A little bit hilly, great food, safe, under $300,000 (Philadelphia, Pittsburgh: middle-class, condo)

[Max and Catriona]

Hi, we're hoping to find a wonderful place to live. Reasons we're interested in PA:
Income tax is low
Four seasons
History
Swing state
Located right between my family in NY (mom and sister in the Finger Lakes) and his family in MD (mom and aunt in Hagerstown.)

What we're looking for:

A cool home in a safe area for under $300,000. We will pay cash, no mortgage. We don't need big square footage, don't want a large lot, and we're open to different types of homes (single family / townhouse / condo as long as no one lives above us.) Open to suburbs, smaller cities, woodsy, just not major city or remote rural. The thing I'm picky about is style / aesthetics. I want to love the look of my home and it would be nice to also love the look of my neighborhood.

Hilly topography - not flat, not steep mountains. A pleasant setting (could be trees or cool homes/buildings.)

Excellent grocery stores (like Wegmans / Whole Foods / Trader Joe's) within 10 mins, the closer the better, and lots of great restaurants.

Bonus would be proximity to a cool / cute downtown area. Extra bonus would be a lake with clean water for swimming within an hour.

I know the hard part is going to be home price.

What PA places come to mind that are a little hilly, super safe with amazing restaurants and good grocery store(s), where you can buy a cool home for under $300,000?

Thank you for any ideas you can offer.

[ElijahAstin]

Check out Camp Hill, PA (preferably the Borough proper). Your budget is on the lower side for the area, but small single-family homes do come up in your price range. You might also like neighboring Lemoyne and Wormleysburg.

Except for the lake requirement (which I’m unsure about), the area checks all of your other boxes. Camp Hill proper has a cute downtown area. There’s decent shopping and restaurants further inland on the West Shore, including a sprawling Wegmans west of Mechanicsburg (no Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s, I’m afraid). Harrisburg proper has a surprisingly good restaurant scene (mostly owing to its state capital status, politicians and lobbyists loving to eat, after all). Topography is generally rolling hills, and there are some striking cliffside views adjacent to the Susquehanna.

[Max and Catriona]

Thank you Elijah! So you recommend Camp Hill in particular with Lemoyne and Wormleysburg as additional possibilities, and the other locations mentioned (Harrisburg and Mechanicsburg) are not suggestions for where to live but more for groceries and restaurants?

In general how would you describe Camp Hill, like is it an upper-middle-class suburban feel or middle-class small town feel or something else?

Thanks again.

[Duderino]

Your post screams Lehigh Valley to me.

Like most everywhere, it's not the bargain it used to be, but I think you can definitely find something very much in line with the price point, neighborhood style, and amenities you seek in a place like Easton or Bethlehem.

Good luck!

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by Duderino

Your post screams Lehigh Valley to me.

Like most everywhere, it's not the bargain it used to be, but I think you can definitely find something very much in line with the price point, neighborhood style, and amenities you seek in a place like Easton or Bethlehem.

Good luck!

I'd second Easton as a sleeper in this category — you're close to the Poconos, which are lousy with crystal clear lakes, and the downtown has an unusually strong and lively dining scene for a city of only about 30,000 residents, plus Bethlehem and Allentown are just a short drive to the west to expand your options.

I would, however, caution that the hills that define Easton are not really the low, rolling kind. The Lehigh River flows through a fairly deep valley there, and the hills that lead away from it are fairly steep. Once on top of them, however, the land transitions quickly to more gently rolling hills. Even given that, you should definitely give the area a once-over.

Not sure if there's a Wegmans there. I think it has too few of the upscale, eco-conscious types Whole Foods draws as patrons to support one of those. I also don't know about TJ's.

[Max and Catriona]

Downtown Easton looks great! Google says Easton has a Wegmans on Nazareth Rd. and there's a Whole Foods in Allentown only a half hour away. Seems like a promising option - thanks Duderino and MarketSt.

Regarding hills - my only concern with steep mountains is driving in snow / ice. I definitely prefer a good slope to the land rather than flat.

[pman]

central PA and the lehigh valley are good suggestions, Williamsport has beautiful homes and a wegman's. lancaster city might fit the bill (both wegman's and whole foods are there and there are homegrown chains like stauffer's).

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by Max and Catriona

Thank you Elijah! So you recommend Camp Hill in particular with Lemoyne and Wormleysburg as additional possibilities, and the other locations mentioned (Harrisburg and Mechanicsburg) are not suggestions for where to live but more for groceries and restaurants?

In general how would you describe Camp Hill, like is it an upper-middle-class suburban feel or middle-class small town feel or something else?

Thanks again.

You might like Mechanicsburg (the Borough proper more so than the surrounding Townships, which are standard-issue suburban sprawl). Please correct me if I’m wrong, but your post seemed to target a cohesive small town or suburb with an intact Harrisburg has its nice parts but is a denser and more urban city. Certainly check it out and see if it’s someplace you’d like.

Camp Hill is upper middle class by Harrisburg area standards. It’s suburban in feel but has a charming and walkable town center. The outskirts are more post-war suburban in nature, and a lot of areas with a Camp Hill mailing address are in decidedly autocentric Townships like Hampden and Lower Allen.

If you’re going to look around Lancaster, check out Lititz (again, the Borough more so than the surrounding Townships).

[Max and Catriona]

Thanks to everyone for the ideas! We are now trying to arrange a visit in September to scope out the suggested areas.

I'm curious, how would you compare Lancaster, Harrisburg, Bethlehem, and Allentown?

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by Max and Catriona

Thanks to everyone for the ideas! We are now trying to arrange a visit in September to scope out the suggested areas.

I'm curious, how would you compare Lancaster, Harrisburg, Bethlehem, and Allentown?

I'd rank those cities as follows

Lancaster
Allentown
Bethlehem
Harrisburg

Harrisburg is the state capital, but it strikes me as having not that hot of a dining or nightlife scene, and its arts and culture scene is little better.

Bethlehem has the advantage of being in the Lehigh Valley, and it has a fantastic performing arts center built around the stacks of the defunct Bethlelem Steel mill.

Allentown is the largest of the three Lehigh Valley cities (and the third-largest city in the state after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh), and as you've already learned, it's easy traveling among all three. I haven't checked out the dining scene here, and I know this won't be of concern to you at all, but I figure that its being home to the Lehigh Valley's only gay bar and dance club should indicate that there's more going on there overall.

Given the size difference, I might still recommend the Lehigh Valley over Lancaster, but Lancaster IMO is the coolest small city in the state^Wthe mid-Atlantic region, if not the entire Northeast. It has a strong arts and culture scene, several great restaurants and the oldest public farmers' market in the country, Central Market. Plus the state's most productive farmland is located in the county, in the "Pennsylvania Dutch" (Amish) country. It's also about an hour from Philadelphia.