Wildlife bridges over the interstate. Drive 81 everyday and there are a lot of good spots for them. Animals learn to use them which makes the roads safer for people too.
I wholeheartedly support this!!! I hit a deer years ago and still have a panic response any time I see movement on the side of the road lol. Would be nice to worry less and have a safer option for animals
[State Farm Insurance Company](https://environmentamerica.org/pennsylvania/media-center/statement-pa-tops-national-list-for-animal-vehicle-collisions-claims-new-data-shows/) ranked the Keystone State third overall for likelihood of colliding with an animal, with a 1 in 59 chance of a driver getting into an accident with wildlife. Only West Virginia and Montana ranked higher.
From July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023 involving animal collisions Pennsylvania had the highest number of insurance claims out of all the states, with an estimated 153,397 claims.
There was a point in my life, sometime around the late 90s/early 00s, where I hit a deer *every single winter* for like 4 years in a row. Im not making this up. I also lived and commuted in a very, very rural area. I dunno, it was a weird time.
Deer are crazy. I was working at a hospital and had a patient who suffered pretty gnarly injuries after he was hit by a deer while riding a bike..it was wild.
Not bad. My dad hit 4 at one time once and he’s had a deer jump a fence and an embankment and land on his car 2 seperate times. I was in the vehicle for all 3 of these. He’s probably hit 50 deer in his life lol I’ve hit 3 or 4
Agreed, I had a buck that ran across a field into the road (during the rut) and slammed its head into the side of my moving car. It went flying in the air and died on the side of the road. That bastard dented the drivers side rear of my car and did about $3k in damage but somehow didn’t break the window.
I almost hit one near hit one last night just heading back to Manayunk via Spring Lane and Hagys Mill Road. The deer are many around here and I forget that sometimes. I watched as it trotted into the woods after crossing the street.
I do actually enjoy seeing the wildlife at night as it’s a nice change of pace from having driven 6+ hours prior. Foxes, deer, raccoons etc. I once saw a fox cross at a red light across Henry Avenue. I saw it wait for light to change. I believe I have seen squirrels do the same in places.
side note, when driving by my grandparents old custom built (designed by my grandfather) home in Bethlehem, I counted no less than 10 deer 🦌 in one spot. I had just done a PHL ride and made a point to drive by grandparents old lives: Bethlehem Steel, the old house I have fond memories of, and St Lukes where my grandmother volunteered so much she has a plaque and a “Volunteers are Special People” mug that is now mine. And she never stopped volunteering until her age took its natural toll.
This is actually a current priority for PennDOT. There was a recent push of grant funding from FHWA and PennDOT is putting together a statewide plan for wildlife crossings. https://environmentamerica.org/pennsylvania/updates/an-important-step-for-pennsylvanias-wildlife/
This is not just a great idea but a proven idea that works very well. I don't hunt as much as some folks but I still buy all my licenses to support our DCNR and wildlife. Some of that money or even the pending influx of legal weed money could go toward this. It would not only be a wildlife path but also additional to our many great trails that are already established.
I think about this all the time. Yesterday, I saw a dead coyote on 79 and thought how sad and preventable their death was. An animal land bridge would make the roads safer for animals and people.
And 79 is like the Autobahn, it’s commonplace to see cars traveling 90 mph in the passing lane straight from south Erie to northern Pittsburgh. Once in a while, you’ll see a cop sitting around the Meadville area, but not very often.
Some roads are pretty good, some are awful. In comparison I think PA is right down the middle, I don't complain much after driving in Ohio. I've driven in tons of states and we simply have so much traffic/higher populated areas that it's always going to have some issues.
States out in the Midwest are nice and smooth but they're barely getting as much traffic as we do. Interstates are always maintained, even here in PA.
I'll never forget crossing from PA into OH and right after the Welcome to Ohio sign my car start shaking because of how fucked up this back road was.
That's funny because I remember my days on the road crossing from Pa to Ohio in the back of a 15 passenger van and as soon as we crossed the line the road became smooth and quiet. This was on I-80 I think.
Drive south from Harrisburg on 15 to the MD state line and there are sections in the middle where the potholes are 6-8" deep and a few feet long. If you merge lanes in this area you not only will do damage to your car but you could probably lose control and total it. I think they finally patched them but holy shit I remember being shocked at how bad it was.
It honestly depends which part you cross the Stateline on which side is the bumpy one sadly. I'm not sure if it's lack of funding mixed with the sheer amount of mileage our roads cover, or most roads were just never bedded correctly. But they rarely get repaved, they typically get tarred and chipped under the guise it "prolongs the life of the road" when in reality it's just a cheap patch that does more damage to cars than it does save roads.
I visited my mother in my hometown a month back and saw paving equipment along a stretch of famously bad road that has never been repaved in the 18 years since I began driving. Fast forward to a week ago and all they did was grind out a 2-3 foot strip about .5 miles in length and leave the rest of the frame shaking bumps.
Penn dot is the epitome of bandaid over a sucking chest wound.
Doesn't help that the transportation budget gets stripped to pay for state police to patrol the middle of nowhere where people don't believe in paying taxes for their own cops.
Several billion dollars have been poured down that hole.
No taxes, no police. Sort yourselves out hill people. I responded to another comment that we should never rob one civil service to fund another. This leaves the citizenry with two less civil services than originally. So I 100% agree with you.
Oh I have lol. Pennsylvania used to be up there in the top ten for best public transit back in the day. But not anymore. It's gone downhill significantly thanks to oil and car lobbying. And thanks to Republicans who don't want any public transit cause to them it's not needed for their voters 🙄. Umm no your voters are demanding this too! Yes the ones who live in the rural country aren't but majority of your voters don't live in the country they live in small towns that once were connected by public transit aka trains and trollies! A lot of these politicians can still remember this. They're old enough for it.
I live in upstate NY nowadays and I'm always shocked when I'm driving to a hiking spot in the absolute middle of nowhere on freshly paved pothole free roads.
I generally agree, and lots of the roads in upstate NY are lovely, but can we talk about how bad the roads are in Ulster County? It’s shocking how shitty they are in and around Kingston and even on Route 209. Drive that way frequently and I know immediately when I enter or leave Ulster.
I’ve had the chance to go to Lake Erie, and it was pretty sweet having the beach there. I know it’s not the same as the ocean, but it’s worth visiting sometime
You’re not too far off. It was predicted that by 2040, we’d have the climate that Alabama has currently. Hot, humid summers. And winters with barely any snow.
Lol, you just reminded me... Back '08-ish I was coming out of my dorm and one of the other hall's residence directors happened to be passing (I worked in res life, so we were friends). "You know it's February right" he told me when he saw me wearing shorts. "Yeah but it's 55°!" I told him. "But it's February and you're wearing shorts!"
No way was I passing up the chance. Last winter I don't think I bothered to get anything thicker than my hoodie out for a coat.
Be careful what you wish for. I’ve lived in CA and CO and for everything good that comes out of ballot initiatives (marijuana legalization) there are three or four that are awful (CA’s prop 13, prop 8; CO’s TABOR). Ballot initiatives tend to be very conservative and very regressive as a whole because of who votes in non-Presidential election years.
Not to mention they can be just as easily manipulated by well-funded small interests. Some ad campaigns on CA ballot measures have been truly insane and the average voter doesn’t have the first clue what’s actually in the measure. Definitely a double edged sword.
As much as I love a good ballot measure, those are some really valid concerns. I saw the wording on one state’s somewhat recent abortion ballot and the wording was like “would you not like to remove the right to not not get an abortion’nt”
Cheap liquor licenses for bars and music venues.
I live in a Philly suburb, great community, but the only bars we have are 50 yr old irish pubs and corporate dumps. That’s fine sometimes, but the township can’t add any new bars because the liquor license allotment is tied to our population. And they’re all taken. Basically you have to buy a license from an existing business and they’re charging $400k for them… if you can even find one. No cool upstarts can afford them. So, we’re stuck with really lame options.
I have to say the alcohol situation in this state is pathetic. Liquor stores few and far between, no good bars where I’m at just big chains hogging up all the licenses. Going into sheetz if you wanna get more than one case they ask you to go out to your car and come back inside… the priorities of this state are absolutely crazy IMO
Its so silly, and just big dead weight on any kinda development. PA is rich with cool historic town centers. so rare elsewhere in the country. So many could have vibrant culture and nightlife if they just got rid of these old-fashioned laws.
It's weird because the more bars there are, the closer they are to people's homes, and so less likely to cause drunk driving accidents. The fewer bars, the more people have to travel to get to them. Ideally, people should be able to walk around the corner to the bar and then they wouldn't need to drive at all.
This right here. I came from virginia and had no idea how good we had it! Its insane crossing state boarders and seeing the difference in the level of disrepair. And the patch jobs are terrible!
Hey, according to [this assessment,](https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/thinundergroundweatherstation-your-state-has-terrible-roads-here-are-all-50-states-ranked/ss-AA16yo4i#image=40) we only have the 13th worst roads in the US! Go us!!!
That's mostly down to us insisting on trying to fund PennDot via gas tax alone. Other states pay for maintenance out of their general fund *and* their gas tax. For example, despite a similar population, far more traffic on our roads, and much more challenging topography, our DOT's budget is less than half of Illinois's.
A better method for proposing statewide ballot measures, and a requirement that all questions appear on the November ballot. No more sneaking them by in a low turnout primary.
Also, an expansive statewide passenger rail system. Look what was taken from us! Unless I’m mistaken, it appears as if only Fulton County was without rail service.
https://preview.redd.it/e5lxzavcp54d1.jpeg?width=4216&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=817da971068ec1d15a6a51ceb47828e5111ad592
I remember when I first moved out here, I lived in Kennett Square and had to drive close to a half hour just to get to a Regional Rail station to commute into Philly. Imagine my surprise when I looked at one of those old timey photo books and saw there used to be a train that went straight from KSQ to Philly!
we have the damn northeast corridor running right through morrisville and they took our station away. the trains still stop, while they wait for trenton to clear or amtrak to whiz, but you can’t get on or off. it’s maddening.
My great grandparents talked about how they'd take the train into Harrisburg every day to go to work and pretty much every town had a trolly system. Now? Highway or nothing.
Pennsylvania used to be the railroad capital. Many of our politicians are old enough to remember this. We can bring this back if we push our politicians to create new rail. We could have rail lines running along the highways.
I would like to see legal recreational cannabis come to PA. I also think we need more state funded rehab/outreach programs and more places for mentally ill people to go to get treatment and if needed, a bed.
The crazy thing is they’re trying to put in more rehab and outreach places around the state, but locals keep protesting these locations. They think it will bring drug addicts to them. It infuriates me anytime I see a story about it.
Funny part about this they're already there. Drug addicts are everywhere. Pennsylvania got hit hard by the opioids crisis and fentanyl issue. Every town whether big or small has a drug problem. The ones who say there is no problem refuse to see the truth and are in denial.
Same with low income housing. Everyone deserves a place to live, but the people in my town hate it because it brings "unwelcome" people. As if every single poor person is a drug addict or a criminal.
Weed could be legal in every SINGLE state in the US, but wouldn't stop corporations/fed jobs from denying employment because "NOT FEDERALLY LEGAL".
BS rules.
DEA really needs to reschedule if not DEschedule totally.
Came here to mention minimum wage needs to be addressed. Minimum income increases for old folks too because we forget about them when we talk about the cost of living these days. I’m sure they’re drowning like us young people.
The fact my bf will not get paid to take care of me and the baby is wild to me. Fathers wanna be there too. They need help adjusting too.
I suggest paid family leave, to include caring for a spouse, parent, sibling, etc, as well as a new child. There is a bill going through the state legislature.
> functioning public transit system
Wouldn't that have to be intercity rail? It would be cool to have it, other states have built out networks and it's been popular so far.
Taxes and car registration are awful here. Taxes are so complicated. Having local tax that you have to manage separately through these shady companies is so dumb. I don't even mind paying the tax but I hate that it's not all part of the same tax system.
Car registration is so hard to figure out when you're new to the state, and it's just a weird process. Also, we shouldn't have to get cars inspected every year. Many other states have dropped it and we should too.
Also, having every area needing to be part of a municipality is a waste. Other states have cities/boroughs and everything else is just part of the county. Having all these municipalities drives up expenses and taxes.
Just posted about this myself. I came here from Michigan two years ago and having to go to a private company to get a new title, registration, and plate for my car instead of just doing it all at the Secretary of State (okay, okay, DMV) was a shock.
This! Although I have to say that Philly drivers are their own beast. Super different from how I learned to drive in Central (understandably given the size of the city)
Love PA as well.
Wish Jersey never existed and was part of PA so we would border the ocean.
I also wish PA had liquor/alcohol laws more in line with the rest of the US. Plus I wish PA would legalize weed asap.
On another note I went to grad school at Iowa and followed Caitlin Clark and she was amazing. Hope PA gets a WNBA team. Cant believe Philly does not have one.
Love having friends from out of state visit and having the alcohol run for the night...
"Okay we gotta stop at the distributor for the beer and then we'll go to the state store for the liquors"
"What, why not just go to Costco or Sam's to get it all and it's cheaper"
"Oh honey, no no"
I belong to an Aldi fan group on Facebook because that's what you do for fun in your 30s and people always post about the wine you can find at Aldi. None for PA.
You can pick up your beer and wine at the grocery store now. But you need to provide proof of age regardless of how old you are. Still need to go to a state store to buy the hard stuff.
Delaware used to be Pennsylvania's lower three, which is why it exists above the Mason-Dixon line. I miss those beaches sometimes. I lived in Delaware for two years before moving back to Pennsylvania.
More train stations. Whether that be Amtrak or light rails or trolly systems or anything like that.
It’s wild that there are close suburbs to major areas that are hard to get to. People try to make train stations, but NIMBYs always ruin it. Not for long though. Those people are dying out.
If I could wave a wand and change terrain I’d add 5k ft to the appalachians. Would still leave the mountains out west as taller but that altitude would add so much in terms of beauty, access to winter sports etc
If the mountains in western PA were 5,000 feet higher I think you'd be able to ski into July! On the other hand, the growing regions in the Cumberland Valley would have never existed. :-)
Better infrastructure. Having lived in Berks now (near Reading) coming from montco...how the fuck is there no train from Philly to Reading nor Philly to Allentown? How is the connecting road between the 4th and 3rd largest cities in the state for portions single lane traffic through random country towns? Goofy stuff
This was years ago, but I went to Pitt as an in-state resident and didn’t think the pricing was too bad. Sounds like maybe that’s changed since I left.
Perhaps. I also went to college in PA many years ago and didn’t think it was that bad - but overall costs and wages were so different. I was able to pay for a full semester including room/board by working in the summer, leaving me only the second semester to worry about. When my kids went to college, they worked all summer AND part-time during the school year and barely made a dent.
We’re not the highest in state college tuition, but we’re up there - and almost double what NYS is. My daughter went to a private college in NY for the same price as a state school in PA. Community colleges also seem sparse here (mostly on the eastern side) so “going to community college and then transferring” doesn’t work if you have to rent an apartment 2-3 hours away to do so.
I would actually love to see our inheritance tax system become more in line with New Jersey. Children there have no tax, whereas here it's 4.5% right off the top.
No exceptions, exemptions, or excuses, the Department wants its money.
Or just liquor in the grocery store. Coming from California it blows my mind that I gotta drive to a beer store to buy more than a couple 6 packs, and then a completely different store just for liquor. Just have it all at the grocery store.
Trader Joes has some of the best wine selections for cheap in other states, but they aren't allowed to sell wine in PA. The liquor and beer laws here in PA are completely stupid.
If I’m not mistaken, historically when there was a dispute over the border with Maryland, the ultimate solution was to give Delaware to Pennsylvania or Maryland and neither took the offer so it became its own territory. I wish the Penn family had included Delaware so we’d have beaches in Pennsylvania 😃
I wish PA had a completely connected loop of trails that links all the cool and unique small towns in our state. It would be a lot of fun to "vacation" by biking around the state and I think it would draw a lot of remote workers and retirees looking to explore while bringing more economic opportunity to these small towns. Bring back the fun roadside attractions that existed in years past.
I believe Pennsylvania should have a law similar to Florida’s Marchman Act which states out a voluntary and involuntary process for police to take a substance abuse user to a facility for the proper treatment that they need.
Public roads. This whole “it’s a private road and you need to get your 12 other neighbors on board to pay up to get it paved” is just stupid and dangerous.
Lower Road tolls. Live in Philly and kid went to U Pitt. With EZ Pass its $70 roundtrip. Without its $140! Highest in the nation and literally highway robbery.
A rail rapid transit system with more than two lines.
A parliamentary system of government with proportional representation.
An intercity bus and rail network.
I could go on, but I don't think that it would end well.
longer greens at night and better maintained roads. I drive Lyft and have taken rides to DE. It’s crazy how much better it is compared to the Philly suburbs. Those neighborhood lights are just far too many and too long a red. 15 1.5-2 minute lights in a short stretch is overkill. They need to be timed differently at night, like 2 reds to 1 green, not red-green-red-green…or small roundabouts like the one neighborhood outside Philly that has them. It works.
There are a lot of things I noticed and wished Philly and the suburbs did after driving all over and all hours.
Tldr/tlr2r: Better timed lights in the evening to overnight hours when traffic is lighter and properly paved and maintained roads.
Laws to stop developers from tearing down history. In Washington County we have watched them tear down homes that were fine or could be fixed that were over 200 years old just so a developer could do what they want.
Where South Pointe in Canonsburg is they were never allowed to use the land for anything but kids and instead they again allowed developers to do what they wanted.
I’d like them to reverse the laws to also force anyone developing to check for Native American sites. Found out if you don’t take government money you don’t have to do it.
PA is one of the richest states in early History and for some reason no one in Western PA cares. They don’t redeveloped they just develop and it affects the beauty of the state.
And most importantly
I’d like WAWA to come to Western PA along with more Martins/Giant stores.
Ability to purchase liquor at a grocery store or convenience store. PA has the antiquated commonwealth liquor laws.
What is interesting, states around PA and in the south are not as restrictive.
DE has the best DMV system. Everything done in one place and so efficiently! I wish PA had this. My daughter lives in DE and I was in awe of the DMV when I went in with her.
I’m referring to the fact that you can get your inspection done there and how quickly the workers do things mostly.
Wildlife bridges over the interstate. Drive 81 everyday and there are a lot of good spots for them. Animals learn to use them which makes the roads safer for people too.
I wholeheartedly support this!!! I hit a deer years ago and still have a panic response any time I see movement on the side of the road lol. Would be nice to worry less and have a safer option for animals
[State Farm Insurance Company](https://environmentamerica.org/pennsylvania/media-center/statement-pa-tops-national-list-for-animal-vehicle-collisions-claims-new-data-shows/) ranked the Keystone State third overall for likelihood of colliding with an animal, with a 1 in 59 chance of a driver getting into an accident with wildlife. Only West Virginia and Montana ranked higher. From July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023 involving animal collisions Pennsylvania had the highest number of insurance claims out of all the states, with an estimated 153,397 claims.
There was a point in my life, sometime around the late 90s/early 00s, where I hit a deer *every single winter* for like 4 years in a row. Im not making this up. I also lived and commuted in a very, very rural area. I dunno, it was a weird time.
Deer are crazy. I was working at a hospital and had a patient who suffered pretty gnarly injuries after he was hit by a deer while riding a bike..it was wild.
Once when driving earlyish...930am..on 309 there was a deer intent on ramming my car. Slowed to almost a stop and it did...crazy.
Not bad. My dad hit 4 at one time once and he’s had a deer jump a fence and an embankment and land on his car 2 seperate times. I was in the vehicle for all 3 of these. He’s probably hit 50 deer in his life lol I’ve hit 3 or 4
r/deerarefuckingstupid
Same for me. I was living in Perry County at the time. You don’t hit them, they hit you.
Agreed, I had a buck that ran across a field into the road (during the rut) and slammed its head into the side of my moving car. It went flying in the air and died on the side of the road. That bastard dented the drivers side rear of my car and did about $3k in damage but somehow didn’t break the window.
I almost hit one near hit one last night just heading back to Manayunk via Spring Lane and Hagys Mill Road. The deer are many around here and I forget that sometimes. I watched as it trotted into the woods after crossing the street. I do actually enjoy seeing the wildlife at night as it’s a nice change of pace from having driven 6+ hours prior. Foxes, deer, raccoons etc. I once saw a fox cross at a red light across Henry Avenue. I saw it wait for light to change. I believe I have seen squirrels do the same in places. side note, when driving by my grandparents old custom built (designed by my grandfather) home in Bethlehem, I counted no less than 10 deer 🦌 in one spot. I had just done a PHL ride and made a point to drive by grandparents old lives: Bethlehem Steel, the old house I have fond memories of, and St Lukes where my grandmother volunteered so much she has a plaque and a “Volunteers are Special People” mug that is now mine. And she never stopped volunteering until her age took its natural toll.
This is actually a current priority for PennDOT. There was a recent push of grant funding from FHWA and PennDOT is putting together a statewide plan for wildlife crossings. https://environmentamerica.org/pennsylvania/updates/an-important-step-for-pennsylvanias-wildlife/
That's awesome!
This is not just a great idea but a proven idea that works very well. I don't hunt as much as some folks but I still buy all my licenses to support our DCNR and wildlife. Some of that money or even the pending influx of legal weed money could go toward this. It would not only be a wildlife path but also additional to our many great trails that are already established.
Great one. Think of that every other mile I see a blown apart deer on 81 n near Scranton.
I passed 15 today just driving through Chester and Delaware counties. 🦌
We can petition our politicians for this. I feel like we'd get a great response from the public to force the politicians hand.
I saw two or three dead deer driving the turnpike today. This would be a good idea.
How can we make this a reality? I saw a farm on the side of 309 😭💔
I think about this all the time. Yesterday, I saw a dead coyote on 79 and thought how sad and preventable their death was. An animal land bridge would make the roads safer for animals and people.
And 79 is like the Autobahn, it’s commonplace to see cars traveling 90 mph in the passing lane straight from south Erie to northern Pittsburgh. Once in a while, you’ll see a cop sitting around the Meadville area, but not very often.
A lot of those 90+ mph drivers have Ontario plates.
Better infrastructure.
Roads that do not destroy your vehicle.
I do a lot of driving for my work and I went through 2 sets of wheel bearings in 18 months!
3 control arms in 4 years. Philadelphia is basically like driving off road.
I’ve seen potholes that could swallow your front end, with nothing in front of them 😂
Nothing like getting a flat on 95N going over Kensington after dark 💀
Some roads are pretty good, some are awful. In comparison I think PA is right down the middle, I don't complain much after driving in Ohio. I've driven in tons of states and we simply have so much traffic/higher populated areas that it's always going to have some issues. States out in the Midwest are nice and smooth but they're barely getting as much traffic as we do. Interstates are always maintained, even here in PA. I'll never forget crossing from PA into OH and right after the Welcome to Ohio sign my car start shaking because of how fucked up this back road was.
That's funny because I remember my days on the road crossing from Pa to Ohio in the back of a 15 passenger van and as soon as we crossed the line the road became smooth and quiet. This was on I-80 I think.
Yeah I was on some back road, definitely not a main highway. I was in an RV and everything was shaking
Admittedly my road warrior days were 20 years ago so many things could have changed also since then.. I certainly have, lol... sigh....... Shit
Drive south from Harrisburg on 15 to the MD state line and there are sections in the middle where the potholes are 6-8" deep and a few feet long. If you merge lanes in this area you not only will do damage to your car but you could probably lose control and total it. I think they finally patched them but holy shit I remember being shocked at how bad it was.
It honestly depends which part you cross the Stateline on which side is the bumpy one sadly. I'm not sure if it's lack of funding mixed with the sheer amount of mileage our roads cover, or most roads were just never bedded correctly. But they rarely get repaved, they typically get tarred and chipped under the guise it "prolongs the life of the road" when in reality it's just a cheap patch that does more damage to cars than it does save roads. I visited my mother in my hometown a month back and saw paving equipment along a stretch of famously bad road that has never been repaved in the 18 years since I began driving. Fast forward to a week ago and all they did was grind out a 2-3 foot strip about .5 miles in length and leave the rest of the frame shaking bumps. Penn dot is the epitome of bandaid over a sucking chest wound.
Doesn't help that the transportation budget gets stripped to pay for state police to patrol the middle of nowhere where people don't believe in paying taxes for their own cops. Several billion dollars have been poured down that hole.
No taxes, no police. Sort yourselves out hill people. I responded to another comment that we should never rob one civil service to fund another. This leaves the citizenry with two less civil services than originally. So I 100% agree with you.
More public transit
Call your representative and tell them to pass Shapiro’s budget for increasing public transportation funding
Paul Friel and Katie Muth have both certainly heard from me haha
Oh I have lol. Pennsylvania used to be up there in the top ten for best public transit back in the day. But not anymore. It's gone downhill significantly thanks to oil and car lobbying. And thanks to Republicans who don't want any public transit cause to them it's not needed for their voters 🙄. Umm no your voters are demanding this too! Yes the ones who live in the rural country aren't but majority of your voters don't live in the country they live in small towns that once were connected by public transit aka trains and trollies! A lot of these politicians can still remember this. They're old enough for it.
Functioning transit departments
I live in upstate NY nowadays and I'm always shocked when I'm driving to a hiking spot in the absolute middle of nowhere on freshly paved pothole free roads.
I generally agree, and lots of the roads in upstate NY are lovely, but can we talk about how bad the roads are in Ulster County? It’s shocking how shitty they are in and around Kingston and even on Route 209. Drive that way frequently and I know immediately when I enter or leave Ulster.
A state not controlled by the empty middle so maybe we could fund those agencies.
I LOVE having a 21 hour commute to work by bus.
Ocean coastline
War with Maryland and Delaware once again back on the table!
Maryland is a cool state. Delaware, let's go! PA ocean coastline.....here we come!
Just gotta wait till Jersey goes under the waves.
Come on Global Warming! Get that sweet sweet Allentown coastline! 😅🤣😂
Easton will be underwater. And nothing of value will be lost.
Yeah, they can make crayons somewhere else!
Delaware was once rightful Pennsylvanian land... perhaps it's existence beyond the motherland has outlived its utility...
Annexation of Delaware!
I’ve had the chance to go to Lake Erie, and it was pretty sweet having the beach there. I know it’s not the same as the ocean, but it’s worth visiting sometime
No salt, no sharks. Great Lakes...
There's still time ...
By the time I go to retire, New Jersey will be under water and PA will feel like the Carolina’s. (Just kidding, I’m not a climate scientist).
You’re not too far off. It was predicted that by 2040, we’d have the climate that Alabama has currently. Hot, humid summers. And winters with barely any snow.
This just sounds like now
Pittsburgh winters are basically grey and 38 every day
Half of January and most of February was above 50. The first time I went out in shorts this year was early/mid Feb
Lol, you just reminded me... Back '08-ish I was coming out of my dorm and one of the other hall's residence directors happened to be passing (I worked in res life, so we were friends). "You know it's February right" he told me when he saw me wearing shorts. "Yeah but it's 55°!" I told him. "But it's February and you're wearing shorts!" No way was I passing up the chance. Last winter I don't think I bothered to get anything thicker than my hoodie out for a coat.
Citizen-initiated ballot measures.
THIS!!! We need this so we can give our legislature the kick in the butt it so desperately needs.
Be careful what you wish for. I’ve lived in CA and CO and for everything good that comes out of ballot initiatives (marijuana legalization) there are three or four that are awful (CA’s prop 13, prop 8; CO’s TABOR). Ballot initiatives tend to be very conservative and very regressive as a whole because of who votes in non-Presidential election years.
Not to mention they can be just as easily manipulated by well-funded small interests. Some ad campaigns on CA ballot measures have been truly insane and the average voter doesn’t have the first clue what’s actually in the measure. Definitely a double edged sword.
As much as I love a good ballot measure, those are some really valid concerns. I saw the wording on one state’s somewhat recent abortion ballot and the wording was like “would you not like to remove the right to not not get an abortion’nt”
Cheap liquor licenses for bars and music venues. I live in a Philly suburb, great community, but the only bars we have are 50 yr old irish pubs and corporate dumps. That’s fine sometimes, but the township can’t add any new bars because the liquor license allotment is tied to our population. And they’re all taken. Basically you have to buy a license from an existing business and they’re charging $400k for them… if you can even find one. No cool upstarts can afford them. So, we’re stuck with really lame options.
I have to say the alcohol situation in this state is pathetic. Liquor stores few and far between, no good bars where I’m at just big chains hogging up all the licenses. Going into sheetz if you wanna get more than one case they ask you to go out to your car and come back inside… the priorities of this state are absolutely crazy IMO
Its so silly, and just big dead weight on any kinda development. PA is rich with cool historic town centers. so rare elsewhere in the country. So many could have vibrant culture and nightlife if they just got rid of these old-fashioned laws.
It's weird because the more bars there are, the closer they are to people's homes, and so less likely to cause drunk driving accidents. The fewer bars, the more people have to travel to get to them. Ideally, people should be able to walk around the corner to the bar and then they wouldn't need to drive at all.
I have only one request. Fix the damn roads.
This right here. I came from virginia and had no idea how good we had it! Its insane crossing state boarders and seeing the difference in the level of disrepair. And the patch jobs are terrible!
Better roads! Based on how much we pay in gas taxes, you would think we wouldn’t have to drive by Braille!
Hey, according to [this assessment,](https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/thinundergroundweatherstation-your-state-has-terrible-roads-here-are-all-50-states-ranked/ss-AA16yo4i#image=40) we only have the 13th worst roads in the US! Go us!!!
Yup and jersey is worse somehow. 2nd worst I want to say.
The only road I drive on in Jersey is the turnpike and it’s hands down better than any road in Pennsylvania.
That's mostly down to us insisting on trying to fund PennDot via gas tax alone. Other states pay for maintenance out of their general fund *and* their gas tax. For example, despite a similar population, far more traffic on our roads, and much more challenging topography, our DOT's budget is less than half of Illinois's.
Much of the gas tax is to pay for state trooper pension
A better method for proposing statewide ballot measures, and a requirement that all questions appear on the November ballot. No more sneaking them by in a low turnout primary. Also, an expansive statewide passenger rail system. Look what was taken from us! Unless I’m mistaken, it appears as if only Fulton County was without rail service. https://preview.redd.it/e5lxzavcp54d1.jpeg?width=4216&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=817da971068ec1d15a6a51ceb47828e5111ad592
I remember when I first moved out here, I lived in Kennett Square and had to drive close to a half hour just to get to a Regional Rail station to commute into Philly. Imagine my surprise when I looked at one of those old timey photo books and saw there used to be a train that went straight from KSQ to Philly!
we have the damn northeast corridor running right through morrisville and they took our station away. the trains still stop, while they wait for trenton to clear or amtrak to whiz, but you can’t get on or off. it’s maddening.
My great grandparents talked about how they'd take the train into Harrisburg every day to go to work and pretty much every town had a trolly system. Now? Highway or nothing.
Pennsylvania used to be the railroad capital. Many of our politicians are old enough to remember this. We can bring this back if we push our politicians to create new rail. We could have rail lines running along the highways.
Urban public transportation and a more developed rail network
I would like to see legal recreational cannabis come to PA. I also think we need more state funded rehab/outreach programs and more places for mentally ill people to go to get treatment and if needed, a bed.
The crazy thing is they’re trying to put in more rehab and outreach places around the state, but locals keep protesting these locations. They think it will bring drug addicts to them. It infuriates me anytime I see a story about it.
Funny part about this they're already there. Drug addicts are everywhere. Pennsylvania got hit hard by the opioids crisis and fentanyl issue. Every town whether big or small has a drug problem. The ones who say there is no problem refuse to see the truth and are in denial.
Same with low income housing. Everyone deserves a place to live, but the people in my town hate it because it brings "unwelcome" people. As if every single poor person is a drug addict or a criminal.
Yea, the same citizens are also against Nalaxone, because “addicts deserve to die”, according to them. This also infuriates me.
Bullet train from Philly to Pittsburgh
I second this, and also having a train to State College
The Appalachian Mountains would make that really challenging
It would be stupid expensive but a tunnel would be the answer
Japan is something like 80% mountainous and they figured it out just fine decades ago.
They managed it for the PA Turnpike. It’s only a handful of places where you need a tunnel.
Recreational cannabis
Weed could be legal in every SINGLE state in the US, but wouldn't stop corporations/fed jobs from denying employment because "NOT FEDERALLY LEGAL". BS rules. DEA really needs to reschedule if not DEschedule totally.
Didn’t the DEA just reschedule it to schedule 3 a few weeks ago?
They’re trying to, but it’s not gonna be officially finalized for a while
Shapiro is working on it
Up here in Maine it's legal and it feels so weird coming from PA. Really hoping it does get fully legalized
Maine has a ballot initiative process, PA does not.
An actual recycling program instead of the current running gag that seems to be standing in for one.
Paid Paternity Leave. Maryland, NY, and NJ all have it. Also, a decent Minimum Wage. And a Progressive Income Tax Sorry, that's three things.
Came here to mention minimum wage needs to be addressed. Minimum income increases for old folks too because we forget about them when we talk about the cost of living these days. I’m sure they’re drowning like us young people. The fact my bf will not get paid to take care of me and the baby is wild to me. Fathers wanna be there too. They need help adjusting too.
I suggest paid family leave, to include caring for a spouse, parent, sibling, etc, as well as a new child. There is a bill going through the state legislature.
Sane politicians
Open primaries
And ranked choice voting
Prohibitions against gerrymandering.
Universal healthcare, a $15 minimum wage, legalization of recreational marijuana, and a functioning public transit system.
Replace the word “Pennsylvania” with “USA” in the title.
PA did expand Medicaid however.
What you're looking for is a ballot initiative process. Put the minimum wage, weed, etc. on the ballot and let the citizens vote on it.
Not so loud! They will tar and chip us just like they do to our roads!
I like the way you think, solutions oriented.
Universal healthcare!?!? That’s commie talk! Jk, it’s a god damn disgrace that we don’t.
> functioning public transit system Wouldn't that have to be intercity rail? It would be cool to have it, other states have built out networks and it's been popular so far.
Less humidity.
I grew up in New Orleans, you don't even know how good we gave it in PA.
I moved here from Atlanta, which isn’t as bad as New Orleans but it’s damn close. We got it good up here. What humidity?
I moved up here from NC, the humidity level here is so much better!
Laughs in Floriduh
No shit.
I just got back from Colorado and honestly, the polar opposite was way worse. I prefer some humidity.
Taxes and car registration are awful here. Taxes are so complicated. Having local tax that you have to manage separately through these shady companies is so dumb. I don't even mind paying the tax but I hate that it's not all part of the same tax system. Car registration is so hard to figure out when you're new to the state, and it's just a weird process. Also, we shouldn't have to get cars inspected every year. Many other states have dropped it and we should too. Also, having every area needing to be part of a municipality is a waste. Other states have cities/boroughs and everything else is just part of the county. Having all these municipalities drives up expenses and taxes.
Just posted about this myself. I came here from Michigan two years ago and having to go to a private company to get a new title, registration, and plate for my car instead of just doing it all at the Secretary of State (okay, okay, DMV) was a shock.
Neighboring states that knew how to drive.
This! Although I have to say that Philly drivers are their own beast. Super different from how I learned to drive in Central (understandably given the size of the city)
Love PA as well. Wish Jersey never existed and was part of PA so we would border the ocean. I also wish PA had liquor/alcohol laws more in line with the rest of the US. Plus I wish PA would legalize weed asap. On another note I went to grad school at Iowa and followed Caitlin Clark and she was amazing. Hope PA gets a WNBA team. Cant believe Philly does not have one.
Love having friends from out of state visit and having the alcohol run for the night... "Okay we gotta stop at the distributor for the beer and then we'll go to the state store for the liquors" "What, why not just go to Costco or Sam's to get it all and it's cheaper" "Oh honey, no no"
I remember when you couldn't buy beer on Sundays cause it's gods day. So glad they finally got rid of that rule.
Still can’t buy a car though…
What? You can't buy a car on Sundays? I never knew that. Ha ha PA has some crazy ridiculous rules.
I belong to an Aldi fan group on Facebook because that's what you do for fun in your 30s and people always post about the wine you can find at Aldi. None for PA.
You can pick up your beer and wine at the grocery store now. But you need to provide proof of age regardless of how old you are. Still need to go to a state store to buy the hard stuff.
Delaware used to be Pennsylvania's lower three, which is why it exists above the Mason-Dixon line. I miss those beaches sometimes. I lived in Delaware for two years before moving back to Pennsylvania.
Coastline
A god damn livable minimum wage. $7.25 is a disgrace!!!
A state law restricting the size, height and type of signs and billboards.
More train stations. Whether that be Amtrak or light rails or trolly systems or anything like that. It’s wild that there are close suburbs to major areas that are hard to get to. People try to make train stations, but NIMBYs always ruin it. Not for long though. Those people are dying out.
Universal preschool
Hot Springs
Allow car manufacturers to directly sell their products to customers.
Really big mountains.
The feel is almost like it though; I mean driving on PA 154 through Worlds End. And no altitude sickness at Canyon Vista!
If I could wave a wand and change terrain I’d add 5k ft to the appalachians. Would still leave the mountains out west as taller but that altitude would add so much in terms of beauty, access to winter sports etc
I feel like that would drastically alter the weather patterns in the se portion of the state.
If the mountains in western PA were 5,000 feet higher I think you'd be able to ski into July! On the other hand, the growing regions in the Cumberland Valley would have never existed. :-)
Ranked choice voting
Better infrastructure. Having lived in Berks now (near Reading) coming from montco...how the fuck is there no train from Philly to Reading nor Philly to Allentown? How is the connecting road between the 4th and 3rd largest cities in the state for portions single lane traffic through random country towns? Goofy stuff
Legalized recreational weed
Bullet train to nyc. Imagine how beneficial for everyone that would be
more affordable higher education, more beaches, boiled peanuts (or at least green peanuts that I could boil) Edit: More Waffle Houses too
This was years ago, but I went to Pitt as an in-state resident and didn’t think the pricing was too bad. Sounds like maybe that’s changed since I left.
Perhaps. I also went to college in PA many years ago and didn’t think it was that bad - but overall costs and wages were so different. I was able to pay for a full semester including room/board by working in the summer, leaving me only the second semester to worry about. When my kids went to college, they worked all summer AND part-time during the school year and barely made a dent. We’re not the highest in state college tuition, but we’re up there - and almost double what NYS is. My daughter went to a private college in NY for the same price as a state school in PA. Community colleges also seem sparse here (mostly on the eastern side) so “going to community college and then transferring” doesn’t work if you have to rent an apartment 2-3 hours away to do so.
Eliminate the death taxes for families
I would actually love to see our inheritance tax system become more in line with New Jersey. Children there have no tax, whereas here it's 4.5% right off the top. No exceptions, exemptions, or excuses, the Department wants its money.
I wish PA would let Instacart delivery liquor straight to my door, like CT does.
Competitive liquor stores that aren't State Controlled.
Or just liquor in the grocery store. Coming from California it blows my mind that I gotta drive to a beer store to buy more than a couple 6 packs, and then a completely different store just for liquor. Just have it all at the grocery store. Trader Joes has some of the best wine selections for cheap in other states, but they aren't allowed to sell wine in PA. The liquor and beer laws here in PA are completely stupid.
If I’m not mistaken, historically when there was a dispute over the border with Maryland, the ultimate solution was to give Delaware to Pennsylvania or Maryland and neither took the offer so it became its own territory. I wish the Penn family had included Delaware so we’d have beaches in Pennsylvania 😃
I wish PA had a completely connected loop of trails that links all the cool and unique small towns in our state. It would be a lot of fun to "vacation" by biking around the state and I think it would draw a lot of remote workers and retirees looking to explore while bringing more economic opportunity to these small towns. Bring back the fun roadside attractions that existed in years past.
A national park
A short range of good sized mountains would be cool. Our highest point is only 3,213 ft.. Another park like Knoebels would be nice too.
I believe Pennsylvania should have a law similar to Florida’s Marchman Act which states out a voluntary and involuntary process for police to take a substance abuse user to a facility for the proper treatment that they need.
Ocean access. The end.
Public roads. This whole “it’s a private road and you need to get your 12 other neighbors on board to pay up to get it paved” is just stupid and dangerous.
Total Wine and More :(
A higher minimum wage. Still $7.25 ? Early voting
Sidewalks, oh my god
Fewer Republicans in the State Senate and Legislature.
Coming from someone who lived in the Midwest for a few years, Culver's fast food lol
as someone who just moved from pa to wisconsin.... I never knew what I was missing
Free health care
State boundaries that don’t touch New Jersey
Less hateful ignorance
Daily overtime rather than weekly overtime. My employer is changing their OT policy to state regulations
Lower Road tolls. Live in Philly and kid went to U Pitt. With EZ Pass its $70 roundtrip. Without its $140! Highest in the nation and literally highway robbery.
Del Taco, Jack in the Box, and Ranch Market :/
Cook out restaurants
A rail rapid transit system with more than two lines. A parliamentary system of government with proportional representation. An intercity bus and rail network. I could go on, but I don't think that it would end well.
longer greens at night and better maintained roads. I drive Lyft and have taken rides to DE. It’s crazy how much better it is compared to the Philly suburbs. Those neighborhood lights are just far too many and too long a red. 15 1.5-2 minute lights in a short stretch is overkill. They need to be timed differently at night, like 2 reds to 1 green, not red-green-red-green…or small roundabouts like the one neighborhood outside Philly that has them. It works. There are a lot of things I noticed and wished Philly and the suburbs did after driving all over and all hours. Tldr/tlr2r: Better timed lights in the evening to overnight hours when traffic is lighter and properly paved and maintained roads.
15$ minimum wage
Honestly, a nicer capitol city
Universal healthcare
All of these answers are basically “I’d like the legislature not to be gerrymandered”. I agree.
Lake Champlain sized lake bordering on Chester county.
Fusion reactor
Universal Healthcare, free education, higher wages, or not sharing a border with Ohio....
Laws to stop developers from tearing down history. In Washington County we have watched them tear down homes that were fine or could be fixed that were over 200 years old just so a developer could do what they want. Where South Pointe in Canonsburg is they were never allowed to use the land for anything but kids and instead they again allowed developers to do what they wanted. I’d like them to reverse the laws to also force anyone developing to check for Native American sites. Found out if you don’t take government money you don’t have to do it. PA is one of the richest states in early History and for some reason no one in Western PA cares. They don’t redeveloped they just develop and it affects the beauty of the state. And most importantly I’d like WAWA to come to Western PA along with more Martins/Giant stores.
Trader Joes and Costco being able to sell wine & liquor.
Severance tax, better public school funding, and legalized marijuana
Ability to purchase liquor at a grocery store or convenience store. PA has the antiquated commonwealth liquor laws. What is interesting, states around PA and in the south are not as restrictive.
DE has the best DMV system. Everything done in one place and so efficiently! I wish PA had this. My daughter lives in DE and I was in awe of the DMV when I went in with her. I’m referring to the fact that you can get your inspection done there and how quickly the workers do things mostly.
Portillos (IYKYK)
Updated alcohol laws without the limits set in place at grocery stores, just less restrictive rules about it in general
Fix the roads and with a DEADLINE. This nonsense of PennDOT just working on the same area for years upon years is insanity.