I have lived here for just over 2 years. I came to Carlisle with my boyfriend when we were looking for a place was near both our families. We had searched everywhere along 81 and just couldn’t find anything we loved, until we stumbled upon Carlisle. It had the perfect mix of everything we wanted – a small town kindness nestled within modern city living. We both fell in love immediately. For me, I’ve lived (that I can remember) at 23 different addresses in 16 cities from 8 states across 3 countries located in 2 continents. And not one has given me the sense of “home” that I get here in Carlisle.

I’ve had a successful therapeutic consulting practice (think therapy but less formal and focused more on fixing issues quickly) in Hagerstown for several years and had no plans to expand. However, once we moved to Carlisle, we found “home.” And there was a strong desire to start up a practice here so that I could, in any way I could, give back to the community. I started my practice here in 2016, am a member of the Chamber, and am trying my best to be an active participant in the community. During most weekends, we’re around – at Molly Pitcher, engrossed in a book at Whistlestop or the library, drinking coffee at Denim, or at the multitude of other places around town.

Carlisle really is the best of both worlds. You know your bartender, or have seen your waiter at the store, and yet we’ve got an independent movie theater, great breweries, and wonderful, interesting food. Our boutique stores are superb (I can’t stop shopping at The Greatest Gift), and so you get that cool, interesting feel of a forward thinking city, but with the kindness and warmth found at a small town. I will never forget the snow storm in January of 2016 when we got dumped on. Everything was closed, but we were on the hunt for food and found Faye’s to be open. We walked in to a room full of folks all smiling and sharing stories, and hardly any staff. So we all started serving each other, helping get water or clean up after one another. It was the kind of communal understanding and action that you find in storybooks about “old times” but can’t seem to replicate in real life. But here we are. There’s the “hometown, I love my bartender” feel at Molly Pitcher, the kindness even in coffee from Denim, great clothes and fun stuff all from local artists at The Greatest Gift, a perfectly quaint Whistlestop, busting at the edges with books that will make you think, a library of real community value, and of course, there’s Kathy up at Jon’s Diner and her ridiculously wonderful homemade apple pie. And that’s not even half of what you can find here. Sure, Carlisle, like any town, has it’s bumps. But I have found that this community is working together to work through those issues, and that’s really all you could ask for.

I think there is always a push and pull in a town where you’ve got people coming in from all walks of life. It’s a delicate balance trying to keep the small town charm, but make way for more big city items. And in some cases, the city reflects a division there. Side by side you have modern set against historic set against a college, set against farms along the countryside. No one of those things is more important than the other, and they all are needed to keep this city what it is. So far, the community is trying to keep up with the demand, and it risks getting tipped in any one direction if too much of any faction takes over. As for me, i try to keep myself informed, attending Borough events when I can, taking part in community events (such as the recent ‘love’ initiative held in the square to promote love and diversity in our community), and staying involved. And I think most of the other folks in town seem to be doing the same. I hope the community grows, but just enough to fill up the empty storefronts and ensure that we keep the diversity in our community. – Crystal Rice, Insieme Consulting