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Are there specific areas I should be looking at for the arts, farms stands, ranch houses etc....whats around these areas? Stores/shopping, supermarkets (wegmans?), hospital etc...What is the employment situation I as a artist am freed up my wife works in a high position in the developmental disabilities field with retarded adults...we'd need to find work in that capacity, a reasonable commute is fine. its it better in the county or the city or a suburb of the city???
thanks for you answer(s).
Col
I'm not sure I can do better than the reply from "teachbeach". But I'll try to add what I can from a Lancaster City perspective.
I've been a Lancaster City resident practically all of my life. I've owned the modern townhouse we live in since 1983, six blocks from Penn Square.
There is a large and active arts community in downtown Lancaster. Many art galleries are open evenings on "First Fridays", which are generally well-attended. Much smaller arts communities can be found in rural towns like Lititz. You can read more at www.LancasterArts.com and www.DowntownLancaster.com.
Lancaster City has its good points and its bad points. The southeast section of town is the poorest, and where most of the minorities (predominately Hispanic) tend to live. The northeast and southwest are working-class areas; generally, the further one gets from Penn Square, the nicer the neighborhoods get.
The northwest section of Lancaster is heavily dominated by Franklin & Marshall College, an expensive liberal-arts school. This section is slowly being transformed from a working-class neighborhood to middle-upper class housing. Many people who move to Lancaster from other areas settle here.
Downtown is another issue entirely. Much of the once-historic downtown area was demolished during the "Urban Renewal" programs in the 1960s and 1970s, from which Lancaster has never recovered. Several blocks downtown are still vacant concrete wastelands. More demolition of historic properties has happened over the last ten years, as several large businesses expanded their presence downtown. There are still pockets of historic buildings which support thriving arts, retail, and dining; most notably this includes N. Prince St, and the 300 block of N. Queen St. The 100 and 200 block of E. King St. still is basically intact (in spite of two early 1800s buildings demolished last year to make room for a parking garage), however this area is still quite economically depressed.
But the most significant change has been the $176 million taxpayer-financed hotel and convention center project, of which only $11 million is up-front private investment (half of which came from the local newspaper, which has resulted in severely biased reporting). This takes up 1/2 square block on Penn Square, and has resulted in the demolition of most or all of several once historic buildings (for example, over half of Thaddeus Stevens' home has been demolished, and the rest is literally surrounded by a huge concrete structure). Under construction is a 19-story hotel tower, which will dwarf every other building in Lancaster City.
Crime is an issue in Lancaster City, but not nearly as much as in surrounding cities like Reading or Harrisburg. Most of Lancaster City is safe during the day, but at night it's best to stay away from the south central or southeast areas of the city. Some of the most dangerous areas of downtown Lancaster are literally across the street from the future convention center entrance.
The highest taxes in Lancaster County are in the City. Currently the total is something like 33 mils. This isn't high compared to some other areas of the Northeast, and it's usually bearable in the City because of the generally depressed real estate prices compared to the rest of Lancaster County.
The older suburbs are closest to Lancaster City, some of these are still quite nice. The rest of Lancaster County has recently seen a huge proliferation of "McMansions", which are driving up the price of farmland, enticing many Amish and other farmers to sell and move out of the area.
Politically, Lancaster City has a majority of Democrats. The rest of Lancaster County is heavily Republican; Lancaster has been called one of the most conservative counties in the United States. There is little tolerance for minorities, or any kind of spending for social programs.
I'm sorry, I have to disagree on a point made previously.
My family (and myself) has lived in Lititz(outside of Lancaster City, in Lancaster County) thier entire lives, and I've shopped at Stauffers for the better part of that - my mom even got upset when the new Giant opened next to the Lititz Stauffers and "those poor people are forced to work on Sundays."
I lived in Allentown for 3 years after college, and I will tell you that there is no way that Stauffer's is better than Wegmens. Wegmens is the best supermarket chain on the PLANET(next to central market in Burlington, VT), and when compared, Stauffers has nothing.
The closet Wegmens to Lancaster County IS on Tilgman Street in Allentown.
sorry just had to state the old opinion
I agree- Wegmans rules. and i like stauffers too but it doesn't compare. central market- the downtown farmers market is awesome though- tues, fri & sat. also the first friday of every month is First Friday- art galleries and stores stay open late for showings and shopping. also, there is a wegmans in downingtown (chester co) about 45 mins away on Route 30. much closer than allentown.
Wegman's is much better than any of the Lancaster supermarkets. Trader Joes and Whole Foods are even better, but you have to drive about an hour to get to either of them.
NO WAY ICY TEA!! NO WAY! NO GROCERY STORE IN LANCASTER COUNTY COMES CLOSE TO WEGMANS! Stauffers! ? I'm laughing while typing... Sounds like sour grapes about Wegmans- maybe because there is NO Wegmans in Lancaster area? Wegmans is the disneyworld of grocery stores! There's a reason it ranks the #1 grocery store chain in US, because it's awesome. It's also one of the best companies to work for (FORBES magazine year after year) I'd like see them poll Weis , Giant , Darrenkamps and Stauffers employees. See what "wonderful" responses they'd get. Get out of Lancaster county and drive to Allentown , Harrisburg or Philadelphia suburbs and enjoy the best grocery store in the US ..WEGMANS! (by the way- Wegmans is a privately owned , family-run business.)
NO WAY ICY TEA!! NO WAY! NO GROCERY STORE IN LANCASTER COUNTY COMES CLOSE TO WEGMANS! Stauffers! ? I'm laughing while typing... Sounds like sour grapes about Wegmans- maybe because there is NO Wegmans in Lancaster area? Wegmans is the disneyworld of grocery stores! There's a reason it ranks the #1 grocery store chain in US, because it's awesome. It's also one of the best companies to work for (FORBES magazine year after year) I'd like see them poll Weis , Giant , Darrenkamps and Stauffers employees. See what "wonderful" responses they'd get. Get out of Lancaster county and drive to Allentown , Harrisburg or Philadelphia suburbs and enjoy the best grocery store in the US ..WEGMANS! (by the way- Wegmans is a privately owned , family-run business.)
There is a Wegman's in Downingtown, near where the US30 bypass crosses old Route 30.
Good info about Wegman's but just a note before anyone else decides to post - the OP has not been on city-data since November of last year and stopped asking about PA soon after he started this thread THREE years ago.
FWIW, I'm an occasional visitor to lancaster city. my impression is that while it's sad a historic building was sacrificed for the marriott, the hotel is reasonably nice and a good addition to downtown. I find, at least from a visitors' perspective, the downtown area has changed for the better in the last few years. long overdue air conditioning is coming to the central market which seems to be thriving. it's a pretty nice farmers' market for a city this size and will likely only continue to grow once the renovation is done, making it a much more pleasant place to shop. the amtrak station is also being renovated and there are rumors service will one day be ~50 min to philly. who knows if PennDOT will ever getits act together there
An old thread, but any idea of why Wegmans hasn't entered Lancaster County? They seem to expanding around Lancaster County (I believe they have two more stores planned to open in the Philly market), but not into Lancaster County. Seemed like the next logical, geographical place to plant its flag. Any rumors of them looking?
Lancaster County is tough on what they allow into the area. They nixed another Wal Mart( it has 3 already) so one had to be built in Lebanon county just over the border. Likewise one was built just at the edge of Berks/Chester/ Lancaster in Elverson. So its either protecting its own or Wegmans realizes its facing some stiff local competition or doesn't think it has the consumer market. I find the last hard to believe so its probably the first or more likely a combination of the first two possibilities.
I'm in Berks and we have no Wegmans or Trader Joes. They may have some planned but I don't think so. Last year they said none were planned. I honestly don't miss not having one and they'd face stiff competition from other supermarkets. We did get some new Bottom Dollar stores which is geared to lower income shoppers but still has appeal to everybody. We did get a Whole Foods which left me laughing when I went in. Now that was a greatly overrrated, over priced little postage stamp sized place.
Stauffer's and Oregon Pike still have baggers which I will always take to be a sign of valuing customer service.
Stauffers and Shady Maple better than Wegmans????? Get serious, there is no comparison and whether they come to Lancaster County or not, they are still the best in my opinion. I have shopped in 4 different Wegmans and none of then was a disappointment.
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