small town suggestions in PA for quiet single 30 year old without kids (Pittsburgh: how much, find a job)

[MAinterest]

(As you may have guessed I am the same person looking for a town maybe in MA... but )

Does anyone have suggestions for a small town in PA that is very safe with many people in their early 30s with an excellent location... I would like it to be nice and clean and have some nature and beauty, whether that is with ocean or lakes or reservoir or many parks and trees it can depend... and nice people. I also want there to be a good economic climate as i will be looking to find a job, and plenty of things to do. i would prefer that the weather not be any worse than MA's weather usually would be... public transit and shorter commute times would be a plus... many libraries, or at least an excellent central public library, and a number of universities would also be smiled upon. i would expect there to be at least one baptist or evangelical church...

thanks.

p.s. if you didn't read my thread on MA, if you know of a town fitting that descritption in MA i would love to hear about that as well or instead. thanks!

[Bruins_Fan]

PA is a huge state. If you're looking near Philly, the "main line" is nice. The weather is better, too. We almost moved there a few years ago. Try the Philly area forums.

[roadstrailstris]

I'd recommend checking out Bucks County. Doylestown would fit your criteria fairly well.

[goyguy]

Mt Lebanon and other suburbs to the south of Pittsburgh might fit the bill. Or perhaps the State College area?
Here in the Bay State you won't find many "baptist (sic) or evangelical" churches relative to most of the rest of the country. Berkshire County and the South Shore would come closest, and a few congregations of that sort can be found on Cape Ann (Gloucester, Rockport, etc.)

[Evergrey]

Sounds like you're looking for Bedford, PA.

[Hopes]

Most small towns in Pennsylvania won't have a bunch of 30-somethings. Small towns are usually dead employment-wise. You need to be in a college town. State College, PA, would be the largest, but almost any college town would fit most of your criteria.

There are a bunch of adorable small college towns north of Harrisburg----from Selinsgrove, PA and north of there all within 20 to 30 minutes of each other. This area has a decent economy too for being a cluster of small towns. It would be easy to live in one and commute to another for employment.

Maybe your definition of a small town is different than mine. I can't imagine how a "small" town could have plenty of libraries, great employment, long commute times (how can there be traffic if it's a small town?), or strong public transportation.

[MAinterest]

I was thinking something that is at least 10,000 eople, probably more like 20,0000 to 25,000 people, when I said "small town."

[Hopes]

State College is 41k. Selinsgrove and Lewisburg each have 6k. Sunbury is right smack in the middle of them with 10k. So that little strip of small towns north of Harrisburg has 20k.

There are universities in Selinsgrove and Lewisburg, and Sunbury has a business school and a technical school. Selinsgrove and Lewisburg are 22 minutes apart with Sunbury in the middle. There are two other colleges north and west of Lewisburg in Williamsport and Bloomsburg.

You might not be interested in universities and colleges, but they provide economies in rural areas, they also have younger populations than other small towns.

[LakeEffect2]

MA, my impression is your best hope in Pennsylvania will be in the eastern or possibly central part of the commonwealth. But not Bedford. My parents settled in Bedford for retirement and I visited often. No offense, Evergrey: Bedford is a beautiful little town with history, churches, beautiful scenery, and a kind of New England charm, but, unless it's changed a great deal in twenty years, otherwise doesn't even come close to what MA is looking for.

There are a few nice small college towns in northwestern PA. I lived in one of them for four years (Grove City), not as a student but as a town resident. The college's atmosphere and religious orientation would probably appeal to the OP, but the town itself is too small to fill her other interests.

I'm not sure that anything in Pennsylvania really matches your priorities. The only place I'm familiar with that might would be an outlier of Grand Rapids, Michigan, possibly another smaller town in southwest Michigan. The area has a very strong religious bent, plenty of young people, a friendly Midwest personality, and probably better employment opportunities than anyplace in Pennsylvania outside of the larger cities.

Within an hour's drive of most southwest Michigan locations you'll find many sand beaches and several nice state parks on Lake Michigan. Grand Rapids itself has at least one church-affliated college, and there are numerous others in smaller towns such as Holland, Michigan, which is situated on Lake Michigan.

The major negative if you're climate sensitive would be lake effect weather off Lake Michigan, which can blow your wig off any time of the year. But I doubt that winters are as challenging as Boston's.

[toobusytoday]

Originally Posted by MAinterest

I was thinking something that is at least 10,000 people, probably more like 20,0000 to 25,000 people, when I said "small town."

That's a pretty good size town IMHO. Do you have a price range? With or without children, you are looking for what many people want, minus the family activities and good schools. However if you have,

I would like it to be nice and clean and have some nature and beauty, whether that is with ocean or lakes or reservoir or many parks and trees it can depend... and nice people. I also want there to be a good economic climate as i will be looking to find a job, and plenty of things to do. i would prefer that the weather not be any worse than MA's weather usually would be... public transit and shorter commute times would be a plus... many libraries, or at least an excellent central public library, and a number of universities would also be smiled upon.

you are going to have good schools. And any "town" that has an excellent library and a college is going to be a college town.

Without a job or an idea of how much you would be willing to spend, it's a pretty unrealistic search. We could just name every area in this state that has a college. In general any place south of Massachusetts will have better weather, so that's our whole state.