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Scranton Wilkes Barre always gives good, and much needed advice.
Plus, he is a wonderful picture taker, and gives us tours of many towns in
the Scranton area and beyond. He is probably the most through poster that
city-data has. We not only learn from his knowledge, but from all those pictures he takes. Wonderful tours, of wonderful places...........
It would be nice if someone in NJ would post tours of some of the towns, so people can understand each towns own special flare.
I know one thing. In NJ we voted on school issues, like putting a swimming pool in a school. Or building another school..........
Here in the Poconos, you can wake up to huge schools being built, no votes, they just rise and shine!
We have all these new students here, who need to have a classroom to go to. Thus, taxes are increasing as the influx moves West.
There are lots of NY and NJ plates. Every other car on the weekend.........glad we have lots of room. But, unfortunately the schools don't.
Thanks for the re-inforcement, Summering. You're likewise one of my favorites on the NEPA sub-forum.
I don't quite understand why whenever I try to spark a lively debate on the NJ forum people automatically take it as a personal attack and start getting ready to "square off" with me. Trust me, folks, I come in PEACE! I've just seen far too many teenagers (including my ex-boyfriend) who live in the Poconos being neglected by their power-commuting parents to willingly embrace the idea of more dually-employed couples with younger children moving here thinking a four-hour round-trip commute "isn't a big deal." People from NJ can't keep on running from its problems---at some point Monroe County, PA is going to be at the same point that NJ is at now in terms of overinflated housing costs, traffic congestion, high taxes, etc., and then Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Pike County, and Wayne County will be the next areas pounced upon. Monroe County has grown by over 70,000 new residents since 1990, and that growth shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon.
I just don't quite get how hundreds of thousands of people can all move out of NJ with similar complaints yet can't realize that if they all banded together as one collective voice in their state's political arena that they could save New Jersey from the state it's currently in. Your state has too many positive going for it to just give up hope. Excuse me for sounding like a preachy motivational speaker, but you have great beaches, wonderful hiking trails, Princeton University, Cape May, Ellis Island, and a few of your communities routinely win spots on the "Best Places" lists presented by Money Magazine. Why give up with your defeatist attitudes about how the middle-class in NJ is done for, about how politicians in NJ are all corrupt and self-serving, or about how Newark and Camden are long dead? Aren't there ANY of you out there with a shred of hope for a better tomorrow?
Thanks for the re-inforcement, Summering. You're likewise one of my favorites on the NEPA sub-forum.
I don't quite understand why whenever I try to spark a lively debate on the NJ forum people automatically take it as a personal attack and start getting ready to "square off" with me. Trust me, folks, I come in PEACE! I've just seen far too many teenagers (including my ex-boyfriend) who live in the Poconos being neglected by their power-commuting parents to willingly embrace the idea of more dually-employed couples with younger children moving here thinking a four-hour round-trip commute "isn't a big deal." People from NJ can't keep on running from its problems---at some point Monroe County, PA is going to be at the same point that NJ is at now in terms of overinflated housing costs, traffic congestion, high taxes, etc., and then Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Pike County, and Wayne County will be the next areas pounced upon. Monroe County has grown by over 70,000 new residents since 1990, and that growth shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon.
I just don't quite get how hundreds of thousands of people can all move out of NJ with similar complaints yet can't realize that if they all banded together as one collective voice in their state's political arena that they could save New Jersey from the state it's currently in. Your state has too many positive going for it to just give up hope. Excuse me for sounding like a preachy motivational speaker, but you have great beaches, wonderful hiking trails, Princeton University, Cape May, Ellis Island, and a few of your communities routinely win spots on the "Best Places" lists presented by Money Magazine. Why give up with your defeatist attitudes about how the middle-class in NJ is done for, about how politicians in NJ are all corrupt and self-serving, or about how Newark and Camden are long dead? Aren't there ANY of you out there with a shred of hope for a better tomorrow?
swb, i don't think anyone's attacked you, it just seems like you expect more of NJ residents than you do of yourself. You yourself said you've given up hope in fixing PA!
i personally haven't given up hope. yes it's expensive, taxes are high, housing costs are high, but it's NOT out of reach of the common man. you can buy a (small) home or condo in parts of northern NJ for slightly < $300K with reasonable taxes. (prices are coming down too) the level of exaggeration on this board sometimes is nuts. someone making $70K CAN live here, MOST OF THE POPULATION DOES! can you buy at 3000 sq ft house in it? No! but let's be real, not everyone can have one! you want one? SAVE!
don't worry about me moving to the Poconos or NEPA, I won't be driven out of here that easily.
also, i don't have the numbers handy, but i'm not personally seeing this mass exodus out of here IRL. there's a vocal minority on this forum which makes people think NJ's losing population faster than the titantic sank. NJ's population has grown.
Thanks for the re-inforcement, Summering. You're likewise one of my favorites on the NEPA sub-forum.
I don't quite understand why whenever I try to spark a lively debate on the NJ forum people automatically take it as a personal attack and start getting ready to "square off" with me. Trust me, folks, I come in PEACE! I've just seen far too many teenagers (including my ex-boyfriend) who live in the Poconos being neglected by their power-commuting parents to willingly embrace the idea of more dually-employed couples with younger children moving here thinking a four-hour round-trip commute "isn't a big deal." People from NJ can't keep on running from its problems---at some point Monroe County, PA is going to be at the same point that NJ is at now in terms of overinflated housing costs, traffic congestion, high taxes, etc., and then Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Pike County, and Wayne County will be the next areas pounced upon. Monroe County has grown by over 70,000 new residents since 1990, and that growth shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon.
I just don't quite get how hundreds of thousands of people can all move out of NJ with similar complaints yet can't realize that if they all banded together as one collective voice in their state's political arena that they could save New Jersey from the state it's currently in. Your state has too many positive going for it to just give up hope. Excuse me for sounding like a preachy motivational speaker, but you have great beaches, wonderful hiking trails, Princeton University, Cape May, Ellis Island, and a few of your communities routinely win spots on the "Best Places" lists presented by Money Magazine. Why give up with your defeatist attitudes about how the middle-class in NJ is done for, about how politicians in NJ are all corrupt and self-serving, or about how Newark and Camden are long dead? Aren't there ANY of you out there with a shred of hope for a better tomorrow?
Just out of curiosity....how old are you hon??? You have all the earmarks of a 60's flower save the world child right here in 2007.....all though very noble in concept it usually doesn't work in real life
I for one grew up in an urban area that rapidly went down hill...I will not subject my kids to going to an urban school in places like Newark, Camden, the Oranges..not happening.
Those of us that stay in Jersey....well we know what we have and we also know what problems abound in our state.....that said are you really concerned with Jersey...I mean PA has it's sleazy areas....or you just fed up with the Jersey transplants.....c'mon now fess up
swb, i don't think anyone's attacked you, it just seems like you expect more of NJ residents than you do of yourself. You yourself said you've given up hope in fixing PA!
i personally haven't given up hope. yes it's expensive, taxes are high, housing costs are high, but it's NOT out of reach of the common man. you can buy a (small) home or condo in parts of northern NJ for slightly < $300K with reasonable taxes. (prices are coming down too) the level of exaggeration on this board sometimes is nuts. someone making $70K CAN live here, MOST OF THE POPULATION DOES! can you buy at 3000 sq ft house in it? No! but let's be real, not everyone can have one! you want one? SAVE!
don't worry about me moving to the Poconos or NEPA, I won't be driven out of here that easily.
also, i don't have the numbers handy, but i'm not personally seeing this mass exodus out of here IRL. there's a vocal minority on this forum which makes people think NJ's losing population faster than the titantic sank. NJ's population has grown.
Ok SWB .......Tahiti is not moving to NEPA ( looking around, looking around)
Now what do we do about every other plate at the stop lights saying...NY, NJ, NY, NJ ?.......I think there will be more jobs for brick layers and school teachers for sure. We can't build them fast enough.
Just out of curiosity....how old are you hon??? You have all the earmarks of a 60's flower save the world child right here in 2007.....all though very noble in concept it usually doesn't work in real life
I'm a 20-year-old liberal radical who often is accused of wearing rose-colored glasses too often. I suppose that is indeed showing through in these two threads I have posted as well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by njkate
I for one grew up in an urban area that rapidly went down hill...I will not subject my kids to going to an urban school in places like Newark, Camden, the Oranges..not happening.
Understandable. The problem though is that people in NJ have this sense of "Phew. I escaped Newark. Now I'm safe forever in my new community." Wrong! Who's to say that the communities that are becoming safe havens for the "refugees" from The Oranges, Camden, Newark, etc. won't start to suffer a similar fate? This is happening in Hazleton, PA, a city of just 24,000 that has seen a large spike in homicides this year due to a growing population of ex-city folks who think they are "escaping" more problematic areas. The local news media interviewed an African-American male the other day in Monroe County in response to a racially-motivated graffiti spree there, and he was quoted as saying more or less "We moved here from the city to escape that type of stuff." Folks, while much of the criminal activity might currently be concentrated in a few slummy packets of NJ, it is starting to spread, which is why these packets need to be paid closer attention to before they spread their vileness into these supposedly "crime-free" areas. As I said earlier, there is no "bubble" around Newark, Camden, Philly, The Bronx, etc. to prevent the "undesirables" from seeping into Sparta, Morristown, Toms River, or anywhere else for that matter if they see an untapped meth market and/or an underprepared local police force (which has happened to parts of PA).
Quote:
Originally Posted by njkate
Those of us that stay in Jersey....well we know what we have and we also know what problems abound in our state.....that said are you really concerned with Jersey...I mean PA has it's sleazy areas....or you just fed up with the Jersey transplants.....c'mon now fess up
I'm actually not tired of Jersey transplants; I welcome as many of them to come here to boost our area's tax base as possible. Many of my friends at King's College hail from NJ, as do some of my co-workers at Lowe's, and some of my neighbors in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. It's not the people themselves that irritate me---it's the fact that so many of them are selfishly "power-commuting" at the expense of their children. If you can work for eight hours per day, commute four hours per day, sleep seven hours per day, get ready for work an hour per day, and still feel as if the remaining four hours or less per day is enough time to properly raise your children, mow your lawn, cook dinner, relax, etc. then more power to you. As for me, I'd never subject my own children to that, even if I had to rent an apartment in NJ as opposed to owning a home in PA. I don't want to attack Pocono commuters on a personal level, but I honestly can't believe that so many of them are clueless as to what some of their teenagers are getting themselves into (I've heard horror stories from my ex, who lives near Mt. Pocono).
swb, i don't think anyone's attacked you, it just seems like you expect more of NJ residents than you do of yourself. You yourself said you've given up hope in fixing PA!
i personally haven't given up hope. yes it's expensive, taxes are high, housing costs are high, but it's NOT out of reach of the common man. you can buy a (small) home or condo in parts of northern NJ for slightly < $300K with reasonable taxes. (prices are coming down too) the level of exaggeration on this board sometimes is nuts. someone making $70K CAN live here, MOST OF THE POPULATION DOES! can you buy at 3000 sq ft house in it? No! but let's be real, not everyone can have one! you want one? SAVE!
don't worry about me moving to the Poconos or NEPA, I won't be driven out of here that easily.
also, i don't have the numbers handy, but i'm not personally seeing this mass exodus out of here IRL. there's a vocal minority on this forum which makes people think NJ's losing population faster than the titantic sank. NJ's population has grown.
WHAT?!? Tahiti, I'm sorry but you state that no one is attacking SWB? You're the attacking-queen!
I read some of your previous posts, just to see if you ever attempt to come off less forceful, but I haven't seen much in the way of that. Maybe I'm just misinterpreting some of what you post?
If anyone so much a posts even a hint of negativity towards NJ, you come out guns blazing! What's up with that?
I'm actually not tired of Jersey transplants; I welcome as many of them to come here to boost our area's tax base as possible. Many of my friends at King's College hail from NJ, as do some of my co-workers at Lowe's, and some of my neighbors in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. It's not the people themselves that irritate me---it's the fact that so many of them are selfishly "power-commuting" at the expense of their children. If you can work for eight hours per day, commute four hours per day, sleep seven hours per day, get ready for work an hour per day, and still feel as if the remaining four hours or less per day is enough time to properly raise your children, mow your lawn, cook dinner, relax, etc. then more power to you. As for me, I'd never subject my own children to that, even if I had to rent an apartment in NJ as opposed to owning a home in PA. I don't want to attack Pocono commuters on a personal level, but I honestly can't believe that so many of them are clueless as to what some of their teenagers are getting themselves into (I've heard horror stories from my ex, who lives near Mt. Pocono).[/quote]
On this we agree...sometimes it's not so much they can't afford to live in NJ it's they can't afford a McMansion....you absolutely need to know where your kids are and they need more supervision as a teen then ever!!
Interstates have made for the criminals in inch there way up....shoplifting...breakins etc...you know at one time my doors were never locked..used to leave the car keys in the ignition in the driveway....sigh....no more
WHAT?!? Tahiti, I'm sorry but you state that no one is attacking SWB? You're the attacking-queen!
I read some of your previous posts, just to see if you ever attempt to come off less forceful, but I haven't seen much in the way of that. Maybe I'm just misinterpreting some of what you post?
If anyone so much a posts even a hint of negativity towards NJ, you come out guns blazing! What's up with that?
where did I attack SWB? does saying that the common man can afford NJ qualify as attacking? i thought it was a discussion.
i only come out as "forceful" when people post untruths. if someone posts "I'm leaving NJ, we'd like to stay in xxx town but want to experience new things" I'd never attack. But when people incessantly put NJ down and paint with a broad brush and post flat out lies, well yeah, I'll post. btw - forceful and "attacking" are 2 different things. I've NEVER unilaterally been nasty to anyone.
i've also said TIME AND TIME again that NJ has problems - JUST LIKE EVERYWHERE ELSE. Did you find that when perusing my past posts? have you seen posts where i don't recommend NJ towns? have you seen posts where I recommend people just don't move here for whatever reason?
i don't wear rose colored glasses, but i also know that the entire state doesn't suck. and when someone says that NJ is the "garbage" state because Marlboro is full of snobs, damn right I'll say something.
eta - but i do thank you for getting my gender right...
On this we agree...sometimes it's not so much they can't afford to live in NJ it's they can't afford a McMansion....you absolutely need to know where your kids are and they need more supervision as a teen then ever!!
where did I attack SWB? does saying that the common man can afford NJ qualify as attacking? i thought it was a discussion.
i only come out as "forceful" when people post untruths. if someone posts "I'm leaving NJ, we'd like to stay in xxx town but want to experience new things" I'd never attack. But when people incessantly put NJ down and paint with a broad brush and post flat out lies, well yeah, I'll post. btw - forceful and "attacking" are 2 different things. I've NEVER unilaterally been nasty to anyone.
i've also said TIME AND TIME again that NJ has problems - JUST LIKE EVERYWHERE ELSE. Did you find that when perusing my past posts? have you seen posts where i don't recommend NJ towns? have you seen posts where I recommend people just don't move here for whatever reason?
i don't wear rose colored glasses, but i also know that the entire state doesn't suck. and when someone says that NJ is the "garbage" state because Marlboro is full of snobs, damn right I'll say something.
eta - but i do thank you for getting my gender right...
point taken. I hope you're an attorney. You could do very well.
I guess I was just taken aback by some of your comments.
BTW, I never stated that NJ $uck$ (dollar sign not used for emphasis). I'm just sad to see so many of those who've lived there for years and years forced out, or struggling. NOT because they made bad financial decisions, but b/c they can't afford the property taxes...but let's not go there.
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You're likewise one of my favorites on the NEPA sub-forum. 
I've just seen far too many teenagers (including my ex-boyfriend) who live in the Poconos being neglected by their power-commuting parents to willingly embrace the idea of more dually-employed couples with younger children moving here thinking a four-hour round-trip commute "isn't a big deal." 
People from NJ can't keep on running from its problems---at some point Monroe County, PA is going to be at the same point that NJ is at now in terms of overinflated housing costs, traffic congestion, high taxes, etc., and then Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Pike County, and Wayne County will be the next areas pounced upon. Monroe County has grown by over 70,000 new residents since 1990, and that growth shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon. 
