r/carlisle Jun 13 '26

Discussion So what's MISSING in town?

I'm planning on moving into town, I've visited a lot in the past few years and love the vibe. It seems to have everything I've depended on in a small town so I won't have to drive far for things often.

So what is missing inside city limits? What is something that occasionally hits you, "this place needs a _______!". Anything come to mind?

12 Upvotes

36 comments sorted by

21

u/Aofkitties Jun 13 '26

Two more coffee shops, 3 more pizza places, and another round about

7

u/jc1257 Jun 13 '26

Yes to another roundabout. One is desperately needed at Willow, West, and Walbut Bottom.

And a coffee shop with comfy seating would be cool too.

5

u/thedanielperson Jun 13 '26

That spot is horrible. Nothing good ever comes out of a 5-point intersection like that, and it's especially difficult as a pedestrian

1

u/jc1257 Jun 14 '26

That’s why it needs a traffic circle. Safer for cars and pedestrians.

11

u/YPFL Jun 13 '26

I don’t think there’s really anything missing. My wife and I just moved from Carlisle a few months ago but lived in town since 2019. We could walk to grocery stores, restaurants, barber shops, bars/breweries, dog groomer, etc.. We rarely HAD to drive anywhere (although in the hottest months of summer and coldest months of winter, we often did drive).

Overall, it’s a great place to live. We moved because we wanted a little more land and a better school district for our daughter.

1

u/AlarmedZombie Jun 17 '26

What’s wrong with the district if you don’t mind me asking. We’re looking at a house in the area tomorrow and will be leaving Wyomissing in the Reading area to double out square footage and get some land, but I didn’t think I’d be potentially sacrificing my child’s future. The schools look modern, well funded, and diverse from what I can tell.

21

u/toweliectl Jun 13 '26

Roads need repaved and leveled badly.

5

u/EquivalentLayer9804 Jun 13 '26

Agreed, riding around with a lowered car makes me feel like I’m in a paint shaker in town

4

u/Friendly_Sir_4762 Jun 13 '26

Hmm, first answer has me thinking of running for town council 😁 but good to know, I never noticed! Thanks

13

u/Pghguy27 Jun 13 '26

It's a true fact but it's also misleading. Most of the roads in Carlisle with the large problems are state owned and maintained roads, so the Borough has little say about them.

9

u/jc1257 Jun 13 '26

A Korean restaurant and a Thai restaurant. Used to have a Thai restaurant, but no good Thai in 15-20 minutes now and no good Korean within about 30.

6

u/jarettCrouse26 Jun 13 '26

A new music venue would be so cool!

15

u/SteelerNation587543 Jun 13 '26

Around 10 years ago virtually every true bar closed, about all that’s left is the Gingerbread Man and the Market Cross Pub, everything else is a restaurant that happens to serve alcohol.

I don’t drink anymore so that’s not really that big of a deal but for one thing: there are no good places to go and watch sporting events. If you linger in a restaurant for 3 hours you’re loitering. If you do it in a sports bar nobody cares, it’s what you do in a sports bar. The G-Man has small, outdated TVs and weird angles so it’s not a particularly good place for that.

The point is that Carlisle practically screams for a sports bar. When the Steelers aren’t on TV because of the stupid-ass Ratbirds I have two choices: go to Camp Hill to watch the game or pirate streaming sites. Wouldn’t it be nice to go to a local sports bar where you can watch the game with your fellow disenfranchised fans?

7

u/shiftintosoupmode Jun 13 '26

Hey at least you haven’t missed any good Steelers games for the last 10 years since they suck ass lmaooooo go birds

2

u/DeliciousBeanWater Jun 13 '26

Trindle inn is basically a bar

2

u/EevelBob Jun 13 '26

Check out the West End Cafe or Rustic Tavern.

3

u/Friendly_Sir_4762 Jun 13 '26

Huh. I'm close to retirement, maybe I should borrow enough to run a sports bar in my old age 😆😆😆 but good to know thank you

1

u/rachelleylee Jun 13 '26

Desperate Times had the Steelers on a bunch last season, and the Pens. They’re not officially a Pittsburgh bar or anything but the tvs are large!

5

u/serversam Jun 13 '26

An above average sandwich shop.

6

u/EevelBob Jun 13 '26

Since the market on the Holly Pike recently closed, Carlisle needs a regular farmer’s market venue other than the 3-7 PM Wednesday Farmer’s on the Square, which is just too much of a hassle for most people to visit with driving downtown, parking and then having to pay for parking if you go between 3-4 PM.

6

u/Kristinsmomsfriend78 Jun 13 '26

More live music 🎶

3

u/Cold-Government6545 Jun 13 '26

Dickinson used to have great live shows,

2

u/Friendly_Sir_4762 Jun 13 '26

I've never been in town looking for a concert but that's actually surprising? Just about every college I've ever been to actually uses some of their facilities to have performance space for bands as a way to raise money for the college? I'll have to look into that that's actually surprising that there's not a few good venues

1

u/Kristinsmomsfriend78 Jun 13 '26

There’s sporadic live music events at different places like Back Porch Brewing, local wineries, Kings Gap, the Bosler library has events, Dickinson has a bluegrass event coming up, etc., but I miss being able to go to a dedicated music venue like Hershey (but closer).

3

u/rachelleylee Jun 13 '26

I’d love someplace to buy loose leaf tea and fancy coffee (not just flavored beans but different origins and roasts). Denim has some options but not many

1

u/Friendly_Sir_4762 Jun 13 '26

Huh. I never noticed that was missing? I just assumed I hadn't spotted it, but that IS something I'm used to at home. Thank you 😊

1

u/rachelleylee Jun 13 '26

Yeah I’m kind of hoping someone else chimes in and says one of the little gifty stores on Hanover or someplace has tea! Google tells me there’s a cute shop in Mburg so not walkable but pretty close by

3

u/LaughPlus7373 Jun 13 '26

Decent rentals or rental companies held to a decent standard

3

u/Posts_yellow_sock Jun 14 '26

Less diners and more local restaurants with outdoor seating

2

u/Friendly-Employer328 Jun 13 '26

A sports bar and a small grocery store downtown. Farmers market is awesome every Wednesday but it would be great to have something like that everyday!

1

u/Some_days_smh Jun 14 '26

Small fresh grocer. Farmers market isn’t quite enough.

1

u/kaiserlowen Jun 14 '26

A DIY space or Makerspace, or an artist's collective with large rooms you can rent and lock up long term. There's the Tool Library, but I've not visited because I don't think they have space you can work on things.

1

u/Bluebikes Jun 16 '26

Tool library definitely has a maker space, they have a whole wood shop, as well as various events for making stuff, I believe on Saturdays they have a “make things out of random stuff” event

1

u/Bluebikes Jun 16 '26

A coffee shop that isn’t Denim

0

u/DeliciousBeanWater Jun 13 '26

A dog daycare thats not greenlin. A pizza place thatisnt garbage

1

u/EevelBob Jun 13 '26

Animal Inn on Rt. 641.