Is PA depressing? (Allentown, Harrisburg, Wilkes-Barre: rent, unemployment, buy)

[tumbleweedz]

Not at all! I've lived in PA all my life and loved it! It's an old state that is on the come up for younger folks. The City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia, which I now live is one of the only cities that is hard wired for internet access! The transit system is cool, especially on those snowy days when you don't feel like driving. But what many people don't know about PA is less than 30 minutes north or west of Philly is the most beautiful farmland on the east coast! Rolling hills, mountain ranges and lots of dairy farms! North you have Route 6, lots of history there! If my husband and I were younger we would stay, but we are looking for a quieter life style and moving to WNC. I say Go PA, Go Eagles, Go Steelers!

[Dawne]

Originally Posted by 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

Erie is making a comeback and cleaning up their portion of Lake Erie. Presque Isle is absolutely gorgeous. One of my best friends went to college there and at the time 25+ years ago everyone jokingly referred to Erie as "the mistake on the lake". It's much, much better now.

However, if you move there be prepared for lots and lots of "lake effect" snow. It often is snowing in Erie when it's not snowing anywhere else in PA.

[FightinPhils]

Originally Posted by clearwaterlargodude

haha this isnt an english lesson this a forum to voice an opinion, im from hazleton went to hazleton high and graduated from crappy pennstate


go gators! pa sucks

"Crappy Penn State?" I highly doubt you graduated from any college or university.

I graduated from Penn State as well and found the education to be top-notch and just as good or better than any private, more expensive school.

Are you sure you didn't intend to say "STATE PEN????"

Oh, and "go gators??" Is this the same University of Florida that accepts illiterate people as long as they can run and throw or catch a football (like most southern schools)?

[blauskies]

Originally Posted by clearwaterlargodude

haha this isnt an english lesson this a forum to voice an opinion, im from hazleton went to hazleton high and graduated from crappy pennstate


go gators! pa sucks

So your a native coal cracker? You sound very bitter about PA, let me guess you couldn't get a job there after graduating? I have been to Hazleton, a friend of mine went to Penn State Hazleton Campus left PA because he couldn't find a job there, talk about a depressing area, coal dust and strip mines and birch trees growing out of the slush banks, trash thrown along the road in the woods. I found Hazleton to be very dirty and depressing.

[FightinPhils]

Originally Posted by blauskies

So your a native coal cracker? You sound very bitter about PA, let me guess you couldn't get a job there after graduating? I have been to Hazleton, a friend of mine went to Penn State Hazleton Campus left PA because he couldn't find a job there, talk about a depressing area, coal dust and strip mines and birch trees growing out of the slush banks, trash thrown along the road in the woods. I found Hazleton to be very dirty and depressing.

I find people like you and your friend amazing. You have a sense of entitlement to a high-paying job just because you graduated from college. NEWS FLASH: college degrees are dime-a-dozen anymore. You need more than a piece of paper to be handed a high-paying job.

You can't find a job at the drop of a hat, so you blame the area? Good riddance, we don't need people like you.

It seems the younger generation views the word WORK to be a four-letter word.

[zenguy21]

Penn State is a great school but mostly if you go to Main Campus. Of course if you go to Penn State- Hazleton or Penn State- Delco its going to be harder to find a job and you will have to take one for less pay. Penn State- University Park rocks. Often people will go to Penn State- Hazleton, work hard there save some money and transfer to main. And if not its not the end of the world-- you start in one field and work your way up and then advance and maybe transfer to a better company or area with more opportunities.

It is kind of depressing a struggle when an area doesnt have much in the way of jobs or infrastructure. It makes people unhappy, raises crime, and creates a tense atmosphere. But I agree with conorsdad-- no one is entitled to a job. No one is entitled to an entry level accounting job making 45 grand in Hazleton PA with a college degree. This generation and the baby boomer generation need to concentrate on creating more jobs and boosting the economy something much easier said than done. With the NYC extreme commuters there are more jobs and high tech infrastructure NEPA has start to become as someone else put it Wall Street West. As the country continues to expand we may see more economic development and "insourcing" as I like to call it. Companies move to low cost areas with a big labor pool and low taxes.

No single person can control it and if you live in a place that has been beat and blighted like Allentown with the closing of the steel mills you just have to believe in the place and try to make it better. I'm sure its better off now than it was 20 years ago. Listen to the Billy Joel song Allentown. Your friend will have to face the music and look for work he can get.

Conorsdad what did you mean by the four letter word thing? Our generation works very hard and faces much greater obstacles than your generation (assuming you are middle aged man) ever did. Do you know the price of a four year college even in state? I doubt salaries increase that fast. And new high tech jobs of the future requiring even more time in school. Some of us what the standard of living of our parents some point down the road in the future. Personally I have much more modest desires than I did before and the reality of graduating from law school with the kind of town and size of firm i'd enjoy working at (small to medium sized in a place like Buffalo New York) I might only make like 55 or 60k a year to start. Thats a far cry from the 140k people get at big law firms but then I dont want to work THAT hard. People are in for a bit of a reality check though. Thats what I've learned from the law school looking process.

[FightinPhils]

Originally Posted by zenguy21

Penn State is a great school but mostly if you go to Main Campus. Of course if you go to Penn State- Hazleton or Penn State- Delco its going to be harder to find a job and you will have to take one for less pay. Penn State- University Park rocks. Often people will go to Penn State- Hazleton, work hard there save some money and transfer to main. And if not its not the end of the world-- you start in one field and work your way up and then advance and maybe transfer to a better company or area with more opportunities.

Absolutely false. A degree from one of the smaller PSU campuses holds the same weight. I graduated with a bachelor's degree from PSU-Scranton and the diploma is indistinguishable from a U Park diploma. Its a Penn State degree no matter what campus it is from, and holds the same weight.

Originally Posted by zenguy21

Conorsdad what did you mean by the four letter word thing? Our generation works very hard and faces much greater obstacles than your generation (assuming you are middle aged man) ever did. Do you know the price of a four year college even in state? I doubt salaries increase that fast. And new high tech jobs of the future requiring even more time in school. Some of us what the standard of living of our parents some point down the road in the future. Personally I have much more modest desires than I did before and the reality of graduating from law school with the kind of town and size of firm i'd enjoy working at (small to medium sized in a place like Buffalo New York) I might only make like 55 or 60k a year to start. Thats a far cry from the 140k people get at big law firms but then I dont want to work THAT hard. People are in for a bit of a reality check though. Thats what I've learned from the law school looking process.

I'm 32 years old, and I graduated from college 7 years ago. What I was referring to is what I perceive as a "sense of entitlement" among a lot of recent college grads. They think that someone will hand them a high-paying job just because they have a degree. Personally, I think that someone should be willing to take an entry-level job and gain some experience or they should consider opening their own business. Many people I grew up with moved away to "greener pastures" in NYC, NJ, Philly, MD, DC, etc and realized that it wasn't so great. Making $80,000 in NYC will get you the same quality of life as you would making 8 bucks an hour in Scranton, with the huge difference in cost of living. But people only look at the earnings figure without considering issues like quality of life and cost of living.

[FightinPhils]

Originally Posted by clearwaterlargodude

Good for you thats not the point of this forum. Pennsylvania IS DEPRESSING IS! GET A CLUE AND GO DRIVE YOUR YUGO UP THE HILL TO WORK HAHA

Way to prove my point.

It must be hot working in the kitchen of a McDonald's in Florida...

[FightinPhils]

Originally Posted by trialsinlife

Im 23 and from Pennsylvania and I cant take this no more! The Cloudy days, Rude people and most of all these patronage jobs, being young here sucks!

Sure, because cloudy days, rude people, and nepotism don't exist anywhere else, right?

[zenguy21]

Originally Posted by conorsdad

Absolutely false. A degree from one of the smaller PSU campuses holds the same weight. I graduated with a bachelor's degree from PSU-Scranton and the diploma is indistinguishable from a U Park diploma. Its a Penn State degree no matter what campus it is from, and holds the same weight.

I disagree. If you want to live within the state one of the other campuses may be fine but the major recruiters and job opportunities in the "greener pastures" if you may come to main campus. The quality of courses and offerings are higher at main. Even if someone didnt go there doesnt mean they arent going to be successful it just means they are fighting an uphill battle if they want to leave their options open.

What people dont like is the dead endness of jobs here or job fields. There are more opportunities for advancement in the "greener pastures" and you can always take stockpiled money back home and move some place to startup a business or just live a little nicer. And if conorsdad is an example of people in Pennsylvania I think I'd care to pass. Ready to bite ones head off, nasty guy.