Any cheap, charming. liberal, artsy cities in Pennsylvania? (Pittsburgh, State College: buy, living)

[ainulinale]

If you don't mind the city, Lawrenceville Pittsburgh is filled with artists.

[JonathanA]

Originally Posted by pcity

That's exactly what I said. State College is liberal. Bellefonte is not.

I was simply thinking that by living in Bellefonte, and working/recreating in St. College, the OP could have the best of both worlds.

Bellefonte is DEFINITELY more conservative than S.C. But living there is a fraction of the price -- which meets the OP's "cheap" requirement. Bellefonte is also gonna rate pretty high on anyone's "charming" scale.

The only drag for somebody desiring cheap, charming, and liberal is the fact that it's not liberal. Luckily, liberal and artsy on a big scale is just next door.

(And of course, SC is a fraction of the price relative to NYC, so the cost may not be a big deal.)

[orrmobl]

Originally Posted by JonathanA

I'm working as a copywriter, and have recently relocated to Squirrel Hill in Pittsburgh. Cheap? I paid $2100 a month for an apt. in Queens, and now pay $525 for an objectively better location in SqHill. There's plenty of work to be had, and I have two friends in the area who are earning a nice living in therapeutic massage and "energy work."

The area is surrounded by large parks, and you can pick and choose your street to be more or less tree-lined.

The neighborhood is part of the Pittsburgh, but is self-contained enough that it feels plenty charming to this big-city expat.

It seems very liberal here, to boot. And more than artsy enough to satisfy -- a couple galleries, some international craftsy type stores, loads of coffee shops, and a short hike to the big museums.

The only "downside" I can see is the cost, relative to other Pittsburgh neighborhoods. But if you're coming from outside the system, you can see what an amazing bargain it still is.

Yeah but its in Pittsburgh! Like a small island surrounded by a sea of intolerance. And the city is a dating desert. And it's losing young people in droves. And the weather is often dreary and quite cold and snowy in the winter.

If you are retiring, it may be a good place but if you're young or young at heart, no way.

[SteelCityRising]

Pittsburgh isn't that bad. It's like a big version of Scranton, so how can it not be considered awesome?

[orrmobl]

Originally Posted by JonathanA

I was simply thinking that by living in Bellefonte, and working/recreating in St. College, the OP could have the best of both worlds.

Bellefonte is DEFINITELY more conservative than S.C. But living there is a fraction of the price -- which meets the OP's "cheap" requirement. Bellefonte is also gonna rate pretty high on anyone's "charming" scale.

The only drag for somebody desiring cheap, charming, and liberal is the fact that it's not liberal. Luckily, liberal and artsy on a big scale is just next door.

(And of course, SC is a fraction of the price relative to NYC, so the cost may not be a big deal.)

I would have to disagree - much of State College is highly affordable and laughably so in comparison to most big cities.

I was in heaven there when buying $3 beer pitchers and mixed drinks, $7 mixed drink PITCHERS. When you're used to paying $5 for a bottle of beer (back then) the place seemed like heaven!

And the rents have to be affordable to lure students in - if you don't need a new apt complex and don't mind living in a converted house or sharing a house, you can live on the super cheap, not to mention all the cheap eats in town - they deal in volume there and realize students are poor so prices are kept low, plus you are in the middle of PA so prices are cheap to begin with.

Can you tell I love State College? Now there's a town I would live in now and could spend the rest of my life quite contentedly.

[Awesomo.2000]

Originally Posted by orrmobl

Yeah but its in Pittsburgh! Like a small island surrounded by a sea of intolerance. And the city is a dating desert. And it's losing young people in droves. And the weather is often dreary and quite cold and snowy in the winter.

If you are retiring, it may be a good place but if you're young or young at heart, no way.

Explain how it is a small island surrounded by a sea of intolerance? Most W. PA towns are pretty liberal with lots of college towns.

You are seriously listening to a stupid Forbes list to make the assumption Pittsburgh is a dating desert? Pittsburgh has a large number of singles in its east end neighborhoods. (I am sure you would know this since you sound like you know the city so well)

Losing people in droves is the biggest misunderstood thing about Pittsburgh. The city's population is leveling off. It is still suffering from natural elderly loss, but the city has NO LESS outbound population of young people than any other city in the northeast.

Although, what can you expect on thsi forum. Is is just typical stereotypes again, and again, and again. This forum is like beating a dead horse over and over.

[FightinPhils]

Centralia...its definitely cheap, and seeing that there's only a few people left in the town, if you move there, you might tip the political scale to the liberal side:

[ainulinale]

Originally Posted by orrmobl

And it's losing young people in droves.

I really don't think this is true, and I'm not sure how this rumor got started...Pittsburgh has one of the highest retention rates of young people in the country. Our population loss has to do with the fact that we lost 150,000 steal jobs in the 1980s alone. We lost a generation of young people, so there are more deaths in the area than births. However, even this is starting to change.

[Awesomo.2000]

Originally Posted by ainulinale

I really don't think this is true, and I'm not sure how this rumor got started...Pittsburgh has one of the highest retention rates of young people in the country. Our population loss has to do with the fact that we lost 150,000 steal jobs in the 1980s alone. We lost a generation of young people, so there are more deaths in the area than births. However, even this is starting to change.

Alot of people have a hard time reading and traveling to verify their stereotypes.

[WoodturnerMike]

Originally Posted by JonathanA

I'm working as a copywriter, and have recently relocated to Squirrel Hill in Pittsburgh. Cheap? I paid $2100 a month for an apt. in Queens, and now pay $525 for an objectively better location in SqHill. There's plenty of work to be had, and I have two friends in the area who are earning a nice living in therapeutic massage and "energy work."

The area is surrounded by large parks, and you can pick and choose your street to be more or less tree-lined.

The neighborhood is part of the Pittsburgh, but is self-contained enough that it feels plenty charming to this big-city expat.

It seems very liberal here, to boot. And more than artsy enough to satisfy -- a couple galleries, some international craftsy type stores, loads of coffee shops, and a short hike to the big museums.

The only "downside" I can see is the cost, relative to other Pittsburgh neighborhoods. But if you're coming from outside the system, you can see what an amazing bargain it still is.

I agree with Jonathan, the Squirrel Hill section of Pittsburgh fits the bill. I was a life long resident of Pittsburgh before we retired to Cape May NJ. Looking to move back to Pa. now. We have many friends in Squirrel Hill and it's as Jonathan described, several college campuses, CMU is right there, Pitt surrounds it, coffee shops, galleries, book stores, and the Carnegie Museum is quite close. Phipps conservatory, Schenley park as well. Restaurants, bars and a few good deli's (great corned beef). Geez, now you have me thinking about it as well! Try googling it.
Mike