Gated communities in Pocono's -how do they work? (neighborhood, purchase)

[Gettingouttahere]

Let's not forget that most of us were not here "first" -- talk to a Native American for a while...

[DavidWebb]

Originally Posted by Gettingouttahere

Let's not forget that most of us were not here "first" -- talk to a Native American for a while...

by the way...some "Native Americans" don't like to be called that...they prefer First Peoples or People of the Land..."Native American" was the name given to them by those who took the land away from them...

[log living]

Originally Posted by DavidWebb

by the way...some "Native Americans" don't like to be called that...they prefer First Peoples or People of the Land..."Native American" was the name given to them by those who took the land away from them...

By the way...The "native Americans" were not the first group to live here either.

[Gettingouttahere]

Originally Posted by log living

By the way...The "native Americans" were not the first group to live here either.

Also true.
Which is why this territorialism is so misguided.

[cjmmm]

My suggestion would be to buy a place in a community with many amenities because it is good for resale and rentals if you ever decide to do that. Nice to have the options. Watch the taxes as there are areas that have much lower taxes than other areas. We used to have neighbors keep an eye out if we were not there which was a nice luxury. You can't always have that obviously. There is also public safety at hemlock farms. They do drive bys or you can hire someone to check your place if you chose that. I have some people I know do that for a reasonable fee. It is a great place to start memories. Real estate is so cheap there and you can get amazing values at this time. I know how to find the best deals as we unfortunately learned the hard way and didn't do enough research when buying. I wouldn't to see others go through that. We loved our experience there. Message me anytime.

[ESands]

Originally Posted by cjmmm

My suggestion would be to buy a place in a community with many amenities because it is good for resale and rentals if you ever decide to do that. Nice to have the options. Watch the taxes as there are areas that have much lower taxes than other areas. We used to have neighbors keep an eye out if we were not there which was a nice luxury. You can't always have that obviously. There is also public safety at hemlock farms. They do drive bys or you can hire someone to check your place if you chose that. I have some people I know do that for a reasonable fee. It is a great place to start memories. Real estate is so cheap there and you can get amazing values at this time. I know how to find the best deals as we unfortunately learned the hard way and didn't do enough research when buying. I wouldn't to see others go through that. We loved our experience there. Message me anytime.

Hello! How does one go about finding the best deals as you alluded to?

[malibuwagon80]

Originally Posted by poconogirl

log living,

After reading all of the post (some very heated comments), I would like to share my few cents into the issue. We have recently purchased a weekend home in the pocono. It is a part time/weekend/vacation home that give us a little breathing room of nature and to give our kids a place to run around and to play with. We do live in a gated community, in fact, one that a few people in this forum warned me about (and some in here told me otherwise). not PCP or anywhere around there.

1. Gated community - I think, it does give at least a minimum level of protection. In the sense that, which location would have a less chance to be visited by strangers - one that is right by the public highway/road... or one that you have to go thru the pain of a gate? Just common sense.

2. HOA fee, consider the fee as a form of service. people do the work for you as a private contractor (gate staff, security staff, rubbish removal company, road plowing company, life guards for the pool and beaches, maintenance staff for the public area in the community.

3. Some in here have provided good and bad feeling towards the community I live in and when I live there now for a few months, it is perfect for us... without experiencing the bad issues at all.

4. Rules... well... I do not mind more rules to keep the whole area in a good status.

5. referring to the angry individual in a few previous post... wow... As a weekender from NYC, I am so sorry for his/her post to the locals. The Pocono locals are mostly friendly, happy, and much more religious people compare to the inner city. We have been to at least 15 large or small county/local fairs around the pocono area (we drive up to 1 hr to all these fairs) and you can really see who are attending these fairs. If you want to see what kind of kids there are, there are no better place than going to these fairs. most, not all, kids that go there are very good kids. they are very local. I for one would not mind living in Pocono full time --- if it is not the travel to work back in the city. I would say Pocono has better school system than the metro in general.

6. Every weekend we are there, we feel like we are the locals in pocono and honestly proud of it too. In fact one time we invited a friend to our house, when she was bragging about she is from NYC, we just told the others we are the locals. hee hee. we surely feels like one and want to be one.

7. As far as Red Lobster comment.... lol... Red Lobsters, by far, is one of the WORST place to prepare seafood unless you want your seafood flood with grease, oil, salt, MSG, overall. sorry dude... even in the city we do not dine in Red Lobsters for seafood, there is always City Island. but in all honesty, our grill in the backyard is a better place for seafood.

Pocono girl.

I enjoyed reading you're post and it sounds just like what I'm looking for. I've been reading the good and bad things about gated communities and am getting ready to look around. My wife still has a few more years to work and we would be looking for a weekend getaway. We visit Pa. a few times a year and it is our favorite area. Any suggestions on communities or areas to look? We like Lancaster, Ephreta, but would still stay relatively close to our family in New Jersey. Thanks Tom

[k9gardner]

I still don't get it. The whole rest of the world seems to get by without gated communities, but eastern PA has them everywhere you look. Yes, I'm exaggerating. Playing devil's advocate perhaps. But doesn't it seem just a little weird? The area along the river is very appealing. Recreational opportunities. Peace. Nature. But these little pockets of who knows what... I don't know. I'm looking for a place to buy a small piece of land and do my own thing. Not to buy into yet another set of rules to conform to. To an outsider... kind of gives me the heebie-jeebies. Makes me want to lean across the border to NY instead. Is that it, maybe? If you don't get it, it's not for you? Curious.

[DavidWebb]

Originally Posted by k9gardner

I still don't get it. The whole rest of the world seems to get by without gated communities, but eastern PA has them everywhere you look. Yes, I'm exaggerating. Playing devil's advocate perhaps. But doesn't it seem just a little weird? The area along the river is very appealing. Recreational opportunities. Peace. Nature. But these little pockets of who knows what... I don't know. I'm looking for a place to buy a small piece of land and do my own thing. Not to buy into yet another set of rules to conform to. To an outsider... kind of gives me the heebie-jeebies. Makes me want to lean across the border to NY instead. Is that it, maybe? If you don't get it, it's not for you? Curious.

The reason for gated communities was because many of the residents in them were week-enders so being gated and having security guards gave the extra piece of mind the homes would be secure from vandalism. What it didn't provide protection against was the corrupt HOA board members that ran them. So if you don't want to be told what you can and cannot do on YOUR OWN property then don't buy in a gated community. There's plenty of other places available and at fair prices.

[wharton]

Originally Posted by DavidWebb

The reason for gated communities was because many of the residents in them were week-enders so being gated and having security guards gave the extra piece of mind the homes would be secure from vandalism. What it didn't provide protection against was the corrupt HOA board members that ran them. So if you don't want to be told what you can and cannot do on YOUR OWN property then don't buy in a gated community. There's plenty of other places available and at fair prices.

I don't know if it's been discussed, but gated communities in the region often create a security delusion. I built and sold new homes for years, in vacation communities there. I typically stuck to a large one that was bisected by two township/state roads and was ungated. Many times at open houses I would hear, "we really like this place, but really prefer a gated community". I would then ask if they were looking forward to the hassle of getting themselves, friends and relatives, into the community (especially if it involved waiting in long lines on a Friday night) or if they were looking for increased crime?

Yea, that usually stopped folks in their tracks. I confirmed it repeatedly with PSP patrol officers, and they were in agreement that gated communities tended to be the perfect place for criminals to hang out, and the worst ones in the region tended to be gated. Gates can result in, no police presence, private patrols that tend to be mediocre to useless, and few watchful eyes on whatever game you are playing. I occasionally would pass a particular gated community, in the Mt. Pocono area, on Friday evenings. I would watch the traffic jam as folks tried to get in the gate, then think about the place's history of gang activity, drugs, shootings, murders, etc...... and think how lucky they were to live in a gated community