Oil and Gas Industry in PA (State College, Williamsport: crime, home, unemployed) - Pennsylvania - City-Data Forum

txsoccermom09 · 01-07-2011, 08:19 PM

I am new to this forum and I have been reading ALOT of post from different people in different areas of PA and I'm not real sure if I am asking/about to say is a "loaded" question/statement or what

so please bear with me =]

I want to start off by saying my husband is one of those "gas guys" and we may possibly be moving to PA in the next few months. From what I have gathered some, NOT ALL, people are not real happy about the out of town workers coming and doing these jobs. I know that when alot of people "move in" from out of nowhere there are always some bad apples in the bunch, but not all of us "Oilfield People" are bad =] In fact 95% of us are just like everybody else, we just want to get up, go to work, and provide for our families. That's the category we fall in.

We are possibly going to be located around the Williamsport area and to be honest I have no CLUE as to where to look. We have 2 kids, one will be in 4th grade and the other going into 9th. I am looking for a smaller community, my husband and I have always been what you would call country people =] My biggest concerns are school districts. Can you point me in the direction of some areas that are within about a 30 mi radius of Williamsport, that are smaller and have good schools.

Thanks in advance for all your help

wanneroo · 01-07-2011, 09:52 PM

I think you'll find in human history that anytime a large group of outsiders moves into a place that has been static with the same culture and people for a while, there is going to be resentment and issues.

In a lot of ways the gas industry has brought in business and money and on the other hand it's brought a lot of ripped up roads, noise, traffic and violence/drugs/crime, that didn't exist before. So yeah if you've lived on this one county road for the past 70 years of your life and suddenly there are massive trucks going past making a racket every 5 minutes or a local gets stabbed to death by a gas well worker, of course some people are not going to be too happy.

I don't have an issue with any of it, as long as the gas well folks are respectful of locals and most of the guys I have met are nice enough.

With Williamsport there are a number of threads in the PA forum that have stacks of info on all the Williamsport basics, all you have to do is use your search function in the PA forum to look them up. After you've done that, come back and ask specific questions.

txsoccermom09 · 01-07-2011, 10:16 PM

I agree 100% about it causing disruptive changes. I have been there before too, growing up in Texas I guess you could say it has became a way of life for us.

I'm going to do a little more research and get back to ou =)

fisheye · 01-08-2011, 06:11 AM

txsoccermom09,

This past summer I had a new roof put on my house. It cost me just about $10,000. I had asked the contractor if he used “local” help. He told me that all of his help was “local”. I wanted my money to stimulate our local economy. When his crew came; seven of his helpers did not speak English. They were fast and efficient. I am also a retired Teamster and there were also labor issues - they did not take breaks or lunch.

This is similar to the problem that you are asking about. We have been sold on the idea that these jobs will help unemployed Pennsylvanians. You are going to hear some local resentment. I don’t think that it will be as bad as loosing your job to somebody that is in our country illegally - you are legal Americans.

I also know that the oil producing states are the ones that have the knowledge to effectively drill for our gas.

I always enjoyed driving through Williamsport. I cannot tell you what it is like to live there. Follow wanneroo’s advice about checking out this forum.

Lawman_Kyle · 01-08-2011, 11:32 AM

Come on out! PA is a nice place for the most part, and the only resentment I have really seen here is on this forum. Most of the people you see face to face will never say a bad word to you. My work truck did get littered with STOP FRACKING flyers about 3 weeks ago, but that the one and only incident I have had.

Bring your coats!

PAhippo · 01-08-2011, 12:56 PM

I don't think any resentment is aimed at individuals, but at the gas companies. Most people I know (NE PA) are pretty much resigned to it. It's just not going to go away. Not the good, not the bad. It's here.

Can't really help with schools-except the local school (Troy) is pretty good but I think we're in the wrong direction from where you want to be.

I do have a question-why are you moving here? don't mean to sound, well, as it probably does,but I'm assuming not all the gas guys are going to live here? Who will and who won't? I thought you were all gonna ride off into the sunset in about 6 yrs or so. No?

Lawman_Kyle · 01-10-2011, 09:38 PM

I don't live here! No way...Oklahoma is home

. Most folks will not be moving here permanently.

Unkie_Jerree · 01-13-2011, 02:49 PM

I only have one thing to say and that is - if this industry is so good, then why are they bringing in outside help to do the work.
In all actuality when you come here - you are taking away jobs from good, honest, Pennsylvanians that wants to work but cannot get a job because the company's are bringing in outside help.
There will always be good and bad neighborhoods and your best bet - if your husband is willing to drive and you do not mind that you cannot go 100 mph on Pennsylvania roads - is to move to State College. You can't get a better town then that for raising children and getting them a quality education.

rugerjitsu · 01-17-2011, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unkie_Jerree

I only have one thing to say and that is - if this industry is so good, then why are they bringing in outside help to do the work.
In all actuality when you come here - you are taking away jobs from good, honest, Pennsylvanians that wants to work but cannot get a job because the company's are bringing in outside help.

the main reason is because the work is right now, and they need people who know how to do the jobs, right now.

with that being said, locals are taking advantage of all the training that's required to get these jobs in the O&G industry.

the work is still relatively new to the area, and with time, you'll see the people brought in from out of town will return back to their home states when the locals are up and running...although, some will choose to stick around because the like the area, and the money is good.

WonderingWanderer · 01-17-2011, 12:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by txsoccermom09

I am new to this forum and I have been reading ALOT of post from different people in different areas of PA and I'm not real sure if I am asking/about to say is a "loaded" question/statement or what

so please bear with me =]

I want to start off by saying my husband is one of those "gas guys" and we may possibly be moving to PA in the next few months. From what I have gathered some, NOT ALL, people are not real happy about the out of town workers coming and doing these jobs. I know that when alot of people "move in" from out of nowhere there are always some bad apples in the bunch, but not all of us "Oilfield People" are bad =] In fact 95% of us are just like everybody else, we just want to get up, go to work, and provide for our families. That's the category we fall in.

We are possibly going to be located around the Williamsport area and to be honest I have no CLUE as to where to look. We have 2 kids, one will be in 4th grade and the other going into 9th. I am looking for a smaller community, my husband and I have always been what you would call country people =] My biggest concerns are school districts. Can you point me in the direction of some areas that are within about a 30 mi radius of Williamsport, that are smaller and have good schools.

Thanks in advance for all your help

Hey tx,
Williamsport area is pretty nice. Most of the local frustration is at the companies themselves - not so much the people. My family moved here from Tx (Ft Bliss) about 5 years ago. MIL is in Williamsport so I was already familiar with the area.
Look at Montoursville, Muncy, Loyalsock areas. They're all nice, with decent schools. Much less crime than in Tx. Just be ready for paying higher taxes (welcome to State tax ).

For the Williamsport area, start with these links;

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