Why is Lancaster county so expensive? (Pittsburgh, Allentown: apartment complex, rental, townhouse)

[jmf33078]

I have been recently offered a job working in Lancaster county. I'm a chef and I live in Pittsburgh right now. I would be working near route 30 heading out towards bird in hand and ronks. I was looking at the prices of apartments for rent. They're just as expensive as apartments here in Pittsburgh.

Why are they so expensive? I have even looked at other small towns around Pittsburgh, even across the state line into West Virginia. The price of rent goes down. I currently rent a 2 bedroom apartment with my wife and child. We pay $675 a month in Pittsburgh. I looked at apartments near where I may be working. The rental prices are the same. If not higher then in Pittsburgh.

Does anyone know why?

[Wells5]

My advice: stay in Pittsburgh.

[briantroutman]

The way you pose the question seems to suggest that you think Lancaster should be more affordable because it’s a smaller city than Pittsburgh, but that’s not necessarily the case. Rental rates are very localized, and the prices will fluctuate based on the number and type of apartments available, the number of people moving into an area, the proportion that wants to rent vs. buy, and so on.

The Pittsburgh metro area as a whole has been slowly declining in population since about 1970, so very generally speaking, there are more than enough homes and apartments to go around, and rents and home prices have stayed fairly low. The Lancaster area, on the other hand, has been steadily adding population in that time period, and if the number of apartments hasn’t increased as quickly, prices would naturally nudge a bit upward.

That said, $675 is about at low a price on a two-bedroom apartment as you’re likely to find anywhere in the US.
It also looks like it’s a bargain by Pittsburgh standards, as the average rent on a two bedroom in Pittsburgh is $1,562 (according to this site).

If you decide to take the new position, you probably won’t be saving money on rent, but will the new employer pay you more or offer you better opportunity for advancement? I don’t think this is largely a financial decision, though. Think about where you think you’ll be happiest—in terms of you work life, your home life, your neighborhood—and also consider what’s best for your family, and make the decision on that basis.

[ki0eh]

In PA generally, areas south and east of the Blue Mountain (i.e. along the I-81 to I-78 corridor and southeast, Chambersburg to Allentown) tend to have a growing population and more job opportunities.

Only very scattered localities to the north and west of this line see sustained economic progress - perhaps only State College, bearing in mind that Cranberry Twp's gain is largely Monessen's loss if you take the Pittsburgh region as a whole.

So housing prices are just going to be higher in southeastern PA than in other than the hottest neighborhoods or current boomtowns (which have faded in the last couple of years as shale drilling collapsed as quickly as it came) in northern and western PA.

[bluecarebear]

Originally Posted by jmf33078

The price of rent goes down. I currently rent a 2 bedroom apartment with my wife and child. We pay $675 a month in Pittsburgh.

$675 for a 2 bedroom in Pittsburgh is dirt cheap. The average one bedroom is over $1000. You can't even find one bedrooms in sketchy areas for $675. You have to be way outside of the city.

[jmf33078]

Originally Posted by bluecarebear

$675 for a 2 bedroom in Pittsburgh is dirt cheap. The average one bedroom is over $1000. You can't even find one bedrooms in sketchy areas for $675. You have to be way outside of the city.

The rental price varies greatly in Pittsburgh. Location has a lot to do with jacking up prices. The same can be said for new construction and amenities. I live in the suburbs of Pittsburgh. I live so close to the city. I can drive up the hill and I'm in a city neighborhood. I know some suburban towns where rent is cheap. But those are the bad sections of the suburbs. I can pay twice my rent and drive ten minutes down the road to rent a townhouse.

I live in an apartment complex that has no pool, gym, or garage parking. Also the building is at least 40 to 50 years old. If you ever go on Craigslist check out the apartments. You will see the difference in rental prices. Look up towns like Carnegie, Etna, McKees Rocks, West Mifflin, and Penn Hills. Now compare them to towns like Sewickley, Upper St. Clair, Mt. Lebanon, and South Fayette. All of these towns are in Allegheny County and suburbs of Pittsburgh. You'll see a difference in rental prices. Since the first set of towns is your blue collar towns and the second set is your ritzy towns.

[jmf33078]

The job that I may or may not take is located east of Lancaster and outside of the city limits. It's off route 30. So my question was how come farming communities like ronks, bird in hand, Strasburg, and smoketown. Why is there rent high?

I was looking on craigslist and saw an apartment in Strasburg that was going for $775 a month. There were no bells and whistles with the place.

[ki0eh]

Originally Posted by jmf33078

The job that I may or may not take is located east of Lancaster and outside of the city limits. It's off route 30. So my question was how come farming communities like ronks, bird in hand, Strasburg, and smoketown. Why is there rent high?

I was looking on craigslist and saw an apartment in Strasburg that was going for $775 a month. There were no bells and whistles with the place.

Because they're not "farming communities." A very few Amish who won the birth lottery farm for aesthetic background to the tourist industry, and the younger sons go into those shops that do things like build trusses for home construction or precast concrete tanks for sewers around the megalopolis.

[CCG2015]

Im a lanc. native and unfortunately still here. Im in the same boat with trying to find an affordable apt b/c I want to selll my house. I can tell you the main thing driving our apts up was the housing crisis. With so many ppl losing their homes or having to sell their homes over the past 5-6, its pushed us right into a rental crisis. I've watched the apts in the one community go up 400-500 a month in just the past 2 yrs. The privately owned apts that used to be affordable are all rented. the only thing left is the expensive apt communities and those in 'ghetto areas'. Im so disgusted b/c Ive been wanting out of my house for the past 5 yrs but the COL here has just got thru the roof. The apt. communities are barely even covering utilities any more and these places aren't anything special. Most have paper thin walls and you never know what kind of neighbors you'll have.
There are plenty of articles and stuff on our apt. crises. there is absolutely nothing for the middle income. They've built some new apt buidlings for the poor but you have to meet poverty level requirements but even those have like a 5 yr wait list. I dont qualify for that kind of thing but then on other other end, they've built a few higher end apts but those you're looking at a min. of 1100.00. some of those building are very old so too so you're not always getting luxury living just b/c you're paying the same price. There's also very few opportunities here, we lost more businesses than we've gained and the new stores/businesses that have opened are all in the service/food industries and their wages are not livable. You're lucky you're coming with job in hand otherwaise I'd tell you to look elsewhere.

I wouldnt move here for anything, Im actually considering relocating out of Pa altogether b/c there's just no opportunities here and the COL is just crazy considering there really isnt anything here other than farms and a few malls. we do have tons of places to eat so you'll never go hungry here but it's a rather 'boring' place. Id listen to the other poster and stay in Pittsburg..lol

[pman]

Lancaster city had a law banning multifamily construction for decades as insane as it sounds. Lancaster has recently seen better economic growth than the rest of the state except the lehigh valley and subsequently seen population growth (it appears to be that it is rapidly becoming sprawl Sam happened to chester County in the 90s up until the boom). Supply is not keeping up. There is still farming but as others have said, it's not a farming community. That said, lancaster city has reasonably priced homes albeit with high taxes