Moving from CA to PA- Please give us advice!

[HbgGuru]

Originally Posted by socalmomandwife

4. Places to get organic foods

Looks like the folks on this forum have you pretty covered, so I would just like to add one more option organic foods in the area.

It's Spiral Path Farm - Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). It's a local organic farm and when you become a member you receive boxes of fresh fruits and veggies every week for 7 months of the year. There are a couple of membership levels depending on the size of your family and lots of pickup locations.

I would definitely recommend checking it out. www.spiralpathfarm.com

Good luck!

[markdv]

I'm from a small town about an hour northwest of Harrisburg. I lived in Harrisburg from 86-91 and still have friends there and go through the metro when visitting my folks. If I were you I would rent for a year and get to know the area. Hershey is small town America with good schools and excellent healthcare. Mechanicsburg and the West Shore are right across the river with great neighborhoods and good schools too. The metro is very cosmopolitan for its size ( lots to do and good Arts scene ) as it offers alot more amenities than other comparable metros , possibly because it is the state capital. Downtown Harrisburg comes alive Friday and Saturday nights with thousands of yuppies hangin out in the local bar/restaraunt scene. There are 4 seasons, sometimes very drastic with tons of snow in the winter and hot , humid summers. Spring and fall are DIVINE !!!!!! Outdoor activities abound !!!!! Most locals hang around the river at some point. Mountains to the northwest toward my hometown of Lewistown, and flatter fertile farmland to the southwest toward Lancaster. One of the best attributes is its proximity to larger metros, Philly, Baltimore , DC and NYC are within a few hours drive. Good luck and Welcome to PA !

[PiperGrace]

I would recommend Lancaster before Harrisburg. I've lived in both areas and currently live in Lancaster, which I find to be much nicer. The downtown area is very vibrant and there are nice suburbs surrounding the city- some with newer housing and some with old, beautiful houses. The school districts are better overall in Lancaster County, too- particularly Warwick, Hempfield and Manheim Township.

If you like upscale dining and lots of variety, you really can't beat Lancaster in Central PA for those excellent restaurants. As someone who travels all over the country and has lived in big cities, I can say that Lancaster's dining options are absolutely on par with larger cities. There is also a good arts and culture scene, as well as independent retailers. And Central Market is an excellent place to get your groceries.

Check out these sites:
Lancaster Central Market
Downtown Lancaster
Lancaster Arts
Susquehanna Style
Fig Lancaster

[justinh4578]

Hello Socalmom. I only lived in so cal for five months and also know what you mean about the affects of the community and such. I am from Northern California. The Redding California area to be exact. I moved out here to Harrisburg area to visit and got stuck. I found it very hard to make a transition. I was judge and labeled immediately just due to the fact I was from the west coast and especially being from California. The winters are hard. Not to ppl used to it here but I never had to worry about feet of snow dumping on me over night in cali and sub-0 temps. Not a whole lot out here really. Wegmans is newer to the Mechanicsburg area. Very nice for organic eaters such as myself. Expensive though. Cumberland Valley school Disct is good as mentioned. I lived in Mechancisburg and miss it compared to Carlisle and Harrisburg. It's just such a HUGE transition to make from west to east and I am sure the otherway around. My wife and I are moving back to Cali after being out here for 6 years. We had enough and just need to move back. We are moving to the Sacramento valley area. Camphill and Mechanicsburg are what I would stay around. Mechanicburg is a little older but more quiet then Camphill. More stores in Camphill though. You can easily find a place for less then 1,800 a month.
Wish you the best. What are you doing about moving all you things out here? I can not seem to find a good solution that is cost effective. Oh and watch out. You may develope and accent while living here. Everyone seems to have a little twang or hidden accent.lol