Is PA a good place to retire?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:lmao at all the POC who are too fragile to be around Pennsylvania white people 😂😂😂

You sound dumb.

Not as dumb as people here who think rural PA is a hotbed of Klan activity or something, lmao.

I agree and these posts on here saying pa is all white it's total bs look it up there a good percentage of blacks in pa. People are so ignorant.

No one disputes that. But most minorities live in/around Philly and Pittsburgh not in the rural middle

That's not true either, look at places like carlisle demographics and Harrisburg right in the area the ignorant people on this board called "pennsyltucky." You can't make this level of ignorance up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would not retire to a republican state. Not as a woman, not as a jewish person, not as a PoC, not as a human. So PA and FL would be out. And I have no interest in Ann Arbor beyond a three-day weekend.

+1

This thread is fascinating. The reverse of these complaints is basically stating that a non-POC should not live in any of the heavy POC areas - which tend to be high crime, right? But that is not allowed. Racism is a two way street - and the permitted one way just makes the other side dig in.

[Anonymous]

Curious what people think about State College? It’s in central PA and is a university town.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP. I live in Gettysburg. Yes, the surrounding areas are inhabited by (vocal) Trump supporters, but the town is quite nice. Our mayor is a Black woman, we have a robust Juneteenth celebration every year, and a Black history museum. There is a large MLK Day service, as well as many public events during February to honor Black History Month. There is also a not so small Latino population, around 15%, with an associated cultural center and other programming to bridge the gap between the Spanish speaking population and non-Hispanic majority.

Lots of people have retired from DC here. They enjoy the amenities of a college town, proximity to DC, lower taxes and housing prices, and safety. If you look at the county level or or House District the politics are undesirable to someone who is liberal to moderate. There is an issue of retaining professional POC, but that is being addressed by local employers to the extent that they have control over it.

I'm not trying to sell it on anyone, as we need more affordable housing for locals and there are likely more welcoming places for POC, but its not nearly as bad as some PP have painted it. Harrisburg is larger and the Black population is actually the majority, at just over 50%. The Latino population is slightly larger than the White population of Harrisburg. It's on an Amtrak line so has easy access to both Philadelphia and NYC.

I don't recommend York or Lancaster to anyone.

I thought both York and Lancaster are more up and coming? Am I wrong? Why don't you recommend York or Lancaster? Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. I live in Gettysburg. Yes, the surrounding areas are inhabited by (vocal) Trump supporters, but the town is quite nice. Our mayor is a Black woman, we have a robust Juneteenth celebration every year, and a Black history museum. There is a large MLK Day service, as well as many public events during February to honor Black History Month. There is also a not so small Latino population, around 15%, with an associated cultural center and other programming to bridge the gap between the Spanish speaking population and non-Hispanic majority.

Lots of people have retired from DC here. They enjoy the amenities of a college town, proximity to DC, lower taxes and housing prices, and safety. If you look at the county level or or House District the politics are undesirable to someone who is liberal to moderate. There is an issue of retaining professional POC, but that is being addressed by local employers to the extent that they have control over it.

I'm not trying to sell it on anyone, as we need more affordable housing for locals and there are likely more welcoming places for POC, but its not nearly as bad as some PP have painted it. Harrisburg is larger and the Black population is actually the majority, at just over 50%. The Latino population is slightly larger than the White population of Harrisburg. It's on an Amtrak line so has easy access to both Philadelphia and NYC.

I don't recommend York or Lancaster to anyone.

I thought both York and Lancaster are more up and coming? Am I wrong? Why don't you recommend York or Lancaster? Thank you!

DP here, but I'll add my two cents: The issue with Lancaster (the city) is it is feel super dangerous. Like a lot of crime for such a small city, gunshots going off downtown in the nice neighborhood after midnight, lots of shady folks downtown, felt like i was going to get jumped if I turned down the wrong street. Just an eerie level of feeling very unsafe as a tourist.

It is too bad because the architecture is lovely and affordable, it's walkable, decent public transit and you've got the amtrak station right there to go up and down the East Coast.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Curious what people think about State College? It’s in central PA and is a university town.

Have you ever been there? It's in the middle of nowhere. Truly, nowhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's a popular place to retire because of the lack of taxes on pensions.

A friend of mine moved her parents to a 55 plus community that is right over the Maryland border. Her parents are retired feds and their community is FULL of other people from the DC area because of its location. Lots of the other residents and/or their families drive back and forth to the DC area on weekends.

But don’t forget that there’s an inheritance tax that needs to be paid. Pennsylvania is one of only two states that takes inheritance tax from children of the deceased. The only way to pay 0% inheritance tax is for the spouse or a charity to be the beneficiary.

So, yes, you save by paying no tax on pensions, but the state eventually gets their cut when you die.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. I live in Gettysburg. Yes, the surrounding areas are inhabited by (vocal) Trump supporters, but the town is quite nice. Our mayor is a Black woman, we have a robust Juneteenth celebration every year, and a Black history museum. There is a large MLK Day service, as well as many public events during February to honor Black History Month. There is also a not so small Latino population, around 15%, with an associated cultural center and other programming to bridge the gap between the Spanish speaking population and non-Hispanic majority.

Lots of people have retired from DC here. They enjoy the amenities of a college town, proximity to DC, lower taxes and housing prices, and safety. If you look at the county level or or House District the politics are undesirable to someone who is liberal to moderate. There is an issue of retaining professional POC, but that is being addressed by local employers to the extent that they have control over it.

I'm not trying to sell it on anyone, as we need more affordable housing for locals and there are likely more welcoming places for POC, but its not nearly as bad as some PP have painted it. Harrisburg is larger and the Black population is actually the majority, at just over 50%. The Latino population is slightly larger than the White population of Harrisburg. It's on an Amtrak line so has easy access to both Philadelphia and NYC.

I don't recommend York or Lancaster to anyone.

I thought both York and Lancaster are more up and coming? Am I wrong? Why don't you recommend York or Lancaster? Thank you!

Have you ever been to York? If you're seriously considering it just.. go spend some time there and make your own decisions.

[Anonymous]

These "top 10" lists are always through a white lens.

I'm a POC who has lived in central PA and there is no way I'd return. As others have said, it is very white, conservative, Trumpy. Lots of blue-collar types. Not much to do, not a lot of culture. Food is meh. Look elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:lmao at all the POC who are too fragile to be around Pennsylvania white people 😂😂😂

You sound dumb.

Not as dumb as people here who think rural PA is a hotbed of Klan activity or something, lmao.

I agree and these posts on here saying pa is all white it's total bs look it up there a good percentage of blacks in pa. People are so ignorant.

No one disputes that. But most minorities live in/around Philly and Pittsburgh not in the rural middle

That's not true either, look at places like carlisle demographics and Harrisburg right in the area the ignorant people on this board called "pennsyltucky." You can't make this level of ignorance up.

Cumberland County (where Carlisle is located) is one of the better counties in central PA for diversity and it's still 85% white. As a native of Pennsyltucky with tons of family that still live there, you really don't need to get offended on our behalf. It is what it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These "top 10" lists are always through a white lens.

I'm a POC who has lived in central PA and there is no way I'd return. As others have said, it is very white, conservative, Trumpy. Lots of blue-collar types. Not much to do, not a lot of culture. Food is meh. Look elsewhere.

+1 We are limited in our search to the burbs of major metro areas. That's fine. I like having diverse ethnic restaurants and being near a major airport.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. I live in Gettysburg. Yes, the surrounding areas are inhabited by (vocal) Trump supporters, but the town is quite nice. Our mayor is a Black woman, we have a robust Juneteenth celebration every year, and a Black history museum. There is a large MLK Day service, as well as many public events during February to honor Black History Month. There is also a not so small Latino population, around 15%, with an associated cultural center and other programming to bridge the gap between the Spanish speaking population and non-Hispanic majority.

Lots of people have retired from DC here. They enjoy the amenities of a college town, proximity to DC, lower taxes and housing prices, and safety. If you look at the county level or or House District the politics are undesirable to someone who is liberal to moderate. There is an issue of retaining professional POC, but that is being addressed by local employers to the extent that they have control over it.

I'm not trying to sell it on anyone, as we need more affordable housing for locals and there are likely more welcoming places for POC, but its not nearly as bad as some PP have painted it. Harrisburg is larger and the Black population is actually the majority, at just over 50%. The Latino population is slightly larger than the White population of Harrisburg. It's on an Amtrak line so has easy access to both Philadelphia and NYC.

I don't recommend York or Lancaster to anyone.

I thought both York and Lancaster are more up and coming? Am I wrong? Why don't you recommend York or Lancaster? Thank you!

Have you ever been to York? If you're seriously considering it just.. go spend some time there and make your own decisions.

No, that's why I'm asking you what you meant but I think you think I'm playing games, I'm not. You made this statement but then won't say why people, at least two were curious and asked you about it but you're not saying. It's pretty strange now....I was polite in asking too so I'm not sure what the issue is here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Curious about people's thoughts on this list, particularly the Pennsylvania cities. I've never been to most of these towns but it's appealing that they're not that far away from DC with a lower cost of living. I'm guessing that they're pretty White though? As a POC that would be a minus.

1. Lancaster, Pennsylvania
2. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
3. Pensacola, Florida
4. Tampa, Florida
5. York, Pennsylvania
6. Naples, Florida
7. Daytona Beach, Florida
8. Ann Arbor, Michigan
9. Allentown, Pennsylvania
10. Reading, Pennsylvania

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/23/top-10-us-cities-for-retirees.html

Lancaster, Pennsylvania, is the No. 1 city to retire in, according to U.S. News & World Report’s recent “Best Places to Retire in the U.S.”

U.S. News & World Report evaluated the 150 largest metropolitan areas in the U.S., including Puerto Rico, using data from a variety of sources, including the U.S. Census Bureau and the Tax Foundation. The report assigns each city an overall retirement score based on six factors:

Housing affordability
Desirability
Happiness
Quality of health care
Retiree taxes
Job market
The researchers surveyed 3,100 people aged 45 and older about which of those categories would be most important to them in retirement and assigned weights to those categories accordingly.

There is a joke that goes, “what do you call PA between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh?

Punchline:Alabama!

Some people also call the state, Pennsyltucky.

The rural parts of PA are very conservative, very MAGA, very Christian. (Driving through I saw a factory with the sign, “ Will only hire the unvaccinated “ and flags proclaiming “Fu*k Biden”

Colleges towns (at least those affiliated with the college) would presumably be more sophisticated and value diversity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Appreciate the input. Looks like I will have to consider some other list or search engine that takes into account other factors. In all honesty, I will probably end up just biting the bullet and retiring in a high COL area.

that's what it's kind of looking like for us - biracial couple.

The top 3 diverse places are right here in MoCo.

https://www.insidermonkey.com/blog/10-most-diverse-cities-in-the-u-s-to-retire-in-1148452/8/

Germantown, Gaithersburg, Silver Spring.

If you count T15, include Rockville

https://www.insidermonkey.com/blog/25-most-diverse-cities-in-the-u-s-to-retire-in-1148434/

There are a couple of cities in TX, but you'd have to deal with the state politics and the worsening weather in TX.

Montgomery County is the most diverse county in the state (41% white) and among the most diverse in the country! 👍

[Anonymous]

Georgia?