Pennsylvania's Best Traits?! (Pittsburgh, Lewisburg, Danville: sales, homes, neighborhoods)

[michiganmoon]

What are Pennsylvania's best traits - what makes it loveable?

[ScranBarre]

1.) Plenty of older, quaint towns with leafy, walkable neighborhoods, Victorian homes, and restored downtowns full of mom-and-pop shops.
2.) Friendly people who frequently strike up random conversations with strangers at grocery stores, banks, etc.
3.) Four very distinct seasons---from near triple-digit summer heat waves to today's winter blizzard!
4.) We're the "transition" state. Pittsburgh and Western PA have a "Midwestern" feel. Philly and SE PA have that rat-race "BosWash Northeast Corridor" feel. Much of the rest of the state has a more relaxed pace of life.
5.) Great state parks and outdoor recreation.
6.) Low cost-of-living, overall, for the Northeast.
7.) Proximity to NYC, DC, the beaches, etc. (East) and to Ohio (West)
8.) Mostly excellent schools, colleges, and universities.
9.) Nice blend of Conservatives and Liberals.
10.) You can live in the "middle-of-nowhere" while still being near civilization.

[Oldiebutgoodie26]

^
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland!

PA is a beautiful state, in many areas. We still have places with green rolling hills and rounded mountains in the distance, lots of forests. If you like the outdoors, PA is great. The eastern part of the state is close to NYC and the Jersey shore, and you are not far from the Baltimore/DC corridor. Philly has the great colonial history (Valley Forge is close, too). The northern part of the state (Tioga, Potter counties) is gorgeous. I love cities, but PA still has quaint little towns, too (Danville, Lewisburg).

[Phish Head]

PA is great because there are few extremes here (except the alcohol laws):
1. It has world class cities, but they aren't difficult to access like NYC, Chicago, LA, where you might sit for hours of traffic to get in.
2. It has many beautiful areas, not jaw-droppingly scenic like Colorado with 14,000 foot mountains, but not monotonus like Kansas either
3. It gets cold, but not Maine cold; it gets hot and humid, but not like Florida.
4. It has quaint small towns, not as abundantly as say, Vermont but many more than NJ!
5. There is a lot of wildlife here- northern species terminate in PA, and southern species begin in PA. Few other states have that.
6. PA brags that you are never more than 25 miles from a state park or forest. There truly is plenty of open space here, away from the major cities especially.
7. PA has the only herd of wild elk in the east!
8. Taxes- not as bad as NJ, NY or CT. State income tax is fixed at 3.07%, not bad. Sales tax is 6%, none on groceries or clothes. The wage tax sux though, Could be better like DE or NH; no sales or income tax!
9. Alcohol- get ready for the most exteme laws when it comes to buying beer or liquor. State runs all alcohol sales. Beer is only sold at a distributor, and for a high price. Wine and liquor are sold at a seperate store. My recommendation: live close to the border of another state if you drink a lot!

[L.K.]

It's great to read all of these things! It sounds like there is something for everyone.I have only been one time,but it was in October so it was beautiful,of course.I am excited to be moving there. I have to say, ALL of you great Pa people have been extremely helpful in answering questions and giving opinions.No matter where we end up,we look forward to exploring the state for all it has to offer.I'm sure we will feel at home in no time at all!

[divinemom]

The people, the landscape and the history.

[openless]

Penna. is filled with civic pride, a place that people are proud to be from. it has enormous civic pride. one of my favorite features of pa is the historic architechture. there are dozens of historical revolutionary war related buildings in philly, and gettysburg and dozens of other quaint small towns. lots of old historic churches and town halls. i always love visting new towsn and going to the 'square' and checking it out. who was the first settler, whos the town named after and whats the oldest building left, which usually is a church. people do say we are in the middle of the rust bely and it does get cold and snow, but overall eveyone here is friendly and nice. it is definately far cheaper to live anywhere here versus MD or NJ or NYC. People here will help out in a tragedy no matter what, where in otehr areas you hear of people being shot or having a heart attack and no one cares. here you wont find that. thanks ~Dan~

[jeb412]

the history (beats the West)
the people (for the most part friendly, helpful)
the scenery (the 4 seasons--didn't appreciate until I live in San Diego for a while)
the diversity (rural, city, suburbs)
PA has it all

[bluemonday]

I would not include snow removal on my list at all (three days after the storm, and some highways and roads are STILL closed).

I will, however, include these items:

- the history
- Lower COL in most areas
- Comfortable, and peaceful (at least in the non-urban areas)
- beautiful scenery, and four seasons
- I've lived in 4 areas in PA, and I can say people are friendly (once they know you)
- cheesesteaks, whoopie pies, shoo-fly pies, old forge style pizza, polish kielbasi, ring bologna, and many other great local flavors
- Nice mountains; great for outdoor enthusiasts

[Jessilynne15]

1: Gorgeous scenery[Especially spring and fall.]
2: Friendly people(Once they know you)
3:So much rich history and fascinating culture.
4: Tons of food varieties.
5: Mifflinburg is my favorite historic town(basically cause I live here and it has beautiful architecture. But for some reason I'm also drawn to Liverpool. I also love Danville and Lewisburg. Beautiful palces and a lot of yearly festivals. Also great school districts.)


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