Haven Childcare Center is a faith-based, project-based, full-time childcare facility located within Reclamation Community Center in Monroeville, PA. Starting August 19, 2024, the center offers three programs: faith-based, project-based, and full-time care. Haven Daycare is open year-round, accepting infants through age 5, while Haven Preschool is 9am-12pm on Mondays.
The center is also hosting a community spaghetti dinner on Sunday, July 21st, with dine-in and takeout options available. Pre-registration is now open. The center is part of the Reclamation Community Center, which provides hope and healing for families in Monroeville and surrounding communities. There are 47 child care providers listed in Monroeville, PA, with an average posted rate of $17/hr as of August 2024.
There are 55 child care centers in Monroeville, PA, offering a variety of services, including faith-based, project-based, and full-time childcare. The center is open from 7am-6pm Monday through Friday, accepting infants through age 5. On August 6th and 8th, the center will host a children’s camp, where meals can be dined in or taken out, with adult meals costing $10 and children’s meals at $5. Raffle baskets will also be available.
To find the best child care center in Monroeville, PA, visit their website and use the QR code to pre-register. The center is committed to providing loving, nurturing care that benefits both parents and children.
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I was raised in Bushwick Brooklyn, NY. Lived there 37 years. I’m 42 now and whenever I went to visit friends and family members living in Hazleton, York and Allentown It felt like I was in paradise. Although it was quiet, slow, somewhat gloomy and desolate, I loved driving there and spending the weekend with my friends and family. Great times
I think you’ve focused on the worst parts of essentially good cities. Homelessness, drugs, violence can be found in any decent size town in the US. Pennsylvania is a beautiful state. Even the depressed, coal mining towns have a valuable story to tell. Pennsylvania payed a large part in the Revolutionary war and has a proud, rich heritage! I’m proud to be from Pennsyltucky!!
I’m a Lehigh valley native who left PA after college and experienced life all over, from Denver, to Los Angeles, to Chicago, and a couple observations I’ll share: Growing up in PA, you may not realize how beautiful a state it is. It took years away and a visit home for me to see just how incredible and scenic the state is, between endless hills and cute old towns. Obviously a hefty majority of PA towns are depressing, forgotten places, but merely visiting them is a trip back in time. There’s an old charm and fascinating history to PA that’s unlike anywhere else. Sure, opportunity isn’t around unless you’re in Philly or up-and-coming parts of the Valley, but you can’t imagine how much I miss the funny miserable nature of people there – the old school characters, complainers, and honest, authentic people. You DON’T find that anywhere else. To everyone complaining about life in PA and planning an escape, I just want to forewarn you that you may miss it, and you also might find there’s a little something off about people from everywhere else. A lot of you also underestimate how shitty so many other places can be when you’re stuck somewhere looking for reasons to not be content. Just drive through Kansas and Iowa if you want a new appreciation for Pennsylvania.
Nick, I just got done perusal your article on the 10 worst places to live in Pennsylvania. Then I watched another article on the 10 best places to live in Pennsylvania. Four cities overlap between the two lists. Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Reading and York. Your list is as follows going from worst to less worse: 1) Reading 2) Chester 3) Hazleton 4) York 5) McKeesport 6) Harrisburg 7) Centralia 8) Brownsville 9) Wilkes-Barre 10) Pittsburgh. The article on the 10 best places to live in Pennsylvania is as follows going from best to less best: 1) Pittsburgh 2) Harrisburg 3) Lancaster 4) Reading 5) Scranton 6) York 7) Philadelphia 8) Altoona 9) Mt. Pocono 10) Johnstown. From the casual viewers perspective, it appears that someone is full of that brown sticky stuff you find in your front yard after everyone gets home from work and takes the dog out for a walk. How do you explain this? They can’t both be right can they? Is it just a matter of personal taste perhaps?
Pa is a beautiful state with rich history of early settlers and the founding of the nation. But aside of the cities which are mostly run by, you know which career political power grabbers, the property taxes are the worst nightmare and considered one of the worst in the nation. They throw elderly people, medically sick and families with children out in the streets from their homes that have been paid for years ago. The escrow for property tax can be half as much a month, or as much as your mortgage payment. People have liquidated their retirement, personal assets, and hock family heirlooms to try to stay in their homes, only to lose it all in the end. Once you are behind you can never catch up. In recent years instead of taking just your home, they first come into your home with a break bond order and levy your personal belongings and sell them off, then they seize the home next and sell that off. People have literally collapsed at the courthouses as their family home is sold off and they are suddenly homeless and powerless. You will never really own your home in this state, at best you lease it from the school districts, teacher unions and state government, because you will be paying on it until the day you die and it can be taken at any moment should you face hard times, get sick or struggle. And even if you sell it, you can never recoup the punitive property taxes or enjoy the benefit of appreciate d value because the property tax is so out of control.
I was born and raised in SW Pa. The people in the towns are good, and I still have friends living in my hometown. It’s just that the steel mills, coal mines, and railroads dried up. When I was living there I worked for many companies as a software consultant all around Pittsburgh. There are new companies moving into the area. The great thing is that young people can buy affordable property, have a nice, spacious home, and yet commute to a good job in less than an hour. I moved away because I was nearing retirement and wanted to live in a warm climate. I know Brownsville well, and it is a historic area. Yes, downtown is not good. The highway through there is narrow with little parking. Businesses moved elsewhere. That has happened in many towns all across the US. The area surrounding Brownsville is beautiful. I would not hesitate to buy a homestead there. It would be a great life.
I live in Pennsylvania and have for most of my life, there is something to say for a person that doesn’t understand the culture within the state. The state of Pennsylvania is also a welcoming place, at least considering the pandemic. Not everyone in the state wants to see a huge amount of growth. We enjoy and love our natural resources. This state also has many beautiful locations.
As someone who grew up in Philly, I’m genuinely surprised it – or at least a part of the city – isn’t on this list. I used to ride the trains through West Philly, and half of the area is made up of abandoned and burned-out houses. Fights on the train were common. And don’t get me started on places like the Northeast and Kensington. Pretty much anywhere outside Center City or areas like Chestnut Hill are just not safe at all.
My Grandmother and Grandfathers grandparents where immigrants who moved from Lithuania to Shenandoah PA. I still have cousins and an aunt and uncle who live there to this day. Recently I brought my grandmother to visit her sister in Shenandoah, I also brought my husband for the first time. We walked around “down town” and my gram almost cried to see her childhood town in such a depressing state and I have to say I am kind of obsessed with looking at my cousins Facebook, seeing the pictures of their daily lives living there. It’s like a different world and so interesting to me. I love reading the old news paper clips, one which told the story of my grandmother’s grandmother who ran a boarding house (by herself) while her husband was in the 2nd World War. On our visit we also went to Centrila to see the abandoned “burning” town and the Graffiti HWY. The town is all but gone a few house with people actually still living there and the Graffiti HWY was covered. It was still pretty neat. My husband also uploaded a article of an abandoned article store back in Shenandoah, still stocked but completely abandoned and in shambles, his fellow movie lovers went nuts… he loves movies and is big into horror so seeing that was sad but neat. It’s definitely sad to see the town with its beautiful churches in such a bad state but I do love looking back at the history.
I grew up 25 miles north of Pittsburgh, I never thought of it as lame. Pennsylvanians are a wide group of diverse and wonderful people. The state is absolutely beautiful with all four seasons, some areas a bit more severe in winter. By the way, I find it amusing that in your words, find that Homestead is one of the worst neighborhoods in the country, you obviously have not checked into the Kensington area in Philadelphia.
Lived in Wilkes-Barre for 10 years and worked in Hazleton for many years. The amount of poverty, decay and crime in these two cities and just about every little defunct town in between them is absolutely unreal. I had to move across the country to fully realize how depressed and hopeless they are. You become desensitized to it.
Pittsburgh consistently ranks among the “most livable” cities in the United States in such publications as the “Places Rated Alamanac,” “Sperling’s Best Places,” the “Economist” and the Economist Intelligence Unit. If I were offered a job in Pittsburgh, I would move there in a New York minute. I lived there from 1992 – 1994, and I very much loved it. Yes, the Mon Valley towns are dead, but I found Pittsburgh to be a great place.
The one thing I can truly say about Pennsylvania is that they were all cool, interesting, friendly people. Please do not believe that Philly – centric and Pittsburgh-centric people cannot relate to so-called Pennsyltucky. There is interesting stuff to see and do all over PA. I made the big leap to go to college in Pittsburgh instead of State College and Philly, and I was glad that I did.
I moved from CA to PA and live in Harrisburg, I love it. We own a beautiful home, with more than we could ever afford in CA. Our property has a little creek that runs through it, there are plenty of places to go shopping (I don’t know what you are talking about in your article), the downtown has had some revitalization with a farmers market, great restaurants, an arts center, an amazing bookstore/coffee shop and so much more that I haven’t seen yet. I previously lived in San Francisco and you could say similar things about crime, drugs, etc. as you have about most of these towns in PA. Enjoying where you are is partially attitude and your ability to seek the beauty and potential in a place. Yes parts of PA aren’t diverse, but Harrisburg isn’t one of them.
I was born and raised in Reading and I live in Reading. The articles shown here are not even from Reading. It is a generally normal place to live with average property values. Crime is higher than usual but I have never been attacked by anyone or robbed, or anything that any of these dumbasses have talked about and I’ve been here for 40 years and am downtown every single day. Some people just like to complain and some people are just pussies. Peace.
Pittsburgh has so many neighborhoods, that there are many good ones to choose from. I lived in Dormont which was plain, but safe. Mt Lebanon, was really nice. Pittsburgh has lots of great parks and interesting places. Tons of preserved architecture. I avoided the bad parts and they avoided me. It’s a big place, that’s intertwined with its natural setting. The bridges are amazing and the tram system winds in and out of streets. My favorite place.
I lived in Philadelphia for 17 years. I’m amazed it isn’t somewhere on this list. Besides the grime, crime, and squalor, Philly’s taxes, astronomical car insurance rates (and subsequent high number of uninsured drivers) and anti-small business laws will kill you. My daughter lives in Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh is a million times better than Philadelphia.
Chester was a well known hell hole sixty years ago. York city has been going downhill for many decades, but you only have to get about two miles outside of the city itself to be surrounded with some of the most scenic and productive farmland on Earth. York county is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever lived
I’ve lived in Pittsburgh my whole life and absolutely love it here. Sure, there are a few bad areas near the city and the four seasons can be a bit to handle, but overall it’s a very great place to live, so YINZ shouldn’t make the assumption that people would not be happy living here just based on those few small areas. The majority of the Burgh is awesome and many previously “bad” areas are actually up and coming. Also, I know multiple people who have moved here from out of state and said the people of pittsburgh are overly friendly compared to other cities!! I will always love the Burgh. #pittsburgh #theburgh #blackandyellow 🖤💛
Lived in here in several different places in southwest PA my whole life. (Over 30) and from personal experience I couldn’t disagree more. Living in some of these towns, or nearby some mentioned or on your list. Not to mention there’s been tons of articles ranking several towns in PA lists of safest/most affordable to live. PA has so many towns chalk full of history.
I’m born & raised in Pa. I currently live near Kutztown where there are gorgeous wheat, soy & corn fields as well as many other farms (you know the things that provide essential for life food). Although many of the coal region towns (where I was born) are depressed, it’s just due to the history of the state. Let’s not forget it’s one of the oldest states in the country. Most cities or towns have their good & bad areas. Pa towns & cities are no different. Pa has beautiful forests w/much wildlife including beautiful birds. One thing that is nice is we generally do not experience catastrophic weather. Our gorgeous mountains protect us. We have all four season which also offer different types of activities. As with all places there are good and bad. The real question is WHY do we make articles on negativity? The only reason I watched it is b/c I live here. Somebody wrote everybody north of MD is me me me….I am a very loving, caring & giving person and know MANY Pennsylvania’s that are the same. 💗🦊🐸🦋🐴🐞🌲🌿☘️🍁🌻🌸☃️🌈☀️🍓🌽🥕
Harrisburg doesn’t have diversity? Hazleton isn’t anywhere near where you say on this map. Pittsburgh should not be on this list. Johnstown should be on the list. Reading is bad but the rest of Berks county isnt that bad. Wyomissing is listed in USAToday as a top 50 place to live in the country and the town of West Reading has a cool vibe.
As a Pennsylvanian, here is my list : 1. Philadelphia 2. Pittsburgh 3. Reading 4. Allentown 5. Easton 6. Scranton 7. Harrisburg 8. Chester 9. Pottstown 10. Norristown The reasons are well known. You enumerated many of them. There are are many others, but they are too many to name. On of the biggest reasons is that there are too many democrats in control, especially in Philadelphia.
I grew up in Pittsburgh and left after 56 years to retire in a warmer climate. It was once a beautiful city but now is becoming like Philly, Baltimore, Detroit Etc. A garbage can of crime, corrupt politics, race issues, and decay all around. Some upper class suburbs are nice but with clouds, rain and snow most of the year, there are far better places to spend your life then in this 2nd rate town..
I lived in Pennsylvania for many decades, I think if you are so misguided to possibly consider moving there you simply need to understand one simple fact! You have Pittsburgh in the west Philadelphia in the east, and Alabama 1959 in all other regions! When corporate America decided to destroy the industrial capabilities of our nation they had Pennsylvania smack dab centered in their crosshairs! God bless the poor people who live there, but feel free to understand what happened there was not your fault, you all deserve better!
I have lived in the Pittsburgh area my whole life. This dude is full of it. Experience it yourself, don’t take fools like this word for it. Every metro area has it’s warts. He really paints it the way HE wants to see it. There are plenty of awesome places to live in the area, he just is showing the les desirable.
I lived in the Children’s Home of Reading many many years ago. Went to Reading High School nicknamed the Castle on the Hill. Every window and outside door on the school has bars. There are definitely bad places in much of Reading but a few good ones. I took my kids to visit the Children’s Home so they could see where I lived and my oldest daughter was freaking out over the slummy city as we drove through it. She was scared. I don’t remember that fear when I lived there but I guess that means where we live is pretty good compared to Reading and I’ve given my kids a better life than I had.
Also, have yall noticed that all these cities have one thing in common? These cities were built around the railroad lines, hence the name Reading Depot. These were major connections and train depots and major part of the steel and coal industries. As that industry disappeared, poverty just got worst and worst. The only city not really a part of that industry was York.
My family lived in Bethlehem from 2006-2017, and I still mourn them moving back to the south. I live in Atlanta, and I absolutely LOVED visiting my family when they lived in Bethlehem: the weather was always preferable to Atlanta’s, the scenery was gorgeous, it was a mere hour or so away from NYC, and the restaurants and culture were so refreshing and interesting! Sadly, my family moved back to Boringham, Alabama when my Dad retired and my brother in law finished his residency at St. Luke’s. Although it doesn’t require a plane ticket to visit them now, I’d gladly trade visiting them in Birmingham for visiting them in Bethlehem. I ❤️ you, PA!
I lived south of Pittsburgh for 60 years, moved to SWFL in 2013. Naples and Ft Myers can’t hold a candle to Pittsburgh as far as medical care, culture and ethnic diversity. My adult son commented about how many opportunities he had growing up there, Carnegie Museum, Children’s theater, National Aviary, Phipps Conservatory, the festivals, concerts at Hartwood Acres, Pittsburgh Zoo, etc. He realized how culturally deprived the children are here. Despite living on Florida’s west coast, I could buy more types of seafood at Wholey’s. I miss the Strip District, nothing like that on either coast in Florida. The weather sucks but Pittsburgh is great place.
Lol. I just moved from California (the state) to LaBelle which is 5 miles from Brownsville. It is a poor place a lot of old buildings. But very friendly people. Yes it’s a small coal town with few and far between stores restaurants bars gas stations and stores of any kind really.but everyone no matter race ethnicity or religion are the nicest friendly most forgiving and honest people I’ve ever met
I have lived between Wilkes-Barre and Scranton my entire life and have witnessed the area go from bad to worse. Drugs, crime, crooked self serving politicians, and schools that are mediocre at best. My friends that were smart enough to see through the lies of our “leaders” left years ago and…they ain’t coming back….
I Live in Reading, PA. Born and Raised her child of the 69s. And 70s. In the 80s the hispanic community increase to unbelievable heights. Drugs came here, Drug Dealers and it went down hill fast. It use to be a business town family oriented. No gun Violence at the time. Now these people come here from. New York and New Jersey and Puerto RICI AND EVERY OTHER God Forsaken Hispanic Country. Man is it horrible. trust me. Most of my Friends moved out of the City to the South. It is sad now. Don’t come here if you are looking for a place to settle down and raise a decent Family. This is not the Place for the American Dream.
You couldn’t move to Centralia if you wanted to; it’s been under eminent domain since 1992, and the state removed the zip code in 2002. Since then, they’ve removed the name from street signs and buildings. They’ve even removed arrows on road signs that directed traffic through Centralia to other towns. You should run for Mayor.
No, you don’t. That is fake news. How would you know? I lived in wilkes Barre my entire life and enjoyed every second of it. This town is nice, and the thing about the federal government getting involved is fake news. We even have special events such as the fine arts Fiesta, which go down to the square and buy different arts and food. We also the multi cultural parade where the entire town comes to celebrate the many different cultures of the town. We parade around town and then back to the square and eat foods from the many different food trucks there. So wilkes Barre is a nice place to live, so shut up.
I was born and raised in South Central Pennsylvania. I’ve lived in Harrisburg, York, Carlisle, Newville and Perry county. I’ve been to Centralia and I have moved out of state 2 times both to Texas and this last time I couldn’t wait to get home to PA. All the other states suck! You couldn’t pay me enough to move out again! Pa is HOME and always will be.
We moved to north of Pittsburgh and love the gorgeous countryside, beautiful farms, and certainly Pittsburgh itself. Beautiful location, culture, science, architecture, parks, education and history are all there for everybody’s enjoyment. Sure there are some grim areas, as can be found anywhere. We have lived in six European countries plus Australia and have seen some very nasty areas adjoining the towns that tourists flock to visit. It all depends on what you are searching to find.
I was born and raised in Pittsburgh and also multiple small towns around Pittsburgh. I have lived in Phoenix now for almost 20 years and the older I get, I miss the people and the towns. We are the sweetest Most loving people ever. Out here you can’t even leave your house or car unlocked. Even when I walk in my home anytime of day, I not only lock all my doors, I have cameras inside and out. I watched as a 16 year old died after being shot outside my house a few months ago. I also lived in Brownsville and the people are extremely nice and sweet.
I remember when I was a kid perusal Rocky The Flying Squirrel cartoons on TV and they used to make jokes about McKeesport, PA. At the time it mostly went over my head, but apparently McKeesport was one of the first large towns in the country that had already begun to slide into oblivion. It’s a shame, because at one time it was probably a very nice place to live.
I visit Brownsville every year, my grandfather grew up there. It’s not necessary a “bad” place in terms of crime or anything, it’s just quiet. Yeah, a lot of stuff is boarded up and closed, but it has seemed to be making a bit of a rebound recently. It’s a cheap place to live if you want peace and quiet, and only 20 minutes from Uniontown, which is a much larger thriving town.
As a middle aged Pennsylvanian this article makes me wonder why I haven’t moved away but honestly after growing up in W-B, going to college in State College, living in King of Prussia for a year and then buying a home and settling down in the South Hills of Pittsburgh I’m actually happy. I’m far enough away from the city and the rust belt elements that my area is more akin to the Laurel Highlands of rural Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Maryland. If I want to go to a concert or a sporting event, I can just drive to any number of stops on the light rail line that goes right into the city.
Many of us living here in PA!✌ I liked reading the comments and seeing so many places represented. This state has a long history, many historical places, many families have been here for generations, people from all over the world. My ancestors moved here from Ireland and were coal miners in Shenandoah (coal country)!! 💖 I was born in North Philly, and have lived in many parts of the state. Montgomery County (Lansdale), Bucks County (Perkasie & Quakertown), and Lancaster County (Lititz, Rothsville, Mount Joy, Brownstown). I have traveled, stayed in and visited many beautiful places in PA, like Jim Thorpe, Frackville, Lake Wally up in the Pocono ‘s (the Poke’s), Wrightsville, all along the Susquehanna River, PA’s Grand Canyon, Fallingwater, Ohiopyle, Rickett’s Glen, and many other cities and towns. And like I said in my other post, there is good and bad places no matter where you live. Some of us were born here and stayed, others like me, have moved away and returned. PA is a big state, some great cities, some not so good — some hard hit because of the economy or businesses closing. Like Steelton, Allentown, Bethlehem, York, Pittsburgh, and many others.. We have chocolate factories, breweries, Yuengling, Harley Davidson, King of Prussia Mall, Liberty Bell, Gettysburg, etc. I wonder where the guy who made the article is from??? July 22nd, 2020 — who lives here in PA? favorite places to visit?? ✌😊🍀
Having grown up in PA, this guy is mostly correct though Harrisburg and York are not as bad as he states because most people don’t live downtown but out in the nicer suburbs. I’d have a little more faith in his information if he knew where to put the stars on the map correctly instead of many in the wrong location.
Moved from the UK to Bedford County. Great place to live, Bedford is a lovely quaint town with the Bedford Springs resort and nestled in the middle of stunning countryside. People are friendly, but sort of reserved and have an old fashioned way which is endearing. Proud to now call it home. Have travelled around the rest of the Pennsylvania, including some of the places on your list and my view is overall there are vastly more good bits than there are bad.
Honestly, it’s amazing that you get through this entire list without mentioning much of the terrible governmental infrastructure in PA that has caused years of the economic decline that you seem to pinpoint more on personal responsibility. I mention this because you say things like “People don’t seem to want to leave here,” when talking about Harrisburg, or towards the very end you talk about how “one person can make a change,” which may have some weight, but is lacking when addressing the failures of the government in PA to support its residents. It’s also lacking in acknowledgement of the fact that many of these communities already have to rely on each other to look out for one another (ie. communal food banks – not the police in reading… lol). People in PA do often want to leave, but it’s unrealistic when opportunities for creating any savings to do so are limited. So it’s not a want thing, more of a limitation of ability to do so sort of thing. Try moving to a different place living at or below the poverty line – if you’ve ever had to experience it & update us with a article on that experience. And people do get involved, but there has been drastic failures by our local governments, corporations, & other economically privileged folx in PA that seem to backtrack much of unionized progress (ie. Reading’s historically corrupt political offices, closures of many businesses/factories/& general surges of layoffs in PA from Reading to Pittsburg, gentrifying landlords like the hazleton property flipping market you even brought up – who also seem to think that normal maintenance & property renovations are only justified with price gouging gentrification to appeal to a middle class that with sub-urbanize the areas devastated by the the 20th-21st century’s urbanization in the NE…in places with no jobs, etc.
I read a lot of comments about the roads in PA and it is very true that PA has some of the worse roads in the country. However, what many fail to realize that this is largely due to geography/climate. PA experiences more freeze/thaw cycles every year then most other states and this takes a real toll on the roads and bridges. It’s not uncommon to go from rain, to sleet, to snow, to ice and then to warm and sunny all in a matter for 24-48 hrs in PA. It’s a huge and expensive task to maintain the roads in PA that many other states do not have. Not only because of climate though. It’s also a big state with several metropolitan areas connected by long stretches of interstate highways along with large swaths of rural roadways.
Pittsburgh is BEAUTIFUL! There are many beautiful and thriving neighborhoods here. You forgot to the South Hills, which includes Mount Lebanon, Dormont,Mount Washington. There’s also Fox Chapel. These are all affluent neighborhoods. The smaller neighborhoods like Dormont are nice but still very down-to-earth and people-friendly. Yes there are some Pockets with bad neighborhoods that is the case in any city. You must have gone during the the lockdowns in 2020 when most of Pittsburgh was closed. Right now Pittsburgh is popping again. I just spent the weekend in the city and there was so much to do. The bands in Market Square and all of the shops and restaurants are brimming with people and business. Pittsburgh is a clean and diverse city. The downtown area isn’t very big in comparison to New York City or Philly. But there’s a lot to do and there are many neighborhoods connected to the city that also offer much and are only minutes away. There is a lot to do in downtown itself and natural beauty on the outskirts of the city is amazing. Great for hiking and camping and all outdoor activities.
He continues to report DIVERSITY, DIVERSITY, DIVERSITY. Well, as a life-long Pennsylvanian, I can report, DIVERSITY is precisely the reason ALL of PA is persisting to PERISH. This state was quite desirable as a long-term homestead until….. until DEI, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion became the cancerous buzzwords. What’s needed is less Diversity & dare I say it sans becoming a pariah, more UNITY of belief, more civil, community & church involvement. We need UNITY not division with “more diversity”.
The Army took me to many different places to live: Kentucky, North Carolina, California, Arizona, Germany. Every place I ever lived, I had one constant refrain: I can’t wait until I move back to Pennsylvania. I guess there’s no place like home. Even Brownsville looks ok, there are nice opportunities to live along a beautiful river.
I’ve been all over North America; lived in Illinois, California, Hawaii, Kentucky, Quebec and Pennsylvania. Visited most of the US and several parts of Canada and Mexico. I reside in Pennsylvania by choice. I love the people and the culture of the Appalachian mountain towns of PA, KY and WV. I avoid all cities; If they’re not deteriorating they’re just plain perverted and weird.
I pretty much expected Reading to be considered the worst place to live in PA. Especially being that I grew up living my whole life this far living here. It’s weird how Reading wasn’t listed in someone else’s list of worst places to live in PA and when I commented, I had people argue with me that they believed that Reading is slowly improving and is better than cities like Harrisburg and York. That is up to people to debate, but I think Reading needs a major improvement. West Reading pretty much is the best area in Reading. The fact that it used to be the poorest city in the country and before that was well known for it’s railroad and trains with coal says a lot about it’s success and it’s downfall to failure. Edited: I don’t necessarily want to hate on any of the areas he mentioned including Reading because they all do have some good despite being overlooked as bad, but they do all need improvements. It’s not just crime and homelessness from citizens that are to be blamed for the issues in Reading or anywhere else for that matter. It could also be corporate and political government issues as well that could be holding people back or what not. I’m not an expert, so I can’t say what for sure the main problems are, but I know there is a lot that pile. Reading does have bad and good to it too. Probably the most well known thing about it now is the Pagoda. Who knows? Maybe Reading eventually does improve. If anyone decides to come to Reading, I’d recommend you check out the good things like West Reading, Lancaster Avenue, Albright and RACC campuses, Pagoda, Mount Penn, R-Phils Stadium, and maybe Santander Arena and IMAX.
I live in York county Pennsylvania. I’m about 20 minutes from a York city and about 20 minutes from Harrisburg city. I’m not a city person but the rural, country areas that surround these two small cities is beautiful. Lancaster is to our east and Adams county (Gettysburg) to our west …also very beautiful.
I’m happy no towns in the Lehigh Valley (I live in Bethlehem) made it onto this list. What they’re doing should be the blueprint for the rest of the state to follow. I read somewhere that it was the fastest growing region of the country behind Seattle, and that was before Seattle….. let’s not touch that one.
Pennsylvania is a fantastic state. While there are some rough areas(like ANY state), PA has some beautiful natural areas for hiking and some of the best mountain biking in the East, tons of excellent wineries and breweries, some hip small towns like Lititz, Skippack, Jim Thorpe etc., great universities and the benefit of changing seasons with a beautiful Fall. Again, while I agree some of these towns are rough (like any state), don’t overlook the good which is far in the majority.
I have lived in Pittsburgh since birth and sure I may talk bad about my city from time to time. However, mostly, Pittsburgh is thriving with lots of opportunities and hard-working, dedicated individuals. Some areas he mentioned can get pretty bad, but he also forgot to mention other significant areas. Such as McCandless Twp or Mount Lebanon and other areas, which aren’t far like Wexford and Cranberry. Finally, it is easier for him to say, “You wouldn’t be happy here” as to someone who is devoted to making our city succeed and who lives here. After all, they signed our declaration in Philadelphia. Personally, I believe those in the State Capital could do a better job but that’s just me.
As a person who was born. And lived in York for 11 years, I can say that the place is an absolute dumpster fire. I watched someone almost get ran over by a crazy person that drove on the sidewalk, the the place I lived in got shot up 3 times. The bullet holes are still visible on the outside of the building. The store that we lived close too got robbed by teenagers so much the owner needed a gun so they didn’t get robbed. The street I lived on had so many shootings happen on it too where they had at least 2 cops always on watch.
I’ve been a long time resident of Pittsburgh and everything you say is correct and a few you missed. Good paying jobs are not common for the average person in Pittsburgh unless you are in the medical industry or work for a universities. Both survive on endless Federal Grants wasting tax payer dollars in many cases. Actually McDonalds pay at $15.00 per hour is better than many mfg jobs here. Isn’t much else here worth bragging about either. Little night life, downtown Pittsburgh is a former shadow of itself even with many new buildings. A high entertainment tax keeps most big entertainment out of the city. You’ll find better entertainment driving to Columbus Ohio!! It use to be a magic place during the holidays when all the retailers in town decorated and turned the city into a magical place to visit after Thanksgiving. No more. Since big steel died in the the 1980s Pittsburgh never recovered as a mfg center. The few mfg companies in the area are always complaining they can’t get good high tech mfg people and they are correct. University students and grads have no experience, no apprenticeship training, and the good journey people in various industries and trades have all either died, moved away or gone elsewhere looking for better pay. Traffic is an endless nightmare in an around Pittsburgh too because of the 3 rivers in the city. Thanks to an endless string of bad urban planners and lack of foresight Pittsburgh has what is called tunnel and bridge lock. Every major roadway system into town either comes through poorly planned long tunnels or across rapidly decaying narrow bridges.
I grew up just outside of Reading and I’ve now lived and worked in Reading for a decade. It’s not nearly as bad as people think. I’ve never had any issues personally. There are communities that are really thriving and doing major rennovations to properties. I do contract work and ive already walked in and out of jobs by myself with a lot of expensive tools, in some low income areas, and still nobody bats an eye. I mean i am a 6’4″ dude who carries himself accordingly, but still i never felt like i was in danger of being robbed or jumped. Sure, there are some parts of the city i wouldnt want to be walking through alone… But typically everyone keeps to themselves. There’s also a massive underground arts scene. Honestly a lot of talent coming from Reading. Like anywhere, if you just keep to yourself, and look out for your community, its really not bad. The bad seeds usually weed out themselves. Id say definitely not the #1 worst place to live in PA… By a long shot. And thats coming from someone who doesnt even really want to live here himself lol. I honestly cant believe kensington wasnt on this list or Mahanoy City, Pottsville… Anywho. If you’re planning on moving to the reading area I would maybe consider the outskirts, like muhlenberg, wyomissing, West Reading, shillington, Exeter. I wouldn’t suggest moving into the city unless you’re on the North side, like the historic district area or up towards Center Park closer to Mt Penn.
Pennsylvania is such a beautiful state that I love the most, it holds a special place in our hearts. This state was the main center of the American Revolution and the place where the United States Declaration of Independence and the first Constitution in the world were passed …kisses from Chicago, IL.
I visited Pittsburgh and thought it had amazing architecture and amazing things to do as well as some world class universities. The housing prices are really cheap. I’m actually thinking of moving from Seattle, which is no longer a nice city, to Pittsburgh to retire. Any advice. Thinking of buying up real estate before Amazon or Google move into town and destroy it like they did to Seattle.
I lived in Hazelton as a kid for a little under a year, more in the wooded region. When I say wooded I mean we had about 15-20 neighbors and the rest of the population was sick trees, suicidal deer, bears with OCD who were obsessed with managing quality control in our fridge and the occasion turkey clan gathering. On a side note, to this day I really can’t decide which was more terrifying: the neighbors trying to convince us that the 300 pound black bears were just “cute n’ cuddly teddy bears” or the black bears lack of manners as they would attempt to invite themselves to dinner. Just so “Cute n’ cuddly” – as a 300 pound black bear plays Flies and Grounder with your head … how adorable. Anyway, it was a 5 minute walk to the nearest alcohol/convenience store and post office, but once you passed the small cemetery and drove through crazy, and might I add _dangerous_, winding roads surrounded by dense woods on either side, you ended up near the city area. We would hear about the crimes going from the local yokels at the Wal-Mart checkout and many times people from the city would come out our way and do drugs and I kid you not, seances in an abandoned factory just next door to us. At that point we decided that we would rather deal with the oversized “teddy bears” than a bunch of drugged out insane asylum escapes. So, we moved………. to York. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. The best way to sum up this decision would either be “ignorance is bliss” or “out of the frying pan into the fire.
Haha im sitting on the edge of my bed going down the list. Currently living on buttonwood st in Reading PA.🤣🤣 as the list goes on im saying to myself Reading has got to be Number 1. Its true I moved from NYC to Reading because its cheap as hell. But dont wana raise my kids here either. I can say this list is VERY accurate
Hey! I went to York College in York, PA! But that was 40 years ago so I’m sure a lot has changed. There used to be a saying, “Once a Yorkie, always a Yorkie”. York College was a really fun school to go to and some of my best days were spent there but we definitely knew what our boundaries were and we didn’t venture past them.
I was born in Montgomery County, grew up in Bucks County, and lived my entire life in and around the Philadelphia area. I’ve also been to the Allentown area and the Poconos. I’d say that most of Pennsylvania isn’t like the places you listed, but unfortunately those places kinda are as bad as you mentioned.
I’ve been to Reading and lived in Chester while attending University. Honestly, Chester has a lot of great community members who help to ensure the youth of the city have a chance to make it. I experienced this first hand, helping out at the Boys & Girls Club. There are several modern-day or recently retired NBA players from Chester (Jameer Nelson, Tyreek Evans, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Derrick Jones- that’s a lot for a city of 30K!). It’s the kind of city that has it about as rough as it gets but has a real spirit to it where people are proud to be from Chester. Reading I only got a short glimpse of, but some of my peers at school were from Reading. They didn’t say it with great pride but I’ll tell you that when I was there, I attended a comedy show in a beautiful theatre and went to a really cool restaurant afterwards with live music and a fun atmosphere. I think they both have their redeeming qualities
I was born & raised in Monroeville PA ; It was a great place to grow up being a newer community surrounded by the more rundown communities of the greater Pittsburgh areas : In the mid 1980 s we moved out west to Utah and I did business in Seattle, Portland, & Los Angeles; Living today in a beautiful resort town of Coeur D ‘ Alene Idaho ! Got to experience an awesome adventure living in the western part of America for 40 years !
I had an aunt and uncle and some cousins that used to live in Wilkes Barre PA. Back in the 1950s and 1960s it wasn’t too bad there. There was still some anthracite coal mining going on there and the city was served by 5 railroads. But today like every place else the industry in gone and so are most of the railroad lines from years past. It’s so sad to see how that area is today.
I am a proud Pennsylvanian. I love Pittsburgh. Gradua-ma-taded from highschool there in the late 90’s. The topography is neat, creating little enclave neighborhoods with the downtown golden triangle in a basin in the middle at the conflunce of the Allegheny and the Monongahela rivers. The architecture is stunning, juxtaposing guilded age and art deco with modern marvels like the PNC tower. Oakland is a great college neighborhood to spend a Saturday. Philadelphia is great. The rolling hills of PA are wonderful and the turnpike is like a paved slice of Americana. The first turnpike and the first long distance paved road are in Pennsylvania. The coal towns and steel towns are a safe harbour for the ghosts of past industry. Ambler PA was once the asbestos manufacturing capital of the world. The Lancaster Central Market is fantastic. Great breweries; great eats; polkas; groundhog day; the birth of the nation/democracy; birthplace of the cheesteak and the Pittsburgh style sandwich. Great state to live in.
As a York resident who lives who live about 1 minute away from the Amish farm, I am here to say York is by far the best place to move in the entire state there is much more then York peppermint patties and Harley Davidson, we just have different types of fun, we ride dirt bikes we hunt we fix car and used to ride bikes all day as kids, there is very little crime rate, your friends with almost every one if you live in a small town, local shop employees know you for your regular meals and it’s a perfect place for practicing sports, although the actual York downtown part is quite ghetto, you start to enjoy nature and small things more if you live in a smaller part, not to mention how nice it is get the occasional vegetables and pumpkins and see the wildlife from the Amish. That’s why I don’t think York should be on this list
So glad I live in Lancaster, close to just about everywhere I might want to visit, great restaurants, Bars, the Arts, First Fridays .. of course all this depends on when this damn Covid-19 thing stops. But everywhere has it’s ups and downs and neighborhoods can rebound I know people that love many of the cities mentioned in this article and I have been to their homes which happened to have been very nice nothing like depicted. There are positive areas like Lititz, Manheim, Marietta. Mt. Joy.
There are a few things you might want to add or edit. York peppermint Patties are actually made in Reading PA. And Harrisburg PA has one of the most beautiful Capital buildings in The country. Also well preserved historic Mansions along the river. It’s actually a pretty city with a few bad neighborhoods. Its also surrounded by fairly affluent communities of diverse populations. The other towns mentioned? Yeah, real dumps . Funny article though
We live in a cute town called Phoenixville, about 45 minutes away from Reading. I’ve been there for soccer tournaments and it’s a lot of farmlands and flea markets, but I guess I haven’t seen the worst of it. In general PA has a lot of cute towns, but also a lot of towns with lots of crime, poverty, and violence, so do research before you decide to move.