So I actually did what you are thinking about doing last year. (Moved from Tempe to Erie.)

There are more than ten places in PA, first of all. I'd be curious about where you're considering. My guess is you either watched Briggs or Nick Johnson. While some of their points aren't wrong, you might not want to base your first impressions of PA off of a couple of jagoffs on the internet.

Yes, you might see an occasional dilapidated building, depending on where you go. Erie has quite a few compared to Tempe. However, my cost of living is substantially lower here and I don't think the crime is any worse here than what I saw in Tempe.

People in Erie for the most part are pretty decent, from what I've seen. You'll get the odd turd in the punch bowl anywhere you'd go. They're not any worse or more prevalent here.

Advice: Visit the area where you're looking to move for a few days in winter, especially if you're from the valley or (ugh) Tucson. See if you can handle colder weather and get a feel for whether this is a place for you.

It depends heavily on the area. It definitely has a rust belt charm to it.

Safe, legal access to medical marijuana is one of the best things about PA.

Most of PA is very appealing to people who enjoy nature. Lots of opportunities for camping, hiking, rock climbing, kayaking, hunting, and other outdoor adventures.

I think one of the coolest things about PA is just the number of trees Pittsburgh has, it sounds silly but it's a very green city.

Your first problem was watching YouTube

Regardless of where you're moving, you should take full advantage of our state parks. Absolutely beautiful.

I moved from Cochise County to Philadelphia last year. Like others have said, the answers depend a lot on where exactly you're coming from and where exactly you're going. I'm happy to answer questions if my areas are near yours.

The weather will definitely be different wherever you are. Unless you're leaving Flagstaff it will be colder and wetter in the Winter. Summers are less hot but more humid.

In my experience in Philly people are more gruff/less "nice", but much more genuinely kind than Arizona or California where I grew up. YMMV in other parts of the state.

This area is much more culturally and religiously diverse than anywhere I've lived, except possibly L.A. the Philly schools for instance recognize Christian, Jewish, and Islamic holidays.

I have lived in eastern PA my whole life and love it. The Lehigh valley in particular.

Your an hour from Philly. 90 minutes to NYC. 90 minutes to a beach. 30 minutes to hiking in the mountains.

We get 4 distinct season

Generally the people are nice. Crime is probably below unless your in the wrong part of town.

Biggest downside to my area is the traffic. This area has exploded as a logistics center in the last decade and the infrastructure can’t keep up

I like it because I'm not very far from a lot of places.

The climate is nice and so is the lake.

I like not having to waste an hour of my day stuck in traffic.

Love the low cost of living.

Fall is amazing!

We have some of the best breweries in the country (just my opinion).

We're a very historical state.

Just some of my reasons.

Unless you're looking for mountains or deserts you'll find it in PA. A major city like Philadelphia, a smaller one like Pittsburgh, down to tiny towns in the middle of nowhere. Forests, hills, valleys, farms, pavement and concrete. Wealth and poverty. Some of the most extreme people on the political spectrum and many of us somewhere in between.

Would a minority be accepted in PA? Racism is everywhere but I think the greater the minority population the greater the chance that would happen. Would you be accepted in rural PA? My hunch is you would get a polite reception but dating their daughter might be a problem.

We live in Bucks county NE of Philadelphia. High cost of living, high housing costs, low crime (drug use and burglaries). Easy access to Philadelphia and NYC isn't much farther away. NJ beaches and Poconos about an hour drive away. Very wooded. Delaware River Valley is beautiful. Great place to bike. I enjoy living here, but housing prices have exploded so you'll need a good income if you're moving here.

Good luck with your search!

what part are you thinking of moving to?

Well itd be silly to watch a video on the 10 worst places and judge the state by those places. Why not watch 10 best places in pa. Find out what towns u are considering moving to and explore them on google earth to see what they generally look like

As a transplant from Ohio, I love Pennsylvania. Moving here was probably the best thing I could've done for my kids. I heartily recommend the Pittsburgh or NE PA area if you have freedom to choose where you go.

I just moved to PA from VA last year. My family and I have absolutely loved it. PA has so much natural beauty and things to do. I have found the people to be extremely welcoming and I have never felt unsafe. As for minorities, I have a trans child and she has been completely accepted and welcome here.

PA is very regionalized so all of that varies, in terms of dilapidated buildings that depends on where, in my experience living in Central and NWPA there are some, but that's not necessarily a sign of rot, just like a lot of Rust Belt + Appalachian areas it has seen population decline over the last few decades. Great if you love nature and history. I wouldn't describe it as a bad place to live, but I honestly don't think you'll learn much from some random YT video. A lot of the cities(and even some rural areas) have quite a bit of diversity, most people in Erie are proud of our city hosting a large population of Middle Eastern refugees.

It has its ups and downs. One area will be beautiful, with lots of stuff to do and wonderful friendly people. Travel 2 miles down the road and you're surround domestic terrorist trash.

I live in Southeast PA, Chester County. I’ve lived here for decades. I really like where I live, that’s a major reason why I haven’t moved.

I live in the exburbs. It’s a rural area but not far from urban areas. There are dairy farms and Amish farms near me but I’m an hour from Philly and Baltimore. I’m two hours from ocean beaches and the mountains and a half hour from the upper Chesapeake Bay.

Crime in the immediate area is very low. Housing costs have gotten expensive because local communities and governments don’t want any more big housing developments unless they are in towns. The towns are nice but not a lot to do if you’re looking for nightlife.

Rural areas and even many suburban areas are full of purse clutchers. Minorities aren't getting lynched or anything, but it could be pretty uncomfortable in some areas to be one. It's fairly safe outside of Philadelphia. Harrisburg, York and Lancaster have issues with crime but they got nothing on Philly. Love the city, but they need to get their shit together. You go to towns in the Coal Region and you will see a lot of decay. Not many jobs and drug use is pretty high (meth and heroin).

For the most part, I love PA. I could do without the far right mouth breathers, but the nature makes up for it. We have an awesome state park system and the state forests are beautiful. I live in central Pa, outside of Harrisburg and it's honestly a really decent area to live and raise a family. Lots to do. Lots of restaurants and shopping. My biggest gripe is the infrastructure. Thousands of single family homes and townhouses going in alongside shopping centers and the existing roads just can't handle it. They are working on it, but road and highway projects take years to complete here. The widening project from Union Deposit to the 81/83 split took a decade to complete and now they are in the planning stages for the next section which could take many more years.

Don’t hate it, good to trans and other lgbtq people.

Same predicament, born /raised in Pa, moving back from Florida soon, looking in the Poconos. Those videos are karma bait. There's a lot to complain about pa, but there's good/bad everywhere.

I live in PA on the border of NY and NJ. Yes there are some dilapidated buildings but that doesn’t seem any more prevalent than other places I have visited. I feel safe in PA. I also love hearing the geese fly in in the spring and leave in the fall. The lakes are beautiful and having an eagle soar above or sit on a stump in the middle of the lake is just plain beautiful.

Oh yes a little over an hour to NYC for the best of broadway and the hustle and bustle of the big city.

We have 4 equal seasons. Snowy winter, flowers galore in spring, hot summers, colorful autumn. There are forests everywhere.

Where I live, there are no dilapidated buildings, but I don’t have to drive far to be in a city with run-down areas. I live in a liberal area. The middle of the state is like Kentucky but it’s a wonderful place to go camping.

All races are welcomed. This is a very populous state so there are racists. We are the first state above the mason Dixon line making this state the first refuge for people fleeing slavery back in the bad old days. We have a large Hispanic population as well.

There are Churches, Mosques, synagogues, Hindu temples and more in my neighborhood. My kids go to public school and have off for the major religious holidays of various religions. Their gender identities and sexual orientations are respected in school.

I live in a rural township 30 minutes from the city of brotherly love. I enjoy fishing, dining out, having BBQs, seeing shows, and chilling maybe smoking a little medical marijuana to relax.

As people said, it really depends on WHAT part of PA you are moving to.. here is my area:

Lehigh Valley - Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton area

Do you see a lot of dilapidated buildings everywhere?

Not everywhere, but usually in our historic districts. Some of our 1700 era houses are just ruins, lol. Any dilapidated building NOT historical, is usually only there because the owner is holding out for millions before allowing it to be demolished and converted into high end condos or stores, etc.. When land value is so high as it is in the Lehigh Valley.. few old buildings are left to rot without good reason.

How safe is it?

As safe as anywhere in the US. Just keep an eye out for 6 year olds with loaded handguns
and you should be safe.

How are people attitudes towards minorities?

In my area, we tend to have a strange way of keeping our racists all living near each other. So we have some racist areas, but that makes the majority of the other areas 100% non-racist. For example, in the Lehigh Valley, one town is a well know racist hotbed (Catasauqua) whereas everywhere else is super accepting of all people.

What do you guys enjoy doing?

Everything and anything. You got the local rivers, lakes, waterfalls, and hiking trails. But you are so close to NYC, Philly, and even Washington DC, that you can do pretty much anything you ever wanted or imagined. Location, Location, Location.

[removed]

[removed]

[deleted]

[removed]

For context: I live in central PA.

Yes, I see a lot of dilapidated buildings everywhere. It's near the coal region. Dilapidated buildings due to the collapse of coal-mining-based-local-economies is definitely a thing. In most of the small towns the main street is just a dead zone with empty storefronts. Some of them are trying to make a comeback though, and clean up. I'd say it's a work in progress in most areas, though. Update your tetanus shot depending on where you end up.

Safety depends on where you're at. Rural areas generally are more safe than large cities. I wouldn't say the crime rate is necessarily any worse than any other major cities in the US though. Most crime I've seen in the local news has been drug related (usually people selling or making meth) or people getting caught with kiddie porn or soliciting sex, although more recently I've seen some gun violence which sucks. Domestic violence/domestic disputes are pretty common to see in the news also.

Attitudes to minorities also vary. Some places are pretty welcoming, and some places are stuck in the 1960s. I live in an area that's sort of in between. I'm white as hell so honestly I can't give you an accurate description of what it's like living in PA as a minority. In terms of religion, however, PA is a pretty solidly Christian state. Some places may have other religious representation that I just haven't seen but here in the middle of the state it's pretty unusual to see anyone who isn't some flavor of Christian. I'm pagan and keep it to myself.

I'm relatively close to Knoebels Amusement Resort, and that's a popular destination for a lot of people during the summer. A lot of people also like to go to the state parks (rickett's glen is pretty popular around me). Camping and hiking are pretty popular, and so is fishing. If you're into it, a lot of people hunt as well. Bar crawling is pretty popular. A lot of fire halls offer bingo and sometimes line dancing (not my jam, but I have coworkers who swear it's fun). In terms of places to go, PA also has a fair number of zoos and museums, and Gettysburg battle field. The eastern part of the state also isn't too far from NYC if you're wanting to see something on Broadway. There's also a couple of casinos.

I'd recommend greater Philly area/Philly itself but I personally am not a fan of the rest of the state culture wise, too many bad encounters outside SEPA

What parts are you talking about? Are you talking about Pittsburgh/Philly OR Pennsyltucky?

It has a wide variety of living situations. I've lived all over pa, and while there are plenty of "bad" places, there are plenty of good. It's impossible to answer without being more specific.

I just moved here a few months ago and I can safely say the roads are fucking garbage. They're not maintained, very patchworked and they're also just setup terribly and weird in a lot of places

Just don’t move to Philly and you will be fine.

It's fucking terrible. Penndot is the worst dot ever. They never actually do their job as far as sending out titles and Reggie's in a timely manner. Took over a year for me to get my title. The roads are something worse than atrocious. I've gone through 3 tires a rim and 4 wheel bearings this year alone. Feels like your car is going to fall apart. Most of eastern pa is filled with NYC and NJ fold that are so bad at driving I seriously reconsider the integrity of our licensing tests. Aside from the horrendous task of driving, the economy is shit here. There's no real industry here besides warehouses again at least on the east coast you'll be lucky to get 20 bucks an hour to work a 12 hour shift for 4 days out of the week and don't get me started on how these places actually run their place of employment. I worked at a Dunkin one time that had a actual junky in charge. It was mind-blowing. The attitude to minorities is a hit or miss. There's a lot of minorities here but there's also a lot of old fashioned folk who are racist and just downright arrogant and stupid. Too many old folk honestly. Especially on the road. Most people are ass hats here. Housing is impossible. I'm currently in the market myself and renting is already out of the picture as it would be cheaper in the long run to get a house. And even still your looking at minimum 200k unless you want something that needs work and has mold as this is a very humid state. Mold is everywhere here. I almost forgot to tell you about the god forsaken salt they throw on the roads when it snows. Say goodbye to your vehicles undercarriage in the first year of living here because it'll rust out so fast your head will spin. If your looking to better your life, PA is not the place. If your looking to run out of money, become homeless, and probably have a crime committed against you, then come on over. We barely have enough room left so get cozy with your neighbors being able to see in your house. It's all fun over here

as long as you don’t live anywhere near that hellhole known as philadelphia or downtown Pittsburg you shouldbe fine TRUST ME I SPEAK FROM EXPERIENCE 😐