Central to South-Central PA--Quiet, Affordable Rentals Within Nature for a Writer (Philadelphia: crime, affordable house)

[t16skyhopper]

Hello,

Would anyone know of a good, quiet place for a writer to live alone in an affordable house, cottage, or mobile home to rent or buy with wood trails around, and where people courteously keep to themselves while being pretty friendly? A good place to bike or commute by bike?--though not as important. Maybe with used book stores or libraries near enough around? I would look for a local job; jobs of course are hard to find everywhere. My rental budget would be $500 to $1000, and though I'd prefer central to south-central PA--around a half hour drive to a safe city--statewide suggestions are welcome.

Thank you.

[Pureblood]

Williamsburg is a small town in Central Pennsylvania. I don't know what your definition of city is but Altoona is a great place to shop. It is located in Blair County, They have about a 15 mile bike trail along the river called Rails to Trails. Rent is cheap here. The public library is excellent. Plenty of woods everywhere and gamelands close by. This wikipedia article has some good information on Williamsburg.
Williamsburg, Pennsylvania - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[ki0eh]

Maybe one of the smaller communities in Centre County a bit outside of State College - say, Bellefonte, Pleasant Gap, Centre Hall, Millheim, Spring Mills, Coburn. State College itself has many bike trails and box and non-box stores for shopping, but rents are jacked up for students. Lots of State Forest around with mountain bike and hiking trails.

Another possibility may be the Carlisle area - west of Carlisle (say, Newville) is more affordable than east. Boiling Springs especially is a beautiful little town, on the Appalachian Trail with many quiet bikeable roads around, although there is also much newer housing nearby. Try also Mt. Holly Springs.

Probably both areas are more expensive than Williamsburg.

For cheaper areas, maybe not quite as pretty right in town:

Milton, near the junction of I-80 and US 15, offers cheap rentals a few miles outside the college town of Lewisburg. Not quite half hour to box shopping both south (Shamokin Dam/Hummels Wharf) and north (Muncy/Montoursville). Pretty close to large areas of State Forest west of town.

If you want really cheap and surrounded by woods, try Renovo (reh-NO-vah), however proximity to shopping is not a strong point - it's a good hour or more to State College or Williamsport areas. Jersey Shore and Lock Haven could be places to try too, not quite as surrounded by woods, but also not quite as isolated.

[t16skyhopper]

Thank you both so much. For Williamsburg and Bellefonte and nearby State College towns what do you favor the most and the least? And how do locals take to New Yorkers who let go of advertising they're from New York and just live in and breathe in the area?

[BevoInPA]

I had to go to Towanda for work recently, which is not in Central PA (more like north central) and was surprised by how beautiful the town is with restaurants and shops on the main drag.

Middletown in Dauphin County is pretty and has an Amtrack station to Harrisburg and Philadelphia.

[ki0eh]

The nearby State College towns would be relatively used to outsiders moving in. It's possible you might have an initial negative reaction especially if you have a pretty obvious Noo Yawk mannerism/accent, since some folks tend to want to bring the city stuff with them.

It is also my opinion that most would grow past that and become more accepting of you once they realize that you have the accepting demeanor indicated by your post, regardless of mannerism/accent.

My suspicion is that Williamsburg is so far "out there" that an outsider moving in might be a total curiosity that locals won't know to dislike. Maybe outsiders are moving into that area in numbers greater than I realize sitting here, but there's certainly less visual evidence of that than in the State College area.

[Pureblood]

Originally Posted by ki0eh

My suspicion is that Williamsburg is so far "out there" that an outsider moving in might be a total curiosity that locals won't know to dislike. Maybe outsiders are moving into that area in numbers greater than I realize sitting here, but there's certainly less visual evidence of that than in the State College area.

Yeah it would be a total curiosity... Really no new people move here. If anything people are moving away. It is sad really. Now I think the Martinsburg /Roaring Spring area is growing. Really any place in the cove you will like. Just search Morrisons Cove in google or yahoo. Altoona is just over the mountain. A world of a difference, different scenery, different people, different crime rate. Much better in the cove than in Altoona.

[t16skyhopper]

Williamsburg itself sounds nice. Maybe Martinsburg/Roaring Spring or Morrison Cove to add to the list. Thank you Pureblood, and everyone. Much appreciated. I'll try to watch the pronunciation of my r's.

[ki0eh]

Is Williamsburg as dry alcoholically as the rest of Morrison's Cove? Certainly in Martinsburg, the accent's on drinking milk instead. Welcome to Ritchey's Dairy

[Pureblood]

There is not a bar in Williamsburg. The only place to drink Alcohol is at the American Legion. Also there is restaurant about 5 miles out of town on route 22 that has alcohol. Alcohol really isn't a problem here. But we do have other problems here like marajuana. I personally don't think it is that bad. It isn't as bad here as in the city but yes we do have an occasional drug user. Yes more people drink milk then alcohol. Occasionally you will see a beer drinker at a party or something but not that bad. In my opinion it is a great place to rasie a family someday.

EDIT: ha ha i just remembered this time when this lady ask where the closet bar was around this town and he said just the legion and she was like wow you got to be kidding me.
Edit: just saw your link to Rictheys Dairy. They make the best ice tea and lemonade i have ever had. In fact i drink a tea every day at lunch.