What's Hershey/Harrisburg like? (Lancaster, York: best cities, find a job, neighborhoods)

[bolillo_loco]

Originally Posted by GypsySoul22

It is a very racist area (Central PA). Althought we are white, we did not want to raise our future family in a place where people toss off the "N" word so casually!

To cover both sides of this topic, I'm white and lived in Allison Hill for three years. The reception by the "African American" community wasn't a very nice one. I received a lot of racial comments from black people. Racism isn't something that white people have exclusive rights to.

[ScranBarre]

To be fair, both whites and blacks have been rather cruel to me for being gay here in Northern Pennsylvania, so I suppose this state is just full of hate for everyone! LOL!

[dullnboring]

I've only heard the "n" word used maybe 15 times in my entire life in a racial context, and all of those times were in Central Pennsylvania, an area where I've never even lived but where I have a lot of family and have visited countless times. It shocks and disgusts me each and every time I hear it. I can only imagine how much racism and intolerance I'd have seen and heard if I would've actually grown up there. Generally speaking, I've found that Central Pennsylvania is not a tolerant place whether it be in regards to race, religion, sexual orientation or political ideology.

[Rosanne]

Dullnboring, what is considered Central PA? I think we will be looking in the southeastern part of the state when we're ready to relocate, such as Northampton, Bethlehem, Quakertown, etc. Am I right in thinking that these towns are in the SE part of PA? I'm not too familiar with all the areas of PA, but we don't want to be too far from Allentown, where my mother-in-law lives.

[dullnboring]

Originally Posted by Rosanne

Dullnboring, what is considered Central PA? I think we will be looking in the southeastern part of the state when we're ready to relocate, such as Northampton, Bethlehem, Quakertown, etc. Am I right in thinking that these towns are in the SE part of PA? I'm not too familiar with all the areas of PA, but we don't want to be too far from Allentown, where my mother-in-law lives.

When I refer to Central Pennsylvania, I'm referring to the South Central area of Pennsylvania, the areas around Harrisburg, York, Gettysburg, Chambersburg and Lebanon. Those are the areas of Pennsylvania that I'm most familiar with. I consider Allentown/Bethlehem to be Eastern Pennsylvania since they're very close to the border with New Jersey. As far as tolerance and race relations and such goes in that area, I'm not too certain, but I'd imagine it's better than it is in the areas of "Central" PA that I listed.

[dogroomerPa]

If you love the smell of chocolate then you will love hershey. LOL The streets near the factory you can smell the chocolate a few miles away. It is clean and got a zoo and amusement park. We go there every year for a grooming seminar and just love it.

[JDonohue]

I grew up in Camp Hill (2 minutes from Harrisburg, 20 from Hershey) and still love the area. I currently live in West Chester, PA, not far from Wayne, PA where your grandkids are. It is a quick 1.5 hour trip via the PA turnpike from Harrisburg to West Chester so I am able to visit friends and family often.

The Hershey area is great. Clean, family-oriented and safe and surrounded by farms and countryside. I was married at The Hotel Hershey and spent many summers at the park. Real estate pricing is about half of what you would pay for something in the Wayne, PA area.

I cannot comment on the many racial statements made by fellow posters. I did not hear the "N" word growing up, although I do not doubt their experiences. I spent summers as a teenager working at my Dad's neighborhood pharmacy in center city Harrisburg and never felt uncomfortable. Honestly, I've had more experience with racial issues when I worked in NYC after graduating college.

Central PA is very small town. There isn't as much "culture" as a larger city and luxury shopping is at a minimum. But if you cherish a walk along the riverfront and a local strawberry festival over a trip to Neiman's and the symphony, it could be for you.

[mjk1093]

The racism in the area isn't as bad as it used to be. I heard racial slurs a lot growing up but that has really diminished. My first girlfriend was black and the only time we got hassled was in NYC. The PA people left us alone, even in Lancaster.

There are a lot of Hispanic immigrants in the area (because of the agriculture). People are split on them - some think they bring crime but a lot of old-timers admire them because they're hard-working (there's nothing the PA Dutch like more than a hard worker.)

Unfortunately, the religious/political intolerance has, if anything, gotten worse, though even there the younger generation is moving away from it. My old high school has a gay/straight club now which is astounding to me. There were zero openly gay students out of over 1,500 when I went there.

Keep in mind though, it is not the younger generation that runs things!

[enviroman]

I lived in Lancaster for 3 years and my wife is from Southern Lancaster County.

Central PA, as others have said, is very white, very religious, and (in most cases) very intolerant. Where else can you go and find a Confederate Flag on the front of every other pickup truck? The Deep South seems to extend right into Central PA.

[GypsySoul22]

When we lived there, my husband said about his co-workers ("All they do is talk about lawn mowers all day.") This gives you some indication of the level of intelligence there. That was the same group tossing the "N" word around all the time.

One of my four temporary jobs was working at a preschool. The minister who ran the church where our school was located never knew what to make of me (from the big evil city..suburban NY)..lol..He always looked at me funny.

I never saw so many Methodist churches (no offense..we just noticed a lot of them around Camp Hill/area). I never felt pressured to go to church, though.

We lived in a complex and all people did was STARE at us from their front lawns. When we moved out a year later, the staring guy across the street finally spoke to us, "Moving Out?"

On the other hand, I wound up finally getting a job at a place (as a temp--they would have hired me but we moved back here) and the people were the salt of the earth. They were SO NICE to me. It was a shame because we knew by the time I got that job we'd be coming back to NY. I never worked at such a nice, professional company. (It was in Camp Hill).

So I do have some good memories of the place.