Best place to move to? Lancaster, Harrisburg, Reading or Philadelphia? (Allentown: rent, safe neighborhood)

[livelovely]

The options are Lancaster, Harrisburg, Reading or Philadelphia - or any place close to these areas.

A little bit about me, I'm moving from Knoxville, TN, I'm 21 years old and will be working as a retail merchandiser and was given this list of cities to chose from. The move won't happen until this fall, but I'm trying to get a background on each city to see which will be best. Overall I'm hoping to keep rent under $750.00, and still be a safe neighborhood. I love to shop, travel and enjoy the city, but would prefer a more scenic area - but still within 20 minutes of everything. I plan on visiting PA this summer for a few days to get a better feel of the towns, but of course I really can't decide from just a few days there If anyone has lived in these towns, or visited before, please give me some background on them. Thank you!

[Riverside4ever]

Philly is prob the Best ,, But for that rent I doubt you'll get anything good there .. Harrisburg is the States capitol Its a decent sized city .. Lancaster is a Amish area and Reading is pretty depressed .. THIS IS JUST MY OPINION .. I would Google Earth each town so you can get a feel for the area .. Look around .. I bet there is a furum for each of those area's too.. Good luck .. Winters can be harsh .. A awd car or truck is best in the winters .

[mancat100]

I grew up in Lebanon, which if you look at a map is in between Harrisburg, Lancaster and Reading. I now live in Philadelphia. So I'm familiar with all of these areas.

If you can swing it Philadelphia is the most interesting of all and will offer you more opportunities for both career advancement and entertainment options. There are some very scenic areas in both the northern and western suburbs (hilly terrain, loads of trees, open fields/horse farms in certain areas). If you look carefully, aren't too fussy and/or live with a room mate you can find something in your budget.

Lancaster is nice, but not very exciting. The surrounding county has some nice scenery on the back country roads.

Harrisburg has some nice areas, particularly in the burbs. There's an active downtown area with lots of nightlife. It's a city on the way up.

Reading has always underwhelmed me. There are some gorgeous areas of countryside around Reading in Berks County, but honestly, it's not enough to compensate for Reading itself, in my opinion. This would be the least favored out of all the choices.

Good luck.

[RightonWalnut]

$750 is definitely doable in nice area of Philadelphia.

[pman]

id think philly offers more opportunity for your line of work but of the three smaller cities id guess Lancaster has more opportunity and seems to be a city on the make. its an hour train ride to philly or so.

[PreservationPioneer]

Harrisburg, Lancaster, and Philly are all great. Reading is depressed, but still an interesting place.

Choose Harrisburg or Lancaster if you want an affordable, smaller, but still urban and walkable, city. Choose Philly if you want a huge city and can handle the added expenses of living in that big of a city.

[BTA88]

Philly, for reasons that are innumerable. You'll never run out of things to do in Philly, you'll be in the mix with a lot of people your own age, top notch night life and world class amenities.

Lancaster is a nice city to visit, but living there you feel a bit isolated.

Reading is a decent size and closer to other urban centers (Allentown and Philly), but it's sketchy. That said, the suburbs of Reading are very safe and clean.

Harrisburg is the smallest of all the cities, but feels much larger than Lancaster or Reading. It's a good town with good suburbs, though equally sketchy as Reading and has a miserable mayor who makes knee jerk decisions like closing down entire blocks because of a shooting.

[livelovely]

Thanks so much to everyone!! I've narrowed it down to Lancaster and Philly. So far Philly is in the lead, but is there any specific areas in Lancaster that I should look into or avoid? Same with Philly, I read somewhere on here that it's best to stick with Center City and avoid West Philly all together...? Thanks again, I do so appreciate it!

[pman]

at 21 years old, lancaster city staying away from the south side. will you have a car?

[mancat100]

Originally Posted by livelovely

Thanks so much to everyone!! I've narrowed it down to Lancaster and Philly. So far Philly is in the lead, but is there any specific areas in Lancaster that I should look into or avoid? Same with Philly, I read somewhere on here that it's best to stick with Center City and avoid West Philly all together...? Thanks again, I do so appreciate it!

Center City Philly is great, but its not the only good area. There are lots of great areas in the city itself. Also whoever told you to stay out of West Philly is full of it. There are some beautiful areas in West Philly just to the southwest of Penn on both sides of Baltimore Avenue.