drewbaccaAWD t1_jbhlkhh wrote on March 9, 2023 at 2:26 AM

I would honestly say that any medium size town that has decent cultural options, and food selection and that sort of thing... is probably going to feel safe and welcoming, even a few pockets in otherwise red counties.

The trouble you'll run into is more finding a community where you really feel at home rather than running into any sort of outright animosity. As a middle aged adult that mostly sticks to myself these days, there aren't many places in PA where I'd truly feel unwelcome or uncomfortable although many of those same areas I couldn't run away quickly enough when I was young and more outgoing (and more frequently around younger people with less of a filter).

So to put it another way, if an area meets all of your other needs, I wouldn't worry about LGBTQ+ working against you. I'm smack in the middle of a red area and can see two different same sex households from my bedroom window and a third household currently has a pride flag up. Myself, I'm queer but don't tend to flaunt that the way I did when I was younger.

Obviously, there's going to be a safer bet with higher population density, in general. But again, there are pockets all over.

VaginaHotPocket OP t1_jbht0zu wrote on March 9, 2023 at 3:23 AM

Ok thank you so much! :) Edit: If you don't mind me asking, which part of the state are you currently in? Do you like it?

drewbaccaAWD t1_jbjgsqq wrote on March 9, 2023 at 2:19 PM

I'm in a rural-ish area that's about equal distance from Altoona, Johnstown, and Indiana (PA).. 60-90 minutes from Pittsburgh (depending on traffic) and about 60 minutes from State College. I work in Johnstown, currently. I've lived in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh in the past.

I have mixed feelings.. it's home, but only because I have a lot of family in the area. I spent so many years of my life trying to get far away that its still sort of confusing that I found my way back here.

The upside is that it has a lot of history and natural beauty. The downside is that population keeps going down and the best minds tend to leave for jobs and greener pastures. There is a small handful of people that make their way back here though. The last few years have been rather depressing, seeing Trump signs go up in the yards of neighbors who I used to respect and trust their judgment. Incredibly, my county actually went for Obama in 2008 with 50% of the vote, although I was actually in Seattle when that happened.

It's weird though because the character can shift dramatically from one small town to the next one 10 minutes over.

I wouldn't really recommend my area to anyone who doesn't already have roots here, as it's not ideal even when you have that. But I did want to emphasize that it's not nearly as bad as some people make it out to be either. But again, that can swing wildly from one town to another. There's not much going on in the rural areas, living here is like treading water... you aren't drowning, but you aren't thriving.

If you want something that feels more like Seattle, I'd try to keep closer to Philly where it feels more metropolitan. Pittsburgh has more of a Tacoma vibe to it but without Seattle in close proximity (although the upside is that if you don't mind longer road trips, Pittsburgh is a nice hub to visit DC, Toronto, Philly, NYC, Chicago, etc.). Pittsburgh is a large enough city that you shouldn't have much difficulty making friends; if you're more introverted, then you could thrive in much of the state. Another thing Pittsburgh has going for it is all the colleges.

Both Harrisburg and State College have a lot of professionals with grad degrees and you're likely to find more people with a healthy lifestyle but they are also a bit isolated from the larger cities. I imagine that Erie might be the same way but I'm honestly totally ignorant of what goes on in Erie.

Other things to consider might be what your ideal weather is, how much you like hills vs relatively flatter regions, what sort of retail you want access to. I have one small Target within an hour's drive in any direction and as silly as it sounds, that fact alone makes me feel like I'm really living in a backwater. Back to weather, you'll get more snow on the west side of the state, more overcast days. Downtown Pittsburgh can get humid but the east side of the state has more humidity and heat for the most part. I'd only consider the west side of the state if you're really into the outdoors and value Pittsburgh as a smaller less sprawling city. Pittsburgh suburbs were built in the 50s and 60s (generally).. the suburbs out of Philly stretch out for an hour in any direction and are still in development.

If I were in your shoes, I'd make a list of things you value... retail chains, hobbies, arts, culture, music, etc. and see where most of the boxes get checked off.