the most Un-New York City-ish towns in NEPA (Whitehall, Palmerton: tax, live)

[bluemonday]

Depends on what county you would like to be in...I'm taking it as you want someplace with locals, and not city types who are fast paced??

I'd say in Luzerne County, you have the Dallas area, areas around Hazleton (Drums, Sugarloaf, Conyngham, West Hazleton), and Pittston. Carbon County - you have Jim Thorpe, Nesquehoning, and Lehighton. Schuylkill and Wyoming Counties- I'd say most of the counties, with exception of places that are very, very run down like Shenandoah. I lived south of Tamaqua years ago, and actually aspects of it I loved. It is a very, very slow paced area, and still "loosely" considered part of NEPA due to coal region proximity. Monroe, Pike, and Lackawanna Counties are harder to find the slower ways they once had, but not impossible. As another poster mentioned, Carbondale and Honesdale can work.

[CourageMom]

We had driven through Honesdale, and it was a town we liked. It has a walk-able downtown, a YMCA,
not sure about the school ratings and other concerns but it seemed like a nice place.

Let's call what I'm looking for RETRO-LIVING ...although I know there will be no door to door milk delivery

I have not seen many towns at all, to know which to consider.

Your suggestions are well taken along with the kindly spirit I am talking about..

I'm am most definitely looking for a town that is all in favor of PIE over woofers.

I'm looking for a town where the center has sidewalk stores that you can use like it was back in the 1960's.
(there is a great revival of "Main Street")..

A place that you don't feel like you really have to leave because there is a hardware store and a few places to
go out to eat that are mom& pop run.

Okay Santa, If I really want to fine tune the hunt you'd help to steer me this way:
a town that has some artsy influence (art supply store) or a fabric store for sewing also a shop that makes their own sausage.
Sorry, we just cannot have new friends over for a BBQ without sizzling sausage along with those ribs.

Maybe that helps to steer us toward a few towns.

[CourageMom]

Originally Posted by bluemonday

Depends on what county you would like to be in...I'm taking it as you want someplace with locals, and not city types who are fast paced??

I'd say in Luzerne County, you have the Dallas area, areas around Hazleton (Drums, Sugarloaf, Conyngham, West Hazleton), and Pittston. Carbon County - you have Jim Thorpe, Nesquehoning, and Lehighton. Schuylkill and Wyoming Counties- I'd say most of the counties, with exception of places that are very, very run down like Shenandoah. I lived south of Tamaqua years ago, and actually aspects of it I loved. It is a very, very slow paced area, and still "loosely" considered part of NEPA due to coal region proximity. Monroe, Pike, and Lackawanna Counties are harder to find the slower ways they once had, but not impossible. As another poster mentioned, Carbondale and Honesdale can work.

Thanks BLUE! Which of these towns would you pick for me (safety first) that might fit a few of the crieteria
that I just posted a minute ago.. probably back to back with this post.

[MatildaLoo]

I second the poster who suggested Palmerton; if I stay in Carbon County, is the town I would like to live in.

Very cute downtown with boutiques, post office, grocery store and a very pretty park in the center of town.

Jim Thorpe is cute and artsy, too. Lehighton and Nesquehoning are a little more rundown, but still have a community feel to them.

[CourageMom]

Originally Posted by MatildaLoo

I second the poster who suggested Palmerton; if I stay in Carbon County, is the town I would like to live in.

Very cute downtown with boutiques, post office, grocery store and a very pretty park in the center of town.

Jim Thorpe is cute and artsy, too. Lehighton and Nesquehoning are a little more rundown, but still have a community feel to them.

Ooo, I really appreciate the attention to detail.

I have seen photos of Jim THorpe, and it looks like a darling place for a day trip, although I'm not sure if the downtown part is big enough for everyday life for us.

We hunger for more action than our town of 2,000 and crave city action without the city.. (Does that even make sense?)
I guess a medium size town with a downtown that is alive, but not huge and not big city..
Yes, a pretty, groomed town is always more attractive and desirable, and we'd probably pick one under that heading, before we chose one that needs a face lift.

[Riverside4ever]

Originally Posted by auntieannie68

the carbondale,honesdale,callicoon ny(right across the bridge is nice--i can give u a realtors name if u wish on a dm

Hush ...

[CourageMom]

We are looking at retirement very soon..

my husband thinks it best to stick with PA... a comfort regarding retirement taxes.

New York state has many beautiful towns that would sit well us with the exception of taxes.

Our taxes here are 4 X less than anything we've looked at online in PA...so there will be an adjustment.

We've seen homes in towns in Orange County NY as much as 10 x more than we pay now.
Our salaried move will not mean a bigger paycheck.. but we still have other good reasons to move north
nothing to do with money...just that one must make wise decisions, and if we moved to NY we'd suffer.

[bluemonday]

Originally Posted by CourageMom

We are looking at retirement very soon..

my husband thinks it best to stick with PA... a comfort regarding retirement taxes.

New York state has many beautiful towns that would sit well us with the exception of taxes.

Our taxes here are 4 X less than anything we've looked at online in PA...so there will be an adjustment.

We've seen homes in towns in Orange County NY as much as 10 x more than we pay now.
Our salaried move will not mean a bigger paycheck.. but we still have other good reasons to move north
nothing to do with money...just that one must make wise decisions, and if we moved to NY we'd suffer.

If you are concerned with retirement taxes, property taxes, etc. you may want to consider Delaware???

[bluemonday]

Originally Posted by CourageMom

Thanks BLUE! Which of these towns would you pick for me (safety first) that might fit a few of the crieteria
that I just posted a minute ago.. probably back to back with this post.

If I were to pick a town out of that list for you to seriously check out, I would say Conyngham. It is nestled in a nice valley, and it looks like Thomas Kinkade could have painted it, especially in the fall. For what is not in town, you can go to nearby Hazleton and find everything you need. It has about 2000 people in the town, but part of the greater metropolitan area of Hazleton, which is about 25,000 people.

[CourageMom]

Originally Posted by bluemonday

If you are concerned with retirement taxes, property taxes, etc. you may want to consider Delaware???

We would.. being closer to the beach is very attractive,

going more north brings us to a closer proximity to work and people we miss though.. good idea though,
thanks