am i crazy for wanting to move to move to harrisburg/hershey? (Pittsburgh: real estate, to rent)

[brianj29]

Ok I am a masters level therapist/substance abuse field...I CURRENTLY LIVE IN ITHACA NY NEAR CORNELL(UPSTATE)...i WANT MILDER WINTERS MORE JOB OPPORTUNITIES ETC .i WAS INTERVIEWING IN RALEIGH(HATED THE TRAFFIC ,FAKE PLASTIC STRIP MALLS AND OVERCROWDED SUBDIVISIONS,iNDIANAPOLIS)i WAS THINKING ABOUT THE HARRISBURG AREA AS i WAS DRIVING BACK TO UPSTATE ny AS IT LOOKS LIKE A VIBRANT PLACE NOT TOO BAD WITH TRAFFIC AND A BIT MORE MILD THAN iTHACA.i LIKE THE HERSHE AREA AS A PLACE TO POSSIBLY LIVE ALTHOUGH I AM OPEN TO SUGGESTIONS...i HAVE BEEN OFFERED A FEW INTERVIEWS IN HARRISBURG BUT I NOTICED THE PAY WAS SIG. LOWER...ANYWAY AM I NUTS FOR THINKING ABOUT THIS? ANY PROS AND CONS TO THIS AREA i HAVE A 5 YEAR OLD ENTERING KINDERGARTEN AND A 9 MONTH OLD .

[Deacon]

I think you already started answering your own question by asking. Always trust your first instinct. BTW, I moved out of PA. because of high taxes, no jobs etc. I now live in the depressed State of Oklahoma!! haha

[astrogal]

High cost of living, no jobs and crappy place to raise a family. SOme areas are nice but you will pay. Last I heard even the candy factory was laying people off. The winters are milder but you get some nasty ice storms instead.... Give me snow anyday!

[danwxman]

Harrisburg has lower pay, but a significantly lower cost of living then the big cities on the east coast. The Hershey area is probably the most expensive in the region though, I would look somewhere else if that is a big deal to you. For the person who mentioned the candy factory...yes they are laying off a lot of people. But for every job lost there, the Hershey Medical Center is adding a high-tech job to replace it. The area's economy is still growing and healthy, much moreso then upstate New York.

[Nativeson]

Harrisburg and Hershey are good places to live and raise a family.

Look into Philhaven in Mount Gretna. They are always looking for qualified people in your field. Same with Hershey Med.

Winters may be milder, but the summers will let you fry an egg on the sidewalk!

[Dave53]

I think instead of the Harrisburg/Hershey area I'd consider the Greensburg/Pittsburgh area. The winters can be bad here but not normaly as bad as N.Y. We're in the Derry area, about half hr. drive from Greensburg. We moved here from Johnstown Pa. about 30 yrs. ago and love it here. It's a great place to raise kids and the schools are very good.

[lionandlamb]

Greetings,

We Just Moved Here, Looking To Rent A House In The Country Or Edge Of Small Town.. Harrisburg, Hershey To York, Hubby Works In Harrisburg For The Next Yr, He's Driving From Mt Holly.. Says It Takes Awhile..

Need 3 Plus Bd. House. Have A Dog.. As Many Dogs As You See Here And How People Treat There Animals Very Well.. Landlords Dont Like Them. They Have Had Bad Experiences... I Say The Landlords Should Know The People Better They Rent To.. Thay Way Good People Like Us - Dont Get Treated Like, Our Dog Made The Mess...
Anyway......
Have References And Good Credit.. Looking For 2 Yrs Rental.
Any Help Would Be Greatly Appreciated..
Have A Blessed Day

[megabyte]

I live in Harrisburg suburbs (thinking of moving to Colorado). I bought 1 acre for $22,000 near a major highway but no able to hear it. Fantastic commute 7 minutes to downtown harrisburg 7 minutes to hershey. Now I sold .33 acres 12 years later for $45,000 taxes and restrictions are rising fast. Where I live all the business's and tech areas are moving into my area from farmland to shopping malls and warehouses. No real traffic (I lived in Northern Virginia thats real traffic). A typical bank employee might make $25,000. Computer pros make $45,000. Nurses make anything they want I know premature baby nurses making $90,000. Your winters will be alot easier no doubt about that. Summers a little hotter but not too bad 90's not many 100's maybe two days out of the summer. Big trucks are all over harrisburg as we are a central hub for 3 main highways you see accidents everyday from trucks. A real pain. Crime isnt that bad except in the city. We have state police out where I live and everyone has guns so crime is rather noexistant. You can buy as many guns in a single day as you have money if that tells you something. Many hunters fishing is serious around here. We have a hiking trail that goes right through the area the Appalachian trail. A very boring city.

[llzpa]

I like Mechanicsburg (right outside of Harrisburg) There are therapist jobs in the Mechanicsburg/Camp Hill/Harrisburg area. Cost of living here is not bad and we are seeing a lot of growth. You can look for jobs and real estate for that area including Hershey on PennLive.com: Everything Local it is the website for the Patriot News.

Also Cumberland Valley School District is really good. Hampden Elementary, Silver Spring, etc. are all good elementary schools. A lot of young teachers with a lot of energy. My son is going into 3rd grade.

[CaptainObvious]

Originally Posted by Dave53

I think instead of the Harrisburg/Hershey area I'd consider the Greensburg/Pittsburgh area. The winters can be bad here but not normaly as bad as N.Y. We're in the Derry area, about half hr. drive from Greensburg. We moved here from Johnstown Pa. about 30 yrs. ago and love it here. It's a great place to raise kids and the schools are very good.

Talk about a depressed area with no jobs and low pay. You'd be much better off in the growing area between Harrisburg and Lancaster than a declining suburb in the rust belt. Also the weather is MUCH nicer in the central part of the state- on average the daytime high is a full 6 degrees warmer in Harrisburg than Greensburg and you don't have to worry about lake-effect snow in Central PA. There's no doubt in my mind what the correct move here is.

Captain