East Shore vs. West Shore (Harrisburg) (Hershey, Mechanicsburg: apartments, condo, violent crime)

[jill249]

I am being transferred from Beaver County to Harrisburg for work. I lived in Harrisburg for a few months while I did an internship about 10 years ago, but worked too much to really explore the area.

I've been reading some posts and I noticed that several people said there are distinct differences between the east and west shore. Can any elaborate?

We'll be looking to buy a townhouse/condo since this may only be a 3 year assignments, so can anyone recommend some areas to begin the search? We don't kids but SD will be important down the road. Somewhat low taxes would also be nice!

I am sure I will have more questions down the road, so thanks in advance for any help.

[danwxman]

Cumberland county has the lowest taxes, with Hampden township having some of the lowest taxes in the state, but housing is getting pretty expensive. Townhouse developments are VERY numerous across the area, but most now start out at 190,000 or more. If you want something cheaper, look into the borough's like Mechanicsburg, New Cumberland or Wormleysburg. All three are in good locations and are nice communities. They are suburbs but quite urban and walkable. If you're looking for newer suburban, check out Hampden, Silver Spring, East Pennsboro, Upper Allen or Lower Allen townships in Cumberland county.

If you're looking at the east shore, I would reccommend Susquehanna Township, Hummelstown, Lower Paxton or Swatara (booming right now). The Hershey area is also nice but quite expensive.

[openless]

If on the west show i would suggest camp hill, lower allen, upper allen, mechanicsburg, wormleysburg or new cumberland. they are all pretty nice areas with modest homew prices and lots of new developments. there is shopping and fun things to do all over. lots of restaurants and bars and such on carlisle pike. i would stay away from east pennsboro, enola, west fairview and also fairview twp (york county). those areas are or were okay, but the trash from harrisburg is moving in at a very fast rate, and there have been robberies, drug busts, etc in those areas. i mean there are drugs anywhere, but those areas are right in the way of the criminals.

on the east shore i would say linglestown, colonial park, paxtonia, west hanover, south hanover, hershey or hummlestown are all good places to live. plenty of shopping, malls, decent schools, you can bike around pathways in the townships or just take a walk around, very safe, not too much happens here.

i would stay away from harrisburg city, steelton, paxtang, penbrook, and highspire. there are some decent areas. if you look at it, harrisburg city is the leader in violent crime. about 12 homicides last year. there were a few domestic violence deaths around the county also... (man beating woman to death, etc) but that's it.

highspire, union deposit, oberlin, susquehannah twp are also okay, but slowly getting worse, people are leaving harrisburg city to escape the crime and moving into cheap homes and apartments in those areas and just bringing the crime with them.

[Sooldanbar]

What do you guys think about North of the capital near the riverfront park area a few blocks inland?

[danwxman]

Originally Posted by Sooldanbar

What do you guys think about North of the capital near the riverfront park area a few blocks inland?

Are you referring to Midtown or Uptown? That's where I live, a really good neighborhood for young professionals. There is also the Riverside neighborhood of Susquehanna Township, just north of the city limits which is a very family oriented area. It's a pretty long stretch, if you give me some street names I could tell you what the area is like.