Wilkes-Barre or Mountain Top (Reading, Scranton: section 8, city hall, rentals)

[moose]

Hello,
My family and I are coming up to Wilkes-Barre this Friday.I just spoke to someone and they asked why were we coming. I stated" We coming to check the area out, so that we can move in the future." They said, " I WOULDN'T MOVE TO THAT AREA." I'm confused now because I heard good things about this area. So I say "why not". They simply said, "the Mayor is a jerk. He's talking about rebuilding the city but he's closing the police dept. down. So now we don't have enough officers. And not to mention the drug rehab facility they built. They build this place to bring the drug addicts from NY and NJ to help them. But they bring there families with them that sell the drugs. So it is getting bad." Then he told me that the Mountain Top area is nice. And they have rental property there. Please someone give me some info. Are the people in City Hall messing things up? Where still coming to see with our own eyes. But, feedback would be wonderful.

[Lehigh Valley Native]

Honestly, WB has no more crime than any other city the same size. As far as politics, it does seem much more political than other areas. If you have kids or are starting a family, I would advise against WB. But that is because I don't think a city is a good place to raise a family. Poor schools and crime are the main reasons. Mountaintop is beautiful has a great school district (Crestwood) and is 15 minutes from WB. You could also look into WB suburbs like Kingston (where I am now), Plains, Swoyersville or Bear creek.

[moose]

This guy said Kingston was a dump too! And that is actually the area we are going to see. Because angel2ndklass wrote...
Hey Moose, I may have the answer for you. In Kensington/Wilkes-Barre area. You are just starting out and I know the feeling. This is a friend of a friend who wants RELIABLE, HONEST AND RESPONSIBLE PEOPLE to rent a whole house. 3-4 bedroom, 2 bath, yard. Nice house. Again, they are looking for GOOD people to rent. I may be able to get this for you for 500.00- 600.00 a month, utilities not included. If you're interested I'll do all I can to help. Let me know.


We were sooooooo happy so we planed a road trip. But the guy at the place we are staying at said NO! Don't move there. I don't know anymore. I guess we'll have to see when we come up.

[go phillies]

Originally Posted by Lehigh Valley Native

Honestly, WB has no more crime than any other city the same size..

I hate to be a doomsayer, but I disagree. It seems every day on the news, there are robberies, assaults, shootings, stabbings, etc in the city of Wilkes-Barre. The downtown is improving, but this doesn't change the fact that the neighborhoods are mainly slums, and the inhabitants are a lot of section 8 trash from NY, NJ, and Philly. Now, if you're comparing Wilkes-Barre to similar cities like Reading or Harrisburg, I'll agree, Wilkes-Barre is safer than those cities. But in comparison, Scranton is much better and safer than Wilkes-Barre. There are still a lot of long-time residents in Scranton's neighborhoods that still care about thir neighborhood and their city. It seems W-B's longtime residents abandoned the city for the sterile suburbia of Dallas and Moutaintop, and the inner city people moved in to take their place.

My advice in NEPA would be to look into Scranton. If you want to stay closer to W-B, my advice would be to look into Kingston. If you can't tell, I'm more of a fan of established communities as opposed to the sprawl of the suburbs and the sterility and materialism of new subdivisions...which is why I recommended Kingston, which is a short walk across the Market Street bridge from downtown Wilkes-Barre. But, even though I'm more a fan of cities and older towns and am against senseless sprawl, I personally would not feel safe living in Wilkes-Barre right now. Which is too bad, because I work in Wilkes-Barre.

[go phillies]

Not to mention that Mountaintop is, as it name says, on top of a mountain. Which means that the only way down to the Wilkes-Barre area, where you will have to travel for pretty much all of your shopping and entertainment, is Rt 309, which is a steep treacherous hill leading down the mountain from Mountaintop. Personally, I would not want to be anywhere near it in winter.

[WasPA]

^^^^^^---hah...as though Scranton is flat as a pancake......yet folks manage those inordinately steep, hilly streets year round....(think San Francisco). Mountaintop is a full community. It has absolutely everything you'll need in the way of food shopping & other essentials until the snow melts enough for the faint hearted to get down to the Valley floor......they even have indoor plumbing!


Moose: Kingston is fine as is Forty Fort, Wyoming, etc. or Dallas and the Back Mountain area are thriving and safe...near recreation, too, as is the entire area. There's Harvey's Lake...the largest natural lake in eastern PA.....

... area schools are largely very good or if you have the $$$ you can send the kids to Wyoming Seminary (private school in Kingston, with its beautiful mid 19th C. buildings---and a Wyoming Sem. Day School in Forty Fort.....).

Wilkes-Barre & Greater Wilkes Barre have everything you'll need. I admire you for setting out to answer your own questions..... good luck!

[Lehigh Valley Native]

Originally Posted by moose

This guy said Kingston was a dump too! And that is actually the area we are going to see. Because angel2ndklass wrote...
Hey Moose, I may have the answer for you. In Kensington/Wilkes-Barre area. You are just starting out and I know the feeling. This is a friend of a friend who wants RELIABLE, HONEST AND RESPONSIBLE PEOPLE to rent a whole house. 3-4 bedroom, 2 bath, yard. Nice house. Again, they are looking for GOOD people to rent. I may be able to get this for you for 500.00- 600.00 a month, utilities not included. If you're interested I'll do all I can to help. Let me know.


We were sooooooo happy so we planed a road trip. But the guy at the place we are staying at said NO! Don't move there. I don't know anymore. I guess we'll have to see when we come up.

I have driven all around Kingston lately and honestly, I only came across one dumpy area. It is about a 4 block stretch of Rutter Ave.

Maybe your friend is confusing Kingston with Plymouth or Nanticoke, which not too far away, could be considered dumpy.

I don't know where you are coming from, but I think you will like Kingston. We are renting a beautiful 4 bedroom 2 bath house on a quiet tree lined street for 750 a month.
Before you come, check out www.timesleader.com or www.citizensvoice.com classified sections for other home rentals. Maybe you can check out a few while you are here.

[Lehigh Valley Native]

Originally Posted by go phillies

Now, if you're comparing Wilkes-Barre to similar cities like Reading or Harrisburg, I'll agree, Wilkes-Barre is safer than those cities.

Yeah, I was comparing WB to cities like Harrisburg, Reading, Lancaster. But without a doubt, Scranton has some of the lowest crime rates. Moderator cut: linking to competitors sites is not allowed

[NEPA-x-pat]

Originally Posted by Lehigh Valley Native

Yeah, I was comparing WB to cities like Harrisburg, Reading, Lancaster. But without a doubt, Scranton has some of the lowest crime rates. Moderator cut: linking to competitors sites is not allowed

WOW! I put in my city (Portsmouth) and to no real surprise...it ranked an 8 for violent crime and a 7 for property crime compared to Scranton (just a bit smaller than my city) which came in with 3's for both. BTW..the national average for both crimes is a 3 and that even takes in small towns and rural areas. I will trade you crime stats? Any takers..anyone...Beuller? Beuller?

[moose]

Originally Posted by Lehigh Valley Native

I have driven all around Kingston lately and honestly, I only came across one dumpy area. It is about a 4 block stretch of Rutter Ave.

Maybe your friend is confusing Kingston with Plymouth or Nanticoke, which not too far away, could be considered dumpy.

I don't know where you are coming from, but I think you will like Kingston. We are renting a beautiful 4 bedroom 2 bath house on a quiet tree lined street for 750 a month.
Before you come, check out Wilkes-Barre PA news, sports, schools, entertainment, and shopping | timesleader.com - The Times Leader or The Citizens Voice - News - Top Stories classified sections for other home rentals. Maybe you can check out a few while you are here.

By the way, the person that told me this about WB/Kingston is not my friend, he is someone that works at the hotel we are staying at . We are leaving Friday from Indiana. It should take about 10 hours. My husband is a truck driver so he knows the way well. We are going to check out everything. If you tell me where the house is I will go by it and look. Our lease is up in March. So I really hope to find something. And hey, we live in Gary IN, look that up on Moderator cut: linking to competitors sites is not allowed. Violent Crime in Kingston is 2, Gary is 9, US 3. Property Crime in Kingston 4, Gary 8, US 3. WOW!!!!!!! So really anywhere is better than here...LOL. Hey what's the name of your paper?