Franklin/Cumberland County, PA (Harrisburg, York: sale, house, neighborhood)

[countrycitymom]

My family and I are planning to move to New York state, but...

I was just curious if anyone who has moved (recently - last 5 years) from New York/ northern New Jersey or other states north of PA to the south of Pennsylvania has had difficulty making friends or even forming friendly relationships with the "townies" or "locals" in south-central PA - Franklin or Cumberland county - specifically Shippensburg area, Greenvillage/Letterkenney area. I think it may have something to do with my being from New York area; being a 'Yankee'.

I don't consider myself an introvert or antisocial person, but it's been difficult to maintain friendships here -- it seems people just want to "keep to their own" -- anyone feel this way?? Anyone from the area care to comment??

Thanks,
CCM

[bboy36win]

Originally Posted by countrycitymom

My family and I are planning to move to New York state, but...

I was just curious if anyone who has moved (recently - last 5 years) from New York/ northern New Jersey or other states north of PA to the south of Pennsylvania has had difficulty making friends or even forming friendly relationships with the "townies" or "locals" in south-central PA - Franklin or Cumberland county - specifically Shippensburg area, Greenvillage/Letterkenney area. I think it may have something to do with my being from New York area; being a 'Yankee'.

I don't consider myself an introvert or antisocial person, but it's been difficult to maintain friendships here -- it seems people just want to "keep to their own" -- anyone feel this way?? Anyone from the area care to comment??

Thanks,
CCM

CCM, I moved to Chambersburg (Franklin County) in 1989 and have felt the same way. It's strange, really. It's not the people aren't nice - most are - but for some reason, the majority of them will not go out of their way to welcome you. My wife felt the same way when she moved into the area from MN in 1992.

For example, when I started my job, few - if any - came up to me and said, "hey, we're going to lunch - would you like to join us?" .... Or, "hey, I know you're new - do you have any questions about the town (like, where is the post office?)". My wife's experiences were similar. Once you are around for a while, you will gradually be accecpted into their circles, but it usually is only if you are the one to make the effort.

I'm generalizing, of course - not everyone is like this. But in this case, the generalization works for the majority of the 'locals.'

I'm not certain exactly why this phenomenon exists, but it is tangible. I spend a lot of time in MN since my wife's family is located there, and the difference is immense.

Good luck in your move.

[countrycitymom]

Dear bboy36win,

Thanks for sharing your experience. Sadly, I've had the same events happen to me. I even felt I had to quit a job I had in a local school because I felt too 'dissed'.

My husband and I made the decision to move, in large part because we did not want our young children growing up in this 'unfriendly' environment. It's a real shame, though, because Chambersburg is really up-and-coming and many of the areas in Franklin/Cumberland county are beautiful and picturesque...CCM

[openless]

i work and run a gas station in harrisburg pa. we have 2 families from new york. one was from croatia originally, move here when he was 25 and lived in nyc until about 4 years ago. he is very nice, the other oneis from the bronx. i love them dearly. you will probably hear all kinds of bad things about new yorkers moving to this area and having time adjusting. a lot of locals or natives think those people are loud noisy and ignorant. they dont say hello, please, excuse me, except when theyre insulting someone. they come here and demand things that they dont have in nyc. our nyc neighbors filed a complaint with the county because the farm they moved next to smelled. i mean they picked a house and then tried to sue the neighbors for the fact that it smelled. i mean thats the kind of stuff people here dont like. i dont mind it, i try to make eveyone else feel nice and welcomed. you will also hear a lot of this 'join a church' you dont have to but it helps, you see more people, you get involved with something local and start to build roots. i live about 30 minutes from chambersburg, and i can tell you in this whole area since spet 11th there have been dozens upon dozens of new yorkers who have had the same idea 'more to pa its cheaper' that is partially correct, but we dont have the same services and hospitals you had in nyc. we dont hae the sinai hospital here. we dont have madison square garden. but what we do have is small charming towns and nice covered bridges. most of the people here are related to the people in the town just down the road, and they grew up and are buried in the local cemetary. they get upset when loud obnoxious outsiders come in and start saying complaining.

im not saying YOU are that people, but that's how a lot of people feel, they are being barraged with people coming buying up every house in sight at drastically overcharged prices, sending their kids to already cramped schools and then complaining that there roads are bad, or the schools are poor, or there isnt enough culture, etc.

[Pushed out]

I've been in Franklin county all my life. People didn't use to be so: to them selves. I love going to Rutland VT skiing it reminds me of how it used to be here, for example passing through stores a resident would say Hi not even knowing you. It really did use to be that way here.
I've tried to come up with a reason it has change over the years and have blamed it on the extreme growth over the years. People have came hear in the last 5 to 8 years so that they can still travel to there high paying jobs in the larger cities and be able to live in a country setting with lower taxes. I'm surely not saying this is meant for all but once they are here, they want there sidewalks, curbs, and streetlights and all the other goodies that come from a high budget of local government that receives HIGHER TAXES. Along with those thoughts, all the utilities and schools cant accommodate the growth so we need to raise taxes on EVERYONE to house the newbies.
Most of the children of natives of Franklin County will not be able to afford to live in there home town. Fifteen years ago you could have a nice house for 100K. Now we see signs(starting at $400,000 for building lots).

Wish I could go into where I work, but I deal with phone calls (complaints) on a daily occurrence from the public. Its so frustrating to hear time an time again "When we lived in ****** we had this and we had that, you should this and you should this" I lost my composure one day and explained to the lady why I lost it, she changed her attitude and was so understanding.

My father, two Aunts and an Uncle inheridated my grandfathers farmland 15 years ago it will go up for auction on my birthday June 29th 2007. Seems kinda funny they all know how I feel about selling the family farm and the sale ends up on my birthday. One thing for sure I wont be able to afford it.
Anyone got a couple million to donate to a worthy cause.

[danwxman]

Originally Posted by countrycitymom

My family and I are planning to move to New York state, but...

I was just curious if anyone who has moved (recently - last 5 years) from New York/ northern New Jersey or other states north of PA to the south of Pennsylvania has had difficulty making friends or even forming friendly relationships with the "townies" or "locals" in south-central PA - Franklin or Cumberland county - specifically Shippensburg area, Greenvillage/Letterkenney area. I think it may have something to do with my being from New York area; being a 'Yankee'.

I don't consider myself an introvert or antisocial person, but it's been difficult to maintain friendships here -- it seems people just want to "keep to their own" -- anyone feel this way?? Anyone from the area care to comment??

Thanks,
CCM

That's the mindset of Franklin/western Cumberland county.... I live in eastern Cumberland county close to Harrisburg and it's a completely different world. Lots of newcomers here, have some good friends that moved here from NYC (Brooklyn) about ten years ago and love it here.

Funny you mention you worked at a school, because I had a hall monitor from NYC at my high school (Cumberland Valley)...really thick accent...she was great!

[military spouse]

Hi,
We moved to Chambersburg about 1.5 years ago and have found that we don't have any real friends that are from this area, but there are tons of people that have relocated here that are eager to be your friend. One of my closest friends here is from Corinth, NY and she is very happy here. We live close to Hwy.11, about as far south as one can get in the borough, and many of the people in our neighborhood are from places other than here. I would guess that maybe 50% of our neighborhood is from places atleast several hours away. We moved here from AZ.

[rockky]

I'll take a stab at this, but it may sound a bit weird.

I was born in York County...east of Franklin and southeast of Cumberland Counties. My daughter graduated from Shippensburg. Neither of my parents were born in York County, so I was viewed as an outsider.

For a very long time that area of central PA supported its own. Families went back for generations. Most of them German. Even when I was a kid, the German dialect was so strong it was sometimes difficult to understand what older folks were saying.

There were not large communities of Ellis Island immigrants. These were rural, agricultural areas. The locals descended from hard working, mind your own business families.

Many people were raised to keep to themselves. It was impolite to 'bother people'. If there was a death, the neighbors would bring food to the grieving family. They would pay their respects and move on. The church was a strong center of their world. Many of these churches were rural and thus had small 'church families'.

Generally, they were not a social bunch. They had their own way to make in the world.

I think this has carried over into the present. We live in a culture that no longer sits on front porches in the summer to escape the heat. We don't take evening walks and exchange pleasantries with neighbors. We live in the burbs, and unless we connect to others via kids, schools, work, other common interests....we tend to be isolated. We spend most of our time in cars, in front of the TV, or computer (bein' halfbutted philosophical about life ).

What I'm taking wayyy to long to say here is that it was a cultural thing to 'not bother other people'. Being too talkative was being too pushy. Raising your voice was rude. Flashy was wearing three pieces of jewelry. Hugging each other was a private thing. Any sort of overt display was frowned upon.

Of course things have changed in the last 50 years, but I'll bet a lot of the old training is still there.

[countrycitymom]

Thank you, everyone, who posted a message to my thread. As time goes by, from visiting this message board to talking to and observing others, I am beginning to understand the 'culture' of this area.

Best of luck,
CCM