Re-locating from CO to PA. (Pittsburgh, Reading: houses, cinema, universities)

[CoCharlie]

Hi all,

I'm in the process of locating to PA from Colorado, the reasons being:

My wifes family and friends are in the MD area and we'd like to be closer.

We both have telecommuting postions but can't live in MD otherwise we'll lose that ability and have to go into work.

We've decided that PA provides us with much of what we have now, scenery, similar weather in many respects and also solves the reasons just mentioned.

We don't need to be in the middle of things, we currently live in Parker (Denver city suburb) and have access to the big box stores, a few restararuants (would like more and less chains) and a cinemas. Theres other stuff but, we just dont need it though.

After much research and post reading on this forum (very helpful) the areas we're considering so far are Lehigh Valley, areas around York and areas around Franklin.

We'd like to be within an hour of a good airport and for the area to be reasonably low on crime.

To have high speed internet
(at least 16mb down - 2mb up)

To not be too far from stores that one needs on a regular basis (food, diy) to have access to some restaruants and a cinema.

So, can you help us - any areas we've missed and of the ones we've picked can we find what we're looking for?

Thanks in advance for any replies

[ki0eh]

My first thought is the west outer areas of Pittsburgh - west of the airport in far northern Washington County or far southwest Beaver County. I'd think your money would go a lot further there than in the LV or York.

Franklin (the City of Franklin, near Oil City) has a little airport and a few chains, but it seems to be the odd location out on your list. Sure would be a lot cheaper but it's more of a drive to big box retail. Or did you mean Franklin County (Chambersburg area) which has some degree of sprawl accommodating MD refugees?

You could consider the Selinsgrove/Sunbury and Lewisburg/Milton area - around where I-80 and US 15 intersect. Unusually strong retail for small town setting, Lewisburg has Bucknell University and Selisgrove Susquehanna University for cultural enhancement.

Internet will always be spotty in PA where it's good or where it isn't. PA still has plenty of independent phone companies - look beyond Verizon to such entities as Windstream (formerly Alltel), Frontier (formerly Commonwealth), and Embarq (formerly United/Sprint). And the same applies to the TV cable based guys.

[kone]

I think the Lehigh Valley seems like a good fit.

I don't know much about York but it seems to be what I'd call a "struggling" area much like Reading/Berks County.

[gayguyfromdenver]

CoCharlie, just a friendly question...have you ever been to PA? PA's weather/climate is vastly different from CO's. All of PA gets a very generous amount of rain spread pretty much evenly throughout the year. For this reason, PA tends to be very lush and green during the late spring, summer and even the fall. However, it's also very humid. Parker CO gets less than 20 inches of rain per year. You can easily double that wherever you move in PA. The precipitation patterns are also quite different between the two areas. As far as scenery goes, the two states are nothing alike. Most of PA can be described as rolling countryside. It's quite beautiful in its own way. There are no mountains in PA, just hills. The scenery is very understated, it's not dramatic. Two, PA doesn't have the vast, wide-open spaces that CO has. Having said all of that, where does your wife's family and friends live in MD? I would not recommend anywhere near Pittsburgh due to it's quite a hike from Pittsburgh to MD. If your wife's family and friends are in Baltimore or the MD DC suburbs, I would recommend outside of York PA, Gettysburg PA (very nice small town) or even Hanover PA. Hanover PA is very safe and quite reasonable. It's also very close to Baltimore MD. Gettysburg PA would be the best choice geographically if your wife's family and friends live in the MD DC suburbs. Hope this helps!

[CoCharlie]

Originally Posted by ki0eh

My first thought is the west outer areas of Pittsburgh - west of the airport in far northern Washington County or far southwest Beaver County. I'd think your money would go a lot further there than in the LV or York.

Franklin (the City of Franklin, near Oil City) has a little airport and a few chains, but it seems to be the odd location out on your list. Sure would be a lot cheaper but it's more of a drive to big box retail. Or did you mean Franklin County (Chambersburg area) which has some degree of sprawl accommodating MD refugees?

You could consider the Selinsgrove/Sunbury and Lewisburg/Milton area - around where I-80 and US 15 intersect. Unusually strong retail for small town setting, Lewisburg has Bucknell University and Selisgrove Susquehanna University for cultural enhancement.

Internet will always be spotty in PA where it's good or where it isn't. PA still has plenty of independent phone companies - look beyond Verizon to such entities as Windstream (formerly Alltel), Frontier (formerly Commonwealth), and Embarq (formerly United/Sprint). And the same applies to the TV cable based guys.

Thanks ki0eh,

I'll take a look at those areas. Thanks for the Franklin info (not county) re big box stores.

I've checked Comcasts availability in most areas but will also check those companies too

[CoCharlie]

Originally Posted by kone

I think the Lehigh Valley seems like a good fit.

I don't know much about York but it seems to be what I'd call a "struggling" area much like Reading/Berks County.

Ok, have to be honest, I dont want to live in a "struggling" area per-se. Id rather live in the sticks than be surrounded by boarded up shops and vacant houses (not saying its like this but I guess thats what "struggling" brings to my mind)

I was checking online about a home on the Honey Run golf course (outskirts of York) - kinda assumed a golf course would ensure a reasonably safe York neighbourhood. It was 5000sqft, smallish 0.5 acre lot, private pool and less than $300k.

What do you think, would the struggling areas of York even bother me if I were that far out?

[CoCharlie]

Originally Posted by gayguyfromdenver

CoCharlie, just a friendly question...have you ever been to PA? PA's weather/climate is vastly different from CO's. All of PA gets a very generous amount of rain spread pretty much evenly throughout the year. For this reason, PA tends to be very lush and green during the late spring, summer and even the fall. However, it's also very humid. Parker CO gets less than 20 inches of rain per year. You can easily double that wherever you move in PA. The precipitation patterns are also quite different between the two areas. As far as scenery goes, the two states are nothing alike. Most of PA can be described as rolling countryside. It's quite beautiful in its own way. There are no mountains in PA, just hills. The scenery is very understated, it's not dramatic. Two, PA doesn't have the vast, wide-open spaces that CO has. Having said all of that, where does your wife's family and friends live in MD? I would not recommend anywhere near Pittsburgh due to it's quite a hike from Pittsburgh to MD. If your wife's family and friends are in Baltimore or the MD DC suburbs, I would recommend outside of York PA, Gettysburg PA (very nice small town) or even Hanover PA. Hanover PA is very safe and quite reasonable. It's also very close to Baltimore MD. Gettysburg PA would be the best choice geographically if your wife's family and friends live in the MD DC suburbs. Hope this helps!

Hi Neighbor,

Haven't been yet, we plan an extended visit in the next few months.

I did take a look at PA weather vs Co weather and even though it rains more i'm originally from the UK so it shouldnt bother me much. As you say, its reasonably even too. I did see many similarities with CO in the average monthly temperatures, which is more of a factor because we'd like a home with a pool. So having temperatures where you can actually use one for a reasonable amount of time is a priority.

The extra humidity is fine by us too, as you know we have very little in CO - maybe we wont have dry elbows anymore

Scenery differences are fine - we're not overly outdoorsey. For me it will be pretty similar to UK countryside.

The wifes family live in Olney - my wife lived there too from her teens to early twenties until she moved to CO at 29.

As long as the hike to MD is circa 4 hours, we're good. Can't get too close or her company might ask her to come into the office rather than tele-commute.

Thanks for the helpful info

[gayguyfromdenver]

Originally Posted by CoCharlie

Hi Neighbor,

Haven't been yet, we plan an extended visit in the next few months.

I did take a look at PA weather vs Co weather and even though it rains more i'm originally from the UK so it shouldnt bother me much. As you say, its reasonably even too. I did see many similarities with CO in the average monthly temperatures, which is more of a factor because we'd like a home with a pool. So having temperatures where you can actually use one for a reasonable amount of time is a priority.

The extra humidity is fine by us too, as you know we have very little in CO - maybe we wont have dry elbows anymore

Scenery differences are fine - we're not overly outdoorsey. For me it will be pretty similar to UK countryside.

The wifes family live in Olney - my wife lived there too from her teens to early twenties until she moved to CO at 29.

As long as the hike to MD is circa 4 hours, we're good. Can't get too close or her company might ask her to come into the office rather than tele-commute.

Thanks for the helpful info

No problem. You seem to be very realistic regarding your expectations which is a good thing. Keeping your expectations in check leads to less disappointment and unhappiness. If you don't want to be too close to MD, you might want to check out the Harrisburg region. Mechanicsburg is very nice. It's right outside of Harrisburg. It's a quiet small town. However, lots of shopping is close by in neighboring Camp Hill. I also think the one posters suggestion of Selinsgrove is a great one. It's also a very quiet area. I believe they have two universities up there -- Susquehanna and Bucknell. Both Selinsgrove and the Harrisburg area tend to offer a little more than other areas in PA of the same size. Harrisburg offers more because it's the state capital, and I believe Selinsgrove offers more due to the two universities. Actually, Selinsgrove might be your best choice. If I remember correctly, Selinsgrove is about a 2 hr drive to the MD state line. IMHO, I don't think you could go wrong with either one. It would all depend on your personal preferences. I do know that Selinsgrove is a good deal smaller than the Harrisburg region. Best of luck when you go out to visit and on your move!

[kone]

Originally Posted by CoCharlie

Ok, have to be honest, I dont want to live in a "struggling" area per-se. Id rather live in the sticks than be surrounded by boarded up shops and vacant houses (not saying its like this but I guess thats what "struggling" brings to my mind)

I was checking online about a home on the Honey Run golf course (outskirts of York) - kinda assumed a golf course would ensure a reasonably safe York neighbourhood. It was 5000sqft, smallish 0.5 acre lot, private pool and less than $300k.

What do you think, would the struggling areas of York even bother me if I were that far out?

As I said, I don't know York very well, "struggling" is just my perception. Maybe that's unfair - hopefully a York expert will correct me.

There are always nice areas within any county but like anywhere else, counties are affected positively or negatively by the cities they revolve around; Berks/Reading, Lancaster/Lancaster, York/York, etc. and like most mid-size urban areas - these cities have certainly seen better days. I live in a rural, mostly-farmland area of Berks County and drive to Valley Forge for work - it's truly beautiful. However...5 miles in the other direction towards Reading? Notsomuch.

Obviously I only have intimate knowledge about Reading and as Reading dies the decay does spread to the communtities around it. What I was saying was that to me, York appears to have similar issues.

[CoCharlie]

Originally Posted by gayguyfromdenver

No problem. You seem to be very realistic regarding your expectations which is a good thing. Keeping your expectations in check leads to less disappointment and unhappiness. If you don't want to be too close to MD, you might want to check out the Harrisburg region. Mechanicsburg is very nice. It's right outside of Harrisburg. It's a quiet small town. However, lots of shopping is close by in neighboring Camp Hill. I also think the one posters suggestion of Selinsgrove is a great one. It's also a very quiet area. I believe they have two universities up there -- Susquehanna and Bucknell. Both Selinsgrove and the Harrisburg area tend to offer a little more than other areas in PA of the same size. Harrisburg offers more because it's the state capital, and I believe Selinsgrove offers more due to the two universities. Actually, Selinsgrove might be your best choice. If I remember correctly, Selinsgrove is about a 2 hr drive to the MD state line. IMHO, I don't think you could go wrong with either one. It would all depend on your personal preferences. I do know that Selinsgrove is a good deal smaller than the Harrisburg region. Best of luck when you go out to visit and on your move!

Thanks for the area suggestions - i'll search online to see what the property sites have.