Camp Hill, Pa.? (Harrisburg, York, Middletown: houses, school district, taxes)

[upinflamezzz]

I may be taking a job up in Camp Hill soon. I live in Baltimore and plan to commute until I scout out the nice areas. Does anyone know the nice parts of this area? Me SWM 36.

[danwxman]

Originally Posted by upinflamezzz

I may be taking a job up in Camp Hill soon. I live in Baltimore and plan to commute until I scout out the nice areas. Does anyone know the nice parts of this area? Me SWM 36.

I live in Midtown Harrisburg and commute to Camp Hill for one of my jobs. It's a straight shot across the Harvey Taylor bridge and takes less then 5 minutes. Camp Hill is a very nice suburb with easy access to Harrisburg which is filled with restaurants and is the region's nightlife center (if you are into that). Market street in Camp Hill is also lined with nice restaurants, a coffee shop and a handful of galleries and other shops. It's a very nice more "urban" styled suburb, but also quite expensive. You might look to nearby Lemoyne or Midtown Harrisburg for cheaper housing but still an easy commute. If you want a more suburban life style (chains, newer housing) you can live in Hampden township, which is also near Camp Hill.

[BevoInPA]

I live in Camp Hill Borough. There are some townships around Camp Hill that use the address including Lower Allen (West Shore S.D), East Pennsboro (East Pennsboro S.D.) and Hampden Township (CV S.D.). Camp Hill Borough does not have any bad parts. South of Market Street is generally a little less expensive but I think that is because a large part of it is Post WWII tract-type houses. If you have kids you should consider that Camp Hill S.D. does not have school buses. If you live in Country Club Hills, just west of Holy Spirit, or especially west of 32nd Street then you will have to drive your kids to school and pick them up every day.

Coming from Baltimore I can't really imagine that you will think it is expensive. You can get a nice starter for $225k-ish. A move-up house would be about $300k-ish. The starting price for a starter home is low, $150k or $160k for a fixer upper. There are occasionally executive houses on the market for $500k-ish. This would be a very nice masonry house in the 300-blocks of 26th, 27th, or 28th Streets or parts of Country Club Hills. The southern part of Country Club Hills is actually modest-sized houses built in the late 40's and early 50's.

The commute to Harrisburg is a breaze. I think it is about 2 miles. There is a lot of congestion and three of the worst intersections (according to the Patriot News) are 32nd and Trindle, 32nd and Market, and the Bypass and 21st. I don't dount it and the widening project on U.S. 15 is making my 4 mile commute to work take 15+ minutes (I work west of Camp Hill).

The school district is tiny. I graduated with 67 people. I have no idea how many students there are now (I graduated 16 years ago). There is a town pool, tennis courts, and interesting things for kids like a halloween parade. Taxes are high in the borough. I think only Harrisburg City and Middletown Borough have taxes this high. I think you should expect to spent about $6,000 a year for a $300k house.

[XHollyX]

Harrisburg, Linglestown, Middletown, Camp Hill itself is not that bad either. It depends how far you want to commute. I used to commute about 50 minutes everyday and on highways around here & its not a big deal to do that. The beltways around here are hardly ever jammed like they get in baltimore.

[BevoInPA]

If you are commuting to York you might consider York County. The intersections along U.S. 15 between 581 and Market Street often consume 15 minutes of my time. The area around Limekiln Road which sort of straddles Cumberland and York Counties is very nice. I looked at the single family homes at the top of Beacon Hill. They have exceptional views. I also like Allendale at the Cedar Cliff exit (next exit to the north).