Submitted by ReezyRebellion037 t3_10kplok in Pennsylvania
Looking to move to that area this summer and would be grateful for any info that could be provided on the area as far as schools, shopping, food, etc. I’ve been told it’s a cute little town but there’s not much to do unless you go into York. Google has good things to say about the schools but I would prefer first hand experience and opinions.
I lived in Manchester for many years. The school district is Northeastern. We had my son in there for Kindergarten and pulled him out one month into first grade, so I’m not the best person to give an opinion about the schools. I will not name names or even tell you the elementary school, but we did not have a good experience.
Bobcat Creamery is a nice place to eat and get ice cream once they’re open for the season (they close over the winter). There’s a Giant grocery store right along the main street (George St), which makes it easy to find and access. They also have gas at that Giant. There’s also a Sheetz and a Rutters along the same road. For fast food options, you’ve got McDonalds and Checkers. There are a couple of dollar stores - Family Dollar and Dollar General, I think. There’s a nice consignment shop called Mommy’s Lil Rascals. There’s a Roses discount store, but I can’t tell you much about that - I never go in there. There’s an Ace hardware. Wise Auto is a good local mechanic.
There’s a small parade for Memorial Day and a ceremony at the cemetery. The scouts, the VFW, the band, and the local emergency vehicles participate. There’s a 9/11 tribute ceremony done by the scouts. There’s a Halloween parade.
There’s a mall in west York that has a decent amount of stores. It used to be dead as an indoor mall, so they revamped it as an outdoor mall and gave it new life. There’s a mall in East York that used to be the place to be and now it’s the dead mall with hardly any stores, but it does have a casino. Weird thing about York - they repeat stores and restaurants in the east and west end, so there’s a Target on both sides, a Walmart on both sides, etc. The west end mall has a movie theater - Regal, I believe. There are bowling alleys in both directions - Colony Park North and Laser Alleys. There are a few mini golf places.
Hersheypark isn’t too far away, or Dutch Wonderland if you have young kids. Lake Tobias is about an hour away. Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area is a good place to see the snow geese migration. There are lots of parks to hike - Codorus, Rocky Ridge, Apollo, Kain, to name a few.
Feel free to ask me anything. Hope this helps!
I grew up just outside of Manchester. Correct that there's not a whole lot to do right in town, but to be fair, that's true of most of the smaller towns in the area. There's no real "downtown" area with local shops and such, just a stretch of N. George St. just south of town with all the chain stores and a few places to eat. Youre going to be driving a few miles to get to any significant shopping, dining, or entertainment options.
The area surrounding town has become packed with bedroom communities for Harrisburg and Baltimore commuters, and that's largely what Manchester and Mt. Wolf have become. Most jobs in the immediate area will be service industry, or warehousing. Not a terrible area by any means, just nothing special IMO.
If you're looking to buy a home, be aware that Northeastern school district has the highest property taxes in York County outside of the city.
> Weird thing about York - they repeat stores and restaurants in the east and west end,
This isn't really weird though.
It can be half and hour from one end to the other.
Hell, growing up it was a good 45 minutes to the galleria for me so the west end target was great.
Plus with a county population of closer a half million people now. They need multiple stores.
>Hersheypark isn’t too far away, or Dutch Wonderland if you have young kids. Lake Tobias is about an hour away. Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area is a good place to see the snow geese migration. There are lots of parks to hike - Codorus, Rocky Ridge, Apollo, Kain, to name a few.
None of the 1st 4 named places are in York County. Indeed, none are on the same side of the river.
Northeastern SD is a decent school district. Don't judge based on the experience of one person. Most folks I know from that area love being a Bobcat. Most, but not everyone.
I never said they were in York County. I said they weren’t too far away, and they’re not. They’re nice places to visit that are within a reasonable distance of the area.
I also said I’m not the best person to give an opinion about the schools because we had a very bad experience with a bad teacher.
>I also said I’m not the best person to give an opinion about the schools because we had a very bad experience with a bad teacher.
Then why post it?
Because I was explaining WHY I wasn’t giving a glowing review about the schools like they had read online. I did have a bad experience. I don’t have to cover that up, even if it wasn’t typical. I know other people that went K-12th grade in the district that also don’t have the warm fuzzies about it. People are entitled to know both sides and make an informed decision. It’s just like reading all of the product reviews, not just the 5-star ones.
Manchester was one of the four places I was considering while house hunting. The housing prices were good and there was enough local services if I was in a pinch. The thing that turned me off was the school/local taxes...so in the end I went somewhere else nearby (have no kids).
Not far from Manchester are John Rudy and Rocky Ridge Parks...one has nice paved paths, and the other one has unpaved trails and scenic views. From John Rudy, there is a bicycle path that connects to Maryland and then some. After this railroad underpass gets fixed, it would be 27 miles to the PA/MD border and another 18 miles to where the trail terminates near Cockeysville. There's a golf course nearby Manchester as well.
Pink_Slyvie t1_j5s5f26 wrote
I don't live in the area anymore, but I would argue there isn't a ton to do without going to Lancaster. To be fair, I only worked in York back then and lived in Lancaster.