Moving to Scranton from Staten island New York (Ashley, Penn: low crime, first time home buyer)

[go phillies]

Originally Posted by GREGGO72

we are looking at North rebecca ave area code 18504 ash street same code
boulevard ave area code 18509 and cedar ave 18505 any thoughts on these blocks. I am a little concerned because three days out of the week i will have to leave my wife and son (6yrs old) and daughter(4yr old) alone in Scranton. Any thoughts on what public schools are the best. We saw that there seemed to be quite a few school is Scranton. We are prepared to make an offer on Sunday and we want to have the most input we can find. Thanks again everyone. By the way what thead are you talking about? Alot of them seem to be about single urbanites or couples with no kids. I did see one about a developmentally disabled child is that the one you are talking about? Thanks again
Greg

N Rebecca Ave is a nice areaI cannot thin of any blocks of N Rebecca that are bad. AVOID CEDAR AVE. Its one of the worst streets in Scranton. Although the farthest southern part of Cedar Ave is OK once you cross into the Minooka section of Scranton, although down that way Cedar is a one-way two-lane street with a lot of traffic and speeding cars. Boulevard Ave is another one to avoid. Its close to a nice Green Ridge neighborhood, but Blvd Ave itself is kind of rough, and also fairly busy with traffic. Avoid Ash Street as well, kind of rough, but the upper part of Ash St at the top of the hill is OK.


Your best bet is N Rebecca Ave, its in a nice quiet part of Scranton's West Side. West Side is like a small town with city conveniences. Plus, the schools are better in West Side. We have our own high school, which is much smaller than the overcrowded Scranton High School, plus Scranton high school's student population comes from a lot of the bad parts of town. West HS is much smaller, which is more conducive to a good education, plus its just West Side kids that go there, so there's much more of a sense of community.

[scrantonluna]

Well, Greg, how'd you make out?

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by scrantonluna

Well, Greg, how'd you make out?

Maybe he's like the others who come to visit Scranton to scope out the real estate market and run away screaming? LOL!

[GREGGO72]

No, contrary to popular belief, we did not run away screaming. we stayed at the econolodge in moosic-we could have done a lot better but the good hotels were booked for a marathon. we saw 7 or 8 houses. the north rebecca house was a disappointment. seems like the photos were deceiving. or maybe we expected too much. we especially liked the house in the tripps park section. it was on a dead end street and a contractor bought the house real cheap and fixed it up. the kitchen had all stainless steel new appliances and the house looked nice, although the bedrooms are smallish and the back yard is tiny. most of the houses we saw had stone/concrete basements that all looked like they have suffered some type of water damage. 2 of the houses we saw were in designated flood zones and we would need to get federal flood insurance. (a house on meade ave i liked but the wife didnt like the dated kitchen and the old carpets and the huge rooms that she would have to clean!) we saw a fixer upper in green ridge across the street from marywood but it needs too much. all in all, the trip was positive-we saw a broad spectrum of what to expect inside the city. on out next trip we will explore the suburbs (clarks summit, dickson city, moosic) and explore the new construction options. then we can make a good, sound decision. but we liked tripps park and we heard they are building a new school there in the next year. residents and people at the mall were very helpful when we quizzed them about the area. the weather was beautiful. you guys were dead on with your observations about the neighborhoods near the u. of scranton. they don't seem to be for us. some streets had white trashy houses with mattresses in their front yard and semi-fixed cars in the driveway (south scranton and a little of west scranton) but other blocks were gorgeous and quiet and had kids and tree lined streets. we just have to find our perfect area. we found many good things and bad things about each house we saw but nothing perfect. i wish we could take a little of each house and make a conglomerate house. but we can't. u guys have been helpful and we will continue to monitor new listings. thanks. gregory

[GREGGO72]

we took our kids aged 6 and 4 with us to see the houses. they were really excited to see their future bedrooms and romping rooms. they gave us good imput but after a few houses, they became very impatient and rowdy and began to fight. our realtor is great, he seems to go the extra mile to find the right house for us, we communicate via emails about listings and he goes out and researches our requests. he was very patient with our kids.l i wont give his name or his company because i don't know if thats allowed on this site.

[ScranBarre]

I'm happy to hear you didn't run away screaming in terror when you saw me running shirtless along the roadside in my speedo to train for next year's Steamtown Marathon. I was a bit concerned. LOL!

I'm also pleased to hear that your experience overall was a positive one. Tripps Park is a nice neighborhood, and you are correct in that the Scranton School District is restructuring some of its elementary schools and building a new one in that neighborhood. "The Hill" is probably the one neighborhood in Scranton with the most potential to bounce back in the coming years since it is the only neighborhood that is easily walkable to the downtown area. It's a shame right now that we have the current situtation there with two blocks nice, one block white-trash, three blocks nice, two blocks drug-infested, one block nice, etc., but I'm hopeful the neighborhood will continue to improve as the University of Scranton continues to expand with new dormitories to house all of its Freshman and Sophomore students (who tend to be the rowdiest) on-campus and away from the residential areas. I'm currently leaning towards West Scranton myself to raise my family in the future, but I'll still keep The Hill in mind should things improve by the time I hope to buy and rehabilitate my first home in about five years.

The suburban areas are mostly nice as well. Dunmore is very nice and has a lower wage tax than Scranton, but the real estate prices tend to edge higher, especially in the sought-after "Hollywood" neighborhood near Marywood University. Clarks Summit proper is nice with a cute (albeit mostly useless for day-to-day services) downtown, but the surrounding townships are nothing but rat-race "keepin' up with the Jones's" at their finest with a lot of larger homes on large parcels of land (think of some places in Westchester County, NY or Fairfield County, CT, for example).

I can recall you originally saying that you liked the urban lifestyle and wanted to live in the city limits, but if you eventually don't find anything you like on the market in Scranton, Dunmore would be almost an equal second. I'd look there next before looking at the other suburbs. Member "New2PA" just moved to Dunmore from the Plains states to work at a local university, and she seems to be happy there; you could probably send here a direct message on here to ask her more of her thoughts on Dunmore, or you can wait for my upcoming Dunmore Photo Tour.

Keep in touch, and feel free to ask anything that comes across your mind.

[GREGGO72]

We came back to Scranton on saturday-night and Sunday Nov 11. we stayed at the ramada in clarks summit and it was so much better than the econolodge in moosic. we saw a few houses in clarks summit that were very nice but they were a little out of our price range and then there was the higher taxes. most of the houses we saw were in west scranton and we looked at one in south scranton that my wife and i really love and it is relatively inexpensive. it had the nice updated kitchen we like and it had a large backyard with a huge rear deck. the attic and basement are unfinished but they have the potential to be finished in the future as our family grows. it also had central air and a jacuzzi bathtub (which i really like). it also had newer appliances and a washer and dryer. we liked a few of the houses in west scranton. some that we saw were just too much house for us. one was awesome but the kitchen was a row kitchen (18 ft by 5 ft) with no appliances. my wife liked that one but the kitchen turned her off. my wife is having second thoughts about pulling our kids out of school in new york during the middle of the school year (my son is in first grade and my daughter in in pre-k). but i want to buy the house ASAP. i liked the neighborhood in south scranton and it was a level block. a lot of the other houses were on hills and i just don't like hilly blocks (just a preference). clarks summit looked a bit too quiet and slow for us. we wanted to check out the shopping in dickson city but instead went to the viewmont mall. next time!!

[scrantonluna]

Greg, if you can, you might want to try another trip in december. I had not even thought about it before this post, but one of the best ways to judge a neighborhood is to drive through on a december night and see how many homes are decorated and lit up. Blocks that are all decked out will certainly signal that the owners are active in keeping their yards and homes, and hopefully lives, in good order.

[ScranBarre]

Thanks very much for the update! We've been thinking about you and your family since you left (or at least I have been wondering how things were progressing). Clarks Summit is very sleepy and quiet, overall. I went running up and down the steep hills around town one day this past summer to challenge myself, and I was floored that even on such a beautiful day there were no children out and about playing, no senior couples walking around hand-in-hand, no moms pushing strollers, no guys washing their pick-ups in the driveways, nobody planting flowers or mowing lawns, etc. It was just eerie (this was on a weekend!) I'm moving to Scranton myself because I'm tired of living in a neighborhood where people don't want to take the time or effort to get to know their neighbors. While the main drag through Clarks Summit is very congested, all of those side streets are so quiet I could have heard a pin drop! It gets even more laid-back once you climb the top of the hill into Clarks Green, and once you hit Waverly you feel like you're in a quaint New England Village after half the town was hanged during the witch trials, as once again there aren't many people out and about. Do people in the Abingtons just like to keep to themselves or what?

If you're looking for alternatives to Scranton with a suburban-ish feel, you might want to check out Old Forge or Dunmore also. Old Forge has some very reasonable housing prices (outside of the newer subdivisions), and it is noted as being the "Pizza Capital of the World" (even though I'm more partial to their pasta). The half of Dunmore west of Blakely Street is very similar in appearance and demographics to the Green Ridge neighborhood of Scranton. To the east of Dunmore Corners you'll find a lot more of a blue-collar (yet still well-kept) atmosphere with homes that are more reasonably-priced. I'd still hinge towards Scranton if possible, but I figured that if you took the time to scope out Clarks Summit you might be interested in a few more alternatives as well.

I'll agree with ScrantonLuna that the number of homes in a neighborhood that are decorated for various holidays tends to be a good overall indicator of the pride people have for the outward appearance of their homes.

Best of luck! P.S. I'm not fond of narrow galley-style kitchens either. My big rumpus tends to knock things off counters when I move around a lot! LOL!

[memoriesbre]

Greg, don't worry about taking the kids out of class in the middle of the school year. They will be greeted with happy faces and encouragement.
Get your home asap I say! The rates are good right now so why wait?
I am originally from NY and love it in NEPA. I live in Tunkhannock which is about 25 min. NW of Scranton. It's a quaint small town which is what we were looking for. When I want excitement we head off to Scranton, Dickson City, Old Forge for that NY feel!!! Welcome to NEPA