Greater Harrisburg's Community Magazine

Stay a Spell: A major publication ranked Harrisburg among the best cities for retirement. We wanted to know why.

Bradley & Faye Gibson at their home

Faye and Bradley Gibson loved raising their children in the Harrisburg area before moving to her native northern Pennsylvania. Then they moved to Florida, which turned out to be too hot.

So, they returned to Harrisburg—Swatara Township, to be precise—and discovered that the region was pretty nice for retirement, too.

“We enjoy going out through the neighborhood when the weather’s better,” said Faye Gibson. “My husband was always a hiker. After he got his knee replacement, he started hiking again. He goes to the Appalachian Trail. He goes hiking everywhere.”

The Gibsons discovered for themselves what U.S. News & World Report calculated for its readers, ranking Harrisburg as No. 2 in “Best Places to Retire in the U.S. in 2022-23.” Second to Lancaster, but still, outranking all those sunny, more traditional retirement spots thanks to its housing affordability, happiness, desirability, retiree taxes, job market and healthcare quality.

Although the U.S. News website’s photos depict city attractions, it’s Harrisburg and its environs that garnered boffo reviews. Riverfront Park, the Appalachian Trail and camping got shout-outs as outdoors highlights. Amish County, Gettysburg and Hersheypark are an easy drive, and “big-city weekend getaways are also there for the taking.”

Actually, I once heard it said that Harrisburg’s civic slogan should be, “Two hours from major cities.” It comes up a lot in conversations about Harrisburg’s advantages for retirees.

“You’re so close to New York City and Washington and Philadelphia and Baltimore,” said Gibson. “We go to Baltimore just for a day trip.”

The region hasn’t been immune to rising real estate prices, but “we are still a really good value,” and its proximity to the cities of the Northeast makes it attractive to retirees, said Ray Davis, Jr., real estate agent with Howard Hanna.

“We’re convenient to New York, where people who want to go to Broadway can make a day trip out of it,” Davis said. “We’re convenient to Baltimore and Washington, D.C., and all these areas. Particularly in Harrisburg, we’re the state capital. ‘Location, location, location’ really factors into our desirable situation as much as anything else.”

In some areas, housing is affordable because other enticements are scarce, but Harrisburg pairs affordability with good quality of life, said Davis. Some of his clients, such as the Gibsons, left the region for sunnier climes but then trekked back.

“We are a destination for some retirees,” Davis said. “They didn’t like Florida, and they realize that life here is pretty good.”

 

Everything & Anything

As for happiness and health, the region’s museums, galleries and robust theater scene spark engagement and connections.

Research finds that learning can help offset dementia, while socialization is “a key to avoiding depression,” said Anastasia Petrovskaya, director of Pathways Institute.

The Messiah Lifeways catalog of courses for the 55-plus crowd uses the region as a classroom, exploring the area’s history, art, culture and nature—everything from equine bonding to introduction to pickleball to canoeing 101 at Gifford Pinchot State Park.

“Learning is what unites people,” Petrovskaya said.

Connections matter for those who move to the area or move to retirement communities, she added. To accommodate those retirees who may still be working or deeply engaged in volunteer work, Pathways Institute is adding more weekend and evening courses.

“Retired people are the most busy people I have met,” Petrovskaya said. “Finally, people have the time to do all the things they always wanted to do.”

In 2013, retired educator Sandy Gilleo moved to Mechanicsburg from Bucks County at the urging of a friend. She experienced some culture shock, missing the wealth of adult learning available back home, before discovering Pathways Institute. Now, she’s a regular, taking “everything from history to religion to crafts to whatever you want,” said Gilleo, who moved pre-pandemic to Carlisle. “That’s what I’m interested in—everything and anything.”

The region has long been known as a top place to live, work, play and raise a family, and now, it’s “Destination Dauphin County” for people of all ages, said Dauphin County Commission Chair Mike Pries.

The Capital Area Greenbelt, local arts and museums, excellent health care and county parks such as Wildwood, Fort Hunter and Detweiler make the area attractive to retirees, he said. Plus, he noted, 18 consecutive years without a county property tax hike doesn’t hurt (and famously, Pennsylvania doesn’t tax pensions).

“We’re viewed as a place where an older person can retire with the confidence that, no matter their economic circumstances, they’ll be stable,” Pries said.

From veterans’ services to the Area Agency on Aging, county officials “connect the dots” to ensure a protective web of services for older adults, Pries added.

“We are in constant communication with the municipalities and the city, discussing with them opportunities for retirees,” he said.

 

All the Trappings

U.S. News weighted healthcare quality heavily, after happiness and housing affordability, in its rankings. Increasingly, local health systems are “age-friendly,” addressing the holistic needs of older adults, with support groups and education addressing mental and physical health, said Dr. Qurat-ul-Ain Mansoora, Geriatric Medicine, Post-Acute Care Clinical Services, UPMC in Central Pa.

“There’s a vast spectrum of needs people develop as they get older,” she said. “A good starting point is to find a very good personal care physician or geriatrician who can anticipate a person’s needs as they get older or even prior to it becoming an absolute necessity.”

The region’s engagement and interaction opportunities play key roles in elderly health because socialization is one of four criteria known to prevent or slow dementia, Mansoora said. The region’s pace of life and outdoors opportunities also amp up its appeal.

“Harrisburg and Lancaster are the perfect big little towns,” she said. “These are big little cities for older adults to live in and have a good social life, to be interactive, and still be close enough to their children or loved ones who are in New Jersey or New York or Maryland. Harrisburg is right along the river with a walking path for great exercise. It has enough activities to keep people engaged in society.”

Pries noted the region’s fit with the pandemic-driven, upward trend in outdoors activities.

“We are blessed,” he said. “We have all the trappings and the enticements of big-city living right here in rural, south-central Pennsylvania.”

Gibson, who is retired but back to working part-time at the flooring and carpet store where she used to work, agreed.

“There are a lot of things for retirees,” she said. “You can get involved with the art galleries or the Harrisburg Art Association. We like to go to some of the galleries. There’s a lot to do. You’re in the city, but it’s not a big city.”

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