A rural Appalachian paradise, the natural landscape of the area surrounding State College is some of the most beautiful in the region. With skiing, hunting, hiking, mountain biking, and some of the best fly fishing in the country, those who enjoy outdoor activities will find much to do. In addition, the university provides ample opportunities to enjoy college sports, particularly its legendary football team, as well as its art museum and the touring musicians who come through. And while the city itself can be somewhat expensive for homeowners, buying or renting in any of the surrounding towns is considered pleasantly affordable. 

In many ways, State College is the quintessential college town, in that the local culture revolves heavily around the university, as well as their sports teams and Greek Life; this means that, during the school year, and particularly during football season, much of the city is dominated by partying college students. Many apartments will be rented primarily to undergraduate students, so if you choose to live in one, expect high levels of noise and frequent foot traffic from drunken young people. Additionally, for the more politically inclined, please be aware that State College itself is considered a highly liberal town surrounded by heavily conservative rural communities.

Nature Calls

LookyLOO Review of State College?

If you are a student or simply enjoy the house party and bar hopping scene, you will find State College accommodating to your social desires. Additionally, if you are a sports fan or an outdoorsman, the area will provide a plethora of activities. Furthermore, young families generally consider the local schools to be top-notch, though if you are a young professional without children, or are simply introverted, you may find the area somewhat isolating or even boring.

If you want to see what people get up to in State College check out the [calendar of events](https://downtownstatecollege.com/events/).

We highly recommend visiting State College and staying in the community in a [VRBO](https://vrbo.com/affiliate/p4JS4ZC) rather than a hotel to get a feel for living among the locals. You can also receive discounted travel fares via our [partnership with Expedia](https://expedia.com/affiliate/9NZ8LBQ).

Lifestyle 

The local economy revolves heavily around the university. If you are an academic, or if you want to be a coach for college-level athletics, you will find opportunities. If you want to work in administrative or staff jobs at the university, you will also find opportunities. However, the main careers available outside of the university are generally limited to service jobs in town farming jobs in the surrounding area, or possibly work-from-home options. 


Worklife 

If you crave clean Appalachian air, the thrills of Division One gridiron football, four full northeastern seasons of weather, a chance to test your mettle as an outdoorsman, or an opportunity to work at a renowned educational institution, you should move here now. 


football + clean air

Why You Should Move Here Now?

**Sunny_987**
1y ago
🦉🦉🦉🦉

The positives:

SCASD is really really good! I wouldn’t consider other surrounding school districts. Definitely try to buy in SCASD.

I also love that State College is low crime. It’s so safe here!

Lots of sporting events and outdoorsy things to do if that’s your thing.

There’s also lots of concerts and theater performances and cool events like First Night and Arts Fest.

Despite being a medium-sized town there’s plenty to do and some areas have a dense suburban feel and are very walkable and bike friendly. Like in neighborhoods near downtown state college, as well as Overlook Heights and parts of Park Forest.

For you, the winters will likely be milder compared to what you were used to and you’ll save on your heating expenses.

Penn State (the main employer) has a lot of hybrid jobs. Even if a job isn’t advertised as hybrid, there are often opportunities to negotiate that later on. After COVID, people really liked the flexibility and it just kind of stuck. Pretty much every person in an office job (that I know of) is hybrid.

You’ll meet lots of very educated and interesting people! People tend to be very career and education-oriented here. Hence why many families wants their kids to go to SCASD.

For more reviews of what living in State College is like from locals, check out [The Reviews](https://lookyloomove.com/locations/state-college/reviews).

Reviews of State College from Locals

Downtown is a good place to start a search for Young Pros looking in State College. It’s small, only houses about 4k people, but it is the cultural and commercial center of the city (technically a borough) so you can’t go wrong here if you want to live a short walk to bars, restaurants, the events centers, work, and the campus of Penn State. Downtown has a number of high-rises for professionals looking to rent in spots with tons of amenities. 

Right next door is the Highlands neighborhood. Home to around 10k people the neighborhood is an interesting mix of beautiful old historic homes and a very active downtown social scene where tourists, locals and students mix to give the city its energy. Lots of students live in Highlands so be ready to mix with the kiddos if you choose to live here. 
- Downtown
- Highlands
- West End/Urban Village
- Orchard Park



Young Professionals/Students

Downtown

College Heights is a historic district just north of campus that is filled with families, both Penn State faculty and local professionals. The neighborhood is filled with some of the most beautiful homes in the entire city but they come at a price. You get huge homes, elegantly manicured lawns, quiet streets but a short walk to campus so a pretty perfect way to experience a college town if you can find an available home. 

Although we listed the Highlands in the young professionals/students section we also want to note how great a spot it is for families as well. Once you fan out a bit from the blocks connecting to downtown you hit big historic homes, large yards, sidewalk-lined streets, parks/playgrounds and great public schools. It also has a strong Civic Association that fosters community activities and manages the relationship with the university. 
- College Heights
- Highlands
- Holmes-Foster


Families

College Heights

State College

**Sunny_987**
1y ago
🦉🦉🦉🦉

The positives:

SCASD is really really good! I wouldn’t consider other surrounding school districts. Definitely try to buy in SCASD.

I also love that State College is low crime. It’s so safe here!

Lots of sporting events and outdoorsy things to do if that’s your thing.

There’s also lots of concerts and theater performances and cool events like First Night and Arts Fest.

Despite being a medium-sized town there’s plenty to do and some areas have a dense suburban feel and are very walkable and bike friendly. Like in neighborhoods near downtown state college, as well as Overlook Heights and parts of Park Forest.

For you, the winters will likely be milder compared to what you were used to and you’ll save on your heating expenses.

Penn State (the main employer) has a lot of hybrid jobs. Even if a job isn’t advertised as hybrid, there are often opportunities to negotiate that later on. After COVID, people really liked the flexibility and it just kind of stuck. Pretty much every person in an office job (that I know of) is hybrid.

You’ll meet lots of very educated and interesting people! People tend to be very career and education-oriented here. Hence why many families wants their kids to go to SCASD.

**Lazy-Quantity5760**
1y ago
🦉🦉🦉

Born and raised. 3rd generation to graduate state high. My family owns and runs a local business that has been around since 1935.

I’ve lived in NYC and Philadelphia for comparison sake, and here’s my take (I’m a 40f no children no longer live there, and my brother is 35m, married, no kids and lives there.)

It is a GREAT place to raise kids if you have enough income to justify housing cost in scasd district. Also, if you live in center county and apply to Penn state for college, you are most likely guaranteed admission to university park campus as university park is the “satellite” for your county. This is important as the rest of Pennsylvania residents who may qualify to admit to psu but not the best student will have to go to a real satellite for 2 years like Berks, Erie, or Altoona. 400 of my 600 graduating class admitted to Penn state main campus from scasd. This is a huge leg up for many.

If you’ve got kids, you’ll have no problem finding tons of activities and a community.

Food wise, the restaurant scene is much better than it was when I grew up there, but it’s nothing compared to Philadelphia or a city. You get used to it, and there’s new restaurants popping you daily.

RuralEnceladusian
6mo ago
🦉🦉🦉🦉

You mention two kids under 12, and I will say that this is a great town for kids. There are a ton of free or low cost things for kids to do -- Maple Harvest Festival at Shaver's Creek, programs at Discovery Space and the Rivet, free programs through our Parks & Rec run by students from different academic programs, great half-day programs at the high school, activity-focused programs run by WPSU/PBS on weekend days, lots of athletic teams and club sports, multiple community pools, lots of stuff going on at Schlow library and Centre County library like nerf gun nights and trivia contests, trick or treat night at Beaver stadium with the PSU athletes, and honestly a lot more. My middle-school aged kid thinks this town is kid utopia.

We do travel for live music (I took him to his first show at Heinz Field last summer), and it's not too bad to go to Pittsburgh for a day, Harrisburg for a day, or DC for a weekend if you want stuff that's not here.

**What is it like to live in State College, PA?**
Plusses and minuses. I often try and imagine what State College would be without the “College”. My guess is a very sleepy small town. The university drives this region, my guess is certainly at least the nearest 50 miles and certainly contributes to the state itself.

There are many locally owned shops and restaurants (on top of a ton of national brands) that in no way could exist there without the money the university brings in with the student base. I

If you live away from Beaver and College (the two main streets that pass through town), you get the benefit of all that extra money brings in without having to deal with all that comes with multiple thousands of students. We have many stellar grocery chains (Wegmans, Trader Joes, Giant, Weis, a local food coop and many farmer’s markets), a ton of restaurants, a zillion banks it seems, 2 large movie theaters, however a dying mall oddly enough.

A great plus (nothing to do with Penn State) is the nearby parks of Rothrock, Black Moshannon, Bald Eagle, Poe Paddy, etc. It’s a very beautiful part of the state!!

Honestly if it wasn’t that I’d married my wife and moved here as my step kids were already in school, I would NOT have moved here. So many places in the US I’ve either lived in (Boulder, CO) or wanted to live in (Oregon, Washington, Adirondacks) that I would’ve moved or stayed instead.

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State College, Pennsylvania

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