Best and Worst Towns in PA (Philadelphia, Reading: home, safe area, buy)

[denise817]

Be warned... Reading is one of the top 25 (i think) places in the US for crime. There are areas outside of the city that are very very nice, if you can afford it I would also advise not moving to Schuylkill COunty. It is a very economically depressed area. No jobs, nothing to do recreationally, no decent shopping or restaurants.

[itchysteeler]

Originally Posted by openless

Try Pottstown Pa, its very nice, kind of rural and is not too too far away from shopping / health care.

I thought that area was going down hill in the late 90's. My grandparents lived there back then and they always said that the town was going to hell. They lived on the outskirts by the old Jamesway.

[gegranny]

I plan to move to Mechanicsburg, Pa this summer with my four year old granddaughter. I am retired, and would appreciate any information regarding purchasing a home, preschools, and community programs.

[zandyd]

I'm also in NJ browsing PA
I'm liking some homes in Liverpool,
and now someone mentioned Harveys Lake
we do have a boat and jet skis
we have 3 children, 2 that need schools
one that needs to work
my hub can move his job

I'm looking for a nice area where the children
can be in a class with less than 35 others
Good clean fun abounds...
maybe even ATV's are allowed (although we sold 2 already...big bad things in NJ)
Just want a smaller mortgage, and less hectic!
any other suggestions?

[nocturnal rooster]

Worst PA towns:

Reading
Philly
Scranton
Wilkes-Barre
Harrisburg
York
Lancaster
Lebanon
Pittsburgh
Williamsport
Allentown
Norristown

Best PA towns:

If anyone knows what good towns there are let me know i must be missing something like a trap door or time rip or something

[barneyg]

Originally Posted by nocturnal rooster

Worst PA towns:

Reading
Philly
Scranton
Wilkes-Barre
Harrisburg
York
Lancaster
Lebanon
Pittsburgh
Williamsport
Allentown
Norristown

Best PA towns:

If anyone knows what good towns there are let me know i must be missing something like a trap door or time rip or something

That must have felt good to write all these names. How helpful must that have been to the OP.

[joedog7]

Hands down best bet for your income bracket is NEW HOPE PA. Especially a place known as Village 2 - I live there. New Hope is an eclectic town with no strip malls etc. It is about a 45 minute drive to Philly and an hour or so to Reading. $500.000 will get you plenty of house but even though it is supposedly a buyers market today, there are not all that many quality homes to choose. Go for the gold and c'mon down.

[loose cannon]

Originally Posted by turboredcart

I myself am retired. My grandparents used to winterize thier house and stay at a gated camp for retired in FL. the money saved on heat- payed teh camp site,. they did this for 20 yrs.

There is a certain beauty to the change of seasons.

I have a freind in LA. she doesnt have a furnace or AC. yet- went out and bought all new furniture. i said - why dont you get your furnace fixed?

some prefer TN/NC...well ice storms are pretty bad.

you cant beat the mountains here. i used to work in tourism..people from all over the world- would tell me how beautiful it is here. :-)

in teh past few years- PA has had a great governor.

you will be fine. im excited for you! :-)

Great Governor ? Ed Spendell


This is the most Liberal Socialist state next to NY.

[JimmyLane]

Originally Posted by ScrantonWilkesBarre

4.) Honesdale
Victorian-era small-town America at its finest! WBAdvocate, I'm assuming this community didn't make your list because you simply haven't yet experienced it! Do yourself a favor---pick up a copy of Happenings Magazine and watch for the next seasonal festival to be held in Downtown Honesdale. If you like Tunkhannock, then you'll love Honesdale. The town is home to historic architecture, minimal sprawl pressures, friendly residents, and funky shops on the main drag, including yoga studios, organic foods stores, coffee shops, gift shops, etc. Honesdale is an oasis of Liberal-thinkers amid Wayne County, which is predominantly Conservative. In general, Honesdale is kind of like a mirror image of Stroudsburg, only with less congestion and less NYC influence (although a good 20% of the vehicles around town during the Harvest Festival hailed from NY/NJ). Honesdale doesn't rank higher for me because it's so isolated in relation to the rest of the region; it's a 35-minute hike up Route 6 from Scranton! (The scenery along the way is breathtaking though).

5.) Clarks Summit
I'm referencing Clarks Summit proper, not the entire chi-chi Abington area that wrongly calls itself that name. While I abhor the Abingtons, in general, for sucking much of the middle-class and elite residents out of the city limits of Scranton into its McMansions and hampering its revitalization efforts, the town of Clarks Summit itself is a place I find to be quite charming with its hilly, tree-lined streets, older homes, very well-educated, quirky population, and funky downtown. My favorite health food store, Everything Natural, is located in Downtown Clarks Summit, as is Taylor Hobby, a store frequented by amateur wine-makers. On the flip side, Clarks Summit is quite possibly even more congested than Scranton, as cars and trucks must actually stop for pedestrians at crosswalks as there's never a long enough break in traffic to safely cross State Street otherwise---Crossing Northern Boulevard is even MORE treacherous! Also on the negative side is that Clarks Summit has the highest cost-of-living, overall, in the entire metro area.

great post. seems like you have a real pulse on those neighborhoods. i visited Tunkhannock recently and so your take on honesdale especially peeked my interest. another member here also raved about honesdale. i didn't know honesdale is just a half hour from Scranton by car. do you think that honesdale will eventually absorb the brunt of sprawl coming over from NJ/NY NY in the same way it's occurred in Stroudsburg and the Poconos area generally? that would be my concern about moving there.

[BPP1999]

Originally Posted by loose cannon

Great Governor ? Ed Spendell


This is the most Liberal Socialist state next to NY.

Yeah right. Everything important in this state is completely underfunded: education, roads, public transportation. States that value these three things generally thrive; states that don't, suffer.