Relocating to Harrisburg, PA Need Help Please!!!!!!!!!

[CHIP72]

Originally Posted by moving2Harris

Hello Everyone, I recently took a new job and will be relocating to Harrisburg PA. I currently live in Northern Virginia and the commute is horrible here (about an hour each way on a good day two + hours on a bad day). I really don’t know too much about Harrisburg, I will be taking a job near the capitol and want to ensure my commute is not more than an hour each way. Good schools and a rural feel are priorities. Any suggestions?

Also can anyone tell me approximately how long of a commute I would be looking at for the areas below?

Hershey, PA
Mechanicsburg, PA
Ducannon, PA (or somewhere similar north of Harrisburg)
Carlisle, PA

*Hershey - about 30-40 minutes depending on the traffic on I-83.
*Mechanicsburg - about 25-30 minutes
*Duncannon - about 40 minutes
*Carlisle - about 40 minutes

There are certain interchanges and intersections that are always problematic at commute times for all of those locations; the question is how problematic will they be on a day to day basis. Also, if you live on the West Shore*, you need to cross the Susquehanna River and you'll experience backups on I-83 at the 2nd Street exit, on the Market Street Bridge (and in the south end of Wormleysburg approaching the bridge), or on the Harvey Taylor Bridge.

School-wise I'd probably shoot for a rural area in Silver Spring Township, Cumberland County a few miles outside of Mechanicsburg. Silver Spring is in the Cumberland Valley School District (good but very large school district enrollment-wise).

To the original poster - where in northern Virginia do you live and where do you work? That will give me and others familiar with both the DC area and the Harrisburg area a better frame of reference to help you with your questions.

*Much like in the DC area there is northern Virginia and Maryland (with DC bordering both on the east side of the river) and the twain shall never meet, in the Harrisburg area there is the East Shore (east of the Susquehanna) and the West Shore (west of the Susquehanna) with Harrisburg in the middle on the east side of the river, and many people on the East Shore don't go to the West Shore and vice-versa. I don't think the dichotomy in the Harrisburg area is nearly as bad as it is in the DC area though because 1) Harrisburg is considerably smaller and 2) the traffic in Harrisburg isn't nearly as bad.

[CHIP72]

Originally Posted by moving2Harris

Thanks again everyone, I think we have narrowed our search down to three areas Linglestown, Hershey and Mechanicsburg. Is the local tax higher in linglestown vs. the other two areas because it is part of Harrisburg city? Also, by chance does any one have any good preschool recommendations for those three areas?

Although Linglestown is the closest of the three locations mentioned to Harrisburg, it is probably also the worst traffic-wise (though we're talking Harrisburg area bad traffic and not DC/northern Virginia bad traffic; I used to live in the Harrisburg East Shore area before moving to the DC/MD suburbs area and DC area traffic, especially in NOVA, is much, much worse). Also, you have to go north of Linglestown Road (PA 39) to find a more rural feel, and even between PA 39 and the Blue Mountain the development isn't truly rural. (You could find more rural-feel development by going a few miles east on Linglestown Road/PA 39 into West Hanover Township.)

Incidentally, as was also noted by another poster, the Linglestown area isn't part of the city of Harrisburg, it is part of Lower Paxton Township. Parts of Linglestown Road are also in Susquehanna Township (west/closer to the river) and West Hanover Township (east/further from the river).