Looking for a place like the old Elmhurst/Mount Cobb/Hamlin area (Scranton: for sale)

[PABride2Be]

I grew up in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area and I spend many summers in the Poconos, specifically Mount Cobb/Hamlin areas. I always wanted to live there and now I'm looking to buy a home with my boyfriend, naturally I started looking in the those areas. I've long known that these areas aren't what they used to be and I hoped I might find a house there that seemed untouched by the change that has come to the North Pocono area. Well I'm failing miserably and the state of these areas aren't what they used to be... it's over priced development after over priced development. So I'm looking for someplace that resembles what I loved about the Mount Cobb area 20 years ago. So locals, I'm up for any suggestions. I looked at Gouldsboro, but that's only one step behind as more developments are coming up everyday... it's so disheartening! I'm one step away from moving to North Dakota!

[Mr Yuk]

Originally Posted by GottaLuvMe

I grew up in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area and I spend many summers in the Poconos, specifically Mount Cobb/Hamlin areas. I always wanted to live there and now I'm looking to buy a home with my boyfriend, naturally I started looking in the those areas. I've long known that these areas aren't what they used to be and I hoped I might find a house there that seemed untouched by the change that has come to the North Pocono area. Well I'm failing miserably and the state of these areas aren't what they used to be... it's over priced development after over priced development. So I'm looking for someplace that resembles what I loved about the Mount Cobb area 20 years ago. So locals, I'm up for any suggestions. I looked at Gouldsboro, but that's only one step behind as more developments are coming up everyday... it's so disheartening! I'm one step away from moving to North Dakota!

You're best off to look in the northern rural parts of Lackawanna County: Greenfield Township, Scott Township, etc. Although the parts of Scott Township nearest to the Abingtons are becoming more and more overrun by McMansion developments, the parts closer to Jermyn and Carbondale are still very much nice, quiet country life. Plus, its just as convenient, if not more convenient to get to I-81 and Scranton from there than it is from North Pocono. North Pocono, before you know it, will be overrun with New Yorkers and will be just another part of "North Jersey West" like Monroe and Pike Counties....overrun with "gated communities" strip malls, and overcrowded large schools full of crime.

[PABride2Be]

Thanks! already forwarded 2 houses to my realtor to take a look at!

Anyone have ideas for Luzerne/Wyoming counties? My family is in Pittston and we want to stay about 1/2 hour-45 min away.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by GottaLuvMe

Thanks! already forwarded 2 houses to my realtor to take a look at!

Anyone have ideas for Luzerne/Wyoming counties? My family is in Pittston and we want to stay about 1/2 hour-45 min away.

I live in Pittston myself, so perhaps I can be of some assistance. I personally think that Harding, which is just outside of West Pittston via Route 92, is a nice, tranquil, rural area that will take quite a number of years to succumb to urban sprawl. You can live just ten minutes outside of town and be surrounded by all sorts of wildlife. The Back Mountain is becoming nothing more than an oversprawling mess of tract-housing; I was out there today with a friend so she could purchase a Vera Bradley purse at the Blue Hydrangea Gift Shop, and traffic was snarled everywhere along Route 309. That area used to be a nice place to call home, but with 30,000 residents and growing each day (there are roughly 1,000 new homes/townhomes/lots currently under development in a half-dozen major current or soon-to-come subdivisions), it will soon resemble North Jersey.

Harding, which is technically called Exeter Township, has a much more laid-back, peaceful, rural flair, and it is too far removed from the Route 309 commuter belt to succumb to cookie-cutter developments (even though one new one, Applewood Acres, has just sprung up). Further up Route 92 is Falls in Wyoming County, which would put you roughly 20-25 minutes from either Scranton or Pittston and only about 10 minutes from Tunkhannock, which is a revitalizing country town with a restored theater that hosts semi-annual film festivals, antiques stores, etc., as well as about 15 minutes from Clarks Summit, which is the yuppie epicenter of NEPA with its yoga studios, organic foods market, viticultural seminars, tennis club, equestrian enthusiasts, yacht owners, etc. I would heartily recommend any Route 92 corridor communities (out of the flood zone!) to you. Tunkhannock itself is quaint and friendly as well, and it is too far removed from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (about 35 minutes from each) to make it susceptible to overgrowth issues. If this were a few years ago I would have also recommended the Suscon section of Pittston Township to you, but recent massive growth in the township has made this area undesirable as well.

[PABride2Be]

Thanks! Agree with you on Back Mountain... I haven't been in years and I drove there a few weeks ago and it was very disappointing, same with Bear Creek. Harding and Falls are already on my list! And of course Suscon is as well! I love Pittston and wouldn't leave but I'm not a suburban-ite ... give me city or give me country, just not in the middle. I spent my whole life in Pittston Twp and most of my family was born and raised here as well, so Suscon is perfect option, well the non-development areas and away from all the industrial going up! Unfortunately, there's nothing nice in Suscon at the moment that's in my price range (about 150k), since we want a fair amount of land. I rent a house in the Twp now but it's such a mess and is turning into a disaster with all the water damage that the owners don't want to fix. So even if you know of any rentals (twp/yatesville/laflin only) that aren't published, please let me know. We're beginning to think that we should just keep saving and double our budget, so we can get what we want!

What part of the Twp do you live in, if you don't mind me asking? I'm on the Yatesville border.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by GottaLuvMe

Thanks! Agree with you on Back Mountain... I haven't been in years and I drove there a few weeks ago and it was very disappointing, same with Bear Creek. Harding and Falls are already on my list! And of course Suscon is as well! I love Pittston and wouldn't leave but I'm not a suburban-ite ... give me city or give me country, just not in the middle. I spent my whole life in Pittston Twp and most of my family was born and raised here as well, so Suscon is perfect option, well the non-development areas and away from all the industrial going up! Unfortunately, there's nothing nice in Suscon at the moment that's in my price range (about 150k), since we want a fair amount of land. I rent a house in the Twp now but it's such a mess and is turning into a disaster with all the water damage that the owners don't want to fix. So even if you know of any rentals (twp/yatesville/laflin only) that aren't published, please let me know. We're beginning to think that we should just keep saving and double our budget, so we can get what we want!

What part of the Twp do you live in, if you don't mind me asking? I'm on the Yatesville border.

Hello there. I live in Butler Heights, which is the subdivision of about 35 homes or so near the Dupont border and just off of Highway 315, adjacent to the upcoming Pittston Crossings Mall across from Pilot. I'm 20-years-old and have lived here since I was 9, when our family relocated here from the Inkerman section of Jenkins Township.

There's a lot of growth occurring right now in the township, along with much, much more to come, so I'd be a bit worried about purchasing a home in Suscon unless you knew that the wooded areas nearby could not be viable for a new housing developent or industrial park expansion. Center Point will be bringing thousands of more cars per day to the township, so I'm curious to see just what this will do to the already-deteriorating congestion at the intersection of 315 @ Oak/Armstrong near Pollock Chevrolet. I'm personally hoping they finally put in left-turn arrows for people trying to turn left from Oak Street onto 315 Northbound and for those trying to turn left from Armstrong Road onto 315 Southbound, as it can take several light cycles to turn left, especially at rush-hour, when tractor-trailers exiting the industrial park take up both lanes of travel on 315 when turning.

The latest rumors we've heard here in Butler Heights is that a Wal-Mart Supercenter will no longer be the "anchor" for the new Pittston Crossings Mall. Instead, Wal-Mart will be building a location in Exeter along Wyoming Avenue, at the current site of the Birchwood Estates Mobile Home Park. We've also heard that the developer of the mall might be in negotations to sell the property to Mericle in order for further expansion of Center Point. It is also rumored that there will be a bypass built to alleviate traffic congestion on Oak Street by building a new four-lane roadway that will link Highway 315 to the bypass between the light at Pilot and near Pittston Commons.

Is all of this growth a boon or a burden? Only time will tell. I'm all for bringing jobs to the community as long as it is done properly. Considering I have yet to see any concrete plans on what will be done to alleviate the gridlock on Oak Street, Armstrong Road, and Highway 315 once all of these new businesses are built (along with their thousands of accompanying vehicles), I'm a bit worried that we're growing too quickly for our own good.

[poconosmama]

Hey, my house is for sale in Indian Rocks, 5 minutes from Hamlin! lol, I'm sure you dont want a devp though, but ours is veerrry rural just an fyi. If you are trying to stay close to hamlin, try Bidwell Hill and Ledgedale Roads, there are some amazing views over there and I know there's a handful for things for sale over there. Good luck!