Considering a move to PA from NC (Lancaster, Harrisburg)

[briantroutman]

Both of you are right in certain respects, but I think there’s a distinction that needs to be drawn.

In some states, generally in the West and South, there is such a thing as genuine “unincorporated area”—land that is not in any kind of a municipality at all. If you lived in one of these areas and were filling out a form...

STATE: Texas
COUNTY: Harris
MUNICIPALITY: _______

...you literally could not put an entry for Municipality because you weren’t inside of any municipality whatsoever. And in these areas, all of the regulation and overhead that’s normally associated with municipal government does not apply—no local ordinances, no local taxes, no building permits, no zoning laws, etc.

In Pennsylvania, as was pointed out, all area is part of some kind of a municipality, be it a city, borough, or township. So no matter where you are in the state, if you fill out the form mentioned above, you will always be able to enter something under Municipality.

To sort out the semantics: It is correct that there is no unincorporated area in Pennsylvania.
It is also correct that within those incorporated areas, there are unincorporated communities.

[Wisertime]

Originally Posted by Gerania

East Falls and West Mount Airy. They border Wissahickon Valley Park.

Just wondering if the OP moved to PA yet? or still searching?



Mt. Airy is nice. I spent 10 mos there after living in an adjacent neighborhood and I don't think the OP would like the political climate there any more than Chapel Hill. The area is nice, but It's ultra liberal and full of fringe activists. I used to consider myself more liberal, but I felt like a neo con in Mt. Airy. But there are plenty of areas you could live around Philly without being politically charged I think. But Keep in mind there are 85 or more universities in/around Philadelphia. It doesn't feel like it though.



I'm only a mile or two away now, but that in and of itself is a big difference in Philly. Philly is mostly liberal IMO, but politics might be less in your face depending on neighborhoods. I understand OP where you're coming from. It's not just Chapel Hill, but much of America has become an echo chamber and I see it on other boards here. Have you considered Boise? It's on my list too. Checks a lot of boxes. Not sure I'll ever get there or if it's best for me, but has a lot of appeal. Philly has more Sun deprivation than I'd like and too much rain, but has other things I like. Not without it's own challenges though.





I also came from 15 years in NC (Raleigh, Cary and Durham), but left in 2010. I wouldn't say politics was a huge issue for me there at the time. It was less a thing then...but there were a lot of Religious people who wore it on their sleeves, but then again 50% of people were from Up north too. I think most of this insanity has been in the last 3 or so years. I liked NC for some reasons, but you're right that you have to drive a ways for certain activities and I found myself not wanting to join the traffic rush for the beach on weekends or the mountains often....same thing here with Jersey Shore. The Triangle was great for year round Golf, which was one of my motivations, but the summers were pretty brutal as I got older.



I'm also curious about Lancaster, as I'm considering living somewhere smaller, less congested, lower taxes, simpler life, more affordable to buy a home.

[canavady]

I grew up outside of Lancaster and had pretty decent childhood. I moved back in my mid twenties to the downtown section. The suburbs and rural sections of Lancaster county are better and safer than downtown.
I did like the fact that there are a lot of old buildings and history and the city is pretty walkable (not many hills).

That being said, there are way and I mean WAYY to many cons to living here.

The job market is absolutely shot compared to other towns. Downtown Lancaster is in the top ten percent of poorest towns in the state PA. If you work online, exclusively, or are a truck driver this may not be a big deal.

The people are some of the rudest and most miserable I have ever encountered, which surprised me because I never thought anyone would outdo Philly on this (lived there for five years). I would consider downtown Lancaster a sanctuary city. There are a lot of illegal immigrants and a very high percentage of the people don't speak great English. This doesn't bother me that much but just something to keep in mind. I ran out of interesting things to do with my time very very quickly. The baseball team here is a joke I don't even know how they keep the doors open.

The city government and police are probably the worst part of this town. They really do go out of their way to victimize the impoverished people of this town, I guess they have to make money somehow being that there isn't much local tax revenue because rich/educated people won't move here. Either way corruption and lying isn't uncommon amongst the police here, they will perform their gangster shake downs at the drop of a hat and think nothing of it. Just go on youtube if you want to see their highlight reel.