Moving to Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg: how much, house, to live)

[Steed3003]

Hello,

Our family be moving to the East Coast in the US end of 2022 / beginning of 2023. One of the states we're currently looking at is Pennsylvania.

We're quite flexible in terms of location, since we will be both working from home. We would be looking to not be more than an hour drive away from an international airport.

We have a dog so we're looking for an area that will have plenty of green spaces immediately available and easy outdoor access to national parks. In terms of budget, we would be looking for 600,000 USD for a 4/5 Bedrooms house.

We're looking for a nice mix between a rural feel but still not feeling completely isolated, and hopefully to find a town or city that will be as walkable as possible.

We will be doing a few visits end of the month to get a proper feel of each area and lock in on our favorite two or three areas. We wanted to post here and check with the locals first what would be their top two / three picks with good value areas that would fit best our search criterias.

Thank you all and available for any additional questions!

[North Beach Person]

As I alluded to in my response in the Maryland forum national parks such as you find in the West are not common in the East. There are a couple exceptions like the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia.

Pennsylvania has the Allegheny National Forest, which is a different animal than a National Park.

Pennsylvania does have more State Parks, with more varied uses, attractions and amenities, than Maryland as well as incredibly large State Game Lands which Maryland doesn't really have.

One thing about rural Pennsylvania is internet availability, much of the time it will be satellite based. Cell service can also be spotty in some areas. I joke, sort of, that I'm going to get a Sat phone for our trips to Pennsylvania because it becomes a real pain in the ass to drive 4 or 5 miles to get a signal when all I want to do is sit by the fireplace.

[toobusytoday]

I agree with North Beach Person. I'd scratch off that National Parks criteria for PA. https://www.nps.gov/planyourvisit/maps.htm I think the Lehigh Valley area meets your criteria. Check out Emmaus, PA. And I see a mention of Pittsburgh airport traffic below. I dare say that any international airport is going to be in the midst of a high traffic area. If you stretch your airport distance a bit, Emmaus would work for that too. We choose between EWR, PHL and ABE. All are within two hours, including parking.

[villageidiot1]

I won't repeat the national parks issue. The international airport will be a major issue if that is really important to you. The question is, how much airline travel will you actually be doing? Pittsburgh could meet your requirements, but driving to the Pittsburgh Airport can be difficult during rush hour traffic. Your best bet would be on the west side of the city where the airport is located. I would check out the I-79 and I-376 corridors if this is a major issue. Eastern Ohio/Northern WV is also an option with easy access to the Pittsburgh Airport.

[Jessie Mitchell]

There are quite a few "international airports" in PA. If you mean major airports that will offer direct flights to a lot of other major airports including major airports outside the country, then Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are your only in-state bets. Technically speaking "international airports" are just airports that have border and customs control facilities enabling passengers to connect to international flights, and there are quite a few of those in PA if you want more easy access and want to live outside major metro areas.

Harrisburg, for example, is a smallish, but nonetheless international airport. Requires connecting flights to most destinations though.

[Flyers Girl]

Perhaps areas of upper Bucks County, such as Doylestown.

[jtab4994]

If you are looking for giant Sequoias and breathtaking canyons, then PA doesn't have them. But up in Monroe/Pike County we have the Delaware Water Gap Natl. Rec. Area. It's nice for hiking, and if you move to the borough of Delaware Water Gap you may find a house right on the Appalachian Trail and also be only about 2 hours from Newark Liberty airport.

[Wells5]

Do you want to be near an international airport for frequent flights out of the USA or are you looking for a large airport with frequent domestic flights?


The only PA airport which has large numbers of non stop international flights is Philadelphia International. Pittsburgh Airport has a small number of international flights.



You may want to look into the Lehigh Valley. There are many fine walk able suburbs and you can find a very nice house within your price range.



You can reach Newark Liberty Airport in 1.5 hours or less and there are several state parks nearby.


https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/new...munitie_1.html

[Steed3003]

Originally Posted by villageidiot1

The international airport will be a major issue if that is really important to you. The question is, how much airline travel will you actually be doing?

It would be international flights mostly, would say one flight per quarter.

[Steed3003]

Originally Posted by Wells5

Do you want to be near an international airport for frequent flights out of the USA or are you looking for a large airport with frequent domestic flights?

https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/new...munitie_1.html

Would be international flights mostly, one flight per quarter.

Noted for the Lehigh Valley, thank you! Would you have any towns or cities to recommend in particular in this area? Thank you!