State College, Pennsylvania

Sunny_987
1y ago
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The positives:

SCASD is really really good! I wouldn’t consider other surrounding school districts. Definitely try to buy in SCASD.

I also love that State College is low crime. It’s so safe here!

Lots of sporting events and outdoorsy things to do if that’s your thing.

There’s also lots of concerts and theater performances and cool events like First Night and Arts Fest.

Despite being a medium-sized town there’s plenty to do and some areas have a dense suburban feel and are very walkable and bike friendly. Like in neighborhoods near downtown state college, as well as Overlook Heights and parts of Park Forest.

For you, the winters will likely be milder compared to what you were used to and you’ll save on your heating expenses.

Penn State (the main employer) has a lot of hybrid jobs. Even if a job isn’t advertised as hybrid, there are often opportunities to negotiate that later on. After COVID, people really liked the flexibility and it just kind of stuck. Pretty much every person in an office job (that I know of) is hybrid.

You’ll meet lots of very educated and interesting people! People tend to be very career and education-oriented here. Hence why many families wants their kids to go to SCASD.

Lazy-Quantity5760
1y ago
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Born and raised. 3rd generation to graduate state high. My family owns and runs a local business that has been around since 1935.

I’ve lived in NYC and Philadelphia for comparison sake, and here’s my take (I’m a 40f no children no longer live there, and my brother is 35m, married, no kids and lives there.)

It is a GREAT place to raise kids if you have enough income to justify housing cost in scasd district. Also, if you live in center county and apply to Penn state for college, you are most likely guaranteed admission to university park campus as university park is the “satellite” for your county. This is important as the rest of Pennsylvania residents who may qualify to admit to psu but not the best student will have to go to a real satellite for 2 years like Berks, Erie, or Altoona. 400 of my 600 graduating class admitted to Penn state main campus from scasd. This is a huge leg up for many.

If you’ve got kids, you’ll have no problem finding tons of activities and a community.

Food wise, the restaurant scene is much better than it was when I grew up there, but it’s nothing compared to Philadelphia or a city. You get used to it, and there’s new restaurants popping you daily.

RuralEnceladusian
6mo ago
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You mention two kids under 12, and I will say that this is a great town for kids. There are a ton of free or low cost things for kids to do -- Maple Harvest Festival at Shaver's Creek, programs at Discovery Space and the Rivet, free programs through our Parks & Rec run by students from different academic programs, great half-day programs at the high school, activity-focused programs run by WPSU/PBS on weekend days, lots of athletic teams and club sports, multiple community pools, lots of stuff going on at Schlow library and Centre County library like nerf gun nights and trivia contests, trick or treat night at Beaver stadium with the PSU athletes, and honestly a lot more. My middle-school aged kid thinks this town is kid utopia.

We do travel for live music (I took him to his first show at Heinz Field last summer), and it's not too bad to go to Pittsburgh for a day, Harrisburg for a day, or DC for a weekend if you want stuff that's not here.

What is it like to live in State College, PA?
Plusses and minuses. I often try and imagine what State College would be without the “College”. My guess is a very sleepy small town. The university drives this region, my guess is certainly at least the nearest 50 miles and certainly contributes to the state itself.

There are many locally owned shops and restaurants (on top of a ton of national brands) that in no way could exist there without the money the university brings in with the student base. I

If you live away from Beaver and College (the two main streets that pass through town), you get the benefit of all that extra money brings in without having to deal with all that comes with multiple thousands of students. We have many stellar grocery chains (Wegmans, Trader Joes, Giant, Weis, a local food coop and many farmer’s markets), a ton of restaurants, a zillion banks it seems, 2 large movie theaters, however a dying mall oddly enough.

A great plus (nothing to do with Penn State) is the nearby parks of Rothrock, Black Moshannon, Bald Eagle, Poe Paddy, etc. It’s a very beautiful part of the state!!

Honestly if it wasn’t that I’d married my wife and moved here as my step kids were already in school, I would NOT have moved here. So many places in the US I’ve either lived in (Boulder, CO) or wanted to live in (Oregon, Washington, Adirondacks) that I would’ve moved or stayed instead.