Looking To Move Around Philly Area (school districts, tax, living in)

[Aprilv54]

Hello,

My family and I are originally from Hudson Valley, NY. We moved due to lack of job opportunities for my partner so we spent some time in Boston and have now lived in RI for past 5 years. We hate it in RI due to very high tax burden, high cost of living, lack of jobs, corruption, etc. And now the schools have been ranked worse in US. We want to move back to tri-state area but NY and NJ too expensive. We looked at PA particularly around Philly bc they seem to offer a lot of job opportunities, better education, lots of Autism centers and resources (something we lack a lot of in RI as our son is autistic).

How is it is living in PA especially around philly? What are affordable and safe suburbs of the city? Are there any cons of the state and areas around philly? We are planning on visiting the city and surrounding areas multiple times before deciding to move. We like that it offers four seasons, close to our families in NY and NJ. We are looking for good school districts and we would like to know about special needs program (if anyone knows anything about them), if there are a good amount of job opportunities around the city (I am a marketing professional and my SO is a pastry chef). Also is there a lot to do?

Any insight would be much appreciated.

[TownDweller]

You may want to fill out the sticky on this forum. You'll get more and better responses if you do. I moved here recently for a lot of the reasons you cite and feel like it was the right move.

[Aprilv54]

Great thank you. I'll try filling out the sticky. Also happy to hear it worked out great for you. Hoping we will have the same luck and outcome if we move.