Looking to relocate, please help!! (Pittsburgh, Harrisburg: insurance, crime, how much)

[ConflictingBlue]

My fiancee and I are looking to relocate to PA but we are not sure where to go. We want an area that has good shopping, good restaurants, and somewhere that is very scenic. Someplace clean. Altough we have no children, we would like a place that is family oriented.... also an area where they take part in holiday celebrations such as Halloween, where we currently live no one decorates or anything. Hopefully you can point us in the right direction.

[RUNYYfan]

Need lots more information other than likes and wants.

Where are you going to be working? How much are you looking to spend on housing? What are you willing to pay in taxes?

[Internet Superman]

Originally Posted by ConflictingBlue

My fiancee and I are looking to relocate to PA but we are not sure where to go. We want an area that has good shopping, good restaurants, and somewhere that is very scenic. Someplace clean. Altough we have no children, we would like a place that is family oriented.... also an area where they take part in holiday celebrations such as Halloween, where we currently live no one decorates or anything. Hopefully you can point us in the right direction.

The problem with what you are looking for is that it does not exist.

Take a look at Phoenix Az. People moved there to get away from everybody.

They bought a house with a view of the desert on the edge of town.

10 years later, all they had a view of is skyscrapers and neighbors houses.

So they sell their house and move 10 miles down the road, again, in 10 years they have the same problem they had before - Urban Sprawl.

As more and more people moves into a area and it gets developed more and more, pollution becomes a problem and soon the water source is polluted and the water has to be hauled in from somewhere else.

In Pennsylvania, much of the state is very rural. But when you live in a rural area, there is no shopping - unless you count Walmart and JC Penney's and Kmart as shopping.

When you move closer to the city, you loose the rural atmosphere and pretty soon - no matter where you live, you are in the suburbs of someplace else. In time as more and more people moves in - you will find yourself in the same situation as where you wanted to get away from today.

So the only way to do it is to be able to give up something to get something else. Keeping in mind that unemployment in the rural areas might be as high as 25%! Not the people who are collecting unemployment benefits, but the amount of people who do not have a job.

When you get into really rural areas, you run into retirement communities where there is no tax base and the taxes are just as high as in the cities - because there is no one there to pay the taxes to support the infrastructure.

The old people refuses to pay anything and so you are forced to work at minimum wage or slightly above or you have to work several jobs just to stay above water.

There is no green grass in Pennsylvania, that looks better then the green grass in some other state - if you have a job and insurance and can pay your bills, because you just might come here and find out that things are rough all over.

[Kit624]

Well PA is pretty big, so you have to have an idea at least of what you are looking for. The cities/areas have different feel. Phila is funky, Pittsburgh is industrial, and Harrisburg is still somewhat hick but family friendly.

[creative36]

I have the place for you: Green Lane, pa. Very Scenic. Very clean. Family oriented. Close to King of Prussia that has tons of shopping, resturants and night life.

[Davros]

Try State College, if you don't mind college students.

But as mentioned, it all depends on your job and what you can afford. I'm just pointing you to State College as a place that might satisfy the categories you list.

Here's how I'd rate in in a nutshell
Shopping --- not too bad, there is one modest mall and there are two Walmarts. Lots of Penn State gear near/on campus
Resaurants --- not too bad, don't count on anything special but it isn't all just diners and fast food joints either
Scenic --- you got it
Clean --- you got it. no grime here (except for the road salt). no crime either (other than drunk students)
Family oriented --- yes, good schools
Decorations --- there's enough. Christmas lights are nice.

I would suggest researching the Harrisburg area as well. I don't know much about it myself, but I know some fellows who've lived there. The scenery is still top notch down there, and it's an actual small city unlike State College which is not a city. Harrisburg does have it's share of rougher, grimier areas which State College completely lacks.