Hey, you, down there.

Yeah, you.

The guy stuck in traffic on the Washington Beltway. The woman staring up at the electronic sign, waiting, waiting for a Metro train. The couple thinking that half-a- million might be a fair price for a nothing-special apartment.

Look up here.

Sure, I understand. Perhaps you have a regular job where face time is important. Maybe you can’t imagine leaving your neighborhood or friends or just enjoy the buzz of a big metropolis, despite the aggravations.

I lived in Washington for about 25 years and loved most of my time there—with certain exceptions for the traffic, the tourists and the time I got mugged.

But it’s also possible you don’t really love it there or just want to do something crazy like afford a decent house. Maybe you freelance or telecommute or can switch your federal job for a state job. This option isn’t for everyone, but maybe it’s for 10 or 15 percent of you. To you, I say, consider coming north, due north.

I did. And so did Zachary and Devin and Ivan and Teresa and Shana and lots of others. It’s a long list. We have a little D.C. ex-pat community going on here in Harrisburg.

If you’re even a smidge interested, you’ll want to know about this place you’ve probably never thought of before, much less visited. It’s a small, complicated city, much more complex than its size would indicate. So, here are a few starting points in your research, before you begin greedily scanning Trulia for that cheap, historic townhouse of your dreams.

Harrisburg will remind you of Washington, only smaller. We have a huge Capitol building, a beautiful river, Victorian-era neighborhoods, legislators, lobbyists, corruption, nonprofits, Washington Nationals players and a longstanding feud between our local and state governments. Sound familiar? We’ve even had a turn with insolvency and receivership. And, sorry, Eastern Market, I love you, but the Broad Street Market is somewhere between five and 100 times better.

The cost of housing will make your eyes pop out. This may be the single-most compelling reason to decamp for old HBG. A renovated, 100-year-old rowhouse in a nice, historic neighborhood for under $200,000? How many do you want?

You’ll be surprised by the divisions. Washington has its deep divisions, but you usually can hide from them if you want. You can’t do that in a small city like Harrisburg, where they’re right in your face. City vs. suburbs, racial, economic, political, natives vs. newcomers, even generational, as young people begin to migrate into the city. It can get pretty tense at times. Similarly, you’ll find that even a small city like Harrisburg has problems with schools, poverty and crime, things that you’d like to leave behind in D.C.

You’ll be surprised by the sense of community: For all its divisions, Harrisburg has a strong sense of community, assuming, of course, that you choose to be part of it. Depending on your liking, you might find your people in a neighborhood group, a church, a coffee shop, a bar, an arts organization. And everyone goes to the Broad Street Market.

You’ll be surprised by the quality of the food—and the prices. Harrisburg is thick with restaurants, excellent ones. On the other hand, if you think you’re going to get a bargain, think again, as prices are not that different from D.C.—that is outside of a few old diners that may have last updated their menus in the Eisenhower administration.

Want to start a business? Give it a go. That’s why I moved here. In fact, I’m often surprised at the rate of success for small businesses, especially restaurants. The economy is much thinner than in D.C., which is challenging. However, your startup costs, especially for real estate, probably will be much lower. And you just may find a niche that needs to be filled.

Want to be somebody? Harrisburg needs smart, hard-working, creative, talented and caring people. And that applies to almost every aspect of life, from politics to business to the arts to the community. If you want, you can make an impact almost immediately. Sure, you could be a big fish in a small pond in a thousand other places, but there are two things that give this city an edge. First, it’s close enough to D.C., Baltimore and Philly that you’re still in the same general neighborhood. Secondly, assuming you like city life, you can slip right in. Your neighborhood coffee roaster is now Little Amps or Elementary; your favorite bistro is now Note or Home 231; your craft brewery is now Zeroday or the Millworks; your funky arts venue is H*MAC; your indie bookstore is Midtown Scholar. And I think I’ve already expressed my feelings about the Broad Street Market. One unique thing about Harrisburg is its nearness to other wonderful little places like Lancaster, York, Carlisle, Elizabethtown and Hershey, as well as the legendary PA Dutch/Amish countryside.

Well, I could go on and on, but I think you get the idea: cheap real estate, great amenities, terrific location, comparatively little traffic. And some problems. It’s a nice place, but it’s certainly not nirvana.

But maybe it’s for you. Do some research. Email me. I’ll fill you in.

Lawrance Binda is editor-in-chief of TheBurg.