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I don't see the appeal of NEPA. Pittsburgh offers 3x of what Bethlehem can offer.
The OP seemed to want to be "close" to the action of the big cities of the Northeast but not quite "in" the action of these cities. Pittsburgh is a terrible choice for this because we are quite far removed from NYC, Philadelphia, Baltimore, or DC---let alone Boston. Bethlehem, while being a far inferior city to Pittsburgh on almost every level, DOES have the advantage of being a very easy day-trip to NYC or Philadelphia.
Based on the criteria, I would say PA or NJ. PA would likely be cheaper. Depending on where in NJ, you could be close to either Philly or NYC, or both. PA is very affordable. Both will give you closer access to bigger cities (Philly and NYC) as compared to MD where you will be close to DC and Baltimore, which are smaller.
Another outside of the box suggestion may be the main cities in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy area of NY. It is relatively affordable, you can take a train into NYC within that time period: https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Alba...40.7527262!3e3
If you like art, you also have a bunch of artsy type of communities along the way going south towards NYC, some of which have been mentioned already. Hudson, Saugerties and New Paltz are a few others that weren't mentioned.
Just to add, since you were considering living outside of some of the major cities in the Northeast, if you do consider this area and don't want to live within the cities, suburbs like Colonie, Guilderland, Bethlehem, Niskayuna, Clifton Park and East Greenbush would be some good choices. Colonie is nice in that parts of the town are right next to or across the Hudson River from all 3 of the main city centers. Saratoga Springs, which is a small, but pretty active city to the north and still within the metro area isn't too far away either.
Colonie in the recent past has made lists for being the safest municipality in the country, I believe based off of a municipality population criteria of 75,000. An example: https://www.timesunion.com/local/art...ity-559409.php
Last edited by ckhthankgod; 11-24-2021 at 09:42 AM..
Based on the criteria, I would say PA or NJ. PA would likely be cheaper. Depending on where in NJ, you could be close to either Philly or NYC, or both. PA is very affordable. Both will give you closer access to bigger cities (Philly and NYC) as compared to MD where you will be close to DC and Baltimore, which are smaller.
Depends where in NJ. South Jersey is noticeably more affordable than Southeastern Pa. Central Jersey is about even with Southeastern PA. North Jersey is more expensive. But I don't consider Southeastern PA all that affordable these days, it is shifting away from the traditional affordability found throughout Pennsylvania. Granted still lower than the DC area.
But once you expand beyond the Philadelphia suburbs (toward Lehigh Valley), the COL goes down a lot, and that area is still close to Philadelphia and New York.
The OP seemed to want to be "close" to the action of the big cities of the Northeast but not quite "in" the action of these cities. Pittsburgh is a terrible choice for this because we are quite far removed from NYC, Philadelphia, Baltimore, or DC---let alone Boston. Bethlehem, while being a far inferior city to Pittsburgh on almost every level, DOES have the advantage of being a very easy day-trip to NYC or Philadelphia.
DC or Baltimore are close enough for a weekend trip - around a four-hour drive. But otherwise I broadly agree with this.
If not already suggested, maybe look a bit into Wilmington, DE. Not a big city but it has that feel and is about smack between NYC / DC (about 3 hours to each) and then also between Philly and Baltimore. Then, it is also just a bit over an hour to the beaches. It is a dense little city that is also on the SEPTA commuter rail line and also a step for Amtrak's Acela line (high speed rail between DC and Boston). Easy to get to a lot of the NE large cities and less costly than the big ones.
My last trip to Philly must've been a one-off. Center City is pretty bustling this time around.
Good to hear, hope you enjoyed.
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