Returned to Central Pennsylvania for a day, forgot how stunning.
- Thread starter GON
- Start date
Oh so you’re a lil’ more east now I see.
That county has way more people too
Neighbors are quiet though
Obligatory (but not filmed in PA):
(I said) I tried to purchase a small $104K home there. The taxes were in the "insane" range. On the order of $7k per year, $3,500 for property tax and $3,500 for school taxes. Not to mention the $2,000 community well and septic charges. No thanks. There really is a reason so many PA inhabitants are destitute, they have been taxed into abject poverty. Gas tax is stupidly high along with a hefty state income tax. I ended up renting much larger and nicer homes, closer to where I wanted to be, from 2017 through 2022. Cost me less money in the end.
Pike County, where the property tax is 3.8% YIKES! And the school taxes mirror that 6 months later.
I needed to be somewhere commutable to SWF airport. It really was better to rent.
I know that road! I miss living in MD for the beauty, the food and being close to other pretty states. But I don't miss the politics, high cost of living and lack of real gun rights.
Zee09
$200 Site Donor 2023
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I live two miles from that location
Maryland is now cheap compared to Florida....sadlyBorn and raised in SE PA, Downingtown and Lancaster areas, but I haven't been back in about 20 years. I get wildly nostalgic for it sometimes, particularly in the fall. Loved the people and the rolling hills covered in hardwoods, and always a cold running creek somewhere at the bottom of nearly every valley. In Lancaster my neighborhood bordered an Amish farm, and we'd buy fresh produce from them all the time...one day we brought our dog with us on a retractable dog leash and the farmer had never seen one before! He was astonished at such an invention (this was in 1998 or so). Pretty funny experience I never forgot.
Just thinking aloud here, but I had the opportunity to retire in PA. It is beautiful in summer that's for sure. But I can't take the cold and gloom along with the overall living expenses. While I spent very little time there in the winter, my natural gas heating bills were over $600 per month to keep an unoccupied house at 55ºF. And electric was another $150. Yikes. My highest bill at my FL house in mid summer is $300 more commonly it is lower.
Retirees run out of money quickly when every single thing is as much as double the price of elsewhere. Gas is 70c more than TN or FL. Elec rates are double. Income is taxed, real estate is very highly taxed in many locations, but the thing that got me was groceries. Yikes, $7 for a Stouffers frozen dinner that is $3 here.
The NorthEast is expensive, and PA is no exception. There is a reason much of PA is so poor, the state is poorly managed and those taxes trickle down into the price of everything.
Retirees run out of money quickly when every single thing is as much as double the price of elsewhere. Gas is 70c more than TN or FL. Elec rates are double. Income is taxed, real estate is very highly taxed in many locations, but the thing that got me was groceries. Yikes, $7 for a Stouffers frozen dinner that is $3 here.
The NorthEast is expensive, and PA is no exception. There is a reason much of PA is so poor, the state is poorly managed and those taxes trickle down into the price of everything.
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I got lucky in Pa. Found a three season two bedroom fishing/hunting cabin in a settlement on a trout stocked stream. 15 acres of never harvested (too hilly, boulders the size of semitrailers) hardwood forest that I share with some other cabin owners and 1500’ of exclusive stream frontage. Electricity, gas (propane) for the cooking stove and running water inside. No sewer, outhouses and outdoor shower for now. Wood burning stove for heat. Can supplement with electric, a mini split heat pump is on the to-do list. Water gets shut off in winter because pipes in ground can’t be buried deeply and would freeze if not drained from November to late March. So it’s bottled water in winter which is really not so bad.
My taxes are $657 per year, that includes local twp and the school. I’m told taxes are low because it’s not considered housing that would send kids to school, that’s true. My backyard! Nirvana!
that's about as good as it gets IMO. PA is where i cut my teeth learning to flyfish as a kid. so many great coldwater streams in that part of the country, you barely have to travel to get to one.
be careful of ticks back in there. lyme disease has run wild in that area, permethrin is your friend.
Don't forget.....PA has four seasons.
1. Winter
2. More winter
3. Road construction
4. Football
1. Winter
2. More winter
3. Road construction
4. Football
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