Possible relocation to Stroudsburg area...a few ? (Pittsburgh, Scranton: middle-class, transplants)

[BellaMi]

We currently reside in AZ. My husband has a job interview in the Stroudsburg area in the next month. We were torn between NC and PA, but cost of living is quite a bit less in PA than coastal NC, so we are leaning for the PA area.

I am accustom to harsh weather, as we lived in Boston at one time. I am assuming from all the weather data I have studied, that NEPA sees far less snow than south Boston. Am I correct?

on to my myriad of questions...

1.) Are transplants from other areas treated as harshly as the ones from NY/NJ area? I have read that NEPA residents are quite harsh in regards to transplants.

2.) We do not want to count the sunny days like we did in Boston. We were always waiting and hoping to see sun or stars. Is sun a precious commodity in NEPA?

3.) The Boston street crews are like none other...never did we have to venture down iced over roads or blocked passes. How is the NEPA area for street clearing during snow season?

4.) Is the humidity comparable to other NE areas..or is it pretty intense?

5.) We will buy after our first year there...but until then will rent. What are typical single family homes 3br or larger priced in that area?

6.) In Boston, almost all heat was propane or oil...what is the typical house heated with in NEPA and what are the average utilities for each season?

7.) I can't seem to get an accurate amount of sales and property tax rates for the Stroudsburg area...can someone give me that info?

8.) Last question for now...I hope this does not sound harsh...but are NEPAs as brassy and rude as Bostonians?

Thank you in advance for answering

Oh I forgot 1 more question....

what is the Jewish population like in NEPA...is it an anti-semitic area or is it a safe place for a Jewish family?

[nepadaisy]

Originally Posted by BellaMi

We currently reside in AZ. My husband has a job interview in the Stroudsburg area in the next month. We were torn between NC and PA, but cost of living is quite a bit less in PA than coastal NC, so we are leaning for the PA area.

I am accustom to harsh weather, as we lived in Boston at one time. I am assuming from all the weather data I have studied, that NEPA sees far less snow than south Boston. Am I correct?

I think we get somewhat less, we do get a couple of good sized snowfalls a year, but it tends to melt in between.


1.) Are transplants from other areas treated as harshly as the ones from NY/NJ area? I have read that NEPA residents are quite harsh in regards to transplants.

Nah, not really. And honestly I think people are more harsh on the internet than off. But I think where ever you come from, if you don't come here and act like a big jerk than it's all good.


2.) We do not want to count the sunny days like we did in Boston. We were always waiting and hoping to see sun or stars. Is sun a precious commodity in NEPA?

It's usually pretty sunny here.

3.) The Boston street crews are like none other...never did we have to venture down iced over roads or blocked passes. How is the NEPA area for street clearing during snow season?

Oh my. Don't hold your breath! Some towns may be better than others, I guess.


4.) Is the humidity comparable to other NE areas..or is it pretty intense?

We tend to have a few awful humid patches in the summer.

5.) We will buy after our first year there...but until then will rent. What are typical single family homes 3br or larger priced in that area?


I would say somewhere around 100-150k for something modest and in excellent condition. You might grab a bit of a fixer-upper in the 50-100 range.


6.) In Boston, almost all heat was propane or oil...what is the typical house heated with in NEPA and what are the average utilities for each season?

I don't think my home is typical, but we're wood with electric backup.


7.) I can't seem to get an accurate amount of sales and property tax rates for the Stroudsburg area...can someone give me that info?

Monroe county is going to be pretty high. Seems like everything I've looked at was at least $3k/yr. The school taxes are steep there. You might do better to look at one of the bordering counties.

8.) Last question for now...I hope this does not sound harsh...but are NEPAs as brassy and rude as Bostonians?

In my opinion, the overall mindset is to be somewhat rude and sarcastic in a teasing way, not really mean. Or maybe it's just the company I keep.


what is the Jewish population like in NEPA...is it an anti-semitic area or is it a safe place for a Jewish family?

There are a decent number of Jewish families and most people are accepting, of course there are going to be a few jerks in the mix. I don't think I've ever heard of any violence or anything like that, just stupid jokes.

.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by bellami

we currently reside in az. My husband has a job interview in the stroudsburg area in the next month. We were torn between nc and pa, but cost of living is quite a bit less in pa than coastal nc, so we are leaning for the pa area.

I am accustom to harsh weather, as we lived in boston at one time. I am assuming from all the weather data i have studied, that nepa sees far less snow than south boston. Am i correct?

On to my myriad of questions...

1.) are transplants from other areas treated as harshly as the ones from ny/nj area? I have read that nepa residents are quite harsh in regards to transplants.

As nepadaisy has already stated people derive courage from the power of anonymity (or relative anonymity) on the internet that they otherwise wouldn't have in real life. You'll see a lot of people on this sub-forum hee-hawing about "those darn transplants", but all in all most (not all) in nepa are welcoming people. The vast majority of people in the poconos are now originally from ny or nj, so the pa natives nail themselves to a cross like they are some sort of endangered species. What i can say is that i'm a pa native who just moved back to here from virginia and have actually had nothing but positive reactions from people here when i tell them i'm from out-of-state. Granted i'm in pittsburgh now, but i've always considered the steel city to be a giant version of nepa as almost everything feels identical here to when i lived in the suburbs of scranton---the nature and demographics of the people, the economy, the tight-knit fabric, etc. I think finding out you're from arizona might excite people a bit, as it seems like everyone in nepa who is a transplant is from ny or nj exclusively. Some transplants have had easier transitions than others. Sheena12 has just moved to wilkes-barre from ny, and other than the hostilities on this sub-forum from a few pa natives spouting sour grapes or a negative experience facing discrimination in west pittston (an admittedly gorgeous yet "cliquey" community) she loves living in nepa now and has made many new friends. Other transplants can say the same. People in pittsburgh are fascinated, actually that i moved here from virginia at a time when it seems like everyone is moving to virginia---the "new florida" for those who care about nothing but high-paying jobs.

2.) we do not want to count the sunny days like we did in boston. We were always waiting and hoping to see sun or stars. Is sun a precious commodity in nepa?

I never realized how "sunny" nepa was until i moved to pittsburgh. I've lived here for six weeks now, and while i love this city i've had, at most, five sunny days over these six weeks. Pittsburgh really is the "seattle of the east". People in nepa used to whine and bellyache all the time about the weather, but overall it had a nearly perfect temperate climate with four distinct seasons and just enough sunlight to stave off seasonal affective disorder for most. Stroudsburg, overall, is even just a tad sunnier than scranton/wilkes-barre. It will be sunnier than boston.

3.) the boston street crews are like none other...never did we have to venture down iced over roads or blocked passes. How is the nepa area for street clearing during snow season?

Awful. Sorry, but after having experienced how excellent greater pittsburgh is when it comes to clearing snow (i drive for a living) i can safely say nepa had horrible resources for clearing their roads. With that being said when i lived in virginia i had no work for a week in february 2010 because the roads were generally impassable that long, and mass transit into and out of dc was shut down. I was paid as a federal employee to walk to the movies and to go out to eat---talk about a guilty conscience!

4.) is the humidity comparable to other ne areas..or is it pretty intense?

I know it always seemed to be pretty humid in nepa. I'm an avid distance runner, and even wearing underarmour outfits (which are supposed to help wick sweat away from your body) i'd still be soaked after most of my workouts. I know a lot of elderly people who'd whine about aches and pains in the winter all the time from the dampness in the air.

5.) we will buy after our first year there...but until then will rent. What are typical single family homes 3br or larger priced in that area?

Depending upon size, location, condition, etc. Of course i'd budget around $200,000 for a nice 3-br home in need of no (or little) updating in the stroudsburgs. Generally speaking if you travel further away from the nj border and the i-80 corridor you can escape the "power-commuter pricing" for those high-earners who work in nyc and live in nepa and get more bang for your buck. Don't be lured by some "too good to be true" deals, though, in monroe county (i.e. "a pocono country place" in tobyhanna).

6.) in boston, almost all heat was propane or oil...what is the typical house heated with in nepa and what are the average utilities for each season?

Most homes here are heated by oil or natural gas. I wouldn't recommend electric heating unless you had a reliable built-in generator (not even a portable generator) because ice storms can (and have) knocked out electricity in the poconos for a week at a time sometimes. You don't want to be shivering that long or staying in a hotel.

7.) i can't seem to get an accurate amount of sales and property tax rates for the stroudsburg area...can someone give me that info?

In pa at least your property tax bill will consist of school taxes (the vast majority---normally at least 75%), county taxes, and municipal taxes for your borough, city, or township (normally very nominal). Due to the influx of transplants in recent years many new schools had to be built in monroe county, so school taxes shot through the roof accordingly to finance them. This is why when you hear someone on this forum from scranton whining about their "high property taxes" you need to take their complaints with a grain of salt because school taxes constitute the vast majority of your overall bill. People who whine at the county or municipality in which they reside should really be grinding their axes against their school boards. I will say, though, that my parents pay nearly $4,000 annually for a $200,000 home in luzerne county in a middle-class neighborhood for a 1970s 3-br ranch home. I'd presume that if the burden is roughly $2,000 per $100,000 of assessed value in luzerne county that it might be $2,500 per $100,000 of assessed value in monroe county, which is a bit more expensive. There is no "local" sales tax that i'm aware of. Pa's sales tax is 6%, and that excludes clothing (personally i wish they'd tax clothing, too, and stop threatening to raise income taxes).

8.) last question for now...i hope this does not sound harsh...but are nepas as brassy and rude as bostonians?

It's all in the eye of the beholder i suppose. Whenever i'm in greater boston people actually stop and wave me across the street. I really appreciated that because that doesn't happen much (if at all) in nepa where everyone completely disregards laws about yielding to pedestrians entering crosswalks. I found that people in monroe county seemed to be "ruder" than people in luzerne county, but they still weren't "rude" in my eyes, overall. A lot of people move to monroe county from nyc/nnj and bring their high-stress/fast-paced lifestyles with them. It takes them a few years to "adjust" and slow down/cool off a bit. I know having lived in fast-paced and uber-stressful northern virginia for nearly two years myself i find myself consciously having to try slowing down here in pittsburgh (which is even slower than scranton/wilkes-barre, if you can believe that!)

thank you in advance for answering

oh i forgot 1 more question....

What is the jewish population like in nepa...is it an anti-semitic area or is it a safe place for a jewish family?

It should be very safe for a jewish family. Scranton seems to be nepa's jewish epicenter, but there are jewish families sprinkled throughout the region.

Good luck!

[westcoast30]

2.) We do not want to count the sunny days like we did in Boston. We were always waiting and hoping to see sun or stars. Is sun a precious commodity in NEPA?

It's usually pretty sunny here.

OMG, nepadaisy is completely incorrect! NEPA "sunny"? Hell yeah sunshine is a precious commodity in NEPA! What are you nuts? Scranton/Wilkes-Barre suffers over 200 cloudy days/year. 52 perfectly clear sunny days annually. It is overcast more than 50% of the time there. Worse than Boston, NYC, and Philly. About as bad as Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Portland, and Seattle. Most of the time when the sun is shining the sky is hazy making it appear bright out. It's rare to have a day of blue sky and sun. Seasonal Affective Disorder runs rampant. I have relatives that suffer from a vitamin-D deficiency there. Why? The utter lack of sunlight!!

Steelcityrising - Stroudsburg, PA ain't sunnier than Boston. Dreary winters predominate NEPA. The sun shines 30% of the time there, so about 1 day of sun per week. In Boston, the sun is out about 50% of the time in winter. Is Pgh too gloomy for you? NEPA sure as hell ain't sunny. I was just up there not too long ago. Rained all Easter Day. No sunshine all weekend. I've been there in the summertime where I didn't see the sun for 7 straight days! Don't try to fool these people. It's a miserable climate.

[lmajr1975]

i have been living in the stroudsburg area since 2003 and i love it, our main street is beautiful and lively although it could use more boutique shops but the side walk seating and restaurants are very nice and excellent food especially the fine dining restaurants that you see advertised in the little - what to do in the poconos brochure that you pick up at supermarkets, most people are friendly and its more of a family type/couples area and not a bunch of teenagers like you see in jersey when you walk into a TGIF or one of those franchise restaurants, i been to many towns in jersey since i lived there many years and the towns are pretty dead on weekends and not that pretty even, its nice when they decorate the trees on main street with lights during the holidays and i hope they will keep doing that forever, they should even keep them during spring and summer which i see some are lite, poconos has developed alot since i moved here and still is so there are many shops, restaurants and things to do and see, i just hope that it will always be clean, no crime and a pleasant area, so residents should take action if things start changing to bad because if we do not do anything then thats how towns go bad but if we go to the police station and mayor and take action then im sure it will always be nice, also people living here should also go out to eat or for a drink and enjoy and support these places so they stay in business so our town can always be lively and not become dead, also if anyone is Polish we have a pretty good size of Polish people living here and a few Polish stores with excellent food and Polish church on sundays and holidays, as far as commute read my other post thats titled - not that bad i commute.