Possible relocation to Harrisburg area (Reading, York: apartment complexes, insurance, low crime)

[satchmo_6]

We may be needing to relocate to Harrisburg area, and was wondering where to live. We have four children, 10 to 16. Need good schools with great sports programs, low crime area, prefer country setting within city limits. Any ideas. We are open to driving within one hour of Harrisburg.
Thanks.

[openless]

Hello, I was born and raised in the Harrisburg area. I would also suggest trying to stay in lower paxton twp, it is about 3-5 miles outside of the city. it is fairly safe and quiet.

BAD: i would definatly stay away from harrisburg city itself, penbrook, paxtang, steelton, highspire, oberlin, lemoyne and enola. they are kind of run down and only getting worse. the housing is depressed, run down, lots of absentee landlords, drug busts, robberies, scams.

SO-SO: susquehanna, middletown, union deposit are border areas, some very nice areas, but they also they have run down sections too. apartment complexes in that area are home to some shady people. stay away from village knoll, eagles crest, twin lakes, hidden lake and camelot village. the crime (mostly drugs, but ocasionally burgluries and shootings) is increasing in those areas.

GOOD: some good areas to consider are probably colonial park, linglestown, paxtonia, hummlestown, camp hill, wormleysburg, new cumberland, mechanicsburg, lower allen, hershey and elizabethtown are good too. apartment complexes: catalina, springford, the brooks, the terraces and beaufort are okay in my opinion.

there is lots of shopping in the area on rt 22 on the east shore, they have plenty of doctors, dentists and insurance agencies, lots of variety. they have fast food rest. and fine dining rests. the people are okay, a mix mix of people, immigrants, people from out of state, native born people, minimium wagers, six figure guys, doctors, mechanics, SUVs, mercedes, yugos and hyundais. i'd say its about half and half. its not too conservative or too liberal, its just depends where you are and who you talk to. the people here are okay, as someone said before they are pretty reserved and take some time to get used to, to break out of their shell. many people wore born and raised and will die here, and they are a little wary of 'newcomers'.

Basically the further away from the city the better you are. but like any town there is a drug problem here, its not major. in the city of harrisburg, people shoot each other over nothing, but in the suburbs there might be a few car breakins or something like that, theft from stores. nothing crazy, meth and heroin are also growing problems here. there is some alcohol related problems and sometimes vandalism or stupid kids, but that's really it here. also it sounds funny, but if you go to the gym or church or a hotel lock your car, there are constantly thieves who leave the city and hit those places and look for laptops, money, wallets. and just because youre in a neighborhood where the homes all cost 350K+ dont think youre immune to crime, thieves go there too and often, haha.

there are hundreds of jobs waiting to be taken. monster.com, harrisburghelpwanted.com, pennlive.com, etc. many people live in the suburbs and work in the city, some live in the country and work in the suburbs, some commute from city to city.

average distance from harrisburg
gettysburg- 1 hour
chambersburg 1 hour
tower city- 45 mins
pine grove- 45 mins
millersburg 45 mins
lebanon- 35 minutes
dillsburg - 35 mins
carlisle- 35 minutes
york- 35 mins
lancaster- 45 mins

if you really liek the country side try the area north and east of lebanon and around carlisle. they are both pretty neat. the distance isnt really that far, but trust me, the traffic here is terrible, harrisburg city is small only about 45K people and the metro is larger about 750K, and the traffic is astonishing, people driving big bad SUVs, not using turn signals, changing lanes, taking up tons of space, blocking intersections... you might be advised to come visit for a week. I dont know how long you commute now, but it's pretty bad in some areas, especially if you are going into center city harrisburg.

[Enfield19]

Openless - How can you include Enola as a bad area???? When is the last time you were there??? Sure there is an older part that doesn't look that nice but don't forget that part is over 100 years old. Enola has many homes that are well over $200,000 just to start. It is served by the 6 company strong East Pennsboro Twp. Fire Dept. I think that you may want to do a little more research before you post on this forum.

[Marodi]

Originally Posted by openless

Hello, I was born and raised in the Harrisburg area. I would also suggest trying to stay in lower paxton twp, it is about 3-5 miles outside of the city. it is fairly safe and quiet.

BAD: i would definatly stay away from harrisburg city itself, penbrook, paxtang, steelton, highspire, oberlin, lemoyne and enola. they are kind of run down and only getting worse. the housing is depressed, run down, lots of absentee landlords, drug busts, robberies, scams.

SO-SO: susquehanna, middletown, union deposit are border areas, some very nice areas, but they also they have run down sections too. apartment complexes in that area are home to some shady people. stay away from village knoll, eagles crest, twin lakes, hidden lake and camelot village. the crime (mostly drugs, but ocasionally burgluries and shootings) is increasing in those areas.

GOOD: some good areas to consider are probably colonial park, linglestown, paxtonia, hummlestown, camp hill, wormleysburg, new cumberland, mechanicsburg, lower allen, hershey and elizabethtown are good too. apartment complexes: catalina, springford, the brooks, the terraces and beaufort are okay in my opinion.

there is lots of shopping in the area on rt 22 on the east shore, they have plenty of doctors, dentists and insurance agencies, lots of variety. they have fast food rest. and fine dining rests. the people are okay, a mix mix of people, immigrants, people from out of state, native born people, minimium wagers, six figure guys, doctors, mechanics, SUVs, mercedes, yugos and hyundais. i'd say its about half and half. its not too conservative or too liberal, its just depends where you are and who you talk to. the people here are okay, as someone said before they are pretty reserved and take some time to get used to, to break out of their shell. many people wore born and raised and will die here, and they are a little wary of 'newcomers'.

Basically the further away from the city the better you are. but like any town there is a drug problem here, its not major. in the city of harrisburg, people shoot each other over nothing, but in the suburbs there might be a few car breakins or something like that, theft from stores. nothing crazy, meth and heroin are also growing problems here. there is some alcohol related problems and sometimes vandalism or stupid kids, but that's really it here. also it sounds funny, but if you go to the gym or church or a hotel lock your car, there are constantly thieves who leave the city and hit those places and look for laptops, money, wallets. and just because youre in a neighborhood where the homes all cost 350K+ dont think youre immune to crime, thieves go there too and often, haha.

there are hundreds of jobs waiting to be taken. monster.com, harrisburghelpwanted.com, pennlive.com, etc. many people live in the suburbs and work in the city, some live in the country and work in the suburbs, some commute from city to city.

average distance from harrisburg
gettysburg- 1 hour
chambersburg 1 hour
tower city- 45 mins
pine grove- 45 mins
millersburg 45 mins
lebanon- 35 minutes
dillsburg - 35 mins
carlisle- 35 minutes
york- 35 mins
lancaster- 45 mins

if you really liek the country side try the area north and east of lebanon and around carlisle. they are both pretty neat. the distance isnt really that far, but trust me, the traffic here is terrible, harrisburg city is small only about 45K people and the metro is larger about 750K, and the traffic is astonishing, people driving big bad SUVs, not using turn signals, changing lanes, taking up tons of space, blocking intersections... you might be advised to come visit for a week. I dont know how long you commute now, but it's pretty bad in some areas, especially if you are going into center city harrisburg.

Having done the driving quite frequently lately, the drive from harrisburg on 83 right at the Susquehana bridge to gettysburg is 45 minutes with minimal traffic

[skizzle]

Originally Posted by satchmo_6

We may be needing to relocate to Harrisburg area, and was wondering where to live. We have four children, 10 to 16. Need good schools with great sports programs, low crime area, prefer country setting within city limits. Any ideas. We are open to driving within one hour of Harrisburg.
Thanks.

You may want to consider going just over the county line into York County. The home prices are lower and it is a buyer's market right now. Anthing from the Emigsville Exit North on #83 would be an excellent place to start looking. That area also affords you excellent commuting times to Philly, Baltimore, Reading as well as being a hop-skip-jump to the Harrisburg area. Truly consider York County..... you won't believe the bank you'll get for the buck!

[CHIP72]

Originally Posted by satchmo_6

We may be needing to relocate to Harrisburg area, and was wondering where to live. We have four children, 10 to 16. Need good schools with great sports programs, low crime area, prefer country setting within city limits. Any ideas. We are open to driving within one hour of Harrisburg.
Thanks.

Based on the above, I'd suggest the Hershey area (Derry Township). Hershey is about 12 miles or 20-30 minutes east of Harrisburg. Another possibility would be the Cumberland Valley School District (Hampden/Silver Spring Townships). This area is roughly 10-12 miles west of Harrisburg. The Dauphin area about 8 miles north of Harrisburg could be a possibility too; it is within the Central Dauphin School District and is north of the Blue Mountain (i.e. it is actually in the Ridge and Valley physiographic area).

I'll note traffic congestion in the immediate Harrisburg area during rush hours on the limited access roads can be a pain if you are accustomed to small town/rural traffic.

[toosweetkimmer]

I live in Enola and it is hardly run down. The only area that even has older housing is the ONE street running through the middle of town. Enola is actually a pretty up and coming small town. Everywhere you look new houses are being built. We are talking 200-400k houses here, not exactly a run down city getting worse. We have some of the best schools in the areas and the only one to offer full day kindergarten. I have actually put off buying a house because I refuse to move from Enola and I am having a hard time finding a house I like that isnt already sold! There is basically no crime, very quiet neighborhoods, very active and friendly police who patrol frequently, and great people. I love my little town and its great that its only 15 minutes to Harrisburg and one minute you are in town and the next you are enjoying the country. It has the best of both worlds.

[mleo]

Since you have four kids I would assume that picking the right school district is a priority. We have great public schools in the immediate area. Some for consideration are: Camp Hill School District, Cumberland Valley School District, East Pennsboro School District, Mechanicsburg School District and West Shore School District. I also hear that Central Dauphin is strong as well but I am not as familiar with that particular district. A helpful website to check out is SchoolMatters - Home.

For picking a location to live, you have lots of options. I think the other posters covered them for you quite well. I hate to beat a dead horse but Enola is a nice area to live. There are quite a number of brand new or new developments in Enola that are beautiful and relatively affordable. Once you pick a school district I think it will be easier to pick an exact community to live in.

Good luck and best wishes! If you want more detail, feel free to send me a direct message.