PHILLY WHORES, IS PENNSYLVANIA A NICE PLACE TO LIVE?

Upper Bucks County? Along the Delaware River is breathtakingly beautiful but it tends to flood a lot.

PA has a huge red state population. So you have to be comfortable living with people who are different from you in the same state.

The Philadelphia area is pretty blue. And we do not get the snow that Massachusetts gets.

I’m here to help. I know queers of all economic brackets and cultures. You want relaxed suburban living? Fun urban living? Cottagecore architectural delights? Ask me questions and I’ll point you in the right direction

WRONG! Philly Snoop STILL goes to Woodys

That’s disqualifying

Oooh Snoop at R3, you're a total catch! Ok, so I have been drooling over apartments in the Old City. A modern loft situation. The Chocolate Factory building, et. al. Problem is, I also love rural living and gardening and the experience of lack of neighbors. I would love to toggle both - the city vibe and a more private weekend cottage. Is that greedy?

It’s not greedy if you can afford it.

^^That's me, OP at R5. I occasionally turn into a hippie (I'm Gen X but I remember the 70s!) and occasionally long for a really hippied-out off-grid earthship kind of handbuilt home. I long to be left alone like Greta Garbo sometimes. But other times I love eating out for all meals and I crave a dance club and a strong social scene, neither of which exist here for me currently where I live. This is why it's so hard to for me to choose - I'm a Libra and I see all sides, all the time.

What's wrong with Woodstock?

R8 Nothing, really. It checks the artsy and hippie boxes. But it's even smaller than the college town I live in currently. It's teeny tiny, and not quite close enough to NYC to make that an easy, regular lifestyle of toggling to and fro. Two hours each way, I couldn't do a day visit to Manhattan really. I love Woodstock though. I have vacationed there more times than I can remember.

R2, Massachusetts no longer gets the snow Massachusetts used to get. I lived outside of Boston. Haven't had to shovel/snowblower in 2 years. Climate change is scary.

New Hope/Lambertsville?

Pittsburgh has an "h". I doubt that you'll find a really artsy laid back community in Western PA, although you can find some nice outdoorsy places in the Laurel Highlands. Lancaster has a fairly robust arts community but you have to deal with all the tourists coming for the Amish.

R11 I've been drooling over New Hope for awhile, and even checking out real estate on Zillow. And then I saw the population. Not even 3,000! Seems like that could get Twin Peaksy pretty fast. I haven't done the map checks to see how close New Hope is to bigger towns, though. I'm looking for a best-of-both-worlds situation, which may or may not be feasible.

People like Doylestown. That’s not too far from New Hope. (Personally Lambertville is much more attractive than New Hope but it is in NJ.)

Doylestown is wonderful, ditto Lambertville, NJ, which I like better than New Hope. Check out The Boat House, possibly the most beautiful dive bar in the world, if you can imagine such a thing.

Philadelphia might be the most underrated city in the US. The museums, diversity, academic and social culture, architecture and food on every level are great.

Thank you R15. You are giving me courage. I haven't lived in an actual city-city since I lived in Kansas City growing up. I've been in academia = college towns for decades. I feel a strange pull towards Philly knowing I can also access amazing nature fairly easily. The museums and history alone is very appealing. And it's more affordable than Boston. Boston is equally expensive as LA basically at this point, and I am burning out on Massachusetts.

R14 I've never been to New Hope, I admit. I have only seen pictures. It looks like a small colorful hippie town. I lived in Eugene, OR for years and I feel comfortable in amongst the hippie aesthetic, but New Hope is so small. I'll checkout Doylestown. I don't want to live in New Jersey but would be happy to visit. Thank you.

[quote] Philly Snoop STILL goes to Woodys

YOU GOT TO BE FUCKING KIDDNING ME! I haven’t been in maybe twelve years. Yesterday though i did go to Ubar and the bikestop. Friday night, it’s alright

[quote] But other times I love eating out for all meals and I crave a dance club and a strong social scene, neither of which exist here for me currently where I live

Okay, hotsie-totsie. You want a hippy-dippy life with a but with a dash of urban lifestyle? You need to live in Mount Airy. It’s a short drive to the wissahickon valley where the hiking and scenery are TOP TIER. Also, the neighborhood ahs the city’s oldest co-op. Also, it’s very green. Also, funky houses of all shapes and sizes. Also, ethnic diversity - depending on which part of mt airy you live in.

G0 for it, thank me later

"I crave a dance club and a strong social scene"

The only place you're getting this is in Center City and adjacent neighborhoods. Even there, the gay "dance club" scene is basically dead, especially for the geriatric set. We have the old man bars (See r17 above), though.

There are TONS of gays outside this area, but the only way you're meeting them is on the apps, where they collectively cheat on their husbands and partners. And even then, you're just going to be a side piece and not someone who they're getting a drink with on a Friday night.

OP, don't move to Philly. Philly is a hole.

And as far as "artsy-fartsy" goes, if you can handle living in a tiny town (and it is tiny!), check out Mt. Gretna. It's populated by moderately wealthy people tucked away in the woods in historic little cottages. Beautiful, peaceful, and relaxing!

It's a short hop to the PA Turnpike and you can be in Philly in 1 1/2 hours.

Good luck with your search!

Have you considered the Maine seacoast in the Portland area?

R20: “ Philly is a hole”

Fuck yeah, we are a*holes. Like your middle back pocket …. the one your father used.

R21 Yes actually Portland, Maine has crossed my mind. I think it's a very pretty city. I just need to be able to commune with people who aren't cranky yankee libertarian assholes. Maine has a lot of cranky yankies. Also I imagine it gets brutal in the winters.

R18 Mount Airy is adorable, Snoop! Thank you for the tip. I was also checking out the area around Walnut and 2nd. There are some new apartment buildings and there are three art cinemas and lots of public gardens right there, plus the river. I guess that's Old Town? Will do more research on Mount Airy.

Mt. Gretna has a population of 242, R20. That's pretty hardcore! I feel like I would feel very exposed in a town that small. It's absolutely gorgeous though. I love that lake. I'll put it on the list of places to visit for my research.

2d and Walnut is Old City - not Old Town.

By "art cinemas", do you mean the Ritz theaters? They increasingly show what you can see at a mainstream theater - but without the better seats and screens of a mainstream theater.

Philadelphia is a terrible city. I lived there for eight years. The food scene is trash, the people are mean and ugly, and it's very insular and racist on top of it.

Thank you R27.

My niece just asked me why the hell I would move to Pennsylvania when I could go live in the UK or Europe instead? She also told me that Philly has the 5th worst water quality in the US. On par with Flint! Oy vey.

I admit I would leave the US in a heartbeat if it weren't for my aging mother. I'm an only child. She's up in Oregon. If I'm living my best life in Dublin, or Provence, how does that work? It's already hard enough currently on opposite coasts. I haven't seen my mother in three years. It helps that she turned into a Trumper -- I feel less guilty about not visiting. But still, at some point one day, something IS going to go down.

Heading over to Duolingo to brush up on my French...

Amen, R27.

R28 you haven't seen your mother in three years, why would living a few more hours away by plane make a difference?

That comment, R30, was the tell. OP is engaged in fantasy posting just now.

I'm not, R31. I wish the part about being an only child of my narcissist Trumper mom was a fantasy post, though. It's stressing me out.

R30, I just found out yesterday that my mother's live-in partner of 23 years had a massive stroke and was taken away to the Vet hospital and she will be living alone now and will never see him again. So that's on my mind. And it fucking sucks because as long as I knew she had a partner, another adult in the home, I could more or less check out and just say hi once in awhile, and not feel too guilty. They were active in their little community. Why I worry about her, I can't say. She was never emotionally attuned to me. She never checked in on me after my divorce of my husband of 13 years. She was not worried about me during Covid, I think she called me once in two years and that was to complain about the "faulty" Dominion voting machines. She is a narcissist and she has never been there for me emotionally at any time in my life.

Having said all of that, I"m her only child and she isn't a total monster. She's 74 and just lost her mate. She isn't showing outward signs of sadness. But it must be surreal, and I'm wondering if it's going to kick in at some point and my mother will have a crisis. And to what degree I should get involved.

But no, I'm not fantasy posting. I have positioned myself really well financially, and will be able to retire in my mid-50s and do whatever, wherever. It probably sounds amazing but it's actually stressful and disorienting.

Good luck

I live outside of Pittsburgh. I love it - lots of great restaurants, nice cultural opportunities for a small city. I liked Philadelphia a lot when I went there. New Hope is beautiful, I love it

What’s wrong with Woodys? I met my partner there in 1987. We were both just out of Penn.

And we are still together.

I loved living in Philadelphia.

She’s 74, for “old” it’s not that old. She could easily live another 10 years. Do you want to put your life on hold for that long? If anything, I’d move to Europe now and then plan on moving back when she gets really decrepit.

[quote] will be able to retire in my mid-50s and do whatever, wherever. It probably sounds amazing but it's actually stressful and disorienting.

Huh? Cry me a river.

You can retire anywhere and are pondering Philadelphia?

Rent an Airbnb for a month and go.

This really sounds like an EST.

Mother not "emotionally attuned" to you? She didn't check on you during Covid? Do what you like. Shit or get off the pot. You obviously have the money to fly to Oregon, but you choose not to.

Not to take over the thread, but I often wonder where I might move if i weren't married. I'm 54, plan to work for another 10 years. Mexico City has always fascinated me but I don't feel like learning a new language, which also rules out most of Europe. I've been fortunate to have lived in several great cities in my life, including London, but nothing new seems to appeal to me anymore.

R37 I do have the money and I do choose not to go because she triggers the shit out of me. And yeah, I'm her one kid and when I told her about my impending divorce, right at the beginning of Covid (yes, a Covid divorce) she never called me back. For about nineteen months.

Also as an American I don't assume I can just go live in Europe full-time. I have some money, but I'm not Mick Jagger. I don't want to get cocky and burn through my funds. It's not and EST. It's that I lack clarity. I have visions in my mind but a lack of certainty about any of it, and no partner to push against to find the limits and boundaries.

[quote] was also checking out the area around Walnut and 2nd.

I live near there and moved to Philly from outside the state.

THE GOOD - food, restaurants, charming neighborhood, East Coast proximity to things, affordability, zero Trumpers.

THE BAD - insular people, trash, poverty, decent shopping is a suburban mall, despite the EDs and meds brand, there's a strong anti-intellectual streak, local politics that is corrupt and ineffectual, wage tax.

I found I had to make immediate and present decisions regarding the care of my mother as she reached into her 70s. I needed to live nearby when she went to the hospital with life-threatening conditions. Are you the power of attorney for her medical decisions?

One day her heart began leaking blood, shocking everyone. The doctors told me, with knowledge of her prior conditions, she would not survive an operation. I had to make the decision to let her go. She died two hours later, at the age of 74.

Are Salem, Portland, the Oregon coast, Olympia compatible with your wants and needs? It won't be a permanent move. You'll have the rest of your life to live afterward. It sounds like you have the financial wherewithal to work from home if you want to. It's just a suggestion. I have been triggered by family for the majority of my life, yet there were a few cousins who helped me get through it.

My partner died at the age of 36. I have never found a man quite like him, since. I have been able to make independent decisions without the need for emotional support for over three decades. My grand mother did it for 47 years.

You have all the tools you need to make this work.

Ooh, ooh ask me! Philadelphia is a great city if you stay away from the problematic areas. The OP who said the food scene was trash has never been to Philly. The food scene is amazing, there are plenty of BYOBs too. And it’s got amazing culture and arts, due to the proximity of many colleges.

That said, I recently moved outside of Doylestown. I love the area, the town is great, with wonderful restaurants and arts. And it’s close to Philly, New Hope and even New York. I agree with the poster who said rent an airBNB before you decide.

To R35, Woody's has becum a "str8 girls Bar" in Philly. Bachelorette parties every other weekend, Gays& whatever under 30 yrs old, won't mention the "T"'s.

However, Upper Bucks County, Outside of New Hope and Solebury Township, if I didn't have Condo in CC Philly; I would live up there. Zayne Malik lives up in Solebury Township, and I want to fuck him like an animal.

Miss Cooper too, but Fuck her!!

R43, is correct. Woodys is basically straight now but pretending to be gay. It’s Tom Hanks in “Philadelphia”.

I’m not sure what THE gay bar is now …. maybe Tavern. And of course UBar for the Eldergays (as it has been for as long as I have been Philadelphia).

The bathhouse is all gay though.

[quote]met my partner there in 1987. We were both just out of Penn.

I went there too, back in 2007 or so. Now it is a “straight” bar or where young girls and guys from Jersey go to cozplay they they are in a gay bar. No one I know has stepped foot in the place in over a decade. And for an older gay, they only open at 8 or something and I need a happy hour special, bitch!

Knock is for the elder gays.

Knock is more of an "elder gay restaurant with a bar". The food was very good, the bartender was kind of a prick (he didn't last long). Uncles is still open& Tavern too.

The Adonis theatre at 20th& Sansom Sts closed, and the Adonis and the bathhouse too was sold. Apparently, they owned about 6 properties in a row on Sansom St.

I haven't been there since 2000, but it became a homeless drugged out cesspool. I fucked soooo many men there b4 it became a cesspole.

R23, southern Maine is very liberal - the State approved gay marriage at the voting booth, which never should happen. Fortunately, that went in our favor. Winters have been very moderate the past few years. I didn't even have a plow contractor for last winter and never needed it.

4x4 r50?

Philadelphians are assholes. They have the same cocky attitude as NYC'ers but they live in Filthadelphia. I mean gimme a fucking break.

Knock was better when it was Sukkothai

Philadelphia has some of the most beautiful residential architecture in the country. The Main Line, Chestnut Hill, Society Hill, Solebury Townshio are all just gorgeous.

This is a good thread.

OP, I’ve thought of trying to do the city/rural thing by having a studio or 1 br mostly f/t city residence and partially financing the rural property by Airbnb-ing it. Then, presumably, eventually retire to the rural residence.

I don’t want to overextend myself so I don’t want to count on Airbnb income as part of the equation. But it doesn’t make sense to ignore the possibility when trying to evaluate relative value.

The uncertainly about how many days I’ll be able to work from home in the future also makes it very hard to draw any conclusions.

Do I want a place close enough that I could conceivably commute into the city 2 days a week if I eventually give up the city place? What if I got a hotel room one night a week?

Does going more rural as I get older make more or less sense?

Will it get harder to integrate into a community as I get older?

Being single makes it harder to make a choice, too. There is no intersection of priorities that helps narrow it down and there are lots of places that would be fun with a great companion but potentially isolating and depressing if I got lonely.

I hadn’t thought about Pennsylvania, but maybe I should. Exploring it more would be fun, regardless.

First, DON'T MOVE HERE! We don't want your kind.

Second, if you do move here and want to avoid the ruinous wage tax, you can live just outside the city limits and get into Philly very easily.

Third, why the fuck is no one talking about Manayunk? It's one of Philly's best neighborhoods - just don't live right on the river which is prone to flooding.

OP get your place in Phil then you can start exploring the many different areas of the state within 2 to 3 hours that are great for summer homes with varying degrees of rural and artsiness. I like Susquehanna, Pike, Wayne, Wyoming and Lehigh Counties. If you're triggered by a Trump flag stay in Phil. They're still half of the state. We have learned to peacefully coexist for the most part. We are all Pennsylvanianz. You can also just summer at one of the 3 gay campgrounds.

R53, that was decades ago

[quote] It's one of Philly's best neighborhoods - just don't live right on the river which is prone to flooding.

Probably haven’t mentioned it as it sucks. It’s isolated and cramped, the only part of the city that isn’t flat, so it is picturesque but hard to get around. Main Street was happening, but like being the great recession. Don’t move to Manayunk

Philadelphia is great. If you’re from Buffalo.

Philly has all the bad things about NYC and none of the good ones.

As you read these comments, please remember that DL pretty much hates everywhere. Too hot, too cold, too expensive, high taxes, no culture, rednecks, insular …

You’ll never get this place to agree on anywhere to move.

Manayunk is great in many ways, Philly Snoop. As you said, it’s picturesque and close to a lot of things. The restaurant scene is great and you can basically walk to Main Street. The parking though is a nightmare, and the streets are two-way even though they only fit one car, so before you turn into a street you have to make sure a car isn’t coming at you.

It has a lot of charm, I have friends that live there, and I always enjoy visiting them.

Do they still have that awful Mummers Parade?

I have friends who built a house in Woodstock (they moved in last year for their kids to attend the Rock Academy during the summer). They also live in Accord and Manhattan during the winter (for school again), and they told me that the long time residents have gotten very conservative and less music oriented/supporting than its reputation. Plus, it's filled with tourists on any given day. But it is a very beautiful area.

[Quote] Are you the power of attorney for her medical decisions?

It’s called attorney in fact, by the way. The power of attorney is the instrument that gives you the power.

r64, yup, and it's still awful, but it is our awful and we love it

"Probably haven’t mentioned it as it sucks. .... [Manayunk is] the only part of the city that isn’t flat"

This is why people hate Manayunk: it isn't flat and accessible to the fattos who want to hop off Septa and have a 0 degree incline walk to their apartment building with an elevator. This is also partly what makes Manayunk great.

Also, "the only part of the city that isn't flat"? Lol

Roxbourough ? you really want to live there? and fuck, yeah. Philly is voted year after year the best walkable city in the US, so fuck Manayunk hard in it's 45 degree include ass.

Who said I liked Roxborough? I said that Manayunk is not the only hilly part of Philly.

And you need to get your ass to Fairmount - they're short hills for your cardio.

indeed, but nothing like Manayunk

In Pennsylvania all seems to breathe freedom and peace and to make one forget the world and its sad turmoils.

PA is indeed beautiful

I used to spend quite a lot of time in and around Philly, for work. Haven't been there since 2007. The city has some really beautiful areas. But the one overriding thing I found about Philly was that in general the people were some of the meanest, most low class people I had ever been subjected to in my life. Of course there were exceptions, but the nasty ones seemed to bury the nice ones. So many people who just seemed to revel in being trashy hate filled assholes.

To R70, you forgot the "Hills in East Falls& Wissahickon"

They barely have hills in Fairmount, only hills I remember are in Fairmount Park.

Roxborough is above Manayunk, mostly flat. I was just in Manayunk& Roxborough, East Falls yesterday showing the BF where I grew up. Shaun found it "interesting".

R74? You forgot to add "with attitude for [italic]days[/italic]."

R74: “the one overriding thing I found about Philly was that in general the people were some of the meanest, most low class people I had ever been subjected to in my life.”

It’s not us. It’s you.

I agree

Philly is beautiful today. The pool is at 84 degrees and no humidity and tons of sun.

I love it

New Hope or Lambertville for world-class, vicious old queens. The antique mall variety.

The funny thing about the way OP asked her question is that Philadelphia and its surroundings are really unlike the majority of PA.

This is true. It’s the flattest part of the state, which by and large is very mountainous

[quote] despite the EDs and meds brand

What?

The trouble with "retiring to the country" is that it's often carbound, so consider the need to move to a retirement community if you're going to live there.

Generations of people who went to Philly for work and school hated it and couldn't wait to leave because it was so insular. That seems less true in the last generation. People I know who move there now tend to stay. Similarly, y past experience with Philadelphians was that they were the most ass hole-ish of east coasters. I wouldn't say that any more.

Philly is "insular" in a way, parochial is what I would say, but it is super close to a bunch of other places, which makes it very livable

Education and medicine, R84. That's how the city promotes itself due to the large number of universities and high quality healthcare.

What's unstated in that is the relative lack of well-paying private sector jobs.

Yes, there are no well-paying private sector jobs. Best that you should look in Baltimore.

R88: LOL.

Yes, it's true, Baltimore is also a shithole. Best head to NYC or DC if you have even a modicum of ambition.

if you're older though you might not "have a modicum of ambition" you simply might not care

"Best head to NYC or DC if you have even a modicum of ambition"

Well if you a have a modicum, sure. New York will suffice.

But the truly ambitious are international: London! Tokyo! Beijing!

But again, parochialism is an acceptable choice for those who will settle for NY or DC.

Places can be parochial, but ultimately accepting. Chicago is like that--once you're in, you're in and people won't treat you as an outsider. Historically, Philly was not like that.

No. .

Philly is a "city of neighborhoods" or at least it was, kind of like Chicago used to be.

It still most definitely is, possibly even more so now

Rural PA gives me a MAGA vibe. And the Amish are going nuts from inbreeding.

Not the South Philly I saw last Saturday night near Girard estates, plus the surrounding area.

Do you know how to read, OP? If so, you'll be in the minority when you move to Philly!

"the Amish are going nuts from inbreeding"

You don't know what you're talking about. The Amish are all over the Philly area now in construction jobs. They are built like fucking walls and the gays slobber all over them (well, the suburban gays do).

What can anyone tell me about where my cousins live in PA? Phoenixville, Audubon, Pottstown, Bridgeport, and Schwenksville.

I've been to Philadelphia a few times and liked it, but it does have a funky urban vibe. Loved Brynn Mawr.

In Pennsylvania, all seemed to breathe freedom and peace, and to make one forget the world and its sad turmoils.

It's Bryn. Bryn Mawr.

OP, fair warning, Philly is now solidly a millennial town

[quote]Phoenixville, Audubon, Pottstown, Bridgeport, and Schwenksville.

Solidly exburbia - and they swung the presidential election last time around. People with lots of dogs and lots of kids like it out there, there are real, historic towns out there but a lot of it is very wooded and isolated in comparison to the concrete jungles of philly and close by suburbs

OP what do you picture your day to day life in the country being like? A lot of people who haven't done it before can't take it. I think you're looking more for a small town like Jim Thorpe or Tunkhannovk or Milford. They occassionally have drag shows and play some gay art films at the local theatre from time to time.

R106, you’re talking about areas that are MAGA central. They’re pretty for sure, but your neighbors? Nope.

Holy shit! Tunkhannock entered the chat!

Where are the best places to visit as a tourist? Outside of the larger towns, I mean. Where are good lakes, mountainous areas and historical towns to visit? Any part of Lake Erie worth seeing?

Cherry Springs State Park - one of the few places in PA with a sufficiently dark sky to see the Milky Way

[quote] Not the South Philly I saw last Saturday night near Girard estates, plus the surrounding area.

What did you see?

[quote] Any part of Lake Erie worth seeing?

Erie the town has a spotty reputation, and some parts of it sure ain't pretty. But Presque Isle alone is worth a visit. It's a peninsula that stretches for miles out into the water of Lake Erie. Several beaches (including a predominantly gay one) and many areas to walk, hike and bike.

The downtown area near the water (and the bay) has had a renaissance, with a few new hotels, and there's also North East, which is between Erie and the NY state border - an area with lots of wineries.

Go a bit farther north and there's also Chatauqua in NY - a beautiful community with arts, concerts, etc. on a great campus.

I lived in Mt. Airy years ago. I loved it and miss it.

Mt Airy is half upscale Lesbian& the other half De La Ghetto!!

Sort of - lots of type live there.

CHeck out Media, PA:

Intercourse Pennsylvania is where most of the porn in the state is filmed.

I love Milford and Jim Thorpe

Media is super sweet, the area around it endless suburban strip malls.

Jim Thorpe is worth the trip, but to live there feels a bit too far off the grid for me

Media is super sweet, the area around it endless DELCO

Media is a nice town. Great restaurants. Close to Philly (either by car or commuter train) but Delaware County does have endless suburban strip malls. Its my hometown area. I prefer Doyleston, PA to Media. Similar vibe, calls a county capitol with courthouse, nice architecture, decent restaurants but the surrounding countryside in Bucks County has pastoral scenery and lots of gays.

^ sorry that should be also a county capital

Media has TRADER JOE’S and the TOWNE HOUSE*

Any love for Chadd’s Ford?

Chadd’s BMW? Yes.

Chadd’s Ford? No.

Once upon a time, New Hope was a great place. Where once there were at least 3 large gay bars, there are now none.

Now, it's been taken over by straight people driving around in their mammoth SUV's, overrun with rude, ignorant entitled haus frauen lunching and shopping while the old man is toiling away on Wall Street in Manhattan, or worse yet, yuppie couples where both husband and wife are each making 500K a year working at the nearby pharmaceutical companies located in central Jersey.

I agree, not pleasant like it once was

R123, I thought the Towne House closed years ago.

R121, I’m originally from Delco too. Was there this summer; all of a sudden there’s a Delco pride thing happening… who knew?

r128, it did

The Towne House reopened with that formerly cavernous space replaced with 5 distinct but integrated restaurants/spaces.

It doesn't have the decayed elegance that the old Towne House did - that sense that you were sitting in the "fancy" step up from Shoneys.

But it's good in some respects and great in others.

and it looked busy there tonight with overflow from dining under the stars

R131, I guess that means that Santa is no longer on the roof.

It seems like there is a little Delco group here. Interesting that there is a Delco Pride thing happening, [ R 129 ]. My mother settled in a town house in Brookhaven (not to be confused with THE Towne House of Media) for her final years and I've seen a few Pride flags displayed in her community. My 25th high school reunion was held at the old cavernous Towne House. As a kid, I thought that restaurant was the epitome of sophistication.

What can we expect to eat in Pennsylvania? What should we stay away from?

Eat Shapiro’s ass

Stay away from Rendell’s ass

R134, big gay friends live in Brookhaven. They fly a flag.

R135, all of that heavy Amish food

Shapiro is the new and improved "Fast Eddie" Rendell!!

The Lehigh Valley, particularly Bethlehem, is a great place to live!

First of all, you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a medical facility! I am within 5-10 miles of four major hospitals, never mind Urgent Cares and sundry consortia!

More later. Dentist soon!

To R140...you are absolutely fucking correct!!

My Wharton buddy& my 1st cousin moved up to the Lehigh Valley in the late1980's after 2 years after graduating med school& working at Penn Hospital. Both are now multi-millionaires Dr's. The entire area exploded in population& jobs in the last 15 years.

Up in the Poconos too. The Hospitals& the medical field has expanded extremely fast; become very good& very profitable.

I'm baaaack (r140)!

I hope this gives you some information you're seeking!

OP, why not NY, a ways from Manhattan?

You’d get everything you’re looking for, plus accessing the city whenever you wanted.

Philky is fabulous, but it does live in the shadow of NYC.

Philthy, you mean.

[ R140 ] Lehigh Valley is great for all things medical. I moved from PA to Frenchtown ,NJ but stayed with my health network (St. Luke's). Both St.Luke and Lehigh Valley Hospital are well rated nationally. No complaints about the health care. Lehigh Valley is a fairly easy commute into NYC as well.