Should I give Philadelphia a chance? (Harrisburg, Chester: crime, daycare, neighborhood)

[MomB2015]

My family consists of me, my husband and our infant son. I am hoping I could get some input or feedback from the forum about where to settle with our child for the next few years as we have moved a lot around Pennsylvania and want to set our feet. I recently got a job offer for harrisburg, pa which will be give me $2.60 less from what I am making now. Currently, I live in roxborough- manayunk Philadelphia. We love friendly and safe communities that are walkable. Currently, we are not in a walkable location but can get there within a 5 minute drive. We will need to start thinking about daycare, so that is also a big concern from us. So my question is, which city is more safe, more family friendly, and a overall better area to live. Also are there any specific areas you would suggest or avoid? We do have some family in harrisburg. So the question is.... should I continue to fill it out or move to harrisburg. We moved to philly for my husband's job which did not work out. However, he is interviewing and might be able to land something here in philly soon. However, I was wondering whether we should just relocate now while we have no ties to Philly. Thank you in advance for any help and suggestions

[Clark Park]

I think Philly is a better choice compared to Harrisburg. H'burg has some fine government buildings and a nice park by the river, but for such a small city it has real urban problems and crime without any of the amenities of big city Philly. Did you know the city of Harrisburg filed for bankruptcy and the schools there are terrible? At least in Philly you can establish yourself in a better and safer neighborhood and enjoy the benefits of big city life.

[Steinish]

Harrisburg is 2/3 bad, 1/3 good. Stay in Philadelphia.

[MissClutterbuck]

I agree with the above posters. Other than Restaurant Row, which loses its appeal sometime around midnight when the dbag frat bros start fighting in the street, Harrisburg doesn't have too much to offer in terms of city life. You will need a car, because there just aren't many decent amenities within a walkable distance. Public transportation isn't great. And honestly, I found people there to be just nasty. In Philly people mostly mind their own business. The people I met in Harrisburg either thought they were above others because they had government jobs (my coworkers refused to speak to the cleaning crew and thought I was weird for thanking the custodian when he came to empty my garbage can) or they acted like they were former guests from Maury. I lived in Harrisburg before I moved to Philly and had more friends within two weeks of moving to Philly than I ever made in Harrisburg.

Of course, if you are going to live across the river it's a different story. I found Cumberland County to be beautiful, but again, it's suburban sprawl and not walkable.

[chicagoliz]

$2.60 less per hour? Seems like a fairly steep cut. I wouldn't make a big move based on an hourly job. (Unless it were for more than $35 or $40/hour and seemed very stable, which seems unlikely.)

It depends on what you like. Harrisburg is certainly different from Philadelphia.

[thunderkat59]

Im not a big fan of Philly, but there is no compelling reason to move to Harrisburg, to me. Especially if you are in Manayunk.
Wages are going to plummet when you cross the Chester-Lanco county line so the lower wage is no surprise. When my Son was in a private school in Hershey, I wanted to move out there due to gov jobs, and my observations were that it is was pretty boring, autocentric suburbia surrounded by some real impoverished areas. You could drive for a while and get into some nice rural areas if you are in to that, but the city/proper area . . . Not anything there for someone who wants to do cultural things and walk the neighborhood, etc. Of course, do more research yourself, maybe you would love it? Best Wishes on whatever you decide.

[MomB2015]

Thanks everyone for the responses! We decided to stay in Philly and get to know the city better. I am getting used to my neighborhood and feel safe. I can't believe how terrified I was initially. I appreciate all the feedback!