Newport Square in Lititz (Philadelphia, Lancaster: fit in, sales, neighborhood)

[lititzman2003]

For anyone considering moving to Lancaster County I highly recommend the great, charming town of Lititz. Very safe, clean and PLENTY of things to do, especially during the spring and summer. However, avoid the development of Newport Square. We've been here over five years and have tried everything possible to establish friendships and have found these people to be standoffish, immature and cold. The petty backstabbing and endless gossip is worst then in any high school hallway. Some times we get a "hello" back, most times we don't. We've pretty much given up.

[Positiveone]

That's sad to hear how some people can be. And I have heard more then once from many people to think twice before making a move to Lancaster County due to the bad attitudes there. We are originally from Long Island NY, we used to walk around the neighborhood and people that didn't even know you would stop and chat , Long Island was a very easy place to meet friends.

Currently we are in Vegas ,Nevada and even here the people are pretty open and nice.

Some have told me if your not originally from Lancaster Pa then you might be treated funny. that just shows who the insecure ones really are.

Sorry to hear your having a tough time there. Hope things get better for ya.

Originally Posted by lititzman2003

For anyone considering moving to Lancaster County I highly recommend the great, charming town of Lititz. Very safe, clean and PLENTY of things to do, especially during the spring and summer. However, avoid the development of Newport Square. We've been here over five years and have tried everything possible to establish friendships and have found these people to be standoffish, immature and cold. The petty backstabbing and endless gossip is worst then in any high school hallway. Some times we get a "hello" back, most times we don't. We've pretty much given up.

[Icy Tea]

It's a Pennsylvania thing, not just Lancaster. Eastern Pa, anyway. I've heard that its that way in Bucks County, Chester County, and can say that it's at least partly true do to personal experience. Philadelphia has a reputation for being tough and unfriendly( the "city of brotherly love" idea was done to help overcome its bad image) . And forget about New Jersey, AC has got to be the most unfriendly town anywhere. And Berks County Pa is known to be cold. Many states have bad reputations in one way or another, we could list them for weeks.
BUT.... on the flip side of the coin, Pennsylvanians are some of the most hard working and generous, down to earth, "real" people you'll ever meet, very self reliant who don't have their hands out all the time but will gladly help those who truly need it.
And many problems in eastern Pa have been brought in by folks from other areas, New Jersey, New York, even other countries, so maybe they are justifiably a little hesitant to open up until they get to know you. And amish and mennonites are just not warm to outsiders, that doesn't mean they aren't warm and friendly to their own. That's just the way they are, and the area is unique in its culture and people seem to want to move there for that reason so it may not be fair to criticize them or want them to change.

[lititzman2003]

I don't know if its a Pennsylvania thing or not. I grew up in Philly and I don't recall this kind of blatant ignorance. The people there didn't have much but they appreciated everything that they had. There was no envy if someone bought new furniture, no idle gossip, etc. People in Philly looked out for each other; nothing was "too much" for a neighbor. Here, most people would walk over you if you collapsed in front of them, and then complain about what an inconvenience it was for them! Maybe its just us. We're older then alot of people in this development (I'm 48; wife is 46) and we no longer have children. We don't fit into any catagory so we're basically ignored. We never received notices about garage sales or any kind of function that takes place in the development, yet the parents tell their kids to knock on our door when they're selling something. Guess since we both work and have no obvious expenses we're just rolling in the loot. Despite my unhappiness with Newport Square we don't plan on giving up on Lititz or Lancaster County. It's still a great town.

[whatever333]

I am not happy with Lancaster, Pennsylvania very cold and rude people here for the most part.

[lititzman2003]

Two years later and nothing has changed, although we've discovered it's not just Newport Square.