Relocating to PA, need advice!

[nycrefugee]

Hey everyone! I'm considering relocating to PA from nyc, but I'm having some trouble deciding where to look. I don't personally know anyone who's familiar with PA, and I don't know where else to post. Since you're all gun loving residents of PA, I thought I'd ask here.

I was considering Buffalo (it's cheap!), but the gun laws are even worse up there. Four "character references" for a pistol license up there, and they need to be local, non-family residents! Since I wouldn't know anyone for a while, that means I'd have to give up my guns and my hobby.

I've considered moving down south, but I hate hot, humid weather and bugs. Chiggers? Yikes! I'd also be considered an "outsider" or "yankee". So I'm focusing on PA now because things seem relaxed and it's close to NY/NJ.


So far I've looked into the Erie and Pittsburgh areas. This is what I've learned so far:

Erie:
- Cheap housing
- Close to shopping
- Extremely low crime rate (almost none?)
- Lots of bored kids (found a YouTube video about kids who eat calamari)
- Severe employment issues
- Harsh winters

Pittsburgh
- Cheap housing
- Close to shopping
- Alarming crime issues, unless you move into the more expensive suburbs
- Possible traffic issues traveling into Pittsburgh from outer areas
- Good employment opportunities

The employment issues of Erie and crime issues of Pittsburgh are turnoffs for me. I am self-employed, but I'd like to have the option of finding a job when/if things slow down for me.


I'm looking for a safe and decent area with housing (a real house, not "mobile or prefab") between $30-50k. I don't need a large house, I'm only one person. My price range is low because I don't believe in loans, and I'd like to have some savings after my home purchase. I'm also fine with taking care of simple repairs and improvements myself.

I'm used to being within walking distance to everything. I buy fresh food every two or three days and stock nearly nothing in my fridge, for example. But I realize my price range limits my options, so I'd be willing to give up the walking conveniences for the right area. An hour drive or so from BJ's or something similar would be fine.

I've heard things can be a bit racist in central southern pa. While I wouldn't be a target of that racism (yeah, I'm white) I'd prefer to not be around that type of thing. Being a life-long resident of nyc, I love diversity and culture.

I also don't want to feel like an "outsider". I know some areas have a tendency to shun those they didn't grow up with or go to school with. That sort of thing is totally alien to me, I love meeting new people. And you've all been extremely welcoming to me.

I'm not saying anyone here is a racist or shuns newcomers, I'm just trying to cover all the bases here. Please don't flame me for it.

All of eastern pa appears to be out of my price range, unless I'm overlooking something. I'm honestly willing to consider any decent part of PA, as long as I'm not miles away from civilization. I've never lived in a small town, but I'd be willing to consider it if the community is nice.

I hope you can all help me out, I really have no idea where to begin searching. I look forward to any advice or suggestions!

[jahwarrior72]

well, i'm also a NYC refugee (the Bronx), so believe i can be of assistance. it doesn't get much better than the NEPA area: the counties of Lackawanna, Monroe, Wayne, and Luzerne are what i'm familiar with.

most of the pros and cons you listed are pretty common throuh most of PA, if i'm not mistaken. the upside of moving to NEPA is that many people have run away from NY/NJ to here, so you won't feel like an outsider as much. unfortunately, that's also the downside to NEPA. many people brought NY/NJ with them, meaning it's crime, liberalism, and bad attitude. this is especially true of Monroe County, which has become a suburb of NJ.

the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area , is less so, but is still urban enough to feel comfortable, while remaining fairly close to the country. it suffers less from imported urbanism than the E. Stroudsberg area. Scranton's in Lackawanna county, while WB is in Luzerne. WB is a bit younger than Scranton, so it's a bit more urban; as a result, crime there is higher than Scranton, but it's easier to find work there, from what i hear. a lot of people i know commute from Scranton to WB for work. between them lie many small towns and suburbs, like Pittston, Avoca, Wyoming, Exeter, and others, which are close enough to both for quick commutes. they're pretty quiet areas.

Wayne county is largely suburban and rural, and ignorance is a little more prevalent there than in the others, but it is a beautiful place to live. the biggest towns there are Honesdale and Hamlin. crime there is nowhere near as bad as other places, but thanks to heroin and meth, is rising, albeit slowly. they also are seeing alot of urban transplants, who come looking for quiet, country living. i beleive housing is a little more expensive there, but i'm not in the real estate business, so don't quote me on that.

[joe15003]

Hey everyone! I'm considering relocating to PA from nyc, but I'm having some trouble deciding where to look. I don't personally know anyone who's familiar with PA, and I don't know where else to post. Since you're all gun loving residents of PA, I thought I'd ask here.

I was considering Buffalo (it's cheap!), but the gun laws are even worse up there. Four "character references" for a pistol license up there, and they need to be local, non-family residents! Since I wouldn't know anyone for a while, that means I'd have to give up my guns and my hobby.

I've considered moving down south, but I hate hot, humid weather and bugs. Chiggers? Yikes! I'd also be considered an "outsider" or "yankee". So I'm focusing on PA now because things seem relaxed and it's close to NY/NJ.


So far I've looked into the Erie and Pittsburgh areas. This is what I've learned so far:

Erie:
- Cheap housing
- Close to shopping
- Extremely low crime rate (almost none?)
- Lots of bored kids (found a YouTube video about kids who eat calamari)
- Severe employment issues
- Harsh winters

Pittsburgh
- Cheap housing
- Close to shopping
- Alarming crime issues, unless you move into the more expensive suburbs
- Possible traffic issues traveling into Pittsburgh from outer areas
- Good employment opportunities

The employment issues of Erie and crime issues of Pittsburgh are turnoffs for me. I am self-employed, but I'd like to have the option of finding a job when/if things slow down for me.


I'm looking for a safe and decent area with housing (a real house, not "mobile or prefab") between $30-50k. I don't need a large house, I'm only one person. My price range is low because I don't believe in loans, and I'd like to have some savings after my home purchase. I'm also fine with taking care of simple repairs and improvements myself.

I'm used to being within walking distance to everything. I buy fresh food every two or three days and stock nearly nothing in my fridge, for example. But I realize my price range limits my options, so I'd be willing to give up the walking conveniences for the right area. An hour drive or so from BJ's or something similar would be fine.

I've heard things can be a bit racist in central southern pa. While I wouldn't be a target of that racism (yeah, I'm white) I'd prefer to not be around that type of thing. Being a life-long resident of nyc, I love diversity and culture.

I also don't want to feel like an "outsider". I know some areas have a tendency to shun those they didn't grow up with or go to school with. That sort of thing is totally alien to me, I love meeting new people. And you've all been extremely welcoming to me.

I'm not saying anyone here is a racist or shuns newcomers, I'm just trying to cover all the bases here. Please don't flame me for it.

All of eastern pa appears to be out of my price range, unless I'm overlooking something. I'm honestly willing to consider any decent part of PA, as long as I'm not miles away from civilization. I've never lived in a small town, but I'd be willing to consider it if the community is nice.

I hope you can all help me out, I really have no idea where to begin searching. I look forward to any advice or suggestions!

Hello and welcome to the forums:

I currently live about 10 to 15 miles outside the city of Pittsburgh. It is about a 30 to 45 minute drive for me to get into the city depending on traffic. I do have a few questions:

What kind of job are you looking for?
Crime? you are from NYC right? the area you live does it have alot of crime?

Some good places to look around here might be Bellevue. It is a town along Route 65(a main road into the city) I don't live there but I do have a aunt and uncle who do.

[nycrefugee]

well, i'm also a NYC refugee (the Bronx), so believe i can be of assistance. it doesn't get much better than the NEPA area: the counties of Lackawanna, Monroe, Wayne, and Luzerne are what i'm familiar with.

Wow, thank you very much for your informative response! I'd love to be able to remain close to the NY/NJ area. Hopefully I'll find a place that's lacking the stereotypical ny/nj "bad attitude".

I've searched (Remax) all of the areas you mentioned, and it looks like Scranton and WB are the only places that fit my budget. I'm leaning more towards Scranton based on your descriptions of the areas, and the listings I'm finding.

Are you familiar with the area of South or West Scranton? I'm seeing homes for $30-50k there, compared to houses well over $100k in the other areas you mentioned. I'm hoping the lower pricing is due to remote locations, and not things like poverty or crime.

[nycrefugee]

What kind of job are you looking for?

I'm currently self employed now, but if I ever needed to look for employment, I'd really just look for something part-time to keep me busy until things picked up again. I'd prefer to not return to a corporate world. So, anything really.

Crime? you are from NYC right? the area you live does it have alot of crime?

Yup, born and raised in nyc. Aside from having my car broken into, I've not experienced any real crime firsthand.

During my wild Google searches, I found a forum post somewhere by a person living on the border of Highland Park and two other neighborhoods. I believe Garfield, Larimer, or East Liberty. While Highland Park is supposedly very nice, that person regularly hears gunshots at night due to bordering the other bad neighborhoods. (I wish I'd saved the link) That's something I'd like to avoid.

Some good places to look around here might be Bellevue. It is a town along Route 65(a main road into the city) I don't live there but I do have a aunt and uncle who do.

Hmm, I'm not finding any listings for Bellevue on Remax. Would the area be recognized as a different name, or as part of a larger county?

[jahwarrior72]

Wow, thank you very much for your informative response! I'd love to be able to remain close to the NY/NJ area. Hopefully I'll find a place that's lacking the stereotypical ny/nj "bad attitude".

I've searched (Remax) all of the areas you mentioned, and it looks like Scranton and WB are the only places that fit my budget. I'm leaning more towards Scranton based on your descriptions of the areas, and the listings I'm finding.

Are you familiar with the area of South or West Scranton? I'm seeing homes for $30-50k there, compared to houses well over $100k in the other areas you mentioned. I'm hoping the lower pricing is due to remote locations, and not things like poverty or crime.

i live in south Scranton. it's a decent neighborhood, as long as you stay away from the public housing complexes, which is where i live, actually. west Scranton is okay, too. southside is like a safer version of the Bronx, west side is like a safer version of Queens, if that makes any sense. the pricing is probably due to the influx of asian and hispanic immigrants to the area. crime isn't really an issue, unless you talk to elderly white folks from the area; then you'll hear how "da coloreds and dah porta ricans" brought a massive crime wave with them.

as i mentioned, Scranton has public housing, aka "projects", nothing like the projects in NYC, as they're only one story high. in southside, there's hilltop (where i live), skyview, and valley view. valley view is probably the worst, as far as crime is concerned. much of the area sur,rounding it has suffered as well, and many of the homeowners have moved away, abandoning their homes. the neighborhood around hilltop is quite nice; most of what goes on in hilltop stays in hilltop. skyview has seen quite a bit of violent crime, but as with hilltop, it doesn't bleed outwards much. most crime in southside is drug related, or domestic stuff.

in westside, the only projects are the jefferson apartments; they're like skyview. most crime in westside is gang related, but it's not like NYC, where you have to worry about drive-bys so much; it's mostly high school kids, playing out their thug fantasies, while smoking weed and listening to 50 cent in their dad's car. the worst crimes that i've heard of are normally alcohol related, so steer clear of the bars.

in my opinion, west and south Scranton are cheap, because most people who have money move either move to the Greenridge section of Scranton ($100,000 mansions), or leave Scranton entirely, and move to the neighboring Clark's Summit or Clark's Green ($1,000,000 mansions).

you should also check into some of the outlying boroughs around Scranton, like Dunmore, Taylor, Moosic, Taylor, Old Forge, and Dickson City.

on second thought, scratch Dickson City.

[rovert97]

monroe county aint bad, but the good paying jobs are hard to come by. but its a easy commute to places like allentown.

[LittleRedToyota]

Pittsburgh
- Cheap housing
- Close to shopping
- Alarming crime issues, unless you move into the more expensive suburbs
- Possible traffic issues traveling into Pittsburgh from outer areas
- Good employment opportunities

crime in pittsburgh isn't bad at all actually. there are a couple areas to avoid, but the vast majority of crime in pittsbugh is gangbangers tangling with other gangbangers...you just need to avoild a few areas where gang activity is heavy.

if you are used to living in the city and still want to be able to walk to everything, squirrel hill would be a great neighborhood for you.

also, while us pittsburghers (a.k.a., yinzers) might complain about the traffic around here, it is nothing compared to just about every other city i've driven in (NYC, phillly, DC, boston, charlotte, atlanta, etc. are a few that come to mind that are 100x worse than pittsburgh as far as traffic goes).

i love living in pittsburgh personally. it is big enough that you have the amenities of a big city (pro sports teams, museums, symphony/musicals/ballet/etc, cool science center, good places to eat, great local music scene if you are into that, etc.) but small enough that we don't have the porblems the traffic, crime, general sardine quality existence that i personally do not like about bigger cities.

also, you are very close to west virginia which is like a giant outdoor playground if you like outdoor activities. in fact, drive an hour in pretty much any direction and you are out in the woods.

and, best of all, you can join pitcairn monroeville sportsmen's club (PMSC) which might be the best gun club on the planet (and is the location of the PAFOA groups shoots and many of us PAFOAers are members.)

if you have any specific questions about pittsburgh, lemme know.

[nycrefugee]

Wow, thank you both jahwarrior72 and LittleRedToyota, you've both given me all the details I wanted to hear!

the pricing is probably due to the influx of asian and hispanic immigrants to the area. crime isn't really an issue, unless you talk to elderly white folks from the area; then you'll hear how "da coloreds and dah porta ricans" brought a massive crime wave with them.

It sounds like the locals' perception of crime is a bit different than mine. To me, crime is actual muggings, violent assaults, car breakins, burglaries, etc. As long as these things aren't prevalent, I think I can live safely with a few kids playing "gangz in da hoodz". Especially since I'll be proudly open carrying. I may not be a big guy, but I don't have a naive appearance either.

Oh, on that note. I won't know anyone wherever I relocate. My only "character references" would be out of state. Would this be an issue when applying for an LCTF in either Scranton or Pittsburgh? I'd love to forgo the license, but I'll need it to carry while driving and if I ever visit Philly.

most crime in southside is drug related, or domestic stuff.

I just noticed the "domestic" part. Does this mean crime keeps to itself, or was that a reference to home & auto burglaries? I'm coming from a small apartment, so I don't have much to steal, but it'd be real inconvenient to run for a shotgun at 3am. My car is also over 10 years old, but it does look new and well kept, though it's not a popular, flashy, or exotic one.

Maybe I should just stick a huge "Guns are Welcome Here!" sign in front of the house as a deterrance.

i love living in pittsburgh personally. ... also, you are very close to west virginia which is like a giant outdoor playground if you like outdoor activities. in fact, drive an hour in pretty much any direction and you are out in the woods.

That's a great selling point for the Pittsburgh area. One of the things I've never liked about nyc is our lack of real wooded areas. Sure, we have some parks here and there, but no conveniently accessible thick forests.

Unfortunately, most of the areas in and around Pittsburgh are out of my price range - I need something under $50k. I'm not giving up, though! I'm still heavily researching both Scranton and Pittsburgh areas.


Oh, are weather related issues a problem in any of these areas? (Scranton & Pittsburgh) A friend asked me about power outages and floods, two things I've never needed to worry about. Most of our lines are under the ground here and I've never seen a puddle deeper than an inch or two.

I'm really grateful for the time you're all taking to respond to this thread, by the way! Without the info you're all providing, I'd have a very difficult time finding these detailed local things.

[jahwarrior72]

It sounds like the locals' perception of crime is a bit different than mine. To me, crime is actual muggings, violent assaults, car breakins, burglaries, etc. As long as these things aren't prevalent, I think I can live safely with a few kids playing "gangz in da hoodz". Especially since I'll be proudly open carrying. I may not be a big guy, but I don't have a naive appearance either.

most of these you listed aren't too common in Scranton, except for car break ins. muggings, assaults, burgalries, etc...these actually make the news when they do happen, unlike NYC, where murders are barely a footnote. they do happen, but not with any frequency.

I just noticed the "domestic" part. Does this mean crime keeps to itself, or was that a reference to home & auto burglaries? I'm coming from a small apartment, so I don't have much to steal, but it'd be real inconvenient to run for a shotgun at 3am. My car is also over 10 years old, but it does look new and well kept, though it's not a popular, flashy, or exotic one.

by "domestic", i meant like child abuse, spousal abuse, etc. that sort of thing, unfortunately, is common around here. everyone in this town knows some kid, wife, or girlfriend who's been abused, and it seems every 3rd woman i meet has been abused in some way. my own niece made the cover of the local paper a few years back, when her piece of shit mother let her boyfriend almost abuse her to death. that scumbag's in jail now, in protective custody. she's still on probation, and lost custody of her. that shit is common around here, for some reason.

there were a few home invasions the past few years, one ended with the perp getting shot. no charges against the resident. cops around here like not having to deal with cuffing people.