Erie has lots of healthcare jobs, plenty of state parks nearby, the Allegheny National Forest, a huge lake, and a reasonable cost of living. We lived in NEPA for sixty years but abandoned it because of the Marcellus Shale activity. We have family in Philly and Harrisburg and think that both are expensive and hard to get around. We live within the city limits and like it but rural areas are just a few minutes' drive south. The weather hasn't shocked us, we were at 1600 ft elevation in NEPA and the winters we've experienced in Erie are much easier so far. Pittsburgh is a two-hour drive, Cleveland is about ninety minutes, and Buffalo is just over an hour. There are casinos in all three. Ashtabula, Ohio, a half hour west, has a live poker room, too. We are much closer to Detroit than we are to Philly, it's a big state! Good luck with your search.