Farms in PA near Carlisle? (Lancaster, Harrisburg: low crime, house, find a job)

[aphahorse]

Hiya,

We would be moving from central NJ, and are trying to find a perfect place for us. I want a warmer climate (and we were checking out TN, and also want to check out NC), but hubby wants to check out parts of PA too & we're trying to gather up some opinions.


Are there any nice farming / horse farms around the area around Carlisle? Hubby would look for jobs in the Carlisle area, and would like to stay within a 20-25 mile radius.

Are the winters horrible? Or would they be somewhat similar to central NJ?

We are not looking for an area that only has one farm every few miles, but instead are looking to be in an area where you drive & drive & see all farmlands, after farmland, affter farmland.

Are the surrounding areas of Carlisle mostly "city", or are there abundant farmlands around there?

a) 5-10 acres (more if we can afford it), cute house with barn. Priced within $250k or less.
b) In a rural/farming community. We won't be living off the land, and wil only have a small farmette for our horses/farm animals on our property, with a small garden of corn, etc,
c) Would like to be surrounded by miles & miles of nothing but farms.
d) small quiet area/town
e) within a 25-30 minute drive to stores
f) we don't mind living near the Amish (altho I think they're mostly in Lancaster)
g) low crime
h) nice, clean, safe place to raise family

[DowntownHarrisburg]

Originally Posted by aphahorse

Hiya,

Hi!

Are there any nice farming / horse farms around the area around Carlisle? Hubby would look for jobs in the Carlisle area, and would like to stay within a 20-25 mile radius.

I'm sure there are, but I don't know of any off the top of my head. Carlisle is surrounded by farmland in nearly every direction. Surely there are some horse facilities nearby.

East Hanover Township, which is about 35 miles north along I-81, definitely has quite a few horse farms due to the proximity of the race track. The "west shore" communities (those west of the Susquehanna River) will provide you with a lifestyle similar to Carlisle, but about halfway between Carlisle and East Hanover Township. You'll also have the added benefit of being closer to more arts / culture / entertainment / recreation options, if that's of interest to you.

Are the winters horrible? Or would they be somewhat similar to central NJ?

Probably a tiny amount milder than central NJ. We seem to get around one major snowfall a year, and it's usually sometime in February or March. Of course, right now it's almost 60 degrees outside. Expect on average 4-6 days of heavy snow per year.

We are not looking for an area that only has one farm every few miles, but instead are looking to be in an area where you drive & drive & see all farmlands, after farmland, affter farmland.

You've just described most of rural Pennsylvania. Much of the area west of Harrisburg is farmland. There's also quite a lot as you head down towards Lancaster.

Are the surrounding areas of Carlisle mostly "city", or are there abundant farmlands around there?

Bing Maps - Driving Directions, Traffic and Road Conditions

If you look at a satellite map of the area, you'll see that Carlisle is pretty much landlocked by farming. The same is true for most other cities in this area. Even the Harrisburg / York / Lancaster "metro", which has about 2 million people, is blanketed by farmlands once you drive ten minutes in the opposite direction.

a) 5-10 acres (more if we can afford it), cute house with barn. Priced within $250k or less.
b) In a rural/farming community. We won't be living off the land, and wil only have a small farmette for our horses/farm animals on our property, with a small garden of corn, etc,
c) Would like to be surrounded by miles & miles of nothing but farms.
d) small quiet area/town
e) within a 25-30 minute drive to stores
f) we don't mind living near the Amish (altho I think they're mostly in Lancaster)
g) low crime
h) nice, clean, safe place to raise family

You'll have no problem with those, though crime is no longer just a "city problem". Meth seems to have hit rural America especially hard.

What you've just described can be had at just about any area to the west / northwest / north of Harrisburg. You might want to take a look at Perry & Juniata counties as well. You'll be well-isolated from the cities, but you'll have all the basics within 25-30 minutes.

[toobusytoday]

Alphahorse, Since one of your criteria is weather, I found a site that might help: Climate Comparison for Princeton Junction, NJ and Carlisle, PA You'll see here that the weather in Princeton Junction (I just picked a place in central Jersey) and Carlisle is pretty much the same. You can plug in your own cities. I don't really think heading west is going to make it warmer.

[fisheye]

Before I retired I was a truck driver and lived in Carlisle for five years. It is surrounded by beautiful farmland. You can check out properties in Boiling Springs, Mount Holly Springs, Cumberland and Newville. I would suspect that the Newville area might have prices closer to your needs?

You also might want to check out properties up in Perry County? Route 34 is not too bad though the mountain - I don’t think that I would want to run Route 74 in the winter to work. I had found a large new modular in Perry on eight acres with stream for $156K - but that was ten or fifteen years ago. My wife doesn’t like modulars; so we didn’t buy. I loved the property with large pines and beautiful stream.

I liked the Carlisle area. The people were friendly and had a good work ethic. As far as the weather; we usually had more snow in Northeastern PA (which is where I live). The winters are usually milder - but there can be exceptions. The elevation of Carlisle is around five hundred feet above sea level - which usually means warmer temperatures than in the hills.

By the way; I also love TN. I am not crazy about western TN. Maybe it is just that I like hills? I do like the area from Chattanooga to Knoxville especially.

[ki0eh]

Areas west of Carlisle (Newville, Shippensburg) are a bit cheaper than east of Carlisle or Chambersburg and south due to greater distance from creeping suburbanization from Harrisburg or DC. Perry County north of Carlisle, northern Franklin County (Fannett & Metal townships, off the Willow Hill Turnpike interchange) possibly northern Adams County, and northern Fulton County west of Chambersburg could also be possibilities.

[aphahorse]

Thank you! We will be checking out recommended areas, and their surrounding areas!

[2nd trick op]

Unless you have a farming background in your family. I'd move very carefully with this idea; you could lose a bundle of money in a very short time. I speak from experience, having grown up on a dairy farm upstate (near Bloomsburg). My brother holds a managerial post with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.

What you seem to be loooking for is what realtors sometimes refer to a "farmette" -- a portion of a commerical farm which has been re-zoned and subdivided to make it nore suitable for the purpose you have in mind. This is likely to be more expensive because the legal and other propetry-related issues have been addressed. If you're looking at any area south and east of Blue Mountain (the "front range" north of I-81 amd I-78) prices are likely to be pretty steep.

One you get further north, it gests easier to buy a farm intact (one parcel of land near me recently sold for about $3000/acre), but remember, you'll have to take on a lot of costs, and risks, if you try to sell off parcels of that property. You can keep the taxes down by enrolling the land in a conservation program called "clean and freen", but the rules are very complicated, and you will be expected to pay back part of the benefits of you change your mind and develop the land.

You might want to contact the State Agricultural Extension Service, which maintains an office in every county, and maintains a statewide liason via Penn State.

[cwa1984]

Originally Posted by aphahorse

Hiya,

We would be moving from central NJ, and are trying to find a perfect place for us. I want a warmer climate (and we were checking out TN, and also want to check out NC), but hubby wants to check out parts of PA too & we're trying to gather up some opinions.


Are there any nice farming / horse farms around the area around Carlisle? Hubby would look for jobs in the Carlisle area, and would like to stay within a 20-25 mile radius.

Yes, they are horse farms around Carlisle. In Harrisburg PA they have the annual Horse World Expo that would be of interest to you as well. Carlisle to Harrisburg is also a relatively short commute if your Husband is unable to find work immediately in the Carlisle area since employment there is a little rough at the moment and Mechanicsburg is in between Carlisle and Harrisburg as well so he should be able to find a job in his field without having an ungodly commute everyday.

Are the winters horrible? Or would they be somewhat similar to central NJ?

It should be the same as what you experienced in New Jersey.

We are not looking for an area that only has one farm every few miles, but instead are looking to be in an area where you drive & drive & see all farmlands, after farmland, affter farmland.

You'll get plenty of that believe me. Watch out for the deer at night as well. If you are against deer hunting for whatever reason and move to the area you'll love deer hunters for killing the deer before they kill you driving at night.

Are the surrounding areas of Carlisle mostly "city", or are there abundant farmlands around there?

Mostly farmland with a few small towns.

a) 5-10 acres (more if we can afford it), cute house with barn. Priced within $250k or less.
b) In a rural/farming community. We won't be living off the land, and wil only have a small farmette for our horses/farm animals on our property, with a small garden of corn, etc,

As others have stated Perry County is probably your best bet. I live in Perry County on four and half acres and the house before the great recession was worth 250K. Due to the recession and being honest me not keeping up with what the house is currently rated nor others I can't give you a clear idea of how expensive 5-10 acres with a barn would run you in Perry County. If you do move to Perry County and want to stay around the Carlisle area with what you want you'd be taking Wagners gap in the winter and while the mountain is extremely windy they take good care of it in the winter and you would be within 25-30 minute drive from Carlisle PA, 40 minute drive to Mechanicsburg PA, and 50 minutes to a hour drive from Harrisburg PA. Where I live at I'm roughly 17 miles away from Carlisle in Perry County and the commute is great with the exception of the occasional elderly driver going a bit slow.

c) Would like to be surrounded by miles & miles of nothing but farms.
d) small quiet area/town
e) within a 25-30 minute drive to stores
f) we don't mind living near the Amish (altho I think they're mostly in Lancaster)

There are Amish in Perry County and they are nice people. Their lifestyle is different but they are good people I can never say anything negative about.

h) nice, clean, safe place to raise family

One problem you might have if you choice to live in Perry County being near Carlisle your kids would attend West Perry school district and its not one of the best school districts in the state when it comes to academic performance.

[DowntownHarrisburg]

Originally Posted by cwa1984

In Harrisburg PA they have the annual Horse World Expo that would be of interest to you as well.

Was that this past week? Man, that turned Cameron Street into a disaster by the old state hospital grounds.