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We have been researching all over PA, some things about crime,unfriendly or non accepting residents has turned us off on some areas...philly suburbs too expensive...want to be near a downtown..low crime-good schools, arts,
activities,libraries,shopping, good food ( japanese or italian anyone?) reasonable property taxes and a house at or under 180K a regluar community, condo
community or rec community is fine... Are New Yorkers better accepted in Northeast pa??
Please help, its all so confusing. Plus I need to know about the job situation
my wife works in the developmental disabilities field with retarded adults and has a masters degree. My child is going on 12 and is bright and in honors, eagle and arista. I am an artist (painter)
I would recommend The Hideout in Lake Ariel. It's a private community with lots of transplanted New Yorkers, I should know I'm one of them. There's lots to do there. There's 2 lakes, a beach, two pools, tennis courts and a ski hill. Houses are pretty reasonable, depends on what you're looking for. You're only 30 minutes and about 20 miles away from Scranton and shopping in Dickson City. The town of Hamlin with stores and restaurants is only 3-5 miles away. And the town of Honesdale is only 20 minutes away. It has a nice main street and a Wal-Mart and Home Depot. I hope this helps.
I would recommend The Hideout in Lake Ariel. It's a private community with lots of transplanted New Yorkers, I should know I'm one of them. There's lots to do there. There's 2 lakes, a beach, two pools, tennis courts and a ski hill. Houses are pretty reasonable, depends on what you're looking for. You're only 30 minutes and about 20 miles away from Scranton and shopping in Dickson City. The town of Hamlin with stores and restaurants is only 3-5 miles away. And the town of Honesdale is only 20 minutes away. It has a nice main street and a Wal-Mart and Home Depot. I hope this helps.
That helped alot, I am looking at the hideout that kind of living appeals to us we
live in a condo in nyc and are used to a fee...what about schools? is there a wegmans nearby?,culture,activities,libraries,ethic foods, what else is good in this area and where exactly is the hideout located.
That helped alot, I am looking at the hideout that kind of living appeals to us we
live in a condo in nyc and are used to a fee...what about schools? is there a wegmans nearby?,culture,activities,libraries,ethic foods, what else is good in this area and where exactly is the hideout located.
thanks again
Col
Good morning. The Hideout is located in Lake Ariel in Southern Wayne County, just off of Routes 590 and 191 and not far from Hamlin Corners. The easiest route to take to access the community would be I-84 to Exit 17, at which point you'd want to follow the signs towards "Hamlin" by taking Route 191 north. You can then either take a right at Hamlin Corners onto Route 590 east to an entrance to the community just outside of town on the left-hand side, or you can continue on Route 191 north for an entrance to the community on your right-hand side outside of town. The community is gated though, so you'd probably have to schedule an appointment beforehand to scope out properties with a realtor as opposed to just pulling on up to the gate and saying "I wanna look around a bit."
If you're living in The Hideout, the nearby village of Hamlin offers most day-to-day conveniences like banks, grocery stores, restaurants, gas stations, fast-food places, etc. As Ed mentioned, the Scranton area isn't too far away at all for all of your "urban" needs. The easiest way to get to Scranton from The Hideout is to take Route 590 West out of Hamlin Corners to bearing onto Route 348 West when the roadway splits. You can then hop onto I-84 West at Mount Cobb, which is a short drive to Scranton. You'd follow I-84 West until it hits I-380, at which point you'd take I-380 North to the I-81 junction. Once you hit I-81, you have several options:
-I-81 North will take you towards Dickson City, where you'll find the 90-store Viewmont Mall, which is anchored by Macy's, JCPenney, and Sears. The area surrounding the mall is home to places such as Lowe's, Home Depot, Borders, Wegman's, Best Buy, Gander Mountain, Staples, Pier 1 Imports, Target, Wal-Mart Supercenter, and just about any other chain store or restaurant you could imagine. Traffic is often congested in Dickson City though on the weekends, so keep that in mind. Further up I-81 is Clarks Summit, which has a small yet upscale downtown with an organic foods market, yoga studios, antiques stores, etc.
-I-81 South will take you first to the Central Scranton Expressway exit, which will funnel you into Downtown Scranton. The city's downtown fell into a poor state for many years, but it has really been bouncing back in the past few years. It is home to the 90-store Mall at Steamtown, which is anchored by Boscov's, The Bon-Ton, and Steve & Barry's. The mall also has a theater across the street, and it is adjacent to the Steamtown National Historic Site and the Electric City Trolley Museum. The surrounding downtown area is home to various newer and well-established independent retailers and operations such as Poochie Gourmet Dog Bakery, New Laundry Fashions, Pierre's Fine Clothing, Northern Lights Espresso Bar, Outrageous, Le Belle Cose, Penn Furniture, Scranton Hobby, Vidas Tapas Bar, Martini Grille, Brixx Restaurant, Silver on Spruce, Occasions, Lavish, Starbucks, etc. Mayor Doherty is trying to transform Scranton's downtown into a "yuppified" one. Whether or not it is going to be sustainable in the long-term is another question.
Continuing a few more miles on I-81 Southbound will take you to the Montage Mountain Road exit. Montage Mountain is seeing a massive growth spurt as of late. The mountain is home to PNC Field, home to the AAA affiliates of the New York Yankees, Sno Mountain Resort, Cold Stone Creamery, and the Shoppes @ Montage Lifestyle Center, which has upscale-oriented retailers like New York & Company, Ann Taylor Loft, Eddie Bauer, Yankee Candle, etc. The mountain is also home to an upcoming Lowe's Home Improvement store and Target, as well as the Cinemark Movie Theater, Johnny Rocket's, Ruby Tuesday, Kildare's Irish Pub, Longhorn Steakhouse, Trattoria Bella Italian Restaurant, hotels, a gas station, corporate centers for CIGNA HealthCare, Bank of America, MetLife, PNC Bank, etc., as well as massive upscale residential community known as Glenmaura, which features townhomes in the mid-$300k range, as well as home ranging up to the seven-figure range near the Glenmaura National Country Club. Just as with Dickson City, traffic congestion is horrific on Montage Mountain, especially when there is a concert, baseball game, opening night for a movie, and shift changes at the corporate centers all at the same time.
Believe it or not, I work just outside of Wilkes-Barre in the retail chain area near the Highland Park Boulevard exit off I-81 (about 20 minutes south of Scranton), yet I help many customers from the Scranton area who shop at our store because they don't like the traffic flow or poor planning of Dickson City. Wilkes-Barre's commercial chain district is larger than Dickson City's, but roadways here are wider, and traffic lights are better synchronized to prevent tie-ups (except for Black Friday and when there is an event going on at the neighboring Wachovia Arena, the home of the AAA affiliates of the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Pioneers Arena2 football team, and many concerts).
Member "I LOVE PA" currently lives in The Hideout, so she could probably better address your inquiries. The last I heard she is trying to relocate closer to the Scranton area because she wants to be closer to conveniences, so she might even be able to sell you her own home. LOL!
The Western Wayne School district serves The Hideout. I graduated there in 1989 and it wasn't too bad. I have heard stories of it not being too good lately. If you want to send your child to a private school, there are many in the area. My sister graduated from Scranton Prep and so did fellow poster Dan (weluvpa) so maybe he can tell you more about it. Like Paul said, there is a Wegmans in Dickson City right off of Business Route 6, a few miles off of Insterstate 81. Paul did a pretty good job in his post explaining the area. There is also the big Lake Wallenpaupack which is not too far from The Hideout. If you have a boat or like to go fishing or swimming, this lake is for you.
Last edited by NYRangers 2008; 08-11-2007 at 07:34 AM..
Reason: Delted content
why? because that's where we're from too! (well NYC area: jersey, Long Island, Connecticut, etc.)
I Don't think the scranton area has NEARLY as many transplants and are probably not AS accepting.
There is an incredible amount of growth out there and probably will be growing forever. If you want to live near lots of "stuff" I would look in the stroudsburg/bartonsville/tannersville area: just added lowes/kohls/chilis/red robin/longhorn complex and are soon to open borders/tj max/best buy/etc compex. Personally, I was willing to wait for stuff because it reminded me of where I grew up on long island. If you bought in there before all the stuff got there, you made a ton of money on your house because you bought it so cheap.
I live about 15 minutes southwest of area just described because schools are little better (Pleasant Valley). Although it's kind of hit or miss with developments there: Sun Valley, Sierra View, Indian Mountain Lakes I'd rather not live at, Birches are nice (Especially Birch Brier).
Col...
I'm the one who lives in The hideout! I have lived here for 13 years, having moved here from L.I. The Hideout has tons of people from NY and NJ as well as other places. It is probably at least 1/2 full timers at this point, the rest being vacationers or week-enders. Check out The Hideout's web-site, Hideout POA - Home if you haven't already done so. There is lots to do here if you take advantage of it.
The areas surrounding The Hideout are rural, with many people who have been born and raised here. While they talk about the 'transplants', you will not encounter rudeness anywhere you go. People are very friendly and trustworthy and helpful.
The schools...while we did have some very publicized racial problems a few years back that seems to give the school a bad repuatation in some eyes, I beleive the school is a good school. The school has very few minorities, a mix of born and bred locals, transplants, and unfortunately, some children being raised by parents that don't embrace change very well. My children were very happy in the public school, and had excellent teachers as well as an excellent, very dedicated administrative staff.
There are also many choices of private schools in the area, Scranton Prep (my daugher goes there) would be excellent if your son is an honors student. It is a strict academic prep school with a high number of their graduates receiving full scholarships to college. Their latin motto translated...born for higher things. So far, I am very impressed with the school. My daughter is definitely getting a better preparation for college than my older did who graduated from the public school, but with good reason. This is what Scranton Prep is well known for. They spare no expense.
Libraries...there is a brand new local library in Hamlin, our closest town, very nice...but small.
As far as culture and ethnic food...you will find that in Scranton and it's surrounding areas. Living in The Hideout, you get used to the drive to Scranton very quickly. Hamlin does offer the basics though...a decent grocery store, gas stations, a few restaurants, KFC, Subway, McDonalds, CVS, RiteAid, Jack Williams, Chinese take out, video rentals, dollar stores and car parts stores, and other stuff as well. Also, a GREAT outdoor BBQ pit in the summer, that you find yourself CRAVING in the dead of winter.
It is located about 2 hours from NYC, 2 1/2 hrs. from Philly. I have never regretted moving here. Our life styles changed drastically for the better. We would nver go back to NY.
As far as your wifes field, I do beleive this is a very open field in this area. Salaries could be very different though. But cost of living is definitely cheaper. DEFINITELY!
If you have any other questions, you can either PM me or post them here, I'd be glad to help. If you want to visit, I'd be glad to show you around.
Wilkes-Barre's commercial chain district is larger than Dickson City's, but roadways here are wider, and traffic lights are better synchronized to prevent tie-ups (except for Black Friday and when there is an event going on at the neighboring Wachovia Arena, the home of the AAA affiliates of the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Pioneers Arena2 football team, and many concerts).
D
I wouldn't be too sure of that. Ever hit the traffic light at Mundy and Kidder Streets at rush hour trying to make a left turn to go towards the Cross Valley to 81? That light always backs up far onto Mundy Street. I never hit too many backups in Dickson City, even on weekends. The only pain in Dickson City is trying to turn left up Viewmont Drive from Lowe's, and of course getting into Wal Mart on a weekend.
Hemlock Farms has a huge population on artists and NJ/NYC relocators. I moved from NJ to Shohola, PA and it's nice over here. Moderator cut: realtor soliciting I'm also a photographer so I enjoy the art scene in Milford, PA. Every 2nd saturday night is Art After Dark in Milford. It's fun!
I wouldn't be too sure of that. Ever hit the traffic light at Mundy and Kidder Streets at rush hour trying to make a left turn to go towards the Cross Valley to 81? That light always backs up far onto Mundy Street. I never hit too many backups in Dickson City, even on weekends. The only pain in Dickson City is trying to turn left up Viewmont Drive from Lowe's, and of course getting into Wal Mart on a weekend.
I suppose you're right. When you commute through that five or six days per week, I suppose you just come to "expect" that. Then again, I like how a lot of the shopping centers are "inter-connected" (like being able to take a backroad between the Arena Hub Plaza and Wilkes-Barre Township Commons), unlike Dickson City where you have to keep pulling in and out of Viewmont Drive or Commerce Boulevard to access different shopping centers. I'll never forget this past Black Friday when I tried turning left into the Lowe's parking lot---what a nightmare!
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That does help....any more?
Where I Think you'd be most accepted as an NYCer
