Escape from NJ! (Lancaster, Harrisburg, Hershey: mortgage, home, job market)

[CarolinaOnMyMind]

Hello everyone,

My wife and I would love to leave NJ for all the infamous reasons that are well publicized. We are looking to purchase our first home and we are strongly considering Mechanicsburg and the surrounding towns. We visited this area last summer and again in the fall and we were very impressed. Ofcourse, the only obstacle from fufilling our dream is finding gainful employment. I am a staff accountant with a large liquor distributor and my wife is a nanny. How difficult would it be to find jobs in our respective fields during these difficult economic times in the Mechanicsburg area / Harrisburg? We really just need to bring enough income in to pay for a modest mortgage and to live a modest lifestyle. We would like to move ASAP and to buy a home in the next few months. We would appreciate any feedback/advice to help us in planning our escape from Jersey and to begin our new life in PA.

Thanks,
Gary & Cathy

[danwxman]

Originally Posted by CarolinaOnMyMind

Hello everyone,

My wife and I would love to leave NJ for all the infamous reasons that are well publicized. We are looking to purchase our first home and we are strongly considering Mechanicsburg and the surrounding towns. We visited this area last summer and again in the fall and we were very impressed. Ofcourse, the only obstacle from fufilling our dream is finding gainful employment. I am a staff accountant with a large liquor distributor and my wife is a nanny. How difficult would it be to find jobs in our respective fields during these difficult economic times in the Mechanicsburg area / Harrisburg? We really just need to bring enough income in to pay for a modest mortgage and to live a modest lifestyle. We would like to move ASAP and to buy a home in the next few months. We would appreciate any feedback/advice to help us in planning our escape from Jersey and to begin our new life in PA.

Thanks,
Gary & Cathy

The Harrisburg area, and especially the "west shore" (where Mechanicsburg resides) is a mostly white-collar area. The job market here is better then most of PA and our unemployment rate is low (compared to U.S. and state) and holding steady. There are definetely a large number of accounting firms in the area, especially with the corporate headquarters of some large companies and the state government nearby. I know of a few people who have graduated with accounting degrees recently and they have had jobs lined up. In any uncertain time, I would recommend having a job lined up or at least some sort of backup plan before you move...but in general this is a pretty safe area to move into compared to the rest of the Northeast right now. In terms of nanny positions, I really don't know...but Mechanicsburg has a ton of families and also some pretty high-income neighborhoods around...with some people even commuting to Baltimore/DC/Philly now. I'm sure there is a demand for nannies.

[lititzman2003]

Danwxman nailed it. Mechanicsburg is a great place to live. You'll have easy access to Harrisburg, Lancaster, Baltimore and even Hershey. I think you'll both have a better chance of finding employment in those towns in your respective fields then in most of the other cities. Just remember living in Central PA requires a fair amount of driving to work. Good luck with your search.