Young, artistic interracial couple looking for a good area to start out (Philadelphia: transplants, real estate)

[LimeFerret]

Hello!

My husband and I are newly weds ready to leave Southern New Jersey (we currently live in a tiny apartment and are having trouble with the job market as well as property taxes) We have lived in both Cherry Hill and Maple Shade. We dont dislike the area we live in, but the taxes, as well as a rise in crime and just wanting to get away from here for once are pushing us to move.

We are hoping to find an area that is artistic, young, and quaint/suburban. We HATE big cities, but like being able to go somewhere hip for a night out. We of course want to move somewhere that is safe for a mixed race family, as we are planning on having children in the next few years.

I am a freelance artist currently, and my husband is in IT, so a place with growth is key. We are looking for a starter home that we can actually afford without having taxes so high it is the equivalent of a second mortgage. If we need to, we will rent however.

Any part of PA is fine with us so long as it meets those requirements. We wouldn't mind hearing about other north eastern areas that fit the bill either.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

[Internet Superman]

Philadelphia or the Pocono's would probably be your best bet.

Harrisburg would be second on my list and Mechanicsburg would be third.

[LimeFerret]

Philadelphia is definitely OUT. I hate the city, and crime as erupted there lately, far worse in the past few years than before. My family has a home in the Poconos, and while I love it, there are few parts that I would consider a mixed family particularly welcome.

I will check out the other two for sure, thank you!

[Hopes]

I just have to comment on how funny it is that people want 'small town' or 'quaint' but an area with growth for jobs!

It's almost as funny as the people who want to live in the city but want a big suburban yard.

Some things just don't come together in the same package.

[LimeFerret]

I would like to say I have seen a ton of small town centers within 10 minutes of cities. Haddonfeild NJ is a great example. You can have a small town feel without being a small town. We want a place that there are jobs available. there are towns that have both features...

[PA-native71]

Originally Posted by LimeFerret

Hello!

My husband and I are newly weds ready to leave Southern New Jersey (we currently live in a tiny apartment and are having trouble with the job market as well as property taxes) We have lived in both Cherry Hill and Maple Shade. We dont dislike the area we live in, but the taxes, as well as a rise in crime and just wanting to get away from here for once are pushing us to move.

We are hoping to find an area that is artistic, young, and quaint/suburban. We HATE big cities, but like being able to go somewhere hip for a night out. We of course want to move somewhere that is safe for a mixed race family, as we are planning on having children in the next few years.

I am a freelance artist currently, and my husband is in IT, so a place with growth is key. We are looking for a starter home that we can actually afford without having taxes so high it is the equivalent of a second mortgage. If we need to, we will rent however.

Any part of PA is fine with us so long as it meets those requirements. We wouldn't mind hearing about other north eastern areas that fit the bill either.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

try to see if your hubby can get a job in Pittsburgh for this or up in Erie even or Butler ,Grove City because one nice thing about an area like this is you can actually work in the city and live in the country and the people around there are real tolerant about interracial couples and children,and western PA has some artistic types that find the rural countryside very relaxing and inspiring and alot of inspiration can be found there (just research it and you will see) and if you look here http://www.pacareerlink.state.pa.us/ and look around the different areas
but I will warn you that your hubby will not make as much there as where you are at but the cost of living is lower and you can pick up a decent 1200 sq/ft home for 50,000 and it comes with a yard so.
Just start there and look on Monster also and contact the local personnel/employment services alot of companies are going thru them anymore to get people and just look at Western PA,it is a great place to raise a family and you can still go out and have fun either as adults or as a family ,but if that seems too far for you look around ,Dubois ,Erie ,Meadville ,Grove City ,Clarion ,Indiana ,State College ,Butler and so forth these are just areas you can try and find a job and live in rural country and feel safe and the houses can be very affordable compared to Jersey .
I would start for a job search in Pittsburgh,Butler ,Erie and Meadville and Clarion and put a wide search parameter in it like 50 miles and should find something .
Good luck

[LimeFerret]

Originally Posted by PA-native71

try to see if your hubby can get a job in Pittsburgh for this or up in Erie even or Butler ,Grove City because one nice thing about an area like this is you can actually work in the city and live in the country and the people around there are real tolerant about interracial couples and children,and western PA has some artistic types that find the rural countryside very relaxing and inspiring and alot of inspiration can be found there (just research it and you will see) and if you look here http://www.pacareerlink.state.pa.us/ and look around the different areas
but I will warn you that your hubby will not make as much there as where you are at but the cost of living is lower and you can pick up a decent 1200 sq/ft home for 50,000 and it comes with a yard so.
Just start there and look on Monster also and contact the local personnel/employment services alot of companies are going thru them anymore to get people and just look at Western PA,it is a great place to raise a family and you can still go out and have fun either as adults or as a family ,but if that seems too far for you look around ,Dubois ,Erie ,Meadville ,Grove City ,Clarion ,Indiana ,State College ,Butler and so forth these are just areas you can try and find a job and live in rural country and feel safe and the houses can be very affordable compared to Jersey .
I would start for a job search in Pittsburgh,Butler ,Erie and Meadville and Clarion and put a wide search parameter in it like 50 miles and should find something .
Good luck

Thank you so much for the reply, it has given us a TON to look at. Erie looks ideal for us, I want to be sure that it is alright for a mixed family, some other forums keep saying it is very "old time America" but I am not so sure of that. I am a weather fanatic and love the cold and the snow... so that is also a plus. I know, I am odd. My husband is going to check on jobs in that area. He has an interview in our area on Monday, and barring him getting a spectacular offer, we are still looking to move. We will never be able to afford a home in this area... Some people recommended Quakertown if we stay here, I know there are a lot of jobs in the King of Prussia area, but I know little about the area in relation to what we are looking for.

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by LimeFerret

My family has a home in the Poconos, and while I love it, there are few parts that I would consider a mixed family particularly welcome.

Believe it or not there are now more NY/NJ transplants living in both Pike and Monroe Counties now than there are PA natives, so if anyone is "intolerant" of a mixed-race family then it will likely be the NY/NJ crowd themselves. Stroudsburg is becoming increasingly diverse, so I doubt you'd experience any problems there. As an aside I think Stroudsburg is also attracting some of the bad "element" of the city (i.e. drugs, traffic, sprawl, gangs, etc.) so keep that in mind as well.

My first thought for you were some parts of the Lehigh Valley, such as Historic Bethlehem, Emmaus, Kutztown (college town), or Coopersburg. The job market in the Lehigh Valley has been one of the more resilient ones in Eastern PA as of late. With a metropolitan population of around 800,000 you get a lot of the city perks (i.e. chain restaurants, big-box stores, casinos, minor-league sports, diversity, etc.) while also still having some small-town areas.

Good luck!

[LimeFerret]

I have taken a peek at all the areas everyone mentioned, and I do like many of them. I was checking out house prices, and most of the areas have very high or out of our range homes. I will be contacting a real estate agent though, as they have listings for lower cost houses. and YES I realize that house prices will be higher in an area with my requirements. However if anyone knows an area that is also safe but house cost is low(ish) let me know. Erie was a great choice for us aside from difficulty finding a job in the area, but it is very far from where we are at present, and in the last few days people have been begging us not to stray more than 2 hours away.

I saw some great areas near Boothwyn PA (where some jobs for hubby are) but again they were not affordable. I will have to decide what is the MOST important community features, and I think that will be safety.




Thank you again for all the info!!

[bobsmith]

Come on over to Bucks County. Doyelstown and New Hope sound like great places for you!