Yep...I live in Pennsylvania Amish country. Just a hair northeast of the center of the state. Although it's not as well known as the Lancaster, PA area, it's pretty much the same. After college, I returned to live in the same small town where I grew up (my hubby grew up here, too)...a town that is about half of a square mile in size with a population of 1695 (according to the 2000 census). There are no traffic lights in my town....yep...really. No traffic lights in our town, and only 1 traffic light in the entire school district. Enrollment in our school district (K-12, not including Amish children living in the district...they go to their own schools) is about 950 students and our elementary school has earned Blue Ribbon status. I live in the largest county (geographically speaking) in the state, with a population of about 117,000 people. There are two colleges about 15 minutes away, and 7 other colleges/universities within a 60 minute drive of here. Our area is small enough that we will never have a Trader Joe's or Whole Foods. :-( We do, however, have 4 major prisons within 5 minute of my house.
Our general area has been invaded, primarily within the last 2-3 years, by the natural gas industry. Much of PA (except the south east corner), along with with eastern Ohio, southern NY and most of West Virginia are sitting on one of the world's largest pockets of natural gas; consequently, there are natural gas wells popping up everywhere. Decent for our local economy, but not so great for long term preservation of our environment. This is what a remote/rural well site looks like during the 1-2 months of drilling...
Sometimes I feel like people here are so locked into one way of (backwards) thinking and couldn't find the outside of the box if someone led them by the hand. It frustrates me and sometimes makes me wonder why the hell we stay here...but generally speaking, I like where we live...while there must certainly be 'better' places to live, I know that there are much worse places to be...
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5 comments:
We don't have a light either in our town! It's really, really small!
Oh my goodness, I think I recognize where you live. I will just say this, my mother lives in Lenhartsville, PA, and I grew up in Schnecksville, PA, so maybe you know the former and heard of the latter?
I'm still hoping to meet you, at least halfway. :)
I was just in PA for a friend's wedding last weekend. I grew up in Lansdale, outside of Philly. Now my grandparents live outside of Lancaster, in New Holland. I always love going back to PA - the rolling hills, the farms, the trees...sometimes I think I'd love to live there, then remember that I woulnd't quite fit in there with my political and social values. Oh well, it's a BEAUTIFUL place to visit, and a great place to raise a family!
This is like driving in my county!!! We DO have a big Navy base, but in the 'country' we have a huge Amish and Mennonite community!!! I could have taken that picture here!
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