What's Lancaster PA like? (Philadelphia, Washington: house, safe area, public schools)

[movingtopa]

We may be working at HACC Lancaster campus and are wondering about which direction to look in for a house. Any suggestions/comments would be greatly appreciated.

[mjk1093]

Search for "Lancaster" in this forum for plenty of into. I'm too sick of the subject to recap the good, bad and ugly [yeah, there's a lot of ugly ]

[movingtopa]

Thank you for your reply mjk1093. I just finished going through every page and thread re: Lancaster.

[Oldiebutgoodie26]

Having lived other places in this country, my experience has been that it is a very unwelcoming area to those who were not born and raised here. If you cannot say that your great-great-grandparents worshipped at the local Mennonite church- you are looked upon unfavorably. But- having friendly, kind, helpful neighbors may not be a value to you. Lots of things to do. Traffic is a bit of a headache, b/c the roads have NOT kept up with population. Lancaster is close to Philly, the Jersey shore, Baltimore, NYC. It is a relatively safe place to raise a family, and the public schools are good. The city is heavily populated by Latino/Hispanic folks, which gives it a different flavor. Three miles away in any direction- it's rural and white.

My sister just bought a little house in the city for $65,000- it's adorable, but you need to like city living for that.

[garriekeyman]

MJK had a good suggestion and it appears as though you took it. Any clarifications desired? It would be interesting to hear from you again and to know what your final thoughts are about re-locating after you have read all the posts on Lancaster. HACC is east of the city so you may desire to look that way for housing if you don't like commutes. South, north and east of HACC would all be rural, although not immediately so -- especially just east of there due to the tourist traffic associated with the Route 30 strip- and outlet- malls as well as tourist traffic affiliated with the nearby commercialized Amish attractions and with Strasburg. Of course, you may be a city type. I know folks who live in Lancaster and love it. It's ultimately affordable with lots to do and some safe areas do indeed exist. If you're a city person or cost is a concern and therefore you have to look to the city, you'd probably be better off seeking out those areas immediately surrounding Franklin Marshall College.

[jackooboy]

Lancaster is a good community. I grew up in Millersville, lived in Lock Haven, Glasgow Scotland and currently live in North Philadelphia. By far, Lancaster is the best place to live out of all of them. wealth inequality is not a major problem like it is in Philadelphia. It is large enough that it has all the ammenities you may need. It offers a stable place to raise a children and have a family.

The down side to Lancaster is that it's nightlife is a little weak, however that's improving. Some places in the county may be a little too conservative meaning that they don't look favorably on outsiders... however, if you live in the city or any of the suburbs immediately surrounding the city this won't be a problem.

Don't let all of the angry Liberals scare you off. The people here are much nicer than the people I've met in Philly over the past 3 years.

[mjk1093]

Don't let all of the angry Liberals scare you off. The people here are much nicer than the people I've met in Philly over the past 3 years.

Hey, who you callin' a liberal? Actually I'm pretty conservative on a lot of issues but people in Lancaster still scared the heck out of me. One guy told me he couldn't wait for nuclear war so Jesus would come back. Of course, there's nuts everywhere, but the general tone down there was sort of, um... militant.

[jackooboy]

Militant as in the pacifist Mennonites, Amish and Bretheran who are prevelant throughout the County are are pacifists?

[Lakeland Yankee]

Originally Posted by Luisay

Lancaster is populated by stupid people. The "natives" for the most part tend to think if you are not like them i.e. German, jesus freak moron , you are not welcome.
I have lived in California, Washington ,Europe and India but i have never came across such a rude,stupid snobbish bunch before.

Why pull up an old post just to bash us natives? While I respect the opinions of all posters you should at least back up your claims with examples. Sorry you had a bad experience and best of luck on your move elsewhere.