just on the news "cancer cluster near Muhlenberg High School berks county" i didnt get to hear all of it but it appears that several people under 30 have come down with cancer in this area. i'll check the news at 11 hopefully it will be back on.
theres a detailed profile of most areas. heres the link for harrisburg. i would urge you to spend some time there or anywhere you are interested in. if possible renting like we did for awhile is very helpful, it helped us get to know several counties and which one is right for us. all counties are different
not sure where we will head out to in 10 years. we have in mind, Rhode Island, Maine and New Hampshire

on the detailed profile link i sent you can pretty much type in any location. 90% of counties and townships are listed. its slightly outdated (2002?)but it gives you an idea

Here is a link that might be useful: harrisburg detailed profile

The cancer cluster is near Reading. But what are your thoughts on Harrisburg?

(and thanks for the link,)

i cant make an exact comment because this after all is a forum and i would be booted off.
i think the link i sent you explains it all
most likely you would be looking at a house in the surrounding townships not in the heart of harrisburg. that makes a big difference
since your looking on realtor .com you can type in the township of a house your interested in on that link i sent.
you mentioned pottstown, thats a decent area
if we decide to stay in PA we would stay in berks county. the area in berks that i fell in love with is a few minutes away from me in nolde forest. theres a new community called Quaker Hill by berks homes. i was about to put our house up for sale just to live there, but hubby said no lol
it was so private and wooded with decent acres (2+ acres)
of course theres a downside to everything, while we were there just browsing we noticed it was a hunting area, ahh guess we cant have everything =)

VB, I tried to email you but you don't have that function. Can you email me? I have some questions if you don't mind.
thanks
-Andy

sure
email sent

Vanderbanger:

The students in Cumuru that had to go to school early to use the school showers were in Governor Mifflin School District. That is how I heard about it since it was not public knowledge. They have since graduated. One area that is very scary is the apartment complex near the new Shillington Farmers Market. I know of several people who have moved away from there due to the high volume of police activity.

Pequafrog:

You can't lump Harrisburg into one basket. There are many suburbs with vastly different lifestyles. One way to learn a lot is to visit realtors in competing nearby markets. They will tell you things that you may not want to hear. Some will be true. The area I like is Hummelstown and the area down 322 toward Lancaster County. Also Annville is a delightful place.

Rhodyman, we found a nice little area called Linglestown. We went to eat there...went to the local Target store. It had a nice small-townish feel. Know it?

I will add my .02. I moved to York County PA back in 2001. I had been living in the Baltimore, MD area for 5 years previous, and previous to that I was in Western Massachusetts. I started looking for land in MD but couldnt touch it. I built my house including land and improvements for what it would have cost me just for land (1 acre) in Baltimore County. I have 1.3 acres. I like the area, I am about 14 miles south of York, PA, and 6 miles from a Retail area, Giant, Walmart, Home Depot etc. I commute 42 miles each way to work in Baltimore City, there are High Tech firms in Hunt Valley, MD which is about 30 minutes from here. Plenty of colleges in MD, Loyola, Towson, UMBC etc, that are within reasonable commute. If you go to realtor.com and put in zip code 17322 this will give you an idea of what housing prices are and what you can get for your money. One thing to look at carefully in PA are the school taxes. There are 501 school districts in PA their and their milage rates vary greatly you should look at that carefully. Good luck in your search.

Pequafrog: Linglestown is as very nice area. One thing, don't be too upset if people are don't warm up to you right away. In a small town like that, many times a community is composed of people who grew up in the area and their family is nearby. The reason it is still a small town is that not many people have moved in.

Here are some statistics:

Population (year 2000): 6,414
* White Non-Hispanic (94.6%)
* Black (2.1%)
* Hispanic (1.0%)
* Two or more races (0.7%)
Median resident age: 40.3 years
Median household income: $52,650 (year 2000)
Median house value: $113,900 (year 2000)

The surrounding township (Lower Paxton) is similar with a median income for a household in the township was $49,566.

It is in Central Dauphin School District which has two high schools: Central Dauphin and Central Dauphin East. Linglestown has its own elementary school. School taxes are raised with property taxes. The owner of a property in the Central Dauphin School District assessed at $100,000 would owe $1,374 in property taxes. That is very low. On the same property where I live the taxes are $2,615.

It is very close to the Amish area, Gettysburg, Hershey, the Capital Museums, community Opera and Symphony, professional Basketball, Baseball, Soccer, Rugby, Football and Ice Hockey Teams.

One sure sign of the Linglestown's community unity is the volunteer fire company:

Here is a link that might be useful: Linglestown Fire Company

Rhodyman.
I thought Linglestown was really nice. It looks like they're trying to revitalize the down-town area near the flagpole.
We went down this one street that had a Target, Circuit City, Radioshack, Bed Bath & Beyond etc. I felt like I was home!
Over there it's not city-ish at all.
When all is said and done, home is where you make it, I guess. Just give me a good place for my gardens, and a nice spot for my pond and I'll be a happy guy.

that sounds like a really nice area
one thing that PA is good for, shopping! =)
glad to hear your a fellow ponder. i love my pond, its so relaxing
we have heavy clay soil which is hard to dig in but it holds a ponds shape really well

There are great garden shops east of Lancaster.

A great shop for ponders and gardeners is Black Creek Nursery. It is a huge greenhouse that sells annual, perennials, and pond plants for very low prices. From PA 23 (near Shady Maple) go north on PA 625 another 3.7 miles and turn right on Black Creek Road and go .4 miles.

Other great nurseries are:

Conestoga Nursery: Closed Tuesday & Sunday. Located on PA 625 1.5 miles north of PA 23 (near Shady Maple)

Groff's Plant Farm: Annuals and Perennials
www.groffsplantfarm.com
From Lancaster follow 222S through Quarryville. Approximately 1.5 miles south of Quarryville you will pass Solanco High School on the right. About 1/4 mile after the high school, Blackburn Road will branch off to the left. Follow Blackburn 3 miles until it ends. Turn left onto Puseyville Road, cross over the Octarara Creek, and immediately turn right onto Street Road. Follow Street around the bend, and we are halfway up the hill on the right.

Ken's Gardens: 1/4 mile west of Intercourse

Ken's Gardens: On Rt. 340 .25 mi west of 896
http://www.kensgardens.com/

Well, all I can say about vaderbanger's post is... wow.

It seems a combination of naivete and paranoia. And I'm not afraid to say it. I challenge you to find a northeast city of more than 40,000 that can't be described the same way. Crime? In Pennsylvania!! Backwards Amish??? What next?? Several people with cancer! Say it ain't so!

p.s. I wouldn't worry about the people of Linglestown a bein' suspicious of a New Yorker. Like most in this area, they're from somewhere else too. And we recently got three channels on the tee vee.

We moved here 15 years ago and really love the area. You can still drive about 10miles in any direction from Harrisburg and find yourself in a "rural area" I expect that may change because the area is growing. Shopping and restaurants are improving monthly.
To add to the garden centers already listed there is Stauffer's of Kissel Hill right in Linglestown, 2 Country Markets, one in Hershey and one in Mechanicsburg on the "west shore", Ashcombe Farms in Mechanicsburg, Highland Gardens in Camp Hill. They all have their own "personality" that is to say they have many items in common but each has found an area of specialization. I find reasons to visit everyone of them. One other center in Caperoon's Plant Farm in Linglestown but I believe I read that they were going to change direction this year and focus mainly on landscaping so there may be bargains if they sell off some of their stock.
Another "wonder" of this area is the farmers' markets - one in downtown Harrisburg, one in Lemoyne,(both of these open year-round) one on Fridays during the summer at the Farm Show Complex on Cameron St in Harrisburg. There are several more in Lancaster County.
There are also 3 fine art craft shows here - Harrisburg Artsfest on Memorial Day weekend held along the river in Harrisburg, Mt Gretna Art Festival 3rd weekend in August and Long's Park Arts Festival on Labor Day weekend in Lancaster.
I mentioned "west shore" further up - it's relevant because you hear it A LOT! There are people who have lived their entire lives on one shore or the other and find it hard to cross to the other side. When I first applied for a job here, I was asked by the interviewer if I would "cross the river". And yes there are several bridges to help with that! Just part of the charm.
I hope you and your family will be happy with your decision. It is a beautiful part of PA.
Welcome!
Pat

If your price range was a tad higher, I'd love to sell you MY PA house!
Bought one in SW Florida...don't need two...LOL
It's just a few miles outside of West Chester...in a lovely, quiet older (cul-de-sac) development of only 12 homes, but close to everything, with firly low taxes and great schools.
If you consider upping your price...please email me.

We live just south of Carlisle.I lived in s central pa all my life I love it here.My hubby built an addition on Elizabeth town college about 15 years ago.Were close to Gettysburg, Hanover area.

I lived in Brooklun NY for 30 years, then moved to NJ where the taxes were scary, and our mortgage was killing us. In January 2006, myself, dh and 3 and 4 year olds moved to Berks County to a small town very close to Wyomissing. My children happen to be special needs, and I enrolled them in the special needs pre school program for Berks County. Suffice it to say, it was not what we hoped it would be. My children were in the Special needs preschool program in NJ-and although you shouldnt really compare the 2, the one in Berks county was way overcrowded, and all the children, no matter their level of special needs were lumped into one classroom. The school happened to be located in Wyomissing. The teacher was fabulous, but how much can you do when there are way too many kids, and the classroom is located in a donated building that is pretty much falling apart, with an overgrown playground that is falling apart as well. Suffice it to say, the tax funds just werent allocated towards educating in my opinion, although I paid fairly healthy taxes.

In December 2006, (yes-not even a year later)we purchased another home, and put the other house on the market. (We just found a buyer and are closing in a week or so) in Lebanon County in a fabulous town named Cornwall (zip code 17016). It is right next to another town called Lebanon (zip code 17042). Cornwall has alot of wonderful history, it is historic and lovely. There are old stone houses for sale, and new developements going up in the mid 200's. The school district here is FABULOUS! The Junior High and High School are located on a lovely campus called Cedar Crest. My children have a total of 5 kids in their class, and in the past few months have learned more then they did in a whole year at the other school.

Lebanon offers a ton of shopping, the Annville/Cleona area offers a college, as does Lebanon. Check it out!
http://www.cornwall-pa.com/
~Dawn

Good grief.

Did anyone mention the Boiling Springs area yet?
Check out the area between Camp Hill and Boiling Springs, in South Central PA. It's a lovely area.

Harrisburg is the nearest city, and just beyond that is Hershy, PA, with its major medical center. A smaller hospital, Holy Spirit, next to Camp Hill has a new cardiology center.

You will be only an hour or so from Gettysburg.

Harrisburg has an excellent junior college as well as some other possibilities for further study, and there is still Dickinson College in Carlisle as well.

Philadelphia and Baltimore are only about two hours away. DC is also accessible. State College, home of Penn State football, is about two hours away as well.

So curious...did you choose yet?
Boby

Where is a nice place (Quaint)small...a few thousand people...to live in PA not filled with sprawl and not prone to flooding...I had a lot of recommendatins for north central PA but there seems to be a lot of flooding in those towns.

Safety is a big issue for me. A safe area would be great.

Would rather stay east of the river...just because its closer to family

There is no "the river"; they all have names. The Delaware and Susquehanna are two of the biggest in the east, so I assume you want to be between them. Most places that have flooding just flood in the low areas so don't rule them out. There is flooding everywhere there are streams. The trick is to buy high. Flooding is always in low areas.

Some of the places that don't have sprawl are the depressed areas such as the coal regions which comprise a great deal of the area you describe. A large part of the SE part of the state is a bedroom community for Philadelphia. The area along I-80 in the Poconos is a bedroom community for New York City now.

For quaint there are Ephrata, Lititz, New Holland & Strasburg in Lancaster County; Boyertown, Kutztown, Oley & West Reading in Berks County; Skippack in Montgomery County; Jim Thorpe in Carbon County; and Milford in Pike County.

I guess New Yorkers "discovered" our state. Maybe I will move to the adirondacks

pequafrog where did you move to?

Maybe sarahbn scared her off with her New york comments. I am a New Yorker. We have lived here for 23-24 years now. Its ok. South Central Pa is a good place to live because of I-81, the Turnpike, Rt 15( easy way to Md and DC. )RE taxes are much less then LI.

Was just checking this forum out, since I love gardening, listed it as my second favorite sight, and never made it here. Buzzed over from the hummingbird and dog bone cancer sight. Read all these messagess. Very interesting to see how other PA people feel about our towns. Got to the end to see where pequafrog decided to move, only to find there was no end. Anyone know what the choice was? We are loaded with New Yorkers here. Upper, Bucks County. Many are nice and appreciate, and respect our state. Others do nothing but talk about how much better New York is. I suggest they do us both a favor and pack it up. I love PA !

A big issue for us to leave PA was the proximity to nuclear power plants. Also, consider the EPA hazardous waste sites. I love Lancaster County, however, it is too near nuclear power and Lititz, for example, is loaded with hazardous contamination both in the air and water. One would not know this with driving through the area. Check out your facts, too, from census.gov, EPA, school report cards, etc...I was really surprised about the nuclear power plant in Berwick, PA in Luzerne County. There are many bargains up there, however, the power plant with its expansion plan nixed the whole deal for us. PA is water-rich, and the state is high in nuclear power capacity. No thanks. Good luck.

My family has been here for 300 years. Both sides settled in 1707 in Lancaster from Germany. I have never lived one day out of this state. I read this thread and got to the end and nothing!! Where did they end up living?

Another vote for Lancaster County! We have a lot of New York transients, and they love it here. Lancaster has Franklin and Marshall College, an excellent liberal arts school noted for its pre-med prep. An absolutely adorable town you must check out is Lititz, just north of Lancaster. It is in a good school district (Warwick), and the town is darling. I live a few miles from it in another good school district (Manheim Twonship) and I just love to go into town. Great shops, beautiful park (home of the best craft show in August), cute homes, AND Wilbur's chocolate. Lititz does not have any bad sections of town, and the school is not a Title I school, which means, in layman's terms, that the population is employed. You could find a place for $250K. There are a lot of gardeners in Lancaster County, and Lititz has its own gardening club that sponsors tours each summer. It's also home of Linden Hall, a private school for girls.
Let me know if you need any more info.

Lily316-- I just read the whole thread to, wonder if they moved here.

I've lived a bunch of places from Virginia to DC to NYC to Philly to Pittsburgh and back to the Philadelphia area. My husband and I are in Chester County and love it. We always thought that we were city people but I now realize that having a garden far outweighs the benefits of city living. I hope Chester County never gets overdeveloped. I love the parks and Sunday drives where we can see horses and get ice cream at the local creamery. If anyone lives nearby and has kids, bring them here, they can visit with the pigs, cows and goats before having a cone (http://www.milkywayfarm.com/homepage-creamery.htm)

I happened upon this post today and I'd love to know if Pequafrog ever moved. Has anyone ever heard?

I'm with Melissas on this. We live downtown Lancaster and it's amazing. Lots of farmers markets and a great CSA. We have Frankline&Marshall and Millersville universities, tons of theater, and tons of history.

I know this is an older post...but I found it interesting as I am also looking to relocate.

I currently live in Lower Bucks County... in Levittown!

I couldn't help noticing the snicker from the one person who mentioned Levittown, and just wanted to mention that Levittown seems to be a very good place for families with lots of kids.

I live in Forsythia Gate. The houses are older, but where else in Bucks County can you buy a well kept 6 bedroom, 3 bath house on a 100x150 foot lot for $320,000?

The taxes are a bit much for someone who is single, but they are largely school taxes. If you want good schools for all those special kids ... Your gonna have to hire and pay lots of very special teachers!

It's the very same folks who stay home and claim they can't afford the taxes. but they keep having more babies and demanding more services! they want less than 15 kids in a class, indoor heated olympic swimmimg pools, air conditioning and even ENGLISH HORSEBACK RIDING lessons! (I kid you not) Of course some one ELSE will have to pay for all this!

When I bought this house, the neighborhood was mostly older childless couples and the taxes were very low because the school enrollment was low, but lately it has been exclusively large families...5 children is typical these days, but some have 6 or 7.

Unfortunately (for me),I don't have children and don't really get on well with them. I don't have the nerves, skills or money to manage other folks' kids either. Most of them run amok in the streets or on MY property (where for some reason their parents have told them they have a RIGHT to hang out)

Does anyone know of a nice quiet little town with smaller, well kept houses, low taxes and not many kids? (NO KIDS would be GREAT...but I realize that's just a fantasy)

After working 2 jobs for 40 years to scrape together enough for a home...I'd just like to spend a peacefull afternoon tending my garden without being accosted by some self-riteous SAHM (fresh from the nail salon) for chasing her kids out of my garden! (one had actually squatted to take a dump im my peonies!)

Hellllp!

Hi, I live in West Bradford Township. My children all went to Downingtown schools and I can honestly say I am very happy with the schools and the area. There are many great parks and walking trails, some great shopping and lots of nice neighborhoods and nice people. I have read that some people said there is no "quaint downtown areas", but I disagree. Many of the nearby boroughs are quite lovely to walk around. We really love West Chester, nice college town with lots of great restaurants and shopping. Malvern is nice to walk and shop as well as Paoli and all along the Main Line, straight down Bs. Rte. 30.
I can't say enough about the area and I think you would love it.

you need to look around let your heart tell you this is were iam living.god bless...sedrick1968 gate city va...

Go to Zillo and enter: Wild Run Road Pennsburg PA. We paid 265 for a ranch on 1.5 acres. Got a big garden, and all the critters and birds you could want. We are in Montgomery County. Berks County is 200 yards away. This area is called the "Upper Perkiomen Valley." This valley is about 10 miles long by 10 miles wide. It is historically PA Dutch. Lots of agriculture, and recently, lots of development.
There is a huge resevoir close by with average fishing. The Canada geese and deer around here are considered a nuisance. A flock of turkeys in excess of 50 inhabits our neighborhood. Good luck in your search. Pick the high ground.

Philadelphia, nice to visit, but beyond that... Pittsburgh on the other hand very pleasant! Stay away from the "coal region" (goes without saying).

We have 2 houses in New Oxford area for sale brand new..Antique capital

Move to Cumberland Co.,PA.
Maybe she's already moved and forgot this site.

If you're smart you won't move to Snyder County...very poor job situation here. The biggest employer in the county besides the mall (and who can live on those salaries) is Wood Mode and they've laid off a lot of people several times over the past few years. There's really not much here in the way of jobs, yet they keep building new schools, which means our taxes keep going up up up. If they keep raising them, I don't know who will be able to afford to live here to pay the taxes! Anyway, it's a pretty nice area if you don't need a job and have enough money socked away to pay taxes.

Where in northern pa to move with children

Where in northern pa to move with children

Where in northern pa to move with children

I personally like gettysburg. I live in york to much pollution. I have to say brandy wine country great area. Any new yorker would like it.

I'm a New Yorker, Manhattan and LI ( not completely flat) . check out Carlisle.....home to US Army War College, Dickenson College. car shows...near Harrisburg and Lancaster.

I wonder if Pequa Frog will ever come back and tell us where they moved. Maybe someone can message her through Houzz. I hope she moved to the Main Line.

I've compiled a great list of 21 reasons to live in Bucks County, PA http://danielclarkinbuckscounty.com/21-reasons-to-live-in-bucks-county/

I live at Kennett Square, have a nail salon. Can you suggest me about the region nail salon Kennett Square it?

Lititz won an award not long ago for being the best small town of the country.

Hershey has great schools.

Suburbs south of philly can be expensive but great schools

Harrisburg isn't great but the outskirts (north, east or west) have great parts.

Many parts (but not all) of Lancaster may also meet your requirement.

GL

Lock Haven has a university, hospital, river, and state gamelands. If interested, see my blog about our home. Situated in scenic Lock Haven Pennsylvania is this comfortable, large home and public building. For a complete description and many pictures, visit https://fsbo305ciderpressrd17745residentialpubliccombo.wordpress.com/2017/10/04/first-blog-post/

Call owner, Larry Race for answers to your questions at five-seven-zero, two-nine-five, five-two-seven-seven.

Lived in many places over the years, now that people are fleeing the bigger cities cause of The viruses that are foretold to ruin our country (it) has created a exodus of people fearing disease. I would like to keep Lancaster County a secret, it smells like farms and crops out here and there are more horses and buggies on our back roads than cars. I don’t think city folks would like it here, LOL.