Taking job in Downtown Harrisburg, need advice on areas to live. (Hershey: apartment complexes, to rent)

[Rankone]

Hello,

I've taken up a job offer and will be moving to Harrisburg, PA from Orlando in the coming weeks. I've never been to the area so I'm not sure what my options are in terms of looking for apartments to rent as I see that there are a lot of surrounding suburbs but I'm not sure what my commute options to downtown Harrisburg would be like in terms of public transport transit times/parking my car in a parking garage/rush hour traffic times on the highway.

I see that there are a selection of restaurants and bars in downtown Harrisburg which is fine, I'm in my mid 20s but I primarily would like to be in a safe neighborhood that would have the essentials such as restaurants, grocery stores, gym and a fairly easy commute to work if the need be.

I'll be working near Walnut St & Maclay St, which I think falls near the 83 and 81 highways. I've asked a few people who have visited the area and the general consensus is Middletown or Wormleysburg, they suggested even Downtown but if I were to do that then to stay away from living in anything in between Maclay and Division or past Susq St (moving away from the river) between Reilly and Division.

With all that in mind I was looking for advice mainly on decent areas, and any apartment/condo communities that you would recommend as that would be really helpful, and if I were to commute what my options are and typically how long the commute would be.

Thanks!

[riseandshine]

Walnut St and Maclay St are blocks apart, so that statement was a bit confusing. If you are looking for public transportation and are working in Downtown you can get a bus from any of the suburbs. But if your job is closer to Maclay street you would need to take two buses to get there from the suburbs. West Shore including Wormleysburg, Camp Hill, And New Cumberland are good. I prefer the East Shore like Linglestown or Lower Paxton and some parts of Susquehanna. There is bus service from there as well a Middletown to the downtown area. I would not live in the city at all because the taxes and utilities are very high and Middletown's Utilities are bad as well.

[Rankone]

Originally Posted by riseandshine

Walnut St and Maclay St are blocks apart, so that statement was a bit confusing. If you are looking for public transportation and are working in Downtown you can get a bus from any of the suburbs. But if your job is closer to Maclay street you would need to take two buses to get there from the suburbs. West Shore including Wormleysburg, Camp Hill, And New Cumberland are good. I prefer the East Shore like Linglestown or Lower Paxton and some parts of Susquehanna. There is bus service from there as well a Middletown to the downtown area. I would not live in the city at all because the taxes and utilities are very high and Middletown's Utilities are bad as well.

Thanks for the response riseandshine, I'm not familiar with the area at all so I appreciate any info I can get. What I meant with Walnut St & Maclay St was that the work location is in between those streets. Again, I'm not sure if that makes any sense since I'm not familiar with the area and will have a better understanding once I'm actually there.

I just had a quick question in regards to areas such as Enola / Mechanicsburg. Enola, I think isn't too far of a drive but again, I'm not sure what public transportation options are there and I'd have to look at Capital Area Transit routes. But would Mechanicsburg be really far from Downtown ? Distance wise I think it's like 25-30 mins but I don't know in relation to driving daily, if it'll be difficult in terms of traffic on the highway etc.

Lastly would there be any apartment communities that you would recommend to rent ? I've been reading mixed reviews about most of them so I'm not sure as yet.

Thanks for all your help!

[riseandshine]

You can get public transportation from all of the areas you mentioned. I would not suggest that you drive to work since parking Downtown is expensive. There is also Park and ride locations in some areas. I am not sure about Apartment Complexes because I have never lived in any of them. Sorry.

[benzion]

CAT bus service is very good. The drivers these days are friendly. Park as close to a bus stop as you can. Avoid parking downtown or in a parking garage. It is too expensive. Capital Area Transit has a good website with all of its schedules on there.I live near Mechanicsburg. The website shows where you can get the bus. What I did when I worked downtown and do now is park in Lemoyne as close to 3d and Market as I can. I get the bus downtown from the bus stop there. There is a tiny shelter where the bus stop is. It is just east of the overpass from 3d Street, New Cumberland and across from parking lot at the former coffee shop. You can't miss it. I would say take a test drive of the area when you come so you know where to go. You can use Google street view now to see locations. If you move to the east side of the river, move as far away from the city and Susquehanna Township as you can. If you move to Susquehanna Township, live in an area as far from the city as you can. As far as apartments, do what I did years ago. Physically go around to as many of them as you can to see what you like.Today, unlike years ago, security is an issue. Some apartment complexes may have drug issues. In the winter, you want a place to live close to a bus stop since the winters can be brutal here especially in January, February, and at least the first part of March. December can be bad too. I hope this helps.

[Rankone]

Originally Posted by benzion

CAT bus service is very good. The drivers these days are friendly. Park as close to a bus stop as you can. Avoid parking downtown or in a parking garage. It is too expensive. Capital Area Transit has a good website with all of its schedules on there.I live near Mechanicsburg. The website shows where you can get the bus. What I did when I worked downtown and do now is park in Lemoyne as close to 3d and Market as I can. I get the bus downtown from the bus stop there. There is a tiny shelter where the bus stop is. It is just east of the overpass from 3d Street, New Cumberland and across from parking lot at the former coffee shop. You can't miss it. I would say take a test drive of the area when you come so you know where to go. You can use Google street view now to see locations. If you move to the east side of the river, move as far away from the city and Susquehanna Township as you can. If you move to Susquehanna Township, live in an area as far from the city as you can. As far as apartments, do what I did years ago. Physically go around to as many of them as you can to see what you like.Today, unlike years ago, security is an issue. Some apartment complexes may have drug issues. In the winter, you want a place to live close to a bus stop since the winters can be brutal here especially in January, February, and at least the first part of March. December can be bad too. I hope this helps.

Thanks riseandshine & benzion for the suggestions. Looking at the Capital Area Transit website is a good idea, it'll give me an idea of routes per se. Yes, I was planning on going around areas to see apartments due to security issues etc. Currently, I'm looking at Camp Hill / Enola with Mechanicsburg as an option. Let's see how it pans out. Thanks a lot again!

[lunetunelover]

Don't count out the Hershey area as a place to live. There are several nice apartment communities there. We just moved to FL from that area, we lived in Madison Hershey Heights. It was a nice place, not great, but not terrible either. There is a park and ride in Hummelstown and in Middletown.


The commute wasn't too bad, but as mentioned parking is just not reasonable or convenient. My husband drove me and picked me up, that was our solution.

[Rankone]

Originally Posted by lunetunelover

Don't count out the Hershey area as a place to live. There are several nice apartment communities there. We just moved to FL from that area, we lived in Madison Hershey Heights. It was a nice place, not great, but not terrible either. There is a park and ride in Hummelstown and in Middletown.


The commute wasn't too bad, but as mentioned parking is just not reasonable or convenient. My husband drove me and picked me up, that was our solution.

Thanks lunetunelover, I was looking at Hershey but again in terms of distances I didn't know how it would be in terms of commute times to work on the daily. You are right though that the Park & Ride option may be the way to go, since downtown parking sounds like not an option.

How has the move from FL been ? How do you guys like it out there so far ?

[lunetunelover]

Originally Posted by Rankone

Thanks lunetunelover, I was looking at Hershey but again in terms of distances I didn't know how it would be in terms of commute times to work on the daily. You are right though that the Park & Ride option may be the way to go, since downtown parking sounds like not an option.

How has the move from FL been ? How do you guys like it out there so far ?

FL is great! We are loving it here! But my husband and I are warm-weather lovin' folks, so the snows of Harrisburg didn't sit too well with us!

As for commute times, I would guesstimate about 30 minutes to get from the Hershey area to downtown Harrisburg. It wasn't bad at all.


Oh! And there are some places near Linglestown Rd./N Progress Ave. that a couple of coworkers lived, they looked nice and reasonable too. A little closer than Hummelstown/Hershey.

[Rankone]

Sounds good, I'll check it out. Thanks for all the info, really appreciate it!