohls and Wegmans downtown is pretty nice. Outside of nature based activities, there isn’t much to do. Downtown does get some good traveling broadway shows from time to time though and has a downtown AMC theater. Housing market is cheaper here and you can get some epic older style homes as well.

Lancaster is much better than Williamsport both economically and a lot more things to do. You’re much closer to better public transportation and better Airports. Schooling is much better than Williamsport as well.


you should check out the Pittsburgh area Western PA is much better than Eastern :P

[pman]

Originally Posted by Higherho

Do you like traveling? I mention this because Williamsport Airport is a joke now and does not have any flights going out of it. Which mainly were connectors to Philly. Takes well over an hour to get to a somewhat decent airport. I went to College in Williamsport and while I like some aspects of it, it isn’t going places. Downtown is starting to thrive again after the mall basically went belly up. Having Kohls and Wegmans downtown is pretty nice. Outside of nature based activities, there isn’t much to do. Downtown does get some good traveling broadway shows from time to time though and has a downtown AMC theater. Housing market is cheaper here and you can get some epic older style homes as well.

Lancaster is much better than Williamsport both economically and a lot more things to do. You’re much closer to better public transportation and better Airports. Schooling is much better than Williamsport as well.


you should check out the Pittsburgh area Western PA is much better than Eastern :P

Presumably you went to Lycoming College (how was the college?). Williamsport is nature/price with some semblance of urban amenities. High schools are probably a wash imo. Western pa is also very depressed economically. Appalachia is poor. Lancaster also has terrible air service but its close to better airports like philly and bwi whereas Williamsport is really just further from major airports (and prices reflect that)

[emmmcubed]

Originally Posted by pman

Presumably you went to Lycoming College (how was the college?)

Why presume Lycoming College? The Pennsylvania College of Technology has an enrollment nearly four times that of Lycoming.

[pman]

Originally Posted by Muinteoir

I’m not sure why this is the hill you want to die on, so to speak. Again you’re being overly dismissive of the real impact an area’s political leaning can have on lived experience. I for one could live in a politically moderate area so long as I felt the vast majority of people did not make me feel unwelcome for who I am. It’s not always a desire to live in a vacuum- I have plenty of conservative family members whom I’m in touch with TYVM. For many, it’s truly about livability. Also, there is no inherent “bias” in simply describing an area’s politics; there are plenty of objective measures we can look at to draw these conclusions. There’s no inherent judgement in these observations. It’s just about providing more information that someone may find useful.

hadn't realized I was being murdered I suppose. I certainly understand that not wanting to feel like you're unwelcome for lifestyle choices is a big part of choosing a place to live for anyone...and the polar extremes is probably a good stand in though, by nature, moderate areas should be more politically tolerant than the extremes like Philadelphia and the "T". there are fewer moderate places today than in the past and I'm not sure it's really an improvement.
anyway, thought this was relevant
https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/n...d%20Youngstown.