affordable areas near Stroudsburg? (Scranton, Bethlehem: apartment, rental, buying a house)

[hollimarie]

I am thinking that such a thing as an "affordable area" near Stroudsburg and East Stroudsburg is an oxymoron! I hope not!

My husband and I are relocating to the Poconos (Bushkill for the time being) from SC. I am a teacher, but won't be able to work for a few years, as my license is not current in PA and I need to build up residency status to go back to ESU (my old school) and get my license in order.

So, I have a BA degree in English with one class shy of a Masters in ED. My husband has a GED, but plans to attend technical school. He's a whiz with computers, and has worked out of our home for the past two years fixing and building computers.

I know that Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and the Lehigh Valley/Bethlehem area are the best bets for work for both of us. However, for the time being, we are going to only have one car and will need to commute from my parents' house in Pine Ridge (Bushkill). The goal is to find work within the East Stroudsburg, East Stroudsburg area. Even if the pay isn't more than $8 an hour, and we are both working, we can still save up, as my parents aren't charging us a penny to live there. It's something they want to do since they will need our help to fix up the house and are both sick and disabled. The time at my parents' place will give us a chance to work, get a second car and be able to move out with a nest egg. Like I said, we are both going to be looking for work that is not too far from Bushkill, so perhaps Milford, but more than likely Stroudsburg, East Stroudsburg, Tannersville, etc...

We are planning to move out in the Spring, around March ideally. We will be looking to RENT... Buying a house is NOT an option right now.

I am sure, with money saved up, we could afford to live in Stroudsburg, but it will be a tight squeeze, and my husband is a little leary of moving out with $3000 in the bank and getting a place that's $900 a month, and only being able to make enough to live on without saving anything. (That's the prices I have been coming across in Stroudsburg for a one bedroom place for the two of us.) Personally I think we could make it, as we will have a little nest egg saved up, but he would prefer to live some place where it's a little cheaper, so we don't have to use our savings to stay afloat.

What are some more reasonable areas that are within an easy commuting distance from Stroudsburg?

[hollimarie]

*sigh*

Just as I expected. How on earth do people who have modest jobs live there then?

Granted, I am a teacher, but I will need to attend to university to get my license current...and, I am also seriously considering changing vocations anyway, as the ends don't justify the means anymore in public education.

I lived in the Poconos for ten years. I knew it was expensive, but not everyone has white collar positions, and those people don't always live on First Street in Stroudsburg either.

What on earth does a person do if they want to attend university, enter a different field, and work in "get by" jobs during the process?

[karen_s]

Holli, sorry that you aren't finding what you need, but I just don't know what to tell you. People I know personally who live in Stroudsburg/E. Stroudsburg either have several roommates to afford rent (my brother), do the hellish commute to NJ/NY, or are trying to move/have moved elsewhere (SIL). It simply seems just too darn expensive to work here at a low-paying job and live in a nice area of the 'burgs.

My in-laws are in the Poconos too, Tannersville area. FIL just retired and they are anticipating selling due to the escalating property taxes being incompatible with retirement income.

[hollimarie]

The Burgs are a hard nut to crack. It's hard up in the Poconos. I don't mean to bash the area, because it's a beautiful place, full of culture, beautiful scenery, friendly, outgoing and vivacious people, and gorgeous four seasons.

I know it's not impossible to consider my husband and I living there and both attending school and "making it" on a modest income. It just won't be as easy as it would be to do that if we stayed here in South Carolina. The south is not an option for me anymore. I was born in NJ, and raised between Florida and Middlesex county NJ. Though Florida was "the south", I grew up in the Tampa Bay area of Florida, and my neighbors and relatives surrounded me, and all were from up north. My husband is from TN originally, and was raised in South West VA. He also lived in Florida for a long time, and the part of Florida he's from is the "red neck" part of Florida. I am worried about him, becuase he doesn't understand why I need and want to be up north. As a teacher, I burned myself out from trying to teach down south.

Coming to PA is going to be a tough struggle. My parents are very supportive though,and there's not a time limit on our stay there. We are able to stay there as long as needed in order to get out on our feet. Personally I would like to leave yesterday, but we will have to crawl before we will be able to walk, and with the cost of living in the Poconos, it's going to take longer to get on our feet than it would take elsewhere.

I am wondering if areas like the Delaware Water Gap, Analomink, and places on the outskirts of Stroudsburg, would be more reasonable. I have seen places within our price range, so I know it's not impossible. It's just not as plentiful as it is up here with prices in the high $500-high $600's.

The though of my husband and I living with roommates is out of the question. We have one cat, and my husband is an introvert. He would not be able to deal with other people in his space.

I am sure things will fall into place. It's a case of taking it one day at a time, and not giving up hope.

[pocopc]

Its a little farther out of the way but you might want to look towards the blakeslee or albrightsville area. Both have many developments around them and you can generally get a whole house rental for 600-700 a month as opposed to the one bedroom apartment in stroudsburg for 900-1100 a month. Both my wife and i commuted from up there to stroudsburg everyday for 5 years. Its about a 30 minute commute but like i said its much cheaper on the pocket book!

[hollimarie]

Hiya-

I will definitely keep that in mind. That's more of the rental price range we are interested in. Right now we are leaving a house that only cost $520 a month to rent....It's a beautiful house, and it's tearing my heart out to leave it. It's so hard for my husband and I to swallow that we will have to pay more than double to get something comparable in Stroudsburg. To have to shell out $700 for a one bedroom apartment seems like such a radical and unreasonable compromise. Then again, the cost of living here is reflected in the salaries. I am sure it's all comparable.

My only stumbling block is snow phobia. I need to get over my fear of driving in the snow.

[Nettap]

I am planning on moving to east stroudsburg where is the best place to live

[charmed hour]

Please make your own thread... this one is over 8 years old.