Possible move to PA (Philadelphia, Harrisburg: apartment, rent, condos)

[PinkCar06]

When are you moving?
Within the next 6 months

Where are you coming from?
Bronx, New York

Why are you moving?
My husband has a new job

Where will you be working?
Trying to transfer to company Delaware office

Have you been here yet?
No

Will you buy or rent?
Will rent first

If buying, are you looking for a house or a condo? How much can you spend?

If renting, are you looking for an apartment, a townhouse or loft? How much can you spend?
Looking for apt or townhouse, for about 900-1200 for 2-3 bedroom

Do you prefer hi-rise or walk up?
doesn't matter

Are you married or single? Do you have children?
Married with no children yet

Do you prefer public or private schools?

Do you have pets?
No pets
Do you want or need a yard?
Doesnt matter

Are you keeping a car?
Yes
Do you prefer bustling activity or calm and quiet?
preferrably quiet

What do you want to be closest to?
Work
Shopping
Basic services (supermarket, drugstore, etc.)
Nightlife
Train or subway stations
Want to be close to work

Do you want to live with people of a similar age, race, religion or sexual preference or do you prefer a diverse neighborhood?
No preference in any just don't wantto live in a bad neighborhood
Phillies, Pirates or Mets?
Unfortunately for me I'm a Mets and Jets fan

[teachbeach]

Delaware no income tax on purchases (food, cars, appliances, clothing, furniture). Some great areas/neighborhoods. Where would your transferred office be located?

[PinkCar06]

company has an office in Wilmington, Maryland could be another option for us since company has an office in DC as well.

[teachbeach]

Rent would be higher in DC area as opposed to Delaware. Traffic would be more congested as well. I'd take a day and research the Wilmington area if I had your choice and could get a decent transfer. Wilmington is close enough to Philadelphia for "big city" amenities, air travel or train. A quick drive to the beach and the fact that goods and services would be considerably less than in the metro DC area.

[geedlea]

Many Wilmington addresses are used for North Delaware (or the office could actually be in the city of Wilmington). My most favorite town there is Arden Delaware, beautiful town that has parks on every street but I only know of houses there.

If this was me I'd look to the area of Longwood Gardens. This is located in Kennett Square, PA right on the PA/DE border, you could choose either state. This is the Brandywine Creek area which is rich in culture (Longwood Gardens, Andrew Wyeth) and history (Brandywine Battle) and so much more. This is a most beautiful place to live. (Longwood Gardens is the former estate of Pierre Dupont, it offers so much to the community, education, tours, beauty, and even more beauty). People come from all over the world to see Longwood. I know there are condos closeby (on Rt 1 PA side). You can check out Longwood Gardens for starters: http://www.longwoodgardens.org/ . That's what I'd do, yes sir. Philly is closeby ... for me Maryland is too much traffic. Good luck to you.

[NJPhilliesPhan]

Consider Media, PA

[91004]

I concur about Delaware, if it wasn't for my family situation, Delaware is probably where I move..... Pretty cheap to live there

[Urban Spaceman]

Delaware is a nice little state. Pennsylvania is very annoying to live in right now, particularly the Philadelphia area. The governments in Harrisburg and Philadelphia are very aggressive when it comes to raising revenues. Half the time when you register or title a vehicle through PennDOT the document you paid for never arrives, and they charge you again to "replace" it. They've been running this scam for decades. PennDOT (which handles all things vehicle-related in PA) is simply a disgrace. In 2010 you still cannot take care of most of your business with them online. Their labyrinthine website seems designed to confuse and delay any inquiries in order to cause late fees. Although you can pay and process some simple transactions online, for most of the timely transactions you can only download forms (in archaic windows formats that won't even print on up-to-date computers) or are given phone numbers to call to order forms. It's really pathetic.

And anyone who's watched Parking Wars knows about Philadelphia's gestapo-like parking enforcement. Even if you catch them handing your vehicle a bogus ticket (which happens frequently because the kind of low IQ people that work as ticket-writers often don't even understand the parking signs, and have absolutely no capacity to make independent intelligent decisions) you will probably find it's easier and less frustrating to pay it than fight it. Otherwise you'll be wasting time in a courtroom with a judge who slams his gavel on behalf of the city revenuers.

SWEEP is another rotten apple in Philly's corrupt city government. Despite a horrendous case a few years back in which SWEEP officers literally took over innocent citizens' homes and stole all their possessions, abusing their city-granted authority, SWEEP officers are still allowed to roam freely, handing out tickets at their whim for bogus weed and trash violations. These tickets start at $75 a pop, and there is no grace period for correcting violations, and again, only a court appearance to try to plead your case in front of a city judge.

These totalitarian "boot on the throat" policies blossomed under Mayor Nutter, who apparently can't think up less obnoxious ways to boost city revenues. Like maybe reducing business taxes and making the city more business friendly. Not only is it business unfriendly, under Nutter's hand it has become intolerably citizen (and tourist) unfriendly.

Nutter is the worst mayor Philly's had in a long long time. At least the worst in 50 years. And I'm not sure any of the politicians running for any office from either party have any clue about what is wrong with our state and how to fix it. Like firing the head of PennDOT, for instance.

Stick with Delaware. You'll have all the "perks" of the Delaware Valley without many of the headaches and time-wasting annoyances.