<p>DH and I are likely to have an opportunity to relocate to Reading, PA, for a job. I am very torn. Does anyone on CC live in or around Reading? What do you know of the area? What do you think of it? PM me if you’d prefer.</p>
<p>My sister does a lot of work in that area with some schools, so I asked her.
She said you don’t want to live in the actual Reading School District territory but the surrounding districts are good. It is more reasonable than most places closer to Phila. Most areas are pretty with good ability to get around. Good districts are Boyertown, Exeter, Wilson, Governor Mifflin, Muhlenberg. She really likes Berks County.</p>
<p>Sorry to say, my only recognition is from Monopoly and the railroad!</p>
<p>I live in PA (but in the western suburbs of Philadelphia, about 45 minutes from Reading) but I do know a young person who started out teaching in the Reading school district. From what I understand, that school district is quite challenged and not well funded. I believe those who are focused on “good” school districts tend to head more towards the suburban districts such as the Wyomissing Area School District. You can of course get info on school districts online, assuming that is an issue for your family.</p>
<p>I moved to PA from the NYC area and do really like it here, but as I say I am not that near Reading. Where are you moving from?</p>
<p>Moving from Very Affluent, CT. School districts are not an issue. We would not be in Reading proper. The job is in West Reading, very close to Wyomissing.</p>
<p>Keep those comments coming. Thanks.</p>
<p>I live near Reading (Boyertown SD). If school districts are not an issue, I would look in the Wilson School District area or Wyomissing which is a neighbor to Wilson. Wyo is smaller while Wilson is large with 2 junior high schools.</p>
<p>^ (response to #5) Prior to our move to PA we were just over the CT border in NY (in Rye, NY). Previous to that I lived in NYC (Manhattan). You should find house shopping a relative pleasure, thanks to lower prices in the area you would be moving to.</p>
<p>We have friends in Reading. She is from another culture (originally) and finds the lack of diversity in food/culture a bit unexciting. She travels to Philly for Asian food. They say it is pretty quiet out there. But, apparently there is a busline that gets you directly from Reading into NYC quite quickly.</p>
<p>I only know Reading from occasional trip to the outlet centers in the picturesque hills at the edge of the downtown district. Looks as though it would be an interesting place to go on walking tours, and it’s in or close to very pretty parts of the state in terms if weekend road trips and such. </p>
<p>As far as actual relocation goes, I’d emphasize that school districts are always an issue even for people without children because a district perceived as less good will hurt resale value, and you don’t always pay less in property taxes despite the perceived lesser quality. (I don’t know how PA funds it public schools, in any case.)</p>
<p>I lived 2 miles outside of reading for 5 years in the early 80’s. We went back for a visit about 5 years ago - I couldn’t believe how it had deteriorated! Downtown always had its problems (especially the schools) but we still were comfortable going to our two favorite restaurants. Now I wouldn’t dream of it! It is so run down and even scary. Wyomissing, even then, was the place to live.</p>
<p>Yay! A job offer!</p>
<p>I personally would love to live in Reading or that area. I have a college classmate who lives there, and I visited her this past summer. I thought the town was charming. I like small towns. And it isn’t far to Philly for more big city stuff. I drove from Lebanon, PA to Reading along 422 and it was absolutely gorgeous country.</p>
<p>I was surprised by the number of Hispanics I saw in Reading. Used to that here in the south, but out in Amish country it caught me by surprise.</p>
<p>I sent you a PM ;)</p>
<p>Those fantasic outlets downtown are gone. There is a new civic center downtown - the Sovereign Center which is home to the Reading Royals a ECHL hockey team. There are also many concerts and shows. Lots of good eating downtown too.
Reading is also home to the Reading Phillies, AA affiliate of the NL Champs.</p>
<p>The City of Reading itself is very diverse ethnically. The suburbs are (of course) mostly white professionals and there are still quite a few Amish/Mennonite farms. The hispanic population is quite large and has been for years. There are a lot of mushrooms farms and tree nurseries that employ hispanic workers. Lots of Mexican’s, Puerto Rican’s, Dominican’s and Haitian’s.
There is a growing Vietnamese population as well.</p>
<p>Education: 4 Universities in Berks County - Kutztown Univeristy, Albright College, Alvernia College and Penn State Berks. The Reading Area Community College is very good. They have really grown in the past 10-15 years and do a great job retraining workers.<br>
Economically Reading has been losing jobs since the - well forever now. Mid 1990’s many manufacturing firms went out and a lot of unskilled workers who made a decent living lost jobs permanently.</p>
<p>The Reading Hospital and Medical Center is one of the largest in the state and a huge employer. </p>
<p>Public Schools - there are 18 school districts, many Catholic elementary schools and two Catholic High Schools. For a city the school district in Reading is not bad educationally, however, it is inner city with a white minority. The district is undergoing many changes and has magnet schools and is building a school just for 9th grade. In later years the drop out rate at the high school has been about 50% - it is one of the largest hs’s in the state.
The school districts outside Reading are all good. Some better than others but none are really bad. There is a great deal of “competition” between districts and they all have comprehensive athletic and extra curricular programs.</p>
<p>2.5 hours by bus to Manhattan from Kutztown. 1.5 hours to Philly, 2 hours to Baltimore, 3 hours to Washington DC.</p>
<p>Did you know…
Taylor Swift is a native and grew up in Wyomissing? It was front page news when her mom moved her to Nashville when she was 13.
John Updike wrote “Rabbit Run” about his native Shillington?
Kelly McGillis lives in Berks County?
John Mellancamp married a “local girl”?</p>
<p>Reading is the only city where you can attend school from K- college on one street.
13th Street! Albright College even has a special scholarship.</p>
<p>^^^ And John and Kate Plus Eight live there as well!!</p>
<p>Live about an hour away and go to Wyomissing once in a while to visit a client.
Pros:
Traffic doesn’t seem to be heavy compared to Philly.
Cost of living is low. Houses are cheap!
Can drive into Philly for restaurants. Also King of Prussia, one of the biggest malls around is less than an hour away.
Some pretty areas right outside of Reading for hiking and biking. They have a neat rail trail.<br>
Good hospital.
Laid back folks. </p>
<p>Cons:
Town is run-down, and going downhill…very sad.
Not very exciting…you’ll need to drive a while for good restaurants, events, nightlife.
Red-necks…hunting and pick up trucks are big. Might not be a negative depending on your perspective. </p>
<p>I think it’s a reasonable option. Hard to get excited about but reasonable. Low cost of living is a BIG plus these days…and IMO, there are nice people everywhere. You just have to look…</p>
<p>binx: No actual job offer yet, but they were salivating all over me. Their comment: “There isn’t a large pool of candiates to draw from in this area.” I suspect it will be up to me.</p>
<p>As others have said, the downtown area is not that great but the area is pretty. We used to go there to see the Reading Phillies <a href=“Reading Fightin Phils | MiLB.com”>Reading Fightin Phils | MiLB.com; until they moved another farm team here to the Lehigh Valley. I’m about an hour from Reading. There are still some outlets there [VF</a> Outlet Center, Reading, PA](<a href=“http://www.vfoutletcenter.com/]VF”>http://www.vfoutletcenter.com/) My husbands band played there for some sort of gathering about a month ago.</p>
<p>I live about 50 minutes away from Reading and have relatives in both Reading and the suburbs of Reading. If you come from a fairly affluent area of CT I think it will be culture shock for you. I would highly suggest a visit before you get too far along in the interview process. </p>
<p>My parents both grew up in Reading and can’t believe the deterioration that has happened in the last 40 years. I personally would not choose to live there, although I could see doing a short commute for work if the job is a good fit. If you go to a neighboring community there are some wonderful areas to live…I happen to think Chester County is pretty nice (I am biased LOL ) .</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Reading is a place to be from.</p>