Question re: Hummelstown, etc. (Harrisburg, Hershey: houses, to buy, theater)

[baychic]

My husband and I are relocating from CA to the Harrisburg area (he is from Mechanicburg and his family lives all around from Lemoyne, to Enola, etc.) He will be working in Hershey, and I will look for work in Harrisburg, we're both 31, no kids yet. Currently, we are looking into Camp Hill, New Cumberland, and Hummelstown for houses. But, one thing that you don't get a good sense of while driving around is the people.

Does anyone know how liberal/conservative these areas are? From what I have read, this part of the state tends to be more conservative. We lean more towards the liberal side of things (Sarah Palin=my worst nightmare). We'd love to be around other open-minded young (ish) professionals.

I've been trying to get a sense of Hummelstown since it is rather small, and I don't know if we will feel totally out of place there. Camp Hill/Lemoyne/New Cumberland seem to be the most liberal areas on the West shore. Re: Hummelstown, I've read some interesting posts on this forum but can't get a good sense of the general population, ...any thoughts?

[ki0eh]

The Harrisburg area is not liberal, anyone who says it is hasn't lived outside the area. The City's mayor (D) has publicized fasting and prayer for recovery and there has been a controversy over forcing staff to pray. Now prayer may be a good idea in Harrisburg's current financial situation but that's not a typically liberal thing to do.

Now with that said the preeminent mode among the Republicans who are in control locally seems more to be a pragmatic rather than a dogmatic conservatism. The mayor of Hummelstown Borough advocated for a transit stop and adding a park and ride lot to ease commuting to center city Harrisburg.

Something to know is that Newt Gingrich grew up in Hummelstown before his stepfather took him around to overseas Army bases.

[baychic]

Originally Posted by ki0eh

The Harrisburg area is not liberal, anyone who says it is hasn't lived outside the area. The City's mayor (D) has publicized fasting and prayer for recovery and there has been a controversy over forcing staff to pray. Now prayer may be a good idea in Harrisburg's current financial situation but that's not a typically liberal thing to do.

Now with that said the preeminent mode among the Republicans who are in control locally seems more to be a pragmatic rather than a dogmatic conservatism. The mayor of Hummelstown Borough advocated for a transit stop and adding a park and ride lot to ease commuting to center city Harrisburg.

Something to know is that Newt Gingrich grew up in Hummelstown before his stepfather took him around to overseas Army bases.

wow - interesting. Thanks! We may be a little out of our element I guess...

[LaughinWillow]

I hate to say this, but if you're coming from California and liked the vibe there, you may be miserable here. I am very progressive and lived in Madison, WI for a while - it was awesome - lots of co-ops, like-minded folks everywhere, lots of support for the local food scene. But when I was going to have kids, my husband and I moved back here to be near family and are seriously not happy. It's so difficult to make friends compared with Madison, and it seems like all people do around here is go to bars and malls.

There are a few liberal places in the area - Healthy Grocer in Camp Hill is a great local natural/organic store, and there's a cafe - also in Camp Hill - called "the Whole Cannoli" that has live music and open mics. Mt. Gretna (about 30 mins from Hbg) is a really cool little oldtimey village, though not liberal - but cool to visit - a bunch of old cottages and a private swimming lake and they have a little theater that puts on musicals.

Anyway, if you or anyone else finds any other progressive havens, please let me know! We're to the point where we're figuring on a move in a few years...though we want to buy land and have a homestead, so I'm afraid we'll end up in another conservative area...ah well.

[LaughinWillow]

Hi again - thought i'd clarify my earlier comments. We are close to 40 with small children, so you may find that the "youngish" single professional folks in the area are a lot different than what I've described... I'm sure single younger folks are more likely to be "liberal" around here. Maybe you'll have more luck than us!

[baychic]

Originally Posted by LaughinWillow

Hi again - thought i'd clarify my earlier comments. We are close to 40 with small children, so you may find that the "youngish" single professional folks in the area are a lot different than what I've described... I'm sure single younger folks are more likely to be "liberal" around here. Maybe you'll have more luck than us!

Hi there! I really appreciate this response, more than you know. Most of the replies I've received are from long-time posters who are very informative, but a few have been close to rude about someone from CA moving to PA (even though my husband is from there and his entire family still lives there). The general attitude is like "if you like CA so much, why don't you just stay there then." The fact is that while CA is beautiful and the culture is great, there are some negative aspects that we want to get away from. High cost of living, crime, fiscal disaster, earthquakes, etc.

We have been trying to get settled with the differences between the two areas for a while now, and no matter what any native PA native says, we feel there are sacrifices. No ocean, the food culture isn't as progressive, etc, but there are many pros also. We are moving in September to Camp Hill and feel that this area is the best place for us. We looked at Hummelstown, and although its not far from anything, we felt it wasn't right for us (seemed conservative, and not enough amenities although I read about a great pizza place & coffee shop in town). We love the Healthy Grocer and Cornerstone coffee house and wanted to be able to access places like these easily.

Have you ever looked into Spiral Path Farm in Perry County? They have all kinds of great activities that you might be into, with or without your kids depending on how old they are. Its a certified organic members farm club and they always have great things going on. Check them out!