Working in Hanover, Where to live? (Bethlehem, York: crime, houses, school district)

[Moving from Toronto]

Wife and I have two small kids (oldest will start school in a year). We are coming from the Toronto area and will be working in Hanover.

Looking for at least 1/2 acre and 4 bedrooms.

New Oxford seems nice, I visited there a few weeeks ago.

I know some folks in Dover, so it has made the list.

Dallastown is close to the Hockey Arena (I know that likely doesn't matter to most, but it will for our little guys) and has a highly regarded school system.

Littlestown is close to the MD border.

Gettysburg, is it a nightmare because of the tourist traffic?

What can anyone tell us about these areas? Thanks a lot in advance for you input as we coming in completely blind.

[Marodi]

Originally Posted by Moving from Toronto

Wife and I have two small kids (oldest will start school in a year). We are coming from the Toronto area and will be working in Hanover.

Looking for at least 1/2 acre and 4 bedrooms.

New Oxford seems nice, I visited there a few weeeks ago.

I know some folks in Dover, so it has made the list.

Dallastown is close to the Hockey Arena (I know that likely doesn't matter to most, but it will for our little guys) and has a highly regarded school system.

Littlestown is close to the MD border.

Gettysburg, is it a nightmare because of the tourist traffic?

What can anyone tell us about these areas? Thanks a lot in advance for you input as we coming in completely blind.

New oxford isn't bad, but if there is a 'ghetto' in the area, that would be the place. I wouldn't be afraid to walk alone at night through it, but it's generally a lower income area and the school system is....eh. Drug dealing is relatively commonplace in New Oxford, but when it comes to crime it's not really that bad.

Gettysburg isn't THAT bad with tourist traffic. During the non-tourist season (sept-april) roads are pretty good, snow removal is relatively prompt, and not bad. Tourist season builds until the 1st-3rd which is when you need to know the back roads to get around anytime soon. Route 30 becomes horrendous, and anything on the south of town is just flat out bad. North of gettysburg (using route 30 as the half way point) is pretty much tourist free, due to nothing there for tourists. Only people would be college students within the borders of the town. Outside the borders to the north there isn't any traffic problems.

I'd also recommend checking out bonneville. Only thing that might be a detractor in my eyes is the 10 minute drive to get to a grocery store. Other than that, it's an easy commute down 116 into Hanover.

Also, abbottstown has had a bunch of development of the type of houses in the ballpark you're looking for, so you might want to check that area out too.

Travel times:
Gettysburg-Hanover via route 30 and Hanover Street: Usually 30 minutes, less during non-tourist times
Gettysburg-Hanover via 116: roughly 20-25 minutes
Gettysburg-Hanover via 30/Centenial Road: 25-30 minutes
Bonneville-Hanover via 116: 15-20 minutes
New Oxford-Hanover 5-10 minutes via Hanover Street

[austere]

Hi Moving from Toronto~

We are relocating to PA in a couple months from Minnesota, and I know what you mean about being near the ice rink. Here, we have indoor ice (most of the time 2 sheets) in every town, so we are mapping all the areas we are considering to see if it is too far from the Bethlehem Ice Arena. I have one hockey player and one figure skater.

My husband has done tons of research and spoken to hockey program directors out there, and for our son it seems the Bethlehem Blast will give him the competition and level of play he is used to here in MN.

I don't have any help for you, but thought I'd offer you best of luck -- from one hockey family to another

[teachbeach]

Dallastown has excellent schools, as does York Suburban. They are both close to the hockey rink and have active programs within the community. There are numerous traveling teams (sort of the little league of hockey) from this area as well. If you live on the west side of 83, but within the school district, you can take back roads to Hanover and get there in about 45 minutes. Spring Grove has some beautiful homes in your price range, but there is so much growth and development that they are having a hard time keeping up with space for the student population. PA has some weird system of allowing and allocating money for new schools. You can't build schools on projection, only on existing enrollment.

New Oxford and Littlestown have difficulty getting and keeping teachers. I'm not sure if it's the pay, the working conditions or the administration, but there is high turnover every year and jobs posted up until school starts. Littlestown teachers have not had a contract for 3 years.

You can look up the school systems and their test scores on the Pennsylvania Department of Education website.

[Marodi]

Originally Posted by teachbeach

Spring Grove has some beautiful homes in your price range, but there is so much growth and development that they are having a hard time keeping up with space for the student population. PA has some weird system of allowing and allocating money for new schools. You can't build schools on projection, only on existing enrollment.

New Oxford and Littlestown have difficulty getting and keeping teachers. I'm not sure if it's the pay, the working conditions or the administration, but there is high turnover every year and jobs posted up until school starts. Littlestown teachers have not had a contract for 3 years.

You can look up the school systems and their test scores on the Pennsylvania Department of Education website.

Spring grove smells like sauerkraut because of the paper mills. I personally wouldnt recommend it.

And NO isn't a good school imo. My cousins go there and it's chaotic compared to other area schools. Fights are common as are drugs (drug busts happen on the elementary school grounds relatively frequently).

[KristyLiz]

Originally Posted by Marodi

Spring grove smells like sauerkraut...

This made me laugh

[Moving from Toronto]

I have been visiting the area for the past 10 years and am familiar with Spring Grove. I know some folks that live there and it is either "you smell it" or "you don't".

Dallastown seems a bit far from Hanover, I drive over 50 miles each way right now and would like to lessen my commute time.

Thanks for the suggestions.

[Marodi]

So I forgot to ask, why don't you want to live in hanover?

[Moving from Toronto]

That is a fair question, I don't know why we wouldn't live in Hanover. The town doesn't do much for me, although it does have all the amenities there.