Thinking of Lancaster County Area- Any advice and will I be welcome (Levittown: fit in, for sale)

[TristansMommy]

Hi,

I was born and raised on LI. But, the cost of living here is absolutely ridiculous. My family all has moved out of NY (my mom went back to MT and two brothers are living in Denver). That right there is reason enough for me and my husband (originally from Europe with no family here) for us to find a new place to live.. why live here with such a high cost of living without our family to keep us rooted here.

No quality of life. Property taxes, too high, insurance- too high, housing prices - way too high..you'd die if you see what I paid for such a little house here on LI, NY. Our goal is in the next 1 1/2 - 2 years sell this house and reloacate.

We fell in love with MD, but the cost of living there is a little expensive too (although not as much as here on LI). So.. I have been thinking about PA.. it seems perfect location wise.. near MD, but still within 4 - 5 hours of NY (my husband will still come here on occassion for business purposes).

Lancaster county , from what I remember as a child visiting on vacation, is beautiful. I also hear that it is a dry county (no alcohol can be purchased in lancaster.. which is fine with me as I don't drink). Our next home that we purchase we want to be the last home we purchase for atleast the next 20 years. We're looking for an area that offers beauty and outside the super crowded areas but close enough to the cities to offer some culture..and well big city shopping (I dont' want to be too rural). A place where the people are friendly, schools are excellent and that I can really dig into and make roots for me and my kids ( i have a 1 year old and want more kids..atleast 2 max 3). A 4-5 BR house on a min of 1 acre of land... I like neighbors but not too close so that i have more privacey as well.

I'm a little worried about how welcome I will be , coming from NY. Keeping in mind that I will NOT be a commuter working in another state..but i am moving to PA to escape high taxes and high cost of living.

Any suggestions on the best places in Lancaster and will I be welcomed? Is having a child going to make it easier for me to be able to meet and make friends as well as assimilate? Or will it take a long time for people to really accept a former NY'r living in Lancaster County PA?

[Icy Tea]

I don't think Lancaster is dry, although the state is pretty conservative about drinking( only state stores sold hard liquor and wine until a few years ago) and they weren't open on Sundays. I think you'll be welcomed if you are friendly and self sufficient and don't try to force change on anybody.
The Amish and Mennonites and pa dutch( to a lesser degree) are not warm and friendly as a rule but they are not unfriendly or rude. That puts them up on many other states.

[Positiveone]

What part of LI are you from? We are originally from East Meadow & Huntington, currently we are in Nevada but looking to move back east. We are considering a move to Lancaster also. We were there on vacation last year. We drove all around Lancaster County, seemed pretty clean, nice and yes much more affordable then is LI. And your right the LI taxes are insane!!

What part of Lancaster were you considering?

I heard so many stories about how New Yorkers will be accepted in Lancaster, some say not so great, others said its like anywhere else. I have cousins in York & Lancaster who are originally from LI and they fit in fine, they did come across some idiots who made fun of the NY accent, but just put them in their place right away and all will be fine.

From what i read & heard is that Hempfield schools are one of the best in Lancaster.

Good Luck!!

Originally Posted by TristansMommy

Hi,

I was born and raised on LI. But, the cost of living here is absolutely ridiculous. My family all has moved out of NY (my mom went back to MT and two brothers are living in Denver). That right there is reason enough for me and my husband (originally from Europe with no family here) for us to find a new place to live.. why live here with such a high cost of living without our family to keep us rooted here.

No quality of life. Property taxes, too high, insurance- too high, housing prices - way too high..you'd die if you see what I paid for such a little house here on LI, NY. Our goal is in the next 1 1/2 - 2 years sell this house and reloacate.

We fell in love with MD, but the cost of living there is a little expensive too (although not as much as here on LI). So.. I have been thinking about PA.. it seems perfect location wise.. near MD, but still within 4 - 5 hours of NY (my husband will still come here on occassion for business purposes).

Lancaster county , from what I remember as a child visiting on vacation, is beautiful. I also hear that it is a dry county (no alcohol can be purchased in lancaster.. which is fine with me as I don't drink). Our next home that we purchase we want to be the last home we purchase for atleast the next 20 years. We're looking for an area that offers beauty and outside the super crowded areas but close enough to the cities to offer some culture..and well big city shopping (I dont' want to be too rural). A place where the people are friendly, schools are excellent and that I can really dig into and make roots for me and my kids ( i have a 1 year old and want more kids..atleast 2 max 3). A 4-5 BR house on a min of 1 acre of land... I like neighbors but not too close so that i have more privacey as well.

I'm a little worried about how welcome I will be , coming from NY. Keeping in mind that I will NOT be a commuter working in another state..but i am moving to PA to escape high taxes and high cost of living.

Any suggestions on the best places in Lancaster and will I be welcomed? Is having a child going to make it easier for me to be able to meet and make friends as well as assimilate? Or will it take a long time for people to really accept a former NY'r living in Lancaster County PA?

[karen_s]

My friend Kelly moved to the Ephrata area from LI. She has had difficulty making friends, in fact her kids really only play with ex-NY children in their own subdivision. Her kids are little and not in school yet, so I don't know if that will help.

She does not attend church but says that families who do seem to have an easier time of getting acquainted with the locals.

Hope this helps. Good luck with your decision.

[TristansMommy]

Originally Posted by Positiveone

What part of LI are you from? We are originally from East Meadow & Huntington, currently we are in Nevada but looking to move back east. We are considering a move to Lancaster also. We were there on vacation last year. We drove all around Lancaster County, seemed pretty clean, nice and yes much more affordable then is LI. And your right the LI taxes are insane!!

What part of Lancaster were you considering?

I heard so many stories about how New Yorkers will be accepted in Lancaster, some say not so great, others said its like anywhere else. I have cousins in York & Lancaster who are originally from LI and they fit in fine, they did come across some idiots who made fun of the NY accent, but just put them in their place right away and all will be fine.

From what i read & heard is that Hempfield schools are one of the best in Lancaster.

Good Luck!!

Thank you.. I'm from Levittown. These boards have been so helpful. We are just at the beginning stages of looking for a place so I haven't really figured out what part yet, but I'm definately leaning toward Lancaster county. I think the acceptance/ non acceptance thing is going to be wherever you move to. Some places it just takes time for people to accept you and welcome you.. .and Im' sure that will be the case but i'm prepared for that.

Unfortunately, the way the market is right now, I can't sell now and move. I lost so much equity in my home in the past year AFTER putting so much work into it that I'd have to wait it out a bit for it to stabalize (which it is, but inventory is still so high). I may even leave and rent this house if I have to (even though I wont' get enough rent to cover hte mortgage) and wait so I don't take a huge loss!!

Good side, it gives me some time to do my research and visit differnt places to see how I like it.

[Positiveone]

Yeah the same here in Nevada, we live 20 mins outside of Vegas in a great neighborhood, but its so hard to sell homes at this time. The market here is flooded with so many homes for sale. About a year ago our home was valued at 80 grand higher then today. Vegas is still one of the fastest grwoing places around, but they built way to many homes with not enough buyers out there.

And again on the Lancaster thing. I'm sure you will meet & find friends in time, those who wont accept you due to you being from NY are not worth your time, always remeber those are the people to avoid, they have real issues, very insecure!! Real people will accept you nomatter where you come from.

Here in vegas it was actually very easy to fit in, we never had a problem with the locals at all.

Originally Posted by TristansMommy

Thank you.. I'm from Levittown. These boards have been so helpful. We are just at the beginning stages of looking for a place so I haven't really figured out what part yet, but I'm definately leaning toward Lancaster county. I think the acceptance/ non acceptance thing is going to be wherever you move to. Some places it just takes time for people to accept you and welcome you.. .and Im' sure that will be the case but i'm prepared for that.

Unfortunately, the way the market is right now, I can't sell now and move. I lost so much equity in my home in the past year AFTER putting so much work into it that I'd have to wait it out a bit for it to stabalize (which it is, but inventory is still so high). I may even leave and rent this house if I have to (even though I wont' get enough rent to cover hte mortgage) and wait so I don't take a huge loss!!

Good side, it gives me some time to do my research and visit differnt places to see how I like it.

[donnaluv]

Hi! We too are from LI currently living in FL & are going to be relocating in either Lancaster/Berk or York county. We have 2 daughters, 11 & 1. Sounds like we could become friends. Fl isn't a very friendly place & it's getting expensive here too. We're hoping we'll be out of here within the next 2yrs also. Good luck!

[Lehigh Valley Native]

Originally Posted by karen_s

She does not attend church but says that families who do seem to have an easier time of getting acquainted with the locals.
.

Lancaster county is a very conservative and religious area. If you join a church, you will be able to fit into the community much better.

[TristansMommy]

Originally Posted by Lehigh Valley Native

Lancaster county is a very conservative and religious area. If you join a church, you will be able to fit into the community much better.

We'll have to keep in touch. Definately sounds like we could become friends should we live near each other. I know that having children really does help a lot in making friends in a new community. Good luck to you too!

[Lehigh Valley Native]

Originally Posted by TristansMommy

We'll have to keep in touch. Definately sounds like we could become friends should we live near each other. I know that having children really does help a lot in making friends in a new community. Good luck to you too!

That sounds good, you can PM me anytime and i'll give you my email.
By the way, have you looked into The Lehigh Valley and its suburbs? Great towns and awesome school districts.