PA Location: Rental Houses, Woods, Many Jobs? (Scranton, Lancaster: rentals, affordable houses)

[Geometer]

Greetings native and transplant Pennsylvanians. I seek your council--concerning almost the whole state.

Which quiet places are there anywhere in Pennsylvania besides the eastern part (the NY/NJ high cost of living increase influx) that I could move to, satisfying the following characteristics? I'd prefer them all, but they are in order of importance.

1) West of Scranton?
2) Affordable small house rentals in a woodsy small town? (Circa $700 to $800/mo.)Nearby a large town or small city?
3) Large enough pool of different jobs available--and not some say "yes," others say "no"?

(Areas of interest in interest order: publishing companies, book warehouses, janitorial work, shipping/receiving.)

4) Near a large town or small city with a large enough library (around 10,000 population or more)?
5) Affordable houses in the small town (like below $140,000; and not winter heat leakers or rehabs)?
6) Woods trails?
7) Moderate snowfall?
8) Not too much worry about floods? Or other Acts of God?
9) Little or unspoken racism?
10) And reasonably open-minded? (Including conservatives and the quiet as part of the open-minded?)

A) What are the Pros and Cons of each place?

B) And for snowfall, how often do you really need a truck compared to a car? 4 x 4?

C) I've lived in a few other states, and I found that it's hard to get a job before moving because one is not a local; but that moving to an area shows commitment and gives an applicant a better chance.
Do believe the reverse instead?
What are your opinions? What are your experiences?

In general, these keep coming up as favorite places in PA. But if there are other places, or other ones nearby these--with the characteristics above--which may they be?

Lewisburg, Union County
Wellsboro, Tioga County
Honesdale, Wayne County
Jim Thorpe, Carbon County
Tunkhannock, Wyoming County
West Pittston, Luzerne County
Milford, Pike County
Waverly, Lackawanna County
Bloomsburg, Columbia County
New Hope, Bucks County
Doylestown, Bucks County
West Chester, Chester County
Lititz, Lancaster County
Montrose, Susquehanna County
Towanda, Bradford County
Carlisle, Cumberland County
Ligonier, Westmoreland County
Bellefonte, Centre County

Thanks.

[ki0eh]

Of your list I'd say Carlisle is about the best bet for finding employment to go with your relocation. It's a logistics hub with many warehouses (including Borders), with Dickinson College, the separate Penn State Dickinson School of Law, and the US Army War College right in town without even the 20 mile drive over to Harrisburg. Houses are well within your budget there if you can tolerate attached/row homes with limited parking. Like all of central PA it is politically conservative but with the Army influence I sense there's far less racism attendant to the conservatism there than elsewhere (the Army War College is for colonels who want to become generals, and the Army is of course our most integrated major institution). The Appalachian Trail passes nearby and there are many other woods trails in the hills/mountains to the north and south. Many back roads that don't dead end are good for biking in the not-totally-flat valley. Flooding is not a significant issue in the Borough of Carlisle since the old town wasn't placed on a creek or river. With the logistics hub, colleges, and nearby state government and Navy Depot there is a healthy circulation of outsiders through the area, not so many as to be totally overrun, not so few as to view outsiders with the degree of suspicion/coldness many on here state happens in, say, Lancaster County. Snow is usually minimal (even this year they haven't been hit as hard as further south and east), if you want to have a truck/4x4 you can justify anything but a smaller car will deal better with the older streets.

Your Bucks and Chester locations are going to be much pricier but better job opportunities than the others.

Bellefonte, or other towns around State College will offer the woods and the libraries and more openness to outsiders but not as good job prospects. Lewisburg and Bloomsburg both have flood zones, nice towns but not terribly great job outlook.

Wellsboro and Towanda would offer jobs to those with experience in gas drilling but not much else. Both are nice towns, Towanda is considerably cheaper since Wellsboro markets itself with some success as a retirement destination. Even the other towns in Tioga County, such as Blossburg or the towns along Route 49, will be cheaper than Wellsboro. They're also somewhat more remote from larger towns, and the larger towns are Elmira and Williamsport. Unspoken racism is a bit more likely to be honest as well, I know folks who had Kerry signs up in the Northern Tier who didn't feel comfortable supporting Obama as openly.

Montrose has limited job prospects but I always liked the town, nicer homes on large lots not so crowded/hemmed in as other small PA towns. Not terribly far from Binghamton University that claims status as NY's "public Ivy".

I'm less familiar with the inner NEPA towns such as Waverly and West Pittston. No one on here claims NEPA as a job hub though. Plus there is some ethnic tension, Google "Lou Barletta" for an example.

[Hopes]

There's an amazing amount of business in the Selinsburg/Lewisburg/Williamsport corridor for being such a rural area.

[Geometer]

Thank you for your singlehandedly broad and very informative post, ki0eh--for such a gigantic state!--especially for Carlisle, along with the other options; and the flooding and snow information. That's a great point about the Army War College. And it sounds pretty fascinating. Maybe lots of West Point graduates are students.

Thank you also, Hopes, for your suggestions.