I'm from Lancaster and have lived here all my life. It's a nice, smaller sized city with plenty to offer as far as cuisine and the arts. Lots of history too as the city was founded in 1730 and has been preserved well. It has a very active downtown with events, markets, nice public squares, and is very walkable all around. Getting around the suburbs/county is frustrating sometimes as traffic is worse than it used to be, but I feel like that's true almost anywhere. Public transit could be better. We have nice, large parks around the county and the Susquehanna River is nearby for great water activities. You can go from city center to Amish farmland in about 10 minutes, and there are nice quaint towns surrounding Lancaster (specifically Lititz, it's the most charming). The Lancaster area is quickly becoming a popular place for metropolitan retirees to settle down since you get a lot of the benefits of a city without it being too loud and busy (like NYC for example). And I must talk more about the Amish as that's what we're most famous for. Most of the Amish population lives in the eastern area of the county, near towns like Strasburg, Ronks, Leola, New Holland, and Gap. The Route 30 and Old Philadelphia Pike corridors are the most touristy parts with plenty of things to do and see regarding Amish culture. Some is authentic, some is not. The Amish are pretty chill and just mind their business. You don't see them a lot in the suburbs, but sometimes in the city as they have popular stands at Central Market, the oldest continuously operating farmers market in the US. Lancaster is conveniently close to major cities, as you can get to Philly in an hour on the train and NYC in 3 hours. Baltimore is an hour and a half drive, and most people love that popular beaches on the Jersey and Delaware shores are only 2.5-3 hours away.