GreenCastle, Shippensburg, for young family & Retiree (Wilkes-Barre, Hazleton: apartments, rentals)

[eamesthree]

My Husband and I will be relocating to Shippensburg area in next 2 months. My husband needs to be able to get to his job in Shippensburg within 30 minutes (he will be on-call). We will be moving along w my Mother in law. MY mother in law is looking for a 2 bedroom apt in a nice area for $600-$650. We saw something about Shippensburg Cottages, anyone have any experience there?
We are most concern with being in a nice area with a GOOD SCHOOL Dist. We want a nice neighborhood or development with other young families for $200,000 approx. We would prefer to be in a smaller area but not completely rural (Not necessarily IN town unless its a nice neighborhood). We have looked at Mercersburg, Greencastle, Shippensburg, Waynesboro and Boiling Springs. I loved Carlisle's downtown area but would need to make sure my husband could make it to Shippensburg within 30 mins. We saw Boiling Springs and really liked that it had this small school district and the 3 school were altogether. However, it appeared he would not be within 30 mins of Ship.
We are just so concerned with getting into a good neighborhood and school district. We are coming from Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton Area and we have a lot of drugs, gangs and crime anymore (Hence, why we are taking this transfer while its offered). ANY personal info someone can give to us would be great. We are coming down this coming Monday (3-9-15) and would like to drive around somewhere and maybe see some developments/neighborhoods and get more familiar with our options. ANY PERSONAL recommendations would mean a lot to us, from someone who lives there or knows the area well. THANK YOU!

[Sicilee]

Carlisle to ship should be doable in 30 minutes, depending on exact start and finish. Can't speak to schools or anything else, but 200k should also be doable.

[Dequindre]

Here are some developments that may fit your needs in Shippensburg:

Southwood Crossing (off Baltimore Rd.): Rine & Rine Builders, Inc.

Timberland Estates (also off Baltimore Rd.): Divinity Homes Neighborhoods | Divinity Homes

Deerfield (off Route 11): Deerfield by S&A Homes. New Homes in Shippensburg, PA

Mountain Shadows (in nearby Fayetteville, Chambersburg schools): Mountain Shadows by S&A Homes. New Homes in Fayetteville, PA

Homes in Greencastle may be out of your price range. Because it is closer to Maryland, homes prices are higher. You will most likely get more home from your money in Shippensburg, or even Chambersburg.

[eamesthree]

Thank you for the responses. We heard Chambersburg SD was not good necessarily. We were also looking into Big Springs SD /Newville area. Anyone have any info. Schools are of the utmost importance only because we are coming from a large district w crime/gangs/drugs etc.... And that's the whole reason we are
Entertaining this relocation; to get into a better, smaller school district. We are completely aware there will be drugs etc anywhere, however, where we are coming from its a daily event, w metal detectors and fights daily. We just want a better life for our girls. Looking for a small
Town w great community spirit and just a safe/nice
Place for
Our kids.

[Bearsdad]

Originally Posted by eamesthree

My Husband and I will be relocating to Shippensburg area in next 2 months. My husband needs to be able to get to his job in Shippensburg within 30 minutes (he will be on-call). We will be moving along w my Mother in law. MY mother in law is looking for a 2 bedroom apt in a nice area for $600-$650. We saw something about Shippensburg Cottages, anyone have any experience there?
We are most concern with being in a nice area with a GOOD SCHOOL Dist. We want a nice neighborhood or development with other young families for $200,000 approx. We would prefer to be in a smaller area but not completely rural (Not necessarily IN town unless its a nice neighborhood). We have looked at Mercersburg, Greencastle, Shippensburg, Waynesboro and Boiling Springs. I loved Carlisle's downtown area but would need to make sure my husband could make it to Shippensburg within 30 mins. We saw Boiling Springs and really liked that it had this small school district and the 3 school were altogether. However, it appeared he would not be within 30 mins of Ship.
We are just so concerned with getting into a good neighborhood and school district. We are coming from Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton Area and we have a lot of drugs, gangs and crime anymore (Hence, why we are taking this transfer while its offered). ANY personal info someone can give to us would be great. We are coming down this coming Monday (3-9-15) and would like to drive around somewhere and maybe see some developments/neighborhoods and get more familiar with our options. ANY PERSONAL recommendations would mean a lot to us, from someone who lives there or knows the area well. THANK YOU!

I lived in Shippensburg until 5 years ago. You can buy a brand new home easily for under $200k in several different new developments with young working class families. I would stay in Ship and forget Chambersburg and Carlisle if you want to stay away from drugs, gangs and questionable characters. My kids went to the Shippensburg Sd and I was satisfied. You will be hard pressed to find a two bedroom apartment for under $1000 a month unless it is a dump in town near the college kids. Roxbury Ridge Apartments is income based and I think they average 800-950 a month for two bedrooms. Deerfield is $1100 a month for two bedrooms. Apartments are hard to find because of the college kids.

[Dequindre]

Originally Posted by eamesthree

Thank you for the responses. We heard Chambersburg SD was not good necessarily. We were also looking into Big Springs SD /Newville area. Anyone have any info. Schools are of the utmost importance only because we are coming from a large district w crime/gangs/drugs etc.... And that's the whole reason we are
Entertaining this relocation; to get into a better, smaller school district. We are completely aware there will be drugs etc anywhere, however, where we are coming from its a daily event, w metal detectors and fights daily. We just want a better life for our girls. Looking for a small
Town w great community spirit and just a safe/nice
Place for
Our kids.

Chambersburg School District isn't bad, it's just much larger than that of Shippensburg and Greencastle-Antrim. That brings both the good and the bad. It really just depends on where you decide to live in the Chambersburg area.

[PABlondie]

I am late for this thread but since I live in the area I thought I would take the time to comment. It will take 45 minutes or more to get from Carlisle to Shippensburg and that's on 81 which many people like to avoid because of very heavy truck traffic (well at least the people I know) and that would be driving a reasonable speed limit. Newville to Shippensburg would be more like a half hour. Newville is a small town that most people just drive through and there is a lot of truck traffic through downtown. It is a fairly quaint town with a small library and an ice cream stand. The schools are good and there are many nice outlying areas. I would choose Newville over Chambersburg. Chambersburg has crime issues. Homefacts is a good site to check that. I don't think it's as bad as Wilkes Barre but I wouldn't want to live in the city with children. The outskirts are nice though. Downtown Shippensburg is mostly college students and the Cottages are over 55 and in a nice area. I have looked into them myself and don't like that they just put you on a waiting list after you pay an application fee with no indication of how long you will be waiting. But if you have time to wait it might work for you. In your price point I don't think you will have a problem but I would take my time and check out neighborhoods and look at crime statistics. You will find that most of the rentals are in not so nice downtown areas or college rentals. Well I hope that is helpful. Please let us know how you are doing and if I can answer any questions for you.

[faeryedark]

I live in Chambersburg andnit's really quite nice. There's really not that much crime. I'll take C-burg over Shippensburg any day.