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swissmtndog398 t1_j5kg0ud wrote

Serious question, and hear me out as it's going to start off strange. Are you white, or a minority? If it's the latter, I'd stick to the urban/suburban areas. I'm in Perry, north of Harrisburg. There's a reason Pennsyltucky is shaped like a cross when you take out the four corners. You can find nice people, but there's also a rather sizable element that thinks it's still the 1950s.

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finallyalright OP t1_j5kve9q wrote

I'm white, but I've heard of what you are describing about PA.

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swissmtndog398 t1_j5l0pm1 wrote

Yeah, I'm dating myself here, but I grew up in berks County in the 70s and 80s. I was there as a young kid when the Klan used to hand out literature at my town square. They aren't THAT open here, but the attitude is very familiar. Like, the music shuts off in the bar when a POC walks in.

I've lived in the SE portion of the state and the north central. In the present, this area is the worst per capita I've seen. It's beautiful country, lots of open space if you're into the outdoors (we're not even impressed seeing eagles anymore), VERY inexpensive (My house payment for a 3br on 10 acres is less than the rent on a 1br apartment, but it's backwards. Good luck in whatever you decide.

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Logical-Cheetah-0519 t1_j5n3law wrote

The 70s and 80s was a looong time ago. People here have changed in PA for the better.

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agiab19 t1_j5znqt1 wrote

I agree. I’m an immigrant and I had no issues so far. People are mostly very nice and polite. There are a few grumpy people around but nothing directed at me personally.

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swissmtndog398 t1_j5l1176 wrote

Oh, I did forget to mention... the Harrisburg/Mechanicsburg/ Camp Hill areas and State College are quite the opposite. They're like little islands of normalcy. You will, however, pay a premium to live there.

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Significant_Level_51 t1_j5lpw9f wrote

Yeah that’s an understatement. I just saw a one bedroom listed for $1300 in State College.

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moist-astronaut t1_j5mca63 wrote

yeah tbh nearly everything is catered to students in state college these days (more so than they already were). a bunch of high rises are going in for "student housing" but even that is only really accessible to students who come from money.

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agiab19 t1_j5zohz2 wrote

Yeah, that’s one of the reasons we left to a smaller town area. We are about an hour from state college now, so we can still visit during summer activities ( I just love the Memorial Day fest and arts fest) but the house we are living now would be about $1 million in state college. Not worth it in my opinion, especially nowadays

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