Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Hi all..I live in Central NJ, between Newark and Trenton, about 40 minutes from both. Thankfully I live in a safe area, near Hillsborough. Is it possible that Harrisburg is worse than Newark, NJ or Trenton NJ ? From what I have read it dosen't look good. It seems Philly has a better crime rate than Harrisburg but Camden, NJ is worse than Harrisburg. If Harrisburg is anything like Camden I better stay in NJ!!!!! I plan on living in Shermans Dale, Perry County. What's my chances of survival????? Atlantic City is bad, could Harrisburg be close to that crime rate? HELP!!! Safety is a MAJOR move concern and #1 on my list. I need someone to answer this that is familiar with all those areas if possible but any posts will be appreciated..
Hi all..I live in Central NJ, between Newark and Trenton, about 40 minutes from both. Thankfully I live in a safe area, near Hillsborough. Is it possible that Harrisburg is worse than Newark, NJ or Trenton NJ ? From what I have read it dosen't look good. It seems Philly has a better crime rate than Harrisburg but Camden, NJ is worse than Harrisburg. If Harrisburg is anything like Camden I better stay in NJ!!!!! I plan on living in Shermans Dale, Perry County. What's my chances of survival????? Atlantic City is bad, could Harrisburg be close to that crime rate? HELP!!! Safety is a MAJOR move concern and #1 on my list. I need someone to answer this that is familiar with all those areas if possible but any posts will be appreciated..
A lot of what you've been told is hysterics. People claim that Wilkes-Barre, PA is like "Little Camden" too because there's an occasional act of violence, but that's to be expected from a city of its size. Harrisburg has been revitalizing itself nicely in the past few years, and as with any city as long as you avoid the slums you'll be fine. You don't hear about random people getting gunned down while enjoying City Island, Downtown, or Midtown. You have to get into bedrock Harrisburg neighborhoods (or lackthereof) before you find the 'hood rats.
Anyone who would compare Harrisburg to Camden or Newark truly is a "Chicken Little." Violent crime in Harrisburg is mostly lowlives targeting other lowlives. Property crime is rather high though and affects everyone (car break-ins, vandalism, theft, etc.)
I don't foresee you having any trouble in the Harrisburg Area, especially in Perry County.
A lot of what you've been told is hysterics. People claim that Wilkes-Barre, PA is like "Little Camden" too because there's an occasional act of violence, but that's to be expected from a city of its size. Harrisburg has been revitalizing itself nicely in the past few years, and as with any city as long as you avoid the slums you'll be fine. You don't hear about random people getting gunned down while enjoying City Island, Downtown, or Midtown. You have to get into bedrock Harrisburg neighborhoods (or lackthereof) before you find the 'hood rats.
Anyone who would compare Harrisburg to Camden or Newark truly is a "Chicken Little." Violent crime in Harrisburg is mostly lowlives targeting other lowlives. Property crime is rather high though and affects everyone (car break-ins, vandalism, theft, etc.)
I don't foresee you having any trouble in the Harrisburg Area, especially in Perry County.
Good post. Harrisburg is not anything like Camden...Harrisburg has very nice vibrant neighborhoods with little or no crime...while Camden is pretty much a hellhole. To its credit the waterfront is being revitalized and hopefully it will spread throughout the city.
And Shermansdale is well northwest of the city in rural Perry county...the only time someone uses a gun up there is to shoot a deer.
if you live in shermans dale the oinly thing you'd have to worry about is drunken people driving their pickups through your front lawn, or maybe that your mail box would get smashed.
harrisburg has like about 12 killings per year, it has one neighborhood, allison hill where almost all of the crime and violence happen. it is ground zero for drugs and shootings and so forth. the suburbs are pretty safe. there are occasionally bank robberies and there are a lot of drugs, if you knoiw where to look.
this past year there was one random homicide, when a truck driver killed some girl... they speculate that he drove past her house, saw her on the phone and parked his truck and came back to kill her. but you wont have to worry about anything like that. perry county doesnt even have a traffic light for Gods sake.
my dad grew up in camden, merchantville and cherry hill back in the 40s and 50s.... our grandmother lived there until the 80s... he said it is the worse town around. harrisburg is not great but nothing like that. harrisburg has one or two bad neighborhoods.
if you live in shermans dale the oinly thing you'd have to worry about is drunken people driving their pickups through your front lawn, or maybe that your mail box would get smashed.
harrisburg has like about 12 killings per year, it has one neighborhood, allison hill where almost all of the crime and violence happen. it is ground zero for drugs and shootings and so forth. the suburbs are pretty safe. there are occasionally bank robberies and there are a lot of drugs, if you knoiw where to look.
this past year there was one random homicide, when a truck driver killed some girl... they speculate that he drove past her house, saw her on the phone and parked his truck and came back to kill her. but you wont have to worry about anything like that. perry county doesnt even have a traffic light for Gods sake.
my dad grew up in camden, merchantville and cherry hill back in the 40s and 50s.... our grandmother lived there until the 80s... he said it is the worse town around. harrisburg is not great but nothing like that. harrisburg has one or two bad neighborhoods.
Thanks to everyone for the great info. I was going by what I read on the crime websites that compare cities. My info came of there not people. I have a question poster OPENLESS..Is Shermans Dale rednecks? There is no other way to put it. Drunks in pickup trucks sounds redneck to me. What should I expect there? I know there is a trailer park or 2 about 5 miles from where I am moving, that's not to say all people that live in trailers are rednecks..PLEASE tell me what's what there before I even decide to go.
Thanks to everyone for the great info. I was going by what I read on the crime websites that compare cities. My info came of there not people. I have a question poster OPENLESS..Is Shermans Dale rednecks? There is no other way to put it. Drunks in pickup trucks sounds redneck to me. What should I expect there? I know there is a trailer park or 2 about 5 miles from where I am moving, that's not to say all people that live in trailers are rednecks..PLEASE tell me what's what there before I even decide to go.
You can't always go by that crime information. For God's sake this own web site says Scranton, PA has a higher crime rate than New York City, and considering the city didn't even have a single homicide in 2006 I don't see how that can be relevant. You have to break things down by types of crime. Scranton, for example, has an extremely high property crime rate that offsets its below-average violent crime rate. Perhaps that alone boosted us above NYC?
I was born in Mercer County, NJ and moved with my husband to Juniata County (just west of Perry) in 1990. We wanted to get away from the horror of my 3 hour one-way commute (42 miles in a bumper-to-bumper crawl). We thought the countryside was gorgeous, the real estate affordable, the area crime-free (based on weeks of reading the local weekly papers) and the people we met were down-to-earth and decent. We purchased a home, and eyes began to be opened when we were shaken down for a bribe at the closing, banana republic style (our real estate agent paid it, we were going to walk out -- we should have walked ) After several years, and getting to know some really wonderful folks, we found out more about the real 'order of things' in rural central PA. There is crime, violence, drugs, corruption. Not that these things don't exist in coastal urban areas. But the difference is that small time badness happens between neighbors -- or even families -- not between strangers at random. If you are careful about who you get to know and hang with, you can be okay.
Sherman's Dale has a rep for being a 'blue' area in a 'red' county, so you may find people there a bit more tolerant and welcoming than elsewhere in Perry. Just bear in mind when you are preparing to make your move, that people can be welcoming and warm to folks perceived as 'just visiting'...but will shut the shunning door in your face if they discover you are planning to stay.
Be prepared to have problems accessing local services, like repairmen and contractors. You may have to call in help from Harrisburg or Mechanicsburg areas.
And, yup, there are plenty of rednecks in Perry, but mostly they will leave you alone if they recognize you as an outsider minding your own business. Biggest problem is the combination of booze, firearms and motor vehicles. Sheesh, I remember reading in the Perry County newspaper online that folks get picked up for driving lawn mowers down the street DUI holding open containers. If a drunk driven mower hits your car, I guess a cub cadet can do some damage
I live in the suburbs of Harrisburg now (east shore) and am currently planning a move out of state. Hope things work out well for you if you decide to move out here. Just don't depend on official public sources of info to prepare you for the culture shock. This board is pretty good...sometimes the light of reality sneaks in on here!
You can't always go by that crime information. For God's sake this own web site says Scranton, PA has a higher crime rate than New York City, and considering the city didn't even have a single homicide in 2006 I don't see how that can be relevant. You have to break things down by types of crime. Scranton, for example, has an extremely high property crime rate that offsets its below-average violent crime rate. Perhaps that alone boosted us above NYC?
Thanks for all this great info..I really went by those stats too. What do you know about Shermans Dale. Do I need to be worried about the prison there and drunken pick up truck drivers that the poster OPENLESS mentioned? What kind of area are we talking about?
I was born in Mercer County, NJ and moved with my husband to Juniata County (just west of Perry) in 1990. We wanted to get away from the horror of my 3 hour one-way commute (42 miles in a bumper-to-bumper crawl). We thought the countryside was gorgeous, the real estate affordable, the area crime-free (based on weeks of reading the local weekly papers) and the people we met were down-to-earth and decent. We purchased a home, and eyes began to be opened when we were shaken down for a bribe at the closing, banana republic style (our real estate agent paid it, we were going to walk out -- we should have walked ) After several years, and getting to know some really wonderful folks, we found out more about the real 'order of things' in rural central PA. There is crime, violence, drugs, corruption. Not that these things don't exist in coastal urban areas. But the difference is that small time badness happens between neighbors -- or even families -- not between strangers at random. If you are careful about who you get to know and hang with, you can be okay.
Sherman's Dale has a rep for being a 'blue' area in a 'red' county, so you may find people there a bit more tolerant and welcoming than elsewhere in Perry. Just bear in mind when you are preparing to make your move, that people can be welcoming and warm to folks perceived as 'just visiting'...but will shut the shunning door in your face if they discover you are planning to stay.
Be prepared to have problems accessing local services, like repairmen and contractors. You may have to call in help from Harrisburg or Mechanicsburg areas.
And, yup, there are plenty of rednecks in Perry, but mostly they will leave you alone if they recognize you as an outsider minding your own business. Biggest problem is the combination of booze, firearms and motor vehicles. Sheesh, I remember reading in the Perry County newspaper online that folks get picked up for driving lawn mowers down the street DUI holding open containers. If a drunk driven mower hits your car, I guess a cub cadet can do some damage
I live in the suburbs of Harrisburg now (east shore) and am currently planning a move out of state. Hope things work out well for you if you decide to move out here. Just don't depend on official public sources of info to prepare you for the culture shock. This board is pretty good...sometimes the light of reality sneaks in on here!
More great info..THANKS..Now I have a few questions. Why is there trouble getting someone to work on your house, such as repair men and contractors. Is it because there is a shortage of them OR they just don't want to work for newcomers. My husband is a home improvement contractor and is retiring in about 5 years but hope to get his businesss re-established in Perry County and work in the Carlisle/H'burg area until then. If those contratcors there are not working because they don't like newcomers in the neigborhood they must be total idiots. I would go by the mighty buck, everyones money is green. My husband has had so many customers in the past 35+ years but soon as new people came in the area, NY'ers and people from all over invaded NJ like NJ invades PA LOL , the old faithful customers go by who the cheapest contractor is. They are no longer loyal. It suprises me that any repairman in Perry would shun newcomers when it comes to money, IF that is the case. Where did you work at that took 3 hours one way, that must have been hell. I live in Hillsborough, my sister lives in Hamilton, which I am sure your familar with. "Booze, firearms and motor vehicles"..where am I moving to anyway..what kind of place is it that people drive around drunk with guns? Please tell me more, this is the only forum I can depend on.
Last edited by Debaroo; 01-01-2008 at 12:43 PM..
Reason: Spelling mistakes
I was born in Mercer County, NJ and moved with my husband to Juniata County (just west of Perry) in 1990. We wanted to get away from the horror of my 3 hour one-way commute (42 miles in a bumper-to-bumper crawl). We thought the countryside was gorgeous, the real estate affordable, the area crime-free (based on weeks of reading the local weekly papers) and the people we met were down-to-earth and decent. We purchased a home, and eyes began to be opened when we were shaken down for a bribe at the closing, banana republic style (our real estate agent paid it, we were going to walk out -- we should have walked ) After several years, and getting to know some really wonderful folks, we found out more about the real 'order of things' in rural central PA. There is crime, violence, drugs, corruption. Not that these things don't exist in coastal urban areas. But the difference is that small time badness happens between neighbors -- or even families -- not between strangers at random. If you are careful about who you get to know and hang with, you can be okay.
Sherman's Dale has a rep for being a 'blue' area in a 'red' county, so you may find people there a bit more tolerant and welcoming than elsewhere in Perry. Just bear in mind when you are preparing to make your move, that people can be welcoming and warm to folks perceived as 'just visiting'...but will shut the shunning door in your face if they discover you are planning to stay.
Be prepared to have problems accessing local services, like repairmen and contractors. You may have to call in help from Harrisburg or Mechanicsburg areas.
And, yup, there are plenty of rednecks in Perry, but mostly they will leave you alone if they recognize you as an outsider minding your own business. Biggest problem is the combination of booze, firearms and motor vehicles. Sheesh, I remember reading in the Perry County newspaper online that folks get picked up for driving lawn mowers down the street DUI holding open containers. If a drunk driven mower hits your car, I guess a cub cadet can do some damage
I live in the suburbs of Harrisburg now (east shore) and am currently planning a move out of state. Hope things work out well for you if you decide to move out here. Just don't depend on official public sources of info to prepare you for the culture shock. This board is pretty good...sometimes the light of reality sneaks in on here!
What happened when you got "shaken down for a bribe"?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
You have to break things down by types of crime. Scranton, for example, has an extremely high property crime rate that offsets its below-average violent crime rate. Perhaps that alone boosted us above NYC? 
) After several years, and getting to know some really wonderful folks, we found out more about the real 'order of things' in rural central PA. There is crime, violence, drugs, corruption. Not that these things don't exist in coastal urban areas. But the difference is that small time badness happens between neighbors -- or even families -- not between strangers at random. If you are careful about who you get to know and hang with, you can be okay.
