Catholic moving to PA Need Help - Lancaster or Allentown area? (Philadelphia: home, job market)

[NJ-SC-NowPA]

Hi everyone. We are strongly considering moving back to the cold North! We live in SC now, and the only thing we really love here is the weather. We have family in Lancaster and Allentown, and want to be close to both, but here are the questions:

We want a REALLY good Catholic education for our daughter. Not just strong academics, but strong faith education as well.

We want to be in a very Catholic environment as well. If you know anything about South Carolina, it is very anti-Catholic and very prejudiced. Good cities/areas for this?

Good areas for engineering jobs? We have just started looking and my husband is coming from Michelin, where there is a lot of job security and good benefits.

So far, we like Lancaster area better. What are some of your feelings on the differences between the two?

I know I'm asking too much in this post, but chalk it up to my being new at posting on forums.
Thanks so much for any help you can give.
Jamie

[lititzman2003]

Originally Posted by NJ-SC-NowPA

Hi everyone. We are strongly considering moving back to the cold North! We live in SC now, and the only thing we really love here is the weather. We have family in Lancaster and Allentown, and want to be close to both, but here are the questions:

We want a REALLY good Catholic education for our daughter. Not just strong academics, but strong faith education as well.

We want to be in a very Catholic environment as well. If you know anything about South Carolina, it is very anti-Catholic and very prejudiced. Good cities/areas for this?

Good areas for engineering jobs? We have just started looking and my husband is coming from Michelin, where there is a lot of job security and good benefits.

So far, we like Lancaster area better. What are some of your feelings on the differences between the two?

I know I'm asking too much in this post, but chalk it up to my being new at posting on forums.
Thanks so much for any help you can give.
Jamie

I have heard good things about Lancaster Catholic High School and the elementary schools but there are not many Catholics in Lancaster County. I've even dealt with rude comments about the fact that I'm a practicing Catholic. The education is good but there no Catholic environment. There are a good number of engineering jobs in the Harrisburg area but not as many as in the Philadelphia suburbs. Your husband may have some good opportunies in the Chester County area. The Lehigh Valley job market is real tough right now and has been slowly declining over the years.

[Rtom45]

The Catholic high schools in both Allentown and Bethlehem have very good reputations.

[toobusytoday]

This map: Center for Workforce Information & Analysis - Home Page shows the unemployment rate for the whole state so the above poster may be right about the Lehigh Valley job market not being that great. That said, I would much rather my husband find a job and then we move (as we've done a few times) as opposed to moving and then looking for a job. As long as you've narrowed it down to two areas of the state, why not see what job looks the most appealing. Our Catholic schools up here are well regarded and of all the areas we've lived in (five states, four counties in PA) there seem to be more practicing Catholics in this area.

[Marodi]

Yeah.. Lancaster Catholic is a really good high school. I had a few friends that went there. I'd say it's tied for 1st in best high school in the Harrisburg Diocese, the other being McDevitt in Harrisburg.

[Hu Flung Pu]

Originally Posted by NJ-SC-NowPA

We want to be in a very Catholic environment as well. If you know anything about South Carolina, it is very anti-Catholic and very prejudiced. Good cities/areas for this?

Lancaster/Central PA is probably one of the least Catholic areas of PA. Lancaster strikes me as more of a fundamentalist evangelical Protestant area. You'd be best to look into the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area...its probably the most Catholic area of PA with lots of options for Catholic Schools.

[danwxman]

Originally Posted by Hu Flung Pu

Lancaster/Central PA is probably one of the least Catholic areas of PA. Lancaster strikes me as more of a fundamentalist evangelical Protestant area. You'd be best to look into the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area...its probably the most Catholic area of PA with lots of options for Catholic Schools.

http://www.valpo.edu/geomet/pics/geo...rch_bodies.gif

Actually, Lancaster county is mostly Mennonite. And Dauphin (Harrisburg), Lebanon and Cumberland counties are all predominantly Catholic and in south central PA.

[Golf114]

I have businesses in BOTH Lancaster and Allentown for the past 30 years. Without a doubt, Allentown/Bethlehem/Easton area is better for Catholic education. My son's wife's family lives in Bethlehem as well. I grew up in the Reading area - do not go there. Reading, Lebanon, & York are closed communities. Lancaster is great, but half the size of the Lehigh Valley. In the Lehigh Valley you are 90 minutes from New York and 60 minutes from Philadelphia. Very growing and up coming area, but the bottom line, the Catholic experience in the Lehigh Valley is head and shoulders above Lancaster. By the way, I live in Lancaster. Good Luck.

[Oldiebutgoodie26]

Please check out the facts about Catholic education in the Scranton area. They had a massive restructuring of their schools, as did the Allentown Diocese. Many, many schools/parishes have closed. I went to Marywood University, and feel that Scranton has a much stronger Catholic identity than where I live now (Lancaster), and I get the Allentown diocesan newspaper, and it seems like a hoppin' place, as compared to the Harrisburg diocese. But, please, call and find out what your choices are. Restructuring schools is happening everywhere, so, don't panic.

I agree with you. If I was married with kids, I'd work three jobs and never sleep to give my kids a Catholic education. I teach, and the public schools are so focused on testing, it's crazy. I taught in the Archdiocese of Washington, and you cannot even imagine the difference. Not bashing public schools, but, holy cow, the nonsense that goes on in the schools today was unheard of in my little Catholic school. My advice is to call the Dioceses and get the info directly from them. Sorry, I know nothing about the job you seek! Good luck and welcome to PA!

[KeystoneGuy]

Lehigh Valley's Catholic High Schools (main ones) are Allentown Central Catholic (tough area in downtown Allentown), Bethlehem Catholic, and Notre Dame-Easton/Green Pond. Any of these areas would have a strong Catholic parishes - mostly because of all of the ethnics attracted to the area by the steel mills.

In Allentown, St. Thomas More is a great parish with great elementary school - thriving would be a good word. Cliquish in a way, but become active and you're quickly part of the clique. My sense is that the LV would be MUCH better than Lancaster for thriving Catholic populations because of the ethnic background.

In Allentown, try Air Products for Engineering or Lutron in Southern Lehigh. Both well-regarded companies with MANY employees.