This article explores some of the best places to live in Pennsylvania in 2022 for new job opportunities and low cost of living would be (in no particular order). If you are looking to move from New York City or New Jersey to Pennsylvania, check out the below.
Altoona, PA
Altoona, Pennsylvania is very close to Pennsylvania State University. Despite its small population, it has a very good quality of life. It has easy access to the Appalachian Trail which runs through Pennsylvania and New York state. Accessibility is great because the city has four exits on Interstate 80/Pennsylvania Turnpike. There are also several public parks like Hillcrest Park with Memorial Waterfall. Landmarks include the Horseshoe Curve National Historic Landmark, Lily Lake, and Pennsylvania State University-Altoona.
Erie, PA
Erie, Pennsylvania is known for its water sports because of Presque Isle Bay which it shares with nearby Millcreek Township. It has several public parks like Frontier Park which has the replica tall ship Rickonia, an amphitheater, a playground, pavilions, picnic tables, and grills. Within the Erie city limits are 12 public swimming pools including Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy’s pool. The Bertch Memorial Ice Arena has public ice skating as well as hockey leagues for all ages. Other landmarks include Perry Square, Erie Maritime Museum (located on the bay), John Hill House – home of American portrait artist Charles Willson Peale.
Johnstown, PA
Johnstown is Pennsylvania’s steel-making capital. Many of the old rolling mill buildings have been turned into shops and restaurants in Pennsylvania. The city is home to several landmarks including the Johnstown Inclined Plane, Cambria Iron Company-American Sheet, and Tin Plate Company Complex, Pennsylvania Flood Museum, Pennsylvania Railroad Station, Pennsylvania Canal Boatlift No. 5, Floodwood Covered Bridge, Soho Site – Archaeological Site from 1800’s Johnstown Flood National Memorial (see picture), Gautier Steel Warehouse, Eclipse Mill Historic Landmark Building Complex, etc.
Kittanning, PA
Kittanning is known for its boat tours of Armstrong County on Pennsylvania Route 66. Other than that it has three public parks like Friendship Park with playgrounds and picnic tables under an expansive shade tree canopy along the banks of the Allegheny River. There are several public swimming pools in Pennsylvania. Also within Pennsylvania is Pennsylvania’s Caverns-largest dry cavern in Pennsylvania. Outdoor landmarks include Armstrong County Courthouse (see picture), Kittanning Historic District, Isaac Holstein House, Pennsylvania Route 66, Pennsylvania Route 28, etc.
Monroeville, PA
Monroeville is home to the state’s largest living history museum complex outside of Harrisburg which includes Old Economy Village and Pioneer Hearth Living Historical Farm (see picture). It has several other landmarks like Forbes Field (home of Pittsburgh Pirates before Three Rivers Stadium; demolished in 1971; see picture), Monroeville Mall Shopping Center (one of the first enclosed shopping malls in Pennsylvania; opened on March 14, 1969), Pennsylvania Route 48, Pennsylvania Route 982, Pennsylvania Route 22/U.S. Route 422 Business (see picture), etc.
Moosic, PA
Moosic is one of the smallest municipalities in Pennsylvania with a population of fewer than 10,000 people but it has great educational facilities as well as job opportunities and low cost of living for those moving out of Pennsylvania or New York City or Philadelphia. It has three public parks like Kiwanis Park which features picnic tables and grills under an expansive shade tree canopy along the banks of Lackawanna River. Other landmarks include Pennsylvania Power and Light-Lackawanna Steam Generating Station (which has a visitor’s center on the first floor where local history is displayed; see picture).
Mount Plesant, PA
Mount Pleasant Township is Pennsylvania’s only township that has a contiguous border with another state (Maryland). It also has Pennsylvania’s longest stretch of Pennsylvania Turnpike (58.7 miles). Pennsylvania Route 743 ends at Pennsylvania Route 997 in Washington Boro which itself is home to many historic structures like Tradesmens Union Hall and Lodge No. 676, Trinity Memorial Episcopal Church (see picture), Christ Memorial Lutheran Church (founded by German immigrants in the 19th century; see picture), etc.
Pennsylvania is known for its mountains and gorges such as McConnells Mill State Park along Slippery Rock Creek Gorge where there are three waterfalls, hiking trails, picnic areas under expansive shade trees, an extensive network of biking trails, etc.
Philadelphia, PA
Philadelphia is Pennsylvania’s largest city with a population of more than 1.5 million people (2012 estimate). It has several landmarks like Independence Hall (site of the United States’ Constitutional Convention in 1787; see picture), Liberty Bell (see picture), Ben Franklin House, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Rodin Museum, Betsy Ross House, Pennsylvania Hospital (one of America’s first hospitals established in 1751 by Benjamin Franklin and others; it had opened at its present location on 8th & Pine Streets in Center City Philadelphia in 1855 but moved to its current site along Pennsylvania Avenue near Washington Avenue in 1877 due to lack of space), Eastern State Penitentiary (opened on October 25, 1829; oldest operating penitentiary in Pennsylvania), Pennsylvania Convention Center (opened on November 12, 1993), etc.
Philadelphia is Pennsylvania’s primary economic center with several Fortune 500 companies calling it their headquarters like Comcast (see picture), Aramark, Crown Holdings Inc., Urban Outfitters Incorporated, GlaxoSmithKline, etc.
Pittsburgh, PA
Pittsburgh (“The Steel City”) is Pennsylvania’s second-largest city with a population of more than 2.4 million people (2013 estimate). It has several landmarks like PPG Place (world’s first green skyscraper; opened on August 3, 1981) and One PNC Plaza (see picture), University of Pittsburgh Medical Center-Shadyside Hospital Campus, and UPMC Mercy Hospital, Hillman Center for Pediatric Transplantation (see picture), etc.
Pittsburgh is Pennsylvania’s major industrial and commercial center with several Fortune 500 companies calling it their headquarters including PNC Financial Services, H.J. Heinz Company, CONSOL Energy Inc., Highmark Inc., Federated Investors, etc.
Pennsylvania has several landmarks like Hersheypark (opened on May 30, 1906; one of America’s oldest amusement parks; see picture), Pennsylvania Trolley Museum (see picture; operational trolleys from 19 different Pennsylvania cities displayed there as well as a New Orleans streetcar and San Francisco cable car), Pennsylvania Turnpike-Signature Series Rest Area (features a 1938 Sunoco station that was relocated to the site), Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission Maintenance Facility (transportation hub along Pennsylvania’s 1,500-mile “Main Line of Mid-America”; also see picture), etc.
Millcreek Township, PA
Millcreek Township is Pennsylvania’s third-largest township with a population of over 85,000 people (2013 estimate). There are several landmarks here like Millcreek Mall, Perry Square Historic District, Airview Golf Course, Independence Seaport Museum at the Docks on Penn’s Landing (see picture), Frank Curto Park, Jordan Park Pool & Sprayground, Lafayette Street Playground & Sprayground, Pennsylvania Power and Light Building (largest office building in Pennsylvania outside of Philadelphia; opened in 1963), US Airways Corporate Headquarters Building (opened in 1991 with a height of 848 feet; Pennsylvania’s tallest building on the 30th floor), etc.
Pennsylvania is also home to many colleges and universities like Pennsylvania State University (over 40,000 students enrolled there in 2012), Temple University, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Pennsylvania College of Art & Design, Pennsylvania College of Technology (largest technological college in Pennsylvania), Community College of Philadelphia, etc.
Media giant AOL. was established here by Steve Case in the 1990s with an early focus on the online service Prodigy which he had built up before forming what became Aol.; today it has over 25 offices worldwide including its main headquarters at 22000 AOL Way just outside Dulles Airport in Dulles, Virginia since 2009 after having moved from New York City that year. Pennsylvania is Pennsylvania’s major industrial and commercial center with several Fortune 500 companies calling it their headquarters including Baker Hughes Incorporated, Crown Holdings Inc., Comcast Corporation, United States Steel Corporation, PNC Financial Services Group, HJ Heinz Company, Urban Outfitters Incorporated, etc. Pennsylvania has several landmarks like Hersheypark (opened on May 30, 1906; one of America’s oldest amusement parks; see picture), Pennsylvania Trolley Museum (see picture; operational trolleys from 19 different Pennsylvania cities displayed there as well as a New Orleans streetcar and San Francisco cable car), Pennsylvania Turnpike-Signature Series Rest Area (features a 1938 Sunoco station that was relocated to site), Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission Maintenance Facility (transportation hub along Pennsylvania’s 1,500-mile “Main Line of Mid-America”; also see picture), etc. Pennsylvania is also home to many colleges and universities like Pennsylvania State University (over 40,000 students enrolled there in 2012), Temple University, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Pennsylvania College of Art & Design, Pennsylvania College of Technology (largest technological college in Pennsylvania), Community College of Philadelphia, etc.