Lancaster PA newbie (Philadelphia, Reading, York: transplants, renting, townhouse)

[march18]

Hi! Id love to read stories from Lancster, Pa residents. What is your experience living in the beautiful, historic town? Love it? Hate it? Allergies? Headaches? Im 33, my moms 60. No kids, both swf's. From the Northwest. We are self employed and work at home in arts and photography. We work online. We are looking at the duplex villas in Lancaster by Lennar. Area code 17603. Is this a safe area? We are vegan, and the nearby farmers markets and Amish shops will be ideal for our lifestyle. Those villas are exactly what we need. If you know of something similar in another area, I would love to find out. I am a PA newbie, any insight would be very appreciated.

[Lancaster2009]

I would keep looking for other homes in the Lancaster area and stay away from said builder.

[Luisay]

Originally Posted by march18

Hi! Id love to read stories from Lancster, Pa residents. What is your experience living in the beautiful, historic town? Love it? Hate it? Allergies? Headaches? Im 33, my moms 60. No kids, both swf's. From the Northwest. We are self employed and work at home in arts and photography. We work online. We are looking at the duplex villas in Lancaster by Lennar. Area code 17603. Is this a safe area? We are vegan, and the nearby farmers markets and Amish shops will be ideal for our lifestyle. Those villas are exactly what we need. If you know of something similar in another area, I would love to find out. I am a PA newbie, any insight would be very appreciated.

It's easy to find a home for a very reasonable price. The downtown area is pretty safe. The "natives" seem to think it's so bad since there are many hispanics living in the city. But compared to other major town it is a very safe town.
You can find fresh food from the local market for cheap.
As far as social life, their ain't none. The people are unfriendly towards outsiders. Night life,forget about it. The art scene is weak.Traffic is not that bad.
Beware,the people are rude,unfriendly and very narrow minded.

[lorandsean]

Originally Posted by march18

Hi! Id love to read stories from Lancster, Pa residents. What is your experience living in the beautiful, historic town? Love it? Hate it? Allergies? Headaches? Im 33, my moms 60. No kids, both swf's. From the Northwest. We are self employed and work at home in arts and photography. We work online. We are looking at the duplex villas in Lancaster by Lennar. Area code 17603. Is this a safe area? We are vegan, and the nearby farmers markets and Amish shops will be ideal for our lifestyle. Those villas are exactly what we need. If you know of something similar in another area, I would love to find out. I am a PA newbie, any insight would be very appreciated.

Hello -
My husband and I moved here last April (2008) because my husband took a job in Reading. We've previously lived in IN, IL, and NJ. I'm from NJ, my husband is from NE. We are childless and in our early 40s. Right now we are renting a townhouse just barely outside of Lancaster city, in Manheim Township (zip code 17601). He is on a two year contract, so just the other day we spent some time tallying up the pluses and minuses as we try and decide if we want to stay. Here is what we came up with, hope it is helpful to you:

Pros
Nice housing stock with good values
Good shopping, including farmers' markets and the wonderful Central market
Relatively close to Philly, Baltimore, DC, NYC, and the Jersey shore
Four seasons but never terribly cold
Three or four colleges quite nearby
Outlying county areas are beautiful
Lancaster city has a nice arts scene and seems gay friendly and tolerant
Healthy lifestyle is encouraged with nice parks, fresh produce available so many places and at a good price
City is old and historical and in many ways quite lovely

Cons
People aren't particularly friendly or outgoing. The people in our development rarely speak to or acknowledge us. We've never lived any place where we weren't friendly with our neighbors so this is unusual.
Most of the people are multi-generational Lancastrians; we've met very few transplants. As a result, you'll probably always feel like an outsider and be treated as such. (The other day I was talking to a man who moved here about 40 years ago from Philadelphia, and he said his obituary would undoubtedly say - "Philadelphia man dies in Lancaster".)
Politically outside of the city it is extremely conservative. It's also very religious. To some this is plus, it just doesn't happen to be for us.
Traditional families are stressed. As I mentioned my husband and I are childless and typically the first question anyone asks me is if I have any children. I'm used to living in cities where childless people are much more common, and I think people find our situation peculiar.
There are terrible waits for restaurants! The day we moved we thought, we'll just pop over and get a quick dinner at Olive Garden. The wait was 2.5 hours. We've encountered the same thing at both upscale and chain restaurants.

Bottom line I guess is, if you're looking for someplace that's got nice architecture, arts, food that's sort of close to major urban areas, and you don't care that much about a sense of community or belonging, you may find you and your mom are very happy here. For us, we are still struggling to determine if those things make up for the very strong feelings of isolation that can come when people are kind of distant and cool.

Good luck!!

[LIgirl46]

I have to say that I am in agreement with much of what Lorandsean said. My son went to college in York, Pa. and after graduation he settled in Lancaster. He grew up in NY. He has had no problem with making friends, and when he married, a gal originally from NJ, they both have made such good friends. But, it is a tight community. They currently live in Lititz, which is a beautiful town just north of Lancaster. So, when I retired I bought a townhouse about 5 miles away from them. I have seen how closed the community is to newcomers. Most of the locals have been there for generations and they have family close by. The area is very family concious, which I do like. But, they aren't quick to say hello or to invite you over. I am quite outgoing and I say hello to everyone, at first I got funny looks but now people go by and they will wave hello. One step in the right direction.
Yes, the restaurants are crowded. Good for the economy, but tiresome if you are the one waiting. I haven't yet figured out why they are soooo crowded maybe tourists?
The social scene, from what I am told, is different than a lot of areas. The bar scene isn't much, but it is there if you like that. There is a great theather, Fulton Theather, in the city. There are great art shows and so much to do, but you have to look for them.
The bottom line is, while I am only up in Lititz part time (I primarily reside in Florida), I love it there. I love that sense of community and love seeing people out with their families.

Oh, just wanted to add. As for the zip code 17603, it isn't the best area but if you look around you can tell just where in the zip code you are. Some parts are better. The better Lancaster zip is 17601. Lititz is 17543.

[Narnia9334]

As for me I love Lancaster County, I do not live in Lancaster County, I live in the neighboring county York, which is actually cheaper housing and tax wise. But someday I would like maybe to move over to Lancaster county or right on the border of Lancaster and York like I use to live. I like the slower paced life and plain and simple way of living. I have a website that you may be interested in, it is Pretty much a Lancaster travel guide.
Lancaster Pennsylvania Dutch Travel Guide