Looking to move to the Erie area (Pittsburgh, State College: apartments, insurance)

[slp941]

I was looking for some basic info on living in Erie PA.
I'm fine with the snow, but how is the job availability?
What are the good and bad areas in Erie?
How far is Erie from mountainous areas?
How would you rate the cost of living?
What are the drivers like?
Any necessary information one might not think to look up that is important about the area?

Coming from FL, the drivers here are insanely aggressive, we have panhandlers on every street corner, the average pay for jobs without college are about 10.00-12.00 per hour here (which is fine, but..) they don't match with the high cost of living. The people here, overall, are also very rude in my experiences and encounters with strangers.
Of course a lot of this is also personal opinion. But I'm growing to hate Fl every day I'm here.

Thank you, any help is greatly appreciated.

[bluewin888]

People move to Florida.

[jFug]

Originally Posted by slp941

I was looking for some basic info on living in Erie PA.
I'm fine with the snow, but how is the job availability?
What are the good and bad areas in Erie?
How far is Erie from mountainous areas?
How would you rate the cost of living?
What are the drivers like?
Any necessary information one might not think to look up that is important about the area?

Coming from FL, the drivers here are insanely aggressive, we have panhandlers on every street corner, the average pay for jobs without college are about 10.00-12.00 per hour here (which is fine, but..) they don't match with the high cost of living. The people here, overall, are also very rude in my experiences and encounters with strangers.
Of course a lot of this is also personal opinion. But I'm growing to hate Fl every day I'm here.

Thank you, any help is greatly appreciated.

slp941,


-As far as jobs, it depends on what industry you looking for a job in. Healthcare, Education, Insurance and Hospitality are the largest industries in Erie.


-As far as good areas. I would suggest any place in Millcreek Township as well as Frontier, Greengarden, Glenwood, West Bayfront, and Upper East side of the City. I would avoid the lower East side (east of Parade, North of 26th St.) unless you are close to GE Transportation. But the City has it's far share of good neighborhoods.


-I would say Erie is about two hours from more mountainous areas such as SWPA and Central PA.


-Cost of living is pretty low.


-I feel that the drivers in Erie are not too bad considering we have some of the worst winters in the country. Most people around here know how to drive in the snow, but you'll get your occasional idiot as always.


-As far as necessary info, I would suggest you look up things to do around the area as well as job opportunities and then go from there.


I love Erie, but it's most definitely a Rust Belt city that is still trying to find it's way.

[KoNgFooCj]

Originally Posted by bluewin888

People move to Florida.

Old people.

[Ohiogirl81]

Originally Posted by slp941

I was looking for some basic info on living in Erie PA.
I'm fine with the snow, but how is the job availability?
What are the good and bad areas in Erie?
How far is Erie from mountainous areas?
How would you rate the cost of living?
What are the drivers like?
Any necessary information one might not think to look up that is important about the area?

Jobs - Plenty of jobs that pay $10-$12/hour. Anything else is a little more hard to come by. The big employers are hospitals, colleges, Erie Insurance.

Good and bad areas - That's so subjective and hard to answer for any one person. Obviously, there are neighborhoods that have higher incidences of crime than others. Generally, though, the city has a lot of working-class neighborhoods with older homes that aren't necessarily as big or as beautiful as homes in Glenwood or Frontier, but are as safe as anywhere else; the suburbs are a little less risky but have their pockets of less desirable homes as well.

How far from the mountains? - The Laurel Highlands (Somerset, Bedford counties) and the mountains around State College are a 4-hour drive from Erie.

Cost of living - Low. I love getting change back from my $10 when I buy a round for the table.

Drivers - Nothing terribly offensive or stellar - just average. I learned to drive in Erie, but perfected my technique commuting on Cleveland's Shoreway. As a whole, I find Pennsylvania drivers to be pokier than others, don't understand how to manage turn lanes effectively, can't merge safely to save their lives. That said, Erie drivers are nothing compared to Philly (wild and crazy) and/or Cincinnati (courteous to a fault) drivers, so ...

Other stuff - Erie is a funny place but I grew up there, still visit at least every two months or so, and wouldn't mind moving back now that I've had my fun living elsewhere. The mindset is conservative in the purest definition of the word: Nobody likes change. The winters can be long and grinding, but when the snow is fresh it is the most beautiful thing in the world. Living close to the lake is wonderful, and there are so many opportunities for outdoor recreation year-round. Larger cities are within a quick day trip - heck, I've driven to Buffalo for breakfast. LOL

Good luck with your search. If you have other questions, ask away.

[slp941]

Originally Posted by Ohiogirl81

Jobs - Plenty of jobs that pay $10-$12/hour. Anything else is a little more hard to come by. The big employers are hospitals, colleges, Erie Insurance.

Good and bad areas - That's so subjective and hard to answer for any one person. Obviously, there are neighborhoods that have higher incidences of crime than others. Generally, though, the city has a lot of working-class neighborhoods with older homes that aren't necessarily as big or as beautiful as homes in Glenwood or Frontier, but are as safe as anywhere else; the suburbs are a little less risky but have their pockets of less desirable homes as well.

How far from the mountains? - The Laurel Highlands (Somerset, Bedford counties) and the mountains around State College are a 4-hour drive from Erie.

Cost of living - Low. I love getting change back from my $10 when I buy a round for the table.

Drivers - Nothing terribly offensive or stellar - just average. I learned to drive in Erie, but perfected my technique commuting on Cleveland's Shoreway. As a whole, I find Pennsylvania drivers to be pokier than others, don't understand how to manage turn lanes effectively, can't merge safely to save their lives. That said, Erie drivers are nothing compared to Philly (wild and crazy) and/or Cincinnati (courteous to a fault) drivers, so ...

Other stuff - Erie is a funny place but I grew up there, still visit at least every two months or so, and wouldn't mind moving back now that I've had my fun living elsewhere. The mindset is conservative in the purest definition of the word: Nobody likes change. The winters can be long and grinding, but when the snow is fresh it is the most beautiful thing in the world. Living close to the lake is wonderful, and there are so many opportunities for outdoor recreation year-round. Larger cities are within a quick day trip - heck, I've driven to Buffalo for breakfast. LOL

Good luck with your search. If you have other questions, ask away.

Thank you so much for the info! A lot of people move to Florida from places much colder and they love it here, but a well known fact here in Florida is when you are actually born here, you find yourself unable to stand it when you get older and get out on your own. This is mostly because the cost of living here is ridiculously huge and un-affordable for many people in my age range. People born here start to want season changes and get sick of the heat, much like people up north probably get sick of the cold. Its a beautiful place, but it's becoming extremely congested and the drivers here are so aggressive that it nearly feels unsafe to leave. I pay 1200.00 for a one bedroom one bathroom apartment and here, that is on the cheap side and my boyfriend and I are starting to feel like the apartment is our prison because we can't afford to do anything else but pay bills. It'd be nice to be some place new with a better cost of living and actually save for a future that it feels like in FL just isn't going to happen.

Are there bigger cities nestled in more mountainous areas? Our most desirable place to be is in an area where we get snow, beautiful season changes, and be pretty close to mountains. We've always been drawn to that.

[briantroutman]

Originally Posted by bluewin888

People move to Florida.

I’m a native of Pennsylvania and spent the first 25 years of my life shivering through Northeastern winters and worshipping every moment of our seemingly brief summers. After college, I moved to California, a place which has basically two seasons: brown (summer, fall, and winter), and slightly less brown (spring). After I got over my enjoyment of the Bay Area’s moderately mild winters, I did find myself missing the dynamics of the changing seasons. But at least I could tolerate California’s meteorological monotony.

Then I spent one year living in Tampa. Biggest mistake I ever made. Sure, living in winter’s cold is no fun. But spending nine months of the year trapped in relentless heat and humidity that exceeds PA’s hottest “dog days” of August is, in my opinion, even less fun. Particularly if you don’t spend your life sitting sedentarily inside of hermetically sealed cars and buildings with air conditioning constantly running full blast. Walking home with a full bag of groceries or an armload of toddler is much more tolerable at 40-50° wearing a jacket than it is at 80-90° stripped down to a light T-shirt.

Bottom line: I’d gladly live through 50 more Pennsylvania winters before I’d live in Florida again.

Originally Posted by slp941

I pay 1200.00 for a one bedroom one bathroom apartment and here...It’d be nice to be some place new with a better cost of living and actually save for a future that it feels like in FL just isn't going to happen.

Nationally speaking, $1,200 is about average for a one-bedroom apartment in a city with average job opportunities. In other words, you may find cheaper apartments in a place like Erie, but your job prospects will likely be proportionately less. It really depends on what fields of work you and your boyfriend are in and what specific positions are available for you there. But Erie’s not a large enough city that I would relocate there on the assumption that I could easily find a job paying as much as I might be making elsewhere.

So I think you should look at this situation from the opposite angle: Where can you and your boyfriend find better paying jobs in your respective fields—and then look at how the cost of living stacks up to your current situation. You may find that you’d do better moving to an area with a higher cost of living if your pay would be much higher.

Originally Posted by slp941

Are there bigger cities nestled in more mountainous areas? Our most desirable place to be is in an area where we get snow, beautiful season changes, and be pretty close to mountains. We've always been drawn to that.

Have you considered looking at Pittsburgh—which is nestled in hills with the Laurel Highlands close by? The cost of living may not be as low as Erie, but it’s still quite low for a city of its size with the depth of cultural amenities it has to offer. Pittsburgh definitely has a four-season climate similar to Erie’s, just a little less cold and much less snowy in the winter. And Pittsburgh’s metropolitan area is nearly ten times that of Erie’s metro, and you’ll likely find job prospects to be significantly better. Again, it depends on the industry, but I’d say it’s worth checking out.