Looking to move to Reading area - tired of work, work, work just to pay bills (Philadelphia: for sale, real estate)

[Negotiator75]

We are a Married couple with 3 kids ages 7,5 and 3. We are interested in moving away from the Seattle WA area over to Reading PA area in the summer of 2008.

We think Reading would be ideal because its close to Philadelphia where there may be some good job opportunities for software, web, telecom etc.

We also hear that in the Reading area there are 4 bedroom houses (2,000sqft average) in the price ranges of between $125,000 and $250,000 - in nice neighborhoods.

Can anyone recommend any good cities to live in near Reading? Also can you please provide any tips such as traffic, crime, elementary schools? How is the weather as far as sunshine, snow etc? Do you think its nice & affordable to live in the Reading area?

We hope this would be a good change for us. It just seems that we are living everyday to work, work, work and pay bills. It is VERY expensive and hard to live in the Seattle area. Houses are extremely expensive and it rains every day (nice at first, the air is good, but after a few months you feel depressed).

Thanks so much for taking the time to read this post


(The poll was supposed to read: Does it seem that it's always work, work, work just to pay bills and no matter what you do you cant seem to get ahead? )

[Duderino]

Hello there,

It sounds like you're definitely in need of some financial relief and a lower cost-of-living. Compared to Seattle, the Reading area definitely has that. As I and other forum regulars will often tell people interested in Reading: try to steer away from living in the actual city of Reading, as it is largely blighted in its current condition; the suburban areas around Reading are much safer with much better quality public schooling: Wyomissing, Muhlenburg, Temple, Exeter and Shillington all fit the bill.

Here is a link that fits your housing criteria:
Reading, PA - Prudential Fox & Roach, REALTORS®

As for jobs, the tech industry around Philadelphia (Conshohocken, King of Prussia, etc.) offers a lot of opportunities. Keep in mind locating near Route 422 for an easy commute. Here is a website that should help:
Computer, Tech & IT Jobs in Pennsylvania, King of Prussia: Search Careers, Employment, Postings, Listings in Pennsylvania, King of Prussia

I've never been to the Pacific Northwest, but I imagine the culture and lifestyle here is a bit different than what you're used to. I'm not sure how Seattle people are in general, but people here are pretty down-to-earth and economically-diverse. As for weather, you'll certainly see a lot more sun here, but you're also going to see more snow and cold. Nothing drastic, but something to consider.

Good luck and feel free to ask any more specific questions! Berks County is definitely your best bet for a decent cost-of-living while commuting to an area with well-paying jobs. Anything closer to Philly and that cost-of-living will rise pretty quickly.

[Negotiator75]

Originally Posted by Duderino

Hello there,

It sounds like you're definitely in need of some financial relief and a lower cost-of-living. Compared to Seattle, the Reading area definitely has that. As I and other forum regulars will often tell people interested in Reading: try to steer away from living in the actual city of Reading, as it is largely blighted in its current condition; the suburban areas around Reading are much safer with much better quality public schooling: Wyomissing, Muhlenburg, Temple, Exeter and Shillington all fit the bill.

Here is a link that fits your housing criteria:
Reading, PA - Prudential Fox & Roach, REALTORS®

As for jobs, the tech industry around Philadelphia (Conshohocken, King of Prussia, etc.) offers a lot of opportunities. Keep in mind locating near Route 422 for an easy commute. Here is a website that should help:
Computer, Tech & IT Jobs in Pennsylvania, King of Prussia: Search Careers, Employment, Postings, Listings in Pennsylvania, King of Prussia

I've never been to the Pacific Northwest, but I imagine the culture and lifestyle here is a bit different than what you're used to. I'm not sure how Seattle people are in general, but people here are pretty down-to-earth and economically-diverse. As for weather, you'll certainly see a lot more sun here, but you're also going to see more snow and cold. Nothing drastic, but something to consider.

Good luck and feel free to ask any more specific questions! Berks County is definitely your best bet for a decent cost-of-living while commuting to an area with well-paying jobs. Anything closer to Philly and that cost-of-living will rise pretty quickly.

Thank you so much for the very helpful information. We are originally from Boston, so this whole Seattle thing has been just a few months.

Here is a little bit about Seattle from my experience: Seattle people seem to be very unimpressed, laid back, dressed down. For the most part they are very talkative. You can be at a grocery store for example, just getting off of a cell phone call, lets say talking to your kid for misbehaving in school, and someone will "butt" in to what you were just talking about and make comments like "Yeah, I have kids too I hate it when they do that".

You see a diverse culture such as Asians, Mexicans, Native Americans, Samoans etc. You see lots Canadians and people from Idaho. Very hard to get around Seattle, you have tons of traffic, the highways and roads wrap around mountains and lakes. Some places you can only reach via Ferry.

Seattle is beautiful to visit but VERY expensive to live in. Especially if you have kids and single income. Daycare is like $800 a week for 3 kids. Its crazy! So that forces the Mom to be a stay-at-home Mom.

[hc7612]

I haver answered this on your other post. But you will find the Reading area to be a lot cheaper than Seattle, I am sure. Look on REALTOR.com - Real Estate Listings & Homes For Sale and enter 19606 for the zipcode. That is Exeter Township. It is just to the east of Reading and has great schools and virtually no crime.

[ChrisatDuke]

I agree with Duderino in regards to staying away form the actual city of Reading, but be careful when doing your research. Exeter Township (a suburb of Reading), which is where I lived before moving to NC for grad school, has a Reading mailing address. I believe the same is true for Muhlenburg, another suburb.

[Negotiator75]

Originally Posted by ChrisatDuke

I agree with Duderino in regards to staying away form the actual city of Reading, but be careful when doing your research. Exeter Township (a suburb of Reading), which is where I lived before moving to NC for grad school, has a Reading mailing address. I believe the same is true for Muhlenburg, another suburb.

Thanks for your post! Its very helpful!

[Negotiator75]

Originally Posted by hc7612

I haver answered this on your other post. But you will find the Reading area to be a lot cheaper than Seattle, I am sure. Look on REALTOR.com - Real Estate Listings & Homes For Sale and enter 19606 for the zipcode. That is Exeter Township. It is just to the east of Reading and has great schools and virtually no crime.

Thank you for the good post. Very useful.

[dcris]

Check Ruscombmanor Township in your searches if you like a rural atmosphere. The Oley Valley school district serves us and the use the State Police as we do not have our own PD. We have a Fleetwood zip code, some other areas of the township share other zip codes such as Oley's. We do have a fire department as well as Chinese and Italian restaurants that provide delivery. The city of Reading is about 10 minutes away.

There are a few homes for sale in the area and being a buyers market, you should be able to find something that suits you.

Some tax info here: Municipal News News - Reading Eagle Newspaper

A note: The Oley Valley school district does not have a football program.

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by dcris

A note: Oley Valley schools do not have a football program.

That sounds like a dream come true! I don't mean to knock high school athletes, but when my "nerd" friends and I went to Pittston Area the community at-large placed FAR too much emphasis upon the football team. Even recently it was standing-room only at school board meetings as a new coach was being selected and people voiced their opinions. You don't see that type of response for anything academically-oriented here. The sooner our schools abolish sports (or at least make them LESS important than academic studies), the better in my eyes.

[dcris]

There is a group fighting for a football program, but it doesn't seem like the school board truly supports it. I spoke to my neighbor who doesn't think we should have football as the kids who would play are too busy working on the family farms.