Relocating to Pa. (Erie, Harrisburg, York: house, construction, wages)

[ki0eh]

I'm surprised no one yet has mentioned the shale gas areas. Williamsport area is a trucking hub for the gas-related services - not OTR trucking, but a lot of Class B stuff like concrete, and even more if you have or can get a tank endorsement for fresh and waste water carrying.

[SouthernFreeSpirit]

Thanks for the lead! Is it just Williamsport? Or are there other areas...

[ki0eh]

There are smaller areas such as Wellsboro, Towanda, Sayre/Athens, and Montrose but the gas boom has really driven up rents in those places - well, it has in Williamsport but since that's both a larger place and on the edge rather than in the middle there is less of an effect.

Other edge of shale area places to consider might be Olean, Wellsville, Hornell, Corning, Elmira, and Binghamton, NY, all just over the border, and all still within the Federally defined Appalachian Region despite being accidentally in the same state as Times Square. The shale development is about to be let loose in NY as well so that may be a good place to be.

[blazerj]

Originally Posted by ki0eh

The shale development is about to be let loose in NY as well so that may be a good place to be.

There are a lot of enviornmentalists in NY that will try and block any fracking in NY State.

[SouthernFreeSpirit]

I went through all the towns of a population of at least 10k but under 50k near an interstate and with the right demographics for us and came up with this list

Altoona
Berwick
Bloomsburg
Butler
Elizabethtown
Dunmore
Ephrata
Hanover
Hermitage
Kingston
Lower Burrell
Meadville
Mount Lebanon
Mountain Top
Nanticoke
Oil City
Saint Mary's
Waynesboro
WhiteHall
Johnstown

Any good/bad things about any of these? To pricey? Crime? Bad schools?

[ki0eh]

Originally Posted by blazerj

There are a lot of enviornmentalists in NY that will try and block any fracking in NY State.

There are some, but unevenly distributed. The Empire State, ruled entirely from downstate, is also well aware of the need for $$$ for funding the empire, and most of the NY portion of the Susquehanna River Basin has been a drain on the empire's resources since, oh, 1860 for rural areas, and 1960 for the small cities. The Empire has no intention of repeating PA's manifestly stupid (probably corrupt) mistake in not taking full financial advantage of such a resource.

What seems to be emerging is a selective local option, allowing fracking in, say, most of Chenango County (western Chenango has more visible poverty than I've seen in anyplace I've been in WVa from Weirton to Keyser to Matewan, and as much as, say, western Fayette County, PA), safely away from NY City's water supply (Delaware River), and maybe not in Tompkins County.

Historically far northern PA was tributary economically to the small cities along the Erie Railroad, now the I-86 corridor. Even without fracking in NY state yet, a number of gas services have already set up closer to the highway and rail links, certainly in anticipation of centrality to future NY fracking potential. With larger towns, relatively less influx yet, and greater protection for tenants in NY law vs. PA, it might make sense to locate where there is upside potential vs. the boom peak.

[ki0eh]

It appears the list was based on municipal-limits population which is not very meaningful in PA where municipal limits were determined by 300+ years of historical happenstance. I've tried quickly and perhaps over-callously to characterize each one.

Altoona - Center of its own small metro. Home base for Sheetz, growing privately held chain of convenience stores. If you can get in driving distribution trucks for them it's probably a more stable gig than the gas services less numerous in this area.

Berwick - Standalone small town but relatively devoid of chains/services compared to Bloomsburg, Hazleton, Wilkes-Barre. Nearby nuclear plant is slated to expand but those take many years to approve, but then many years to build and a lot of concrete etc. A bit remote from the gas area.

Bloomsburg - Standalone college community a bit more upscale/liberal than neighboring Berwick with more shopping opportunity. Not so much a gas service base, a bit remote from the gas area.

Butler - Rimshot satellite city of Pittsburgh, a bit far out for regular commuting. Some opportunity with the gas, I haven't been there lately to see how much of this is actually based there vs. communities with better road access.

Elizabethtown - College town with frequent Amtrak service to Phila/NYC. Further from the main trucking terminals which are around Carlisle, and along I-81 and I-78 and a bit along I-83. Essentially a joint suburb of Harrisburg and Lancaster on the border of the metros. Surprisingly little shopping even for basics. Nearby Middletown would be less expensive and more convenient.

Dunmore - Inner ring suburb of Scranton. Check the NEPA sub-forum. Some gas service and other distribution job potential but a lot of competition from longtime residents and recent arrivals from NYC/NJ.

Ephrata - Not as much a trucking hub as areas to the north and west. Not as much a locational target from outsiders, many of whom come on here and express disappointment with moves to Lancaster County.

Hanover - Home base for Utz and plant site (former HQ) for Snyder's. A lot of route driving from here as a result. Some outsiders do come here from the higher tax/higher crime Baltimore area and try to commute.

Hermitage - I'm not very familiar with this mutual satellite of Youngstown and Pittsburgh.

Kingston - Relatively large suburb of Wilkes-Barre. See the NEPA sub-forum for further info.

Lower Burrell - Suburb of Pittsburgh, see that sub-forum.

Meadville - Independent college town, some shopping or drive to Erie or Pittsburgh for more. The gas hasn't really hit here, the zipper factory disappeared long ago and ChannelLock probably isn't hiring although still there. Probably not a first target for seeking job opportunity. Also starting to get into the lake effect snow belt which may be a bit of a surprise for a Southerner.

Mount Lebanon - Suburb of Pittsburgh, see sub-forum.

Mountain Top - Outer suburb of Wilkes-Barre. Spread out, a "good school suburb" but with not much real community feel. Shopping and distribution are a little bit north down the mountain in Wilkes-Barre, or up another mountain to the south in Hazleton.

Nanticoke - Old coal town, now an outer suburb of Wilkes-Barre abandoned by most services.

Oil City - Check out a number of interesting threads on here. Tried to use artists to rebirth itself, not sure how well that's really worked out. I think it's still somewhat remote from the gas rush, a bit isolated to serve as a base.

Saint Mary's - Settled by German Catholics and occupied by their descendants. A proud, tidy community that is a center for the powdered metal industry. Somewhat too isolated to be a base for gas services.

Waynesboro - An older town with some downtown left, surrounded by housing boom suburban development pushed out of adjacent MD by growth management regulations. A large intermodal hub is under construction just west of there so likely soon many Class A jobs coming for local/regional delivery into DC, etc.

WhiteHall - Suburb of Allentown, see Lehigh Valley sub-forum.

Johnstown - An old steel town through 3 floods but since contracted. Local pork barrel Congressman died and gas rush hasn't really taken its place yet. Cheap housing in dramatic scenery if your money came from somewhere else because you won't find it here.

[ki0eh]

DuBois might have missed the OP's attention because it's slightly under 10k city limits, and unlike nearby St Mary's hasn't consolidated with the surrounding township (last I knew City of DuBois and Sandy Twp were still fighting like old married people). Right on I-80 with some gas services and shopping but no super-boom yet so probably not extortionate rents as in Bradford/Susquehanna counties. Probably a bit more going to happen here vs. Clearfield to the east, or Brookville and Clarion to the west on 80.

The OP might want to check out Bellefonte as well, again under 10k borough limits but about that with surrounding township areas. A couple of large contractors that have been here for a while continue to haul out local limestone in huge quantities to gas pads to the north and west. Shopping is in nearby State College, the mall (such as it is) is in between. Becoming a locus for some of the higher end gas services. The college kids don't come out to Bellefonte unless they wind up in county court.

[fisheye]

The Carlisle, PA area is the trucking capitol of PA. However; most of that is OTR. It is a great area to live – at least when my job was located there in the late 90's.

To the OP, since you have to work to support your family, why are you not trying to locate your job first? Check the local papers of areas that you are considering and check how many jobs are available and see what they pay. If you want to be a truck driver and only one job is listed; that might not be a great new area. The more job listings; the greater a chance that this move will work for your family.

[ki0eh]

I lived in the Carlisle area myself and moved to the other side of the Harrisburg metro under protest. It still has more small town than suburb feel and a lot more going on economically than just about any place on the OP's list. The less expensive housing is row homes though, possibly too much of a shock for those moving from other areas (basically, nearly everywhere else in this country) where old small towns have detached houses.

Just drove by ABF in Carlisle yesterday and they have the banner out for hiring city drivers again. I think city driving for them is some tricky Class A and definitely not no-touch though. And I think even union dues still.