Considering a move to York PA (Codorus) (Hanover, West York: for sale, apartment)

[andrewsjt]

Can anyone tell me if the Codorus and Spring Grove areas of York County PA are good areas to live and raise a family? I've heard good things about the Southern School District but not much about Spring Grove. Thanks!

[gnumoon]

Hi Andrew,

I grew up in New Freedom, which is in the Southern school district. That whole area is beautiful, wholesome, and very friendly. I'm thankful that I grew up there.

I'm not familiar with the Codorus area, but unless things have changed since I was a kid, I would steer clear of Spring Grove. The major industry in this town is (or was) a paper mill. The stench from this company radiated out for miles. We knew the band bus had reached the Spring Grove city limits when everyone on board groaned in disgust at the smell. In fact, in that region when people smelled something bad, it was not unusual to hear them say, "Yuck! It smells like Spring Grove."

Good luck in your search!

[Marodi]

Originally Posted by andrewsjt

Can anyone tell me if the Codorus and Spring Grove areas of York County PA are good areas to live and raise a family? I've heard good things about the Southern School District but not much about Spring Grove. Thanks!

Spring grove smell is pretty much like sauerkraut except a little worse. I'd say just go live in Hanover. It's a nice area with a good amount of shops and the traffic isn't that bad. There is no real ghetto and the crime rate is relatively low.

[talk2u]

I agree, I live in East Manchaster and we can smell it over there. The smell gets five times worse when it's really humid outside.

[jdhall1]

Yup, the papermill is still there. I smelled it from apartment on Richland Avenue for 3 of my 4 years of college.

[andrewsjt]

All,

Thank you for the feedback. The specific town we are/were considering is Jefferson, which appears to fall approximately 5 miles directly south of the paper mill in Spring Grove, and 5 miles north of Glenville. Although the community is a part of the Southern School district, it sounds like we should stay clear of this area due to its proximity to the paper mill.

[Marodi]

Originally Posted by andrewsjt

All,

Thank you for the feedback. The specific town we are/were considering is Jefferson, which appears to fall approximately 5 miles directly south of the paper mill in Spring Grove, and 5 miles north of Glenville. Although the community is a part of the Southern School district, it sounds like we should stay clear of this area due to its proximity to the paper mill.

You'll still probably get wiffs of it if the wind is in the right direction.

[rockky]

Originally Posted by andrewsjt

All,

Thank you for the feedback. The specific town we are/were considering is Jefferson, which appears to fall approximately 5 miles directly south of the paper mill in Spring Grove, and 5 miles north of Glenville. Although the community is a part of the Southern School district, it sounds like we should stay clear of this area due to its proximity to the paper mill.

andrew, I grew up in West York. Spring Grove (a generic term in the area for a foul smell) is real and it is there. It's not all the time. The area you are thinking of for you move, is a truly beautiful, rural spot in the rolling hills of York County.

Is the occasional odor a deal beaker? I dunno. Maybe I just got used to it as a kid. Once or twice a month.....whatever. The Feds came in about 10 years ago and really made them clean up their act. It was much worse in years past.

Here's a weird piece of trivia for ya. Back in the 1950s, the P.H. Gladfelter folks (or someone....????) got the word out that the polio rate was less in the area around the paper mill. The reason.....the smell!!!!!!!! Oh. Yeah. How's that for corporate PR. LOL!

Southern School District does (or did) have a better rep than Spring Grove District. If you can move a bit east to Dallastown or York Suburban, you will be in the cream of the crop for schools.

[CA-PA-TX?]

We are in West York, just on the border of the Dallastown ans Suburban school districts. I love my kids school (Dallastown District) and have heard that Suburban is great too. We are fairly close to Codorus- around Powder Mill Run/Tyler Run Road/Hillcrest/Tri-Hill. It There are several homes for sale in our area We love the big trees and rolling hills and neo-colonial homes.

[teachbeach]

Southern and Southwestern are both good school districts. If you lived south of Spring Grove or Hanover you might avoid some of the paper mill issues. New Freedom, Shrewbury, Glen Rock, are all very nice areas with easy access to 83, and would provide solid public school education. I'm not that familar with Spring Grove schools, but there does seem to be a high rate of turnover for teachers and administrators.