Is PA depressing? (Philadelphia, Allentown, Erie: home, find a job, transfer to)

[FightinPhils]

Originally Posted by MovingBack2PA

What bothered us the most in PA, I think, was the snow.

Snow can be a pain at times if you have to drive in it, but I wouldn't trade our 4 seasons here for anything. I feel bad for kids who grow up in warm climates and never have the fun of a snowball fight, sleigh riding, building a snowman, etc etc. And a nice warm cup of hot chocolate afterwards....

[*Sweetkisses*]

I never understood the dislike people have for snow. I think snow is a wonderful thing. Of course it is a pain in the ass when you have to get up for work or school the next morning wondering if you'll fall and bust your ass but other than that I like when it snows.

[*Sweetkisses*]

Originally Posted by clearwaterlargodude

deglected downtowns, white trash movin in from dirty jersey, terrible pothole filled roads, garbage mostly beer bottles strewn all over the road,s dirty coal banks, ugly row homes, dreary weather, snow nice after first time then turns black. lots of terrible uneducated local government leaders its a joke move out of there while u can.
move to the fla suncoast thats where its at.

You can't even write a complete sentence! What is deglected? Are the schools that bad in Florida?

[wallstreet1986]

Yes many parts of it are. Most of the central part of the state and western PA can be pretty depressing-- economically, in the winter, strip mall wise, and just lack of stuff in general. Northeastern PA is depressing. Allentown is depressing. Reading is depressing. However that leaves:

Harrisburg (parts of it), Lancaster county area, and Southeastern PA around Philadelphia that are actually pretty nice. I dont like the philadelphia area as the people there are too pushy and fast paced but I would certainly recommend the Harrisburg/Lancaster area. Countryside is very pretty, lot of outdoors stuff, farms-- even in the winter it has a kind of beauty. Then you should see summer. Summers in PA are great.

[*Sweetkisses*]

Originally Posted by wallstreet1986

Yes many parts of it are. Most of the central part of the state and western PA can be pretty depressing-- economically, in the winter, strip mall wise, and just lack of stuff in general. Northeastern PA is depressing. Allentown is depressing. Reading is depressing. However that leaves:

Harrisburg (parts of it), Lancaster county area, and Southeastern PA around Philadelphia that are actually pretty nice. I dont like the philadelphia area as the people there are too pushy and fast paced but I would certainly recommend the Harrisburg/Lancaster area. Countryside is very pretty, lot of outdoors stuff, farms-- even in the winter it has a kind of beauty. Then you should see summer. Summers in PA are great.

Umm every state in the Northeast can be described as above not just PA.

[xanadu]

Originally Posted by turboredcart

there is a sense of emptiness- in me. you hit an age and hit the hard wall- that says "that is all there is". i know alot of people are on anti depreeents.

i think being that western culture we are trained to be a good consumer...not a citizen. so we have plenty of "stuff", but less in the way of human relationships or back to the earthiness- the tribal thing traded for malls and freeway gridlock.

it is idiotic and moronic- and collectively- we fell for it.

right>

I agree with you totally. The problem is there might not be an easy way back to that "tribal" mindset. In prehistoric times every person was pretty much just an interchangable member of the group. Now everyone is individuated, with our own idiosyncracies, tastes, ideas, habits, etc. that tend to annoy whoever we might get close to.

To keep this a "local topic" if PA is more depressing than most places (not sure that it is), it would be because it has the worst of both worlds: The worst of the old "tribal" mindset in terms of bigotry and narrowness, hostility to outsiders, etc. and the worst of the new "consumer" mindset in the form of ugly strip malls and unchecked sprawling development everywhere.

Your dose of dour philosophy for the day

[FightinPhils]

Originally Posted by wallstreet1986

Yes many parts of it are. Most of the central part of the state and western PA can be pretty depressing-- economically, in the winter, strip mall wise, and just lack of stuff in general. Northeastern PA is depressing. Allentown is depressing. Reading is depressing. However that leaves:

Harrisburg (parts of it), Lancaster county area, and Southeastern PA around Philadelphia that are actually pretty nice. I dont like the philadelphia area as the people there are too pushy and fast paced but I would certainly recommend the Harrisburg/Lancaster area. Countryside is very pretty, lot of outdoors stuff, farms-- even in the winter it has a kind of beauty. Then you should see summer. Summers in PA are great.

I find your assessment of Northeastern PA as being "depressing" being way off mark, especially with your praise of Harrisburg. The Harrisburg area is not necessarily bad, but the city is the absolute pits. It seems that Harrisburg has a nice downtown, thanks to its status as the state capitol, but the rest of the city resembles Newark, NJ.
Northeastern PA probably has the most liveable cities in the state. Unlike cities like Harrisburg and Reading, Almost all of Scranton's housing is made up of detached single-family homes, as opposed to Harrisburg, Reading, Lancaster, York, etc...which seem to be made up of row houses, giving them a "ghetto" feel. Scranton and Wilkes-Barre have more of a small-town and liveable feel to them. Plus, NE PA has more in the way of outdoor recreation than other PA areas. The skiing is better up here. there is much more in the way of lakes, camping, hiking, etc with the Poconos.

[Pensypat]

This debate could go on and on forever. You can argue that any state is depressing if it is not to your liking. And if you don't like that state, well then move and live in one you do like. Just my 2 cents worth.

[butiflygrls1220]

I am hoping that Pa isn't that depressing.We are moving to Erie in June.On the computer it looks like there are alot of things to do.So if anyone has any thoughts on Erie please let me know.Thanks

[zenguy21]

Forget Erie and move to Buffalo. Erie is alright well I'll be blunt and say depressing. Erie actually has an economy? I thought that went away with manufacturing and/or coalmining. Thats why Allentown and Scranton I would consider depressing-- they have all these abandoned mines and steel factories and kind of a pissed off, town has seen better days kind of vibe. Perhaps that would be like that in Erie too. Also in Scranton area you have all these huge development houses going up to cater to extreme commuters. If you dont want to commute to NYC I dont imagine you could get one on a local salary. The job base isnt there.