Pa sucks (Houston: home, living in, moving to)

[R.J. MacReady]

Some of the responses here have been boarderline nasty and uncaring which is both perplexing and may add credence that PA isn't very friendly. It's a message board folks.....don't take things seriously (unless it's something horrible like racism, homophobia, sexism, etc.).

To the OP, I'm sorry to hear of your difficulties with renting and the school. Horrible they would do that to you with the medical conditions. I hope your move will provide you much happiness and find somewhere you enjoy living.

[Awesomo.2000]

Originally Posted by R.J. MacReady

Some of the responses here have been boarderline nasty and uncaring which is both perplexing and may add credence that PA isn't very friendly. It's a message board folks.....don't take things seriously (unless it's something horrible like racism, homophobia, sexism, etc.).

To the OP, I'm sorry to hear of your difficulties with renting and the school. Horrible they would do that to you with the medical conditions. I hope your move will provide you much happiness and find somewhere you enjoy living.

Oh, and this is just boarderline, nice and caring?

the op: "Ok folks, just learned another lesson...........don't whine on here because it is run by the Hitler Youth who can't take any criticism. You'll be glad to hear I won't be back on this board......wankers"

I am sorry for the guy's problems. We all have problems in life no matter where we live. Don't come on a message board and bash a entire state because of your personal problems. Like I said, I am not going to go to the Colorado board and bash their beautiful state because I had a bad time there. This forum is about 60% negative. There is nothing wrong with criticism if it actually serves a purpose. I love Pittsburgh, and I will criticise many aspects of it such as existing unused rail tracks not being turned over for commuter rails, urban sprawl, or certain developments. However, I won't just come on a board and rant on with a baseless attack on somebody's region, state, or town. (which 50% of citydata threads are).

[lialleycat]

Originally Posted by leedspaddy

OK to be honest with you folks, I have always been a homeowner until we moved to this state but during the summer we were forced to do a short-sale on our house and not only did I lose a lot of money but my credit was destroyed by it as well. So we move to this state and rented out a house.............all was well and good until I disputed the necessity of a pet deposit especially when the landlord had not replaced the stained up carpets that he had promised to from the previous tenant. I asked for the landlord to either replace the carpets or drop the remaining portion of the deposit. He did nothing except ignore my phone calls......so when I refused to pay the remainder of the deposit he threw my a-s-s in court without any warning. Now I decided to pay up before the court date but that wasn't what frightened me...........it was the fact that I discovered that tenants in PA have absolutely no rights whatsoever especially in this Pro-landlord state and can be evicted in less than a month. Its not that I don't want to pay my rent but from what I found out is that seems pointless to fight any disputes because it appears that the court will always side with the landlord.

Other things that have shocked us has been the rapid rise in real estate taxes since we originally left........they have increased so much that we would not even consider buying a house here when we get in a position to buy again in a few years.

We have been so disgusted by the way we have been treated by the school system. My wife and kids have a very rare blood disorder that doesn't always fit the school timetable..........all of them are regularly sick. Two weeks after my kids started at their new school, I was out of state on my job and my wife had a medical emergency and because there was no one who could watch our kids at such short notice, she took them out of school around lunchtime and took them to her doctor. A week later we get a letter that if my kids have 2 more unexcused absences the rest of the school year then we will have to go to court................and this was after we had explained everything to the school about the disease and its possible consequences. I took this as an insult especially after we spoke to the superintendent of schools who in his cold voice said that there was no exceptions to this rule..........even for medical issues.

Then we discovered that none of the doctors in the area know anything about my wife's rare disorder.

So my impression of PA is it is an uncaring, court happy and tax-you-to-death state that I don't want any part of. Yes I know there are other states that are a h-ell of a lot worse especially on taxes and pointless state laws but I think because I enjoyed PA so much when I was here last that I had more than usual high expectations for our return.

Sorry to hear of your troubles. I had the opposite problem in NY with a renter that wouldn't pay the rent, was loud as can be all the time and regularly drunk and/or stoned all the time. The people before were so happy to get rid of him that they gave me a glowing recommendation for him. Ugh! Took me 6 months to get him out, at which point I tore down the walls separating the apt from the rest of my house lest I be tempted to rent again.

I hope things get better for you. Though the rents are outrageous, Long Island is a very renter friendly state. If you think PA taxes are outrageous though, don't look to LI to buy, a small 1200sq foot house on .21 acres will cost you around 6-7K in taxes.

[JHG722]

Originally Posted by leedspaddy

Ok folks, just learned another lesson...........don't whine on here because it is run by the Hitler Youth who can't take any criticism. You'll be glad to hear I won't be back on this board......wankers

What kinda tool calls someone a 'wanker'? Seriously...

[HeadedWest]

Originally Posted by R.J. MacReady

Some of the responses here have been boarderline nasty

So was the original post.

[Heit]

Originally Posted by HeadedWest

So was the original post.

Exactly. How about he title of the post.............."PA sucks"...........that just gives a person a "warm & fuzzy"..............NOT!

[R.J. MacReady]

Was the OP's wording in the original post not the best? Yeah probably but if they want to think PA is "crap" I have no issues with it as we all have different experiences and events that mold our opinions. Seemed more like harmless venting than anything else. The comments that came from the OP after seemed to be a reaction to the responses that came after. Should the OP have explained why they were upset in the first post to clarify? Yeah, probably would have helped things somewhat. I don't know maybe it's just the holiday season and I'm loaded with happiness but just seems senseless to get into a back and forth over the matter. I can have empathy for their situation. Peace and love to all.

[flu189]

I think the stress of the economy and job situation is starting to really weigh on folks, many who are becoming desperate in trying to find the "right" spot, especially with affordability and safety issues. The OP's name rang a bell and checking on prior posts I see he was at one time up in my neck of the woods which did not work out either. I am giving the Cumberland Valley of Pa a closer look for possible relocation consideration for several reasons. Quite a bit of my motivators are having VA and other military access like the Commissary and Exchange which I don't currently have. I also like the idea that pensions are exempt from taxes. I know that the property and school taxes do seem high in Pa, but compared to Vt they are quite a bit less and despite the current economy Pa definately would offer more options and opportunities. I still want somewhat of a four season climate and like the idea that the Appalachian Trail is close by as my eventual goal is to attempt a through hike. Anyway, reading the posts both good and bad provides insight.

[HeadedWest]

Originally Posted by R.J. MacReady

Was the OP's wording in the original post not the best? Yeah probably but if they want to think PA is "crap" I have no issues with it as we all have different experiences and events that mold our opinions. Seemed more like harmless venting than anything else.

Then all the responses were also harmless venting.

[CrestViewdrive]

This thread is stupid. Thats all I got to say.

Harmless venting is retarded. Type your issues into a word document, and save them to your hard drive for yourself. Don't ***** female dog and complain to people online. Thats just retarded.