Carbondale???? (Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Taylor: how much, hotel, house)

[MichaelMarinelli]

Originally Posted by vitodave

My Brother in law is looking to relocate to the area.He has a fixation with Carbondale.I am not sure why!Having only driven through the area I do not know much about it.Any info on the area would be appreciated.
Why are the homes so cheap?
Local Jobs?
Schools?
I own homes both in pocono farms(tobyhanna) and Moosic how does Carbondale compare to thoose areas?
Are there any areas near Carbondale that are nicer?
Thanks in advance

Well, I have now lived in Carbondale for three years. Carbondale itself has different sections. The "downtown" portion of Carbondale is infact a dump. Most of the buildings are run down and outdated. Main St is full of plenty of stores, but they're pretty useless. Hey, we just got a pawn shop here. If that doesn't say high class I don't know what does.

The homes are cheap because a lot of them are outdated and need work. Most sell for under $100,000 which is around $50,000 less than most of it's surrounding areas. The houses on the westside of Carbondale and anything surrounding the hospital typically sell for more because they are worth more. Those are the choice spots to live in. The one major spot to avoid buying is anything on or off of Belmont St. That one area is probably what drives down most of Carbondale's property values. I live on the westside of Carbondale and really don't have any complaints.

Don't get me wrong, Carbondale's reputation is worse than it really is here. It's a convenient location to live in. We're 20 minutes from Dickson City and Dunmore. We're also 20 minutes from Honesdale and 30 minutes from Lake Wallenpaupack. Since we're in a valley, we have beautiful views of the surrounding mountains and as long as you live on a quiet street, you can really enjoy living here. I recommend Carbondale to any young couples looking to buy their first house because of the affordability. I would also recommend it to anyone looking for convenience.
Moderator cut: no advertising on the forums, please

[ScranBarre]

As someone who has befriended an absolute plethora of young professionals here in Greater Pittston, Luzerne County, I must respectfully disagree with your assessment. There have been students locally who have attained a perfect 1600 on their SATs. My 2005 graduating class was one of the most intelligent in the history of Pittston Area, as we had seven students with perfect GPAs, even managing to snag straight-"A's" through a lot of difficult AP courses. There IS a discernible intellectual vibe in our community, and it's a shame that so few can see beyond the nefarious reputation we have to these otherwise shining beacons of inspiration.

The fact that most of these bright young minds are fleeing our region in droves isn't because of the "inbred heck" factor; it's due to the scarcity of college-level employers in our region. My own father, a college graduate with several decades of I/T experience, was just turned down for a position with MetLife due to the volume of applicants for one position that had opened up. He's had great difficulty finding any sort of high-tech hotbeds in NEPA, and I can't say I'm surprised when you have idiots like Austin Burke and Michael Lombardo at the helms of the Greater Scranton and Greater Wilkes-Barre Chambers of Commerce, respectively. If you want to get a glimpse of Lombardo's leadership capabilities, just look at how he left Pittston after his tenure as mayor---even more run-down, sprawled-out, and poverty-infested than ever. I suspect Burke couldn't do much better. As such, many college graduates who want to stay in NEPA because we see it as an "up-and-coming" area are now facing the prospect of commuting 2-hours each way everyday into NYC, Philly, or NJ for employment. My own father was considering power-commuting to Hartford for a position with a major insurance company up there because the local pay scales are just so laughable for his field. There are an untold number of gifted minds out there that fled NEPA due to our horrific economy and would be willing to return in a heartbeat (I know of many myself) if Lombardo and Burke could put their heads together and collectively bring us some major high-tech, high-quality employers. Instead many of us will now be power-commuting in order to retain the great quality-of-life in Scranton without the dirt-cheap pay scales.

By the way, your judgment of Ithaca, NY as being full of hicks just proves your immaturity. I'm a regular on the NY message boards as well (to scout out potential employment hot-spots for commuting), and Ithaca comes very highly-regarded. It ranks very highly on just about every "Best Places" list that is ever released. If you don't believe how lucky you are to currently be living in Ithaca and attending Cornell University or Ithaca College (both of which are outstanding yet expensive institutions of higher learning), then consult some of those from as far away as CA and the UK who have heard nothing but great things about Ithaca. I myself was blown away by its socially-progressive atmosphere when I was there, and God-willing I hope Scranton can be that way someday. Say all you want about liberals, but there's no denying that some of the nicest cities in our nation (Providence, Newport, Ithaca, Boston, Pittsburgh, Annapolis, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Madison, etc.) are liberal havens, so they must be doing something right.

[I LOVE PA!]

Paul, we all hear you, EXCEPT...I think you are speaking way above Inbred Alcoholik's ability to understand and possibly even to read.
I think this person is a TROLL.
Once again...someone woh hates Pa shows up in the Pa forum. My pet peeve!!!!

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by I LOVE PA!

Paul, we all hear you, EXCEPT...I think you are speaking way above Inbred Alcoholik's ability to understand and possibly even to read.
I think this person is a TROLL.
Once again...someone woh hates Pa shows up in the Pa forum. My pet peeve!!!!

Agreed. I'm just tiring of people like him from NY/NJ helping to spread the region's reputation as being a "redneck" hotbed when it's nowhere near being like that. It's precisely people like this individual that attacked me back in December 2006 on the NJ forum as being a "hick" for being from PA (even though two members from PA on another thread were thoroughly-convinced that people from NJ were "above" that and went on to attack me in an argument).

We're all entitled to our opinions. However, I find it hillarious that someone would group 12,500,000 people together as all being inbred redneck hicks, more or less. I must say that out of all the forums I frequent on this site, the Pennsylvania one is one of the most articulate, to say the least. We have some of the most interesting political debates right here on the NEPA sub-forum concering all of Scranton's political turmoils, and (for the most part) we engage in coflict with CIVILITY.

I know people from NJ wouldn't like it if I grouped them ALL together as being keeping up with the Jones's snobs based on the caliber of vehicles I see driving on I-80, nor would people from NY like it if I grouped them ALL together as being rude and pushy based upon the lack of "excuse me's" I receive during my pilgrimages into Midtown, so I simply don't see where they assume they can get away with constantly calling PA rural, white-trashy, redneck, inbred, et cetera? I'm sure residents of Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Scranton, and our other large cities would be inclined to disagree.

There's a reason why I'm among a growing number of people willing to drive 2-hours each way to work---I LOVE PA! It's pretty neat to be in the bustling heart of Downtown Scranton for La Festa Italiana and be surrounded by boutiques, galleries, lofts, etc. and then drive only 10 minutes and be surrounded by nature in all of its splendid glory. It's pretty neat to live where I currently do in Pittston and be only 12 minutes from either Scranton or Wilkes-Barre. It's pretty neat to stand at the 307 Overlook and survey the city's skyline beneath rolling green mountains. Most of the people here would give you the shirt off their backs in times of crisis, permit you to turn left out of parking lots during rush-hour, say "Good Morning" to you as you pass them on a small-town sidewalk, volunteer to chip in some change if you came up a little short at the cashier, etc. The same can't be said for a lot of NJ/NYC, the same ones who love to bash PA mercilessly as was shown in December 2006 to me, as well as in this most recent reply from this possible soon-to-be troll.

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by ScrantonWilkesBarre

Agreed. I'm just tiring of people like him from NY/NJ helping to spread the region's reputation as being a "redneck" hotbed when it's nowhere near being like that. It's precisely people like this individual that attacked me back in December 2006 on the NJ forum as being a "hick" for being from PA (even though two members from PA on another thread were thoroughly-convinced that people from NJ were "above" that and went on to attack me in an argument).

We're all entitled to our opinions. However, I find it hillarious that someone would group 12,500,000 people together as all being inbred redneck hicks, more or less. I must say that out of all the forums I frequent on this site, the Pennsylvania one is one of the most articulate, to say the least. We have some of the most interesting political debates right here on the NEPA sub-forum concering all of Scranton's political turmoils, and (for the most part) we engage in coflict with CIVILITY.

I know people from NJ wouldn't like it if I grouped them ALL together as being keeping up with the Jones's snobs based on the caliber of vehicles I see driving on I-80, nor would people from NY like it if I grouped them ALL together as being rude and pushy based upon the lack of "excuse me's" I receive during my pilgrimages into Midtown, so I simply don't see where they assume they can get away with constantly calling PA rural, white-trashy, redneck, inbred, et cetera? I'm sure residents of Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Scranton, and our other large cities would be inclined to disagree.

There's a reason why I'm among a growing number of people willing to drive 2-hours each way to work---I LOVE PA! It's pretty neat to be in the bustling heart of Downtown Scranton for La Festa Italiana and be surrounded by boutiques, galleries, lofts, etc. and then drive only 10 minutes and be surrounded by nature in all of its splendid glory. It's pretty neat to live where I currently do in Pittston and be only 12 minutes from either Scranton or Wilkes-Barre. It's pretty neat to stand at the 307 Overlook and survey the city's skyline beneath rolling green mountains. Most of the people here would give you the shirt off their backs in times of crisis, permit you to turn left out of parking lots during rush-hour, say "Good Morning" to you as you pass them on a small-town sidewalk, volunteer to chip in some change if you came up a little short at the cashier, etc. The same can't be said for a lot of NJ/NYC, the same ones who love to bash PA mercilessly as was shown in December 2006 to me, as well as in this most recent reply from this possible soon-to-be troll.

This message just garnered me a red dot, which I'm going to report to the moderators since it was a flagrant misuse. Apparently yet another person feels it was "okay" for this individual and those who attacked me on the NJ forum in December 2006 to bash PA, yet when I call them out on it I get bashed for it in return. Why is it okay for people like this to call us all inbred rednecks, but when I ask them to stop I get a red dot? There's a lot of unitelligent people on this forum, apparently, who can't read and digest an ENTIRE MESSAGE without picking and choosing what to be offended by.

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by ScrantonWilkesBarre

This message just garnered me a red dot, which I'm going to report to the moderators since it was a flagrant misuse. Apparently yet another person feels it was "okay" for this individual and those who attacked me on the NJ forum in December 2006 to bash PA, yet when I call them out on it I get bashed for it in return. Why is it okay for people like this to call us all inbred rednecks, but when I ask them to stop I get a red dot? There's a lot of unitelligent people on this forum, apparently, who can't read and digest an ENTIRE MESSAGE without picking and choosing what to be offended by.

I also find it curious that those who leave me red dots don't attach their names to them. Interesting. It seems we have cowards amongst us as well.

[go phillies]

Originally Posted by ScrantonWilkesBarre

It's pretty neat to stand at the 307 Overlook and survey the city's skyline beneath rolling green mountains..

The scenery here is something we natives take for granted. I have relatives from the midwest and they are really impressed with the mountains and the views we have here, since where they live its flat as far as the eye can see.

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by go phillies

The scenery here is something we natives take for granted. I have relatives from the midwest and they are really impressed with the mountains and the views we have here, since where they live its flat as far as the eye can see.

Agreed. As you'll all soon see in my upcoming Pittston Photo Tour, there are even natural sites to be appreciated from one of the most economically-depressed cities in the region. It seems like no matter where you are in NEPA, a beautiful vista is only minutes away. One can get from Center City Wilkes-Barre to a live working dairy farm just off Route 309 in a matter of ten minutes or to a gorgeous lake retreat in just thirty minutes. Scrantonians living in the Hill Section can walk to either a reviving downtown district or to a large city park with a waterfall. There's a lot of natural beauty to appreciate in NEPA, which is why I cringe when people make fun of us.

[Ex-Ithacan]

Originally Posted by ScrantonWilkesBarre

I also find it curious that those who leave me red dots don't attach their names to them. Interesting. It seems we have cowards amongst us as well.

I wouldn't pay any attention to those who hide behind a message board due to be ashamed to admit the way they really feel. You're still tops to many here SWB.

[greentown]

Sorry, but what's a red dot mean?