Hershey, PA
- Thread starter BarryR
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Haven't been out to Hershey in many moons.
Doesn't Elizabethtown have a women's college? Not sure how much of a town there is, though.
Nothing against Pennsylvania but in that area I guess you don't have many college town options. My people are originally from the Altoona/Tyrone area and even State College, 45 minutes or so away, doesn't have much of a college town feel for me. I mean, it does, but it is very, very limited. Go more than a block or two and that feel is gone. I guess I'm spoiled.
Doesn't Elizabethtown have a women's college? Not sure how much of a town there is, though.
Nothing against Pennsylvania but in that area I guess you don't have many college town options. My people are originally from the Altoona/Tyrone area and even State College, 45 minutes or so away, doesn't have much of a college town feel for me. I mean, it does, but it is very, very limited. Go more than a block or two and that feel is gone. I guess I'm spoiled.
We lived over the border in Harford County, Maryland for 11 years, til about 15 years ago. I doubt things have changed much.
Harrisburg is the state capital but I don't think that brings much ambiance.
Local strengths include pretty countryside, Amish with their horses and buggies over towards Lancaster, pretzels over towards Reading and Hanover, custom cabinet making towards Red Lion and York, civil war battlegrounds towards Gettysburg and Chambersburg, and that's about what comes to mind.
- Chris
Harrisburg is the state capital but I don't think that brings much ambiance.
Local strengths include pretty countryside, Amish with their horses and buggies over towards Lancaster, pretzels over towards Reading and Hanover, custom cabinet making towards Red Lion and York, civil war battlegrounds towards Gettysburg and Chambersburg, and that's about what comes to mind.
- Chris
I lived in Elizabethtown for a little over 6 years back in the late 80s. It was a nice small town atmosphere, but pretty traditional rather than alternative. Penn State is around 2 hours away, but also small town. Lancaster, if you get away from most of the touristy stuff, has some potential. Ditto for Hershey at times.
I loved Elizabethtown - easy to walk around, nice people, etc.
I loved Elizabethtown - easy to walk around, nice people, etc.
Depends on how big of a scene you want and how far you're willing to travel. There are colleges/universities in State College, Williamsport, Lewisburg, Selingsgrove, Millersville, Elizabethtown, Shippensburg, and Gettysburg. But truthfully, your best bet is to head to Philly. Some of the outer lying metros are really nice: Phoniexville, West Chester, and Downingtown come to mind.
There's also the Yuengling Brewery (Pottsville), and the military museum (Boalsburg). And the coal mine fires (Centralia). Mustn't forget them.
If you're willing to travel a bit, a lot of these towns have decent microbreweries as well. But bottom line, CPA (central PA) is just not that exciting and trends socially conservative.
By Hershey Park, you can ice skate in the same arena where Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points against the Knicks.
G
gone down south
Beautiful countryside scenery, decent outdoors activities, far from an active social scene. If you're looking for quiet small town/country living, this is the place. If you want any excitement at all, keep looking.
We visited Hershey on a summer trip during my youth. It was a lot of fun and extremely interesting. I'll never forget the vats of chocolate!
+1. Having spent 4 years in college in Carlisle, I can tell you that there are a host of small schools in the area. It is a beautiful area of Pennsylvania, but you will NOT get a "college town" feel down there. In fact, there are very few college towns in state (State College, West Chester, Swarthmore and Haverford come to mind). The small towns with small colleges do not feel like Princeton. There are a lot of down to earth, hard working people there, and there are a lot of town and gown issues with the small colleges. That said, some of the larger towns in the area, Hershey, Lancaster and especially Harrisburg are a step up from the really small towns. I absolutely concur that you will have to head to the Philly area (~90 mins away) for a taste of the cosmopolitan.
- Thread starter
- #12
Thanks for your replies.
By the way, I'm middle-aged with a family and not looking really for wild night-life but wondering if there's a community that's a bit more ethnically and culturally diverse (my wife's Japanese and my son 1/2 & 1/2), more "progressive", etc. Less conservative main stream (not that there's anything wrong with that). Some good ethnic restaurants would be helpful too.
By the way, I'm middle-aged with a family and not looking really for wild night-life but wondering if there's a community that's a bit more ethnically and culturally diverse (my wife's Japanese and my son 1/2 & 1/2), more "progressive", etc. Less conservative main stream (not that there's anything wrong with that). Some good ethnic restaurants would be helpful too.
Compared to Pennsylvania, the whole state of MA has the feel of a college town!
Ethnic restaurants is at least something you ought to be able to objectively research!
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You'll only be about an hour outside of Baltimore ... plenty of cultural diversity, history, ethnic enclaves, The Baltimore Zoo, The National Aquarium, and lots of stuff to see and do.
Ditto for Philly, but I think you'll find that Baltimore will be less crowded with tourists, easier to navigate and find a parking place, and much kinder on the wallet, if those things are important to you.
Ditto for Philly, but I think you'll find that Baltimore will be less crowded with tourists, easier to navigate and find a parking place, and much kinder on the wallet, if those things are important to you.
- Thread starter
- #15
I'm near I91 in the Western 2/3rds of the state. Very different (way less cosmopolitan) than the Boston area, but we do have the college towns of Northampton and Amherst nearby which helps.
I live close to Hershey and have been there probably a hundred times.
Great town. Quiet yet plenty to do, nice people. A LOT to do there as far as museums, the theme park, shopping outlets, concerts, hockey games and other sporting events. It's near Harrisburg with a lot more to do, but safely out of the city. Not far from Baltimore with a lot more to do, driving distance from Philly and the King of Prussia mall (the closest Crabtree and Evelyn store plus hundreds of other stores for the wife or girlfriend). Hershey Medical Center is one of the best hospitals in the nation. I've had 2 surgeries there. The kids will be taken care of well there. (if/when you're at that point)
Schools are pretty good in comparison to a lot of the Commonwealth.
Taxes are OK, probably lower than a lot of many states, considering we live by NY, NJ and MD with sky-high taxes.
I'd recommend the town.
Great town. Quiet yet plenty to do, nice people. A LOT to do there as far as museums, the theme park, shopping outlets, concerts, hockey games and other sporting events. It's near Harrisburg with a lot more to do, but safely out of the city. Not far from Baltimore with a lot more to do, driving distance from Philly and the King of Prussia mall (the closest Crabtree and Evelyn store plus hundreds of other stores for the wife or girlfriend). Hershey Medical Center is one of the best hospitals in the nation. I've had 2 surgeries there. The kids will be taken care of well there. (if/when you're at that point)
Schools are pretty good in comparison to a lot of the Commonwealth.
Taxes are OK, probably lower than a lot of many states, considering we live by NY, NJ and MD with sky-high taxes.
I'd recommend the town.
Even Harrisburg (10-15 mins from Hershey) has plenty of this. Museums, art and diverse restaurants. Passage To India is one of my favorite places to eat anywhere. You can look at the Susquehanna River from their window when eating, but it's the Indian food that is amazing.
You may notice that I edited down (i.e., deleted) most of my previous post. On my re-reading it, it just did not seem that helpful to me. Pretty impressionistic stuff at best. And my impressions may not be yours or those of others and may be quite outdated at that.
I have already "told you more than I know," but feel free to PM me if you want to ask me anything else and want to be further mislead! Sounds like others on here know the area better than I do.
I would say that Northampton and Amherst are college towns, for sure. Smith, Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst, are actually all right around there, right? Sounds like New England to me!
I do not know why I did not think of this right off, but did you check Wikipedia? Not at all reliable, but sometimes provides a good general impression. Reliable or not, for better or for worse, it is where I go first for everything, lazy, uneducated fool that I am.
One final bit of advice, I would go where my wife and, secondarily, my child want to go. It is sort of a CYA move, so one could consider it a little cowardly, but it is also a "peace in my home" thing, and as I have always told my wife, if she is unhappy, I am unhappy, with all of the nuanced meanings of that statement.
If they want to move to Hershey, they will be less unhappy even if things do not go well. If they really do not want to go, but defer to you because you think it is the thing that should be done, you are at a much bigger "risk" to "take the blame," and in my experience they are at a much bigger risk of actually being unhappy in the first instance, far and apart from any merits or objective criteria!
Good Luck, My Friend!
- Thread starter
- #19
Thanks for the info. Very nice to hear particularly as I'm a doc and the job I'm interested in is at Hershey Medical Center.
Thanks! Indian food is one of my favorites. Are there any truly authentic (usually = Japanese owned) Japanese restaurants nearby?
Don't worry, my wife has complete veto power over the move. As for my seven year old, I'm guessing Hershey Park might seal the deal!
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