General info about Harrisburg/Lancaster/York areas (Washington, Columbia: real estate, home)

[hairmetal4ever]

My family and I have lived in Maryland since 2007. We have 2 sons, 2.5 yrs old and the other almost 5. We may consider leaving the area in the next year or two. We're between Washington, DC and Baltimore right now in Columbia, MD. However, I'm an Ohio native, and my wife is from MA but has family in Montgomery County, PA (Audubon area). We're looking at a place to move to as we are trying to "escape" this overpriced, crowded hellhole. We're also considering closer to Philly FYI. However, we really like the area from Harrisburg to Lancaster, esp. Lancaster County in general. Employment opportunities for us could be in either of the three "big" cities in the area. My background is banking and finance (nothing high-rolling, just lending and banking in general), and my wife's is finance/government but she has the experience for either gov't or private sector.

Can anyone who has lived in both areas compare the two? Mostly weather/climate, general geography, and economics, living conditions? I'm just poking around for info on various areas to move to.

First, climate. One of the things I do like about where we are is climate. Is it that much different than Baltimore or DC? From here, it appears there is more snow in winter, but it's otherwise not all that different, and milder than most of the rest of PA except for Philly.

I'd expect that since real estate is cheaper, wages are a bit lower, which is fine, but how is the overall economy?

Schools are important too.

Ideally, we'd like to find an area that is somewhere within about equal distance of Harrisburg and Lancaster, more or less, where the schools are good to excellent, and it's possible to buy a home on something larger than a postage stamp (I'm a gardener and like my space). Any ideas in that regard? If I had to favor one, I'd err towards the Lancaster side, I feel that area is more "scenic" and a bit closer to some family and friends we know.

[Flamingo13]

There is a specific Harrisburg forum

[hairmetal4ever]

Originally Posted by Flamingo13

There is a specific Harrisburg forum

Posted there too - thanks. No replies yet.

[pman]

elizabethtown?