Anyone have an opinion on State College, PA?

I'm from the Chicago suburbs originally. I went to Penn State for undergrad and lived in State College for 4-5 years.

I really enjoyed it, but my experience at the time had only been living in flat, boring, midwestern suburbia. So State College seemed pretty awesome at the time. The mountains, the east coast attitude of some of the students, the girls!

I'm not sure what the experience would be like for a non-student.

Give it a shot. The place really has a lot of potential.

don't go. You'll die there from depression. It sucks.

According to a "This American Life" profile (an interesting listen, BTW), you'll have to deal with the good and bad of PSU being a party school:

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/396/1-party-school

Residents/students/alums, is it as bad as this radio program points it out to be?

If you go, have a Natty Light for me!

It's a nice town and relatively inexpensive. There are alot of people your age and a pretty good running scene. One of the running clubs you could look into is Nittany Valley Running Club

Central PA is beautiful and you will find there are a lot of nice state parks within 25-50 miles and some rails to trails. Keep in mind the winters are fairly long.

If you like changing seasons, hills and mountains, small town feel, college sports/atmosphere, it's not a bad place to live.

Who can stand that cold weather ?

I lived there for almost three years and really liked it, but I'm not a big city sort of person and if you are you might be a bit bored though you might not. I also really enjoy college towns and can entertain myself hanging out in libraries and bookstores. There is no shortage of bars. There are good places to run and good people to run with.

The "party school" aspect never seemed much different then it did at CU or the U of Maryland, two other big schools I lived near to. The surroundings are beautiful and if you're into outdoor things it's a great place. Cost of living is reasonable. Traffic on football Saturdays is a pain but that's seven days a year. Winters can be nasty but I just did all my runs on campus until the snow cleared. The roads and sidewalks on campus were always cleared very quickly.

There's no life forms north of Santa Barbara nor east of Las Vegas.

I went to school there (graduated in 05), close to year round because I stayed up there most summers. It's a nice town. Like a lot of people have said, it's obviously a big party school, but I'm not really into that whole scene, and I still liked my time there. It's definitely pretty cheap, and there's a solid amount of good restaurants and bars, both for the party crowd and those looking for something else. Plenty of cool little stores and shops, especially considering the downtown really isn't that big. The campus is nice, and from what I've seen since I've been back recently, continually getting bigger and nicer. Recently my fiance and I have given a little thought to moving back to the area, although that's still up in the air.

The weather does kinda suck, so it'll be a huge change from Arizona for you. It's also a solid three hours to Philly, so you definitely have to drive a bit to get some big city feel. Outside of SC, there's a whole lot of nothing. It's beautiful, and there are plenty of nice natural areas, if you're looking for anything resembling "culture," central PA is a wasteland.

i've been there twice, both for races. borough itself is pretty cool. lots of the psu campus are nice. I think I remember reading a thread about "best places to run in the U.S." and somebody mentioned state college....

Also, if you have any other questions, I can try to help.

Yeah the running in the area is very, very nice. Let me know if you needs some suggestions for running routes after moving there. My personal favorite was always Deer Pens. Not sure if it's still undeveloped. Go there in the winter and it looks like Superman's crystal palace. All the sprinkler water freezes in crazy formations. It's gnarly.

As someone who has lived in the region most of my life I agree with what the other posters point out.

1. great, small town with bars and some niche shops restaurants, but these are few and

2. You are in the middle of PA and thus in the middle of nowhere.

You're an hour and a half to Harrisburg, which sucks.

You're double that to Philly or Pittsburgh.

And as the new wrestling coach even pointed out it would be nice to have a mall. The only thing besides downtown is some strip malls.

Go visit before you move and spend a weekend or week there, right now, because it's winter and you should get a feel for the town, especially at its' harshest.

There is a mall, but it's a ways from town. A few miles, that is.

N Atherton Rd has the big boxes.

I was a student there until 2002 and cannot imagine living there permanently. Just imagine a small pseudo-city that is essentially run by 40,000 idiotic kids, surrounded by nothing but farmland and appliance scrapyards. That is State College.

It is a beautiful rural area - but nothing but a college town in the middle of the countryside.

The nearest city, Harrisburg, is 90 minutes away - and Harrisburg is similar to Scranton, but without the mafia and only half of the corruption.

Brumby Gully wrote:

There is a mall, but it's a ways from town. A few miles, that is.

N Atherton Rd has the big boxes.

True. And to be honest, as much as Altoona sucks, that mall there is huge and it's less than an hour away. If a mall is that guy's biggest concern, it's not terrible.

State College has some + and - factors for running.

+ There are lots of trails (google Rothrock State Forest).

- there are a LOT of deer hunters (hunting season lasts a few months in the late fall)

- deer flies awful in July/August

+ it is never as hot as Phoenix

- it is often 90F and 90% humidity in July/August

- it is often 32 F during the day. 32F = slush. something you've never experienced in Az.

slush sucks. freezing rain: as an AZ driver, you will have a car wreck in year 1. don't buy a new car with your first paycheck. get a Suburu beater with airbags.

+ awesome fall foliage

- very grey in winter, all the leaves fall off

+ several tracks to choose from

- not sure if they are still open to the public.

If you are 21, then there are lots of single, drunk, horny people your age.

since you are 25, then you better like to date grad students.

past is a suny or a rutgers but in PA. typical open enrollment. not crowded. easy classes. plenty time to have fun in town.

My finance's parents live there and we visit several times a year. I like the small town feel it has. If you ever get in any legal trouble I have just the person to talk to.