Northeastern Pennsylvania Photo Tour: PART SIX (Scranton, Wilkes-Barre: transplants, mobile home, neighborhoods)

[ScranBarre]

Although my poll results showed that there were several categories involved in a three-vote tie, I decided to head down to Mountain Top after work today to snap some more photos. Mountain Top refers collectively to Wright Township, Rice Township, Dennison Township, Fairview Township, Dorrance Township, and Nuangola Borough, and it is a rapidly-growing suburban haven about twenty minutes south of Wilkes-Barre via Route 309 or I-81.

There's a wide range of housing options available in Mountain Top, although upscale housing developments with cookie-cutter tract homes are becoming the "norm" these days. Mountain Top has a variety of smaller businesses, such as pharmacies, gas stations, banks, etc. along Route 309 (Known as Mountain Boulevard), but most shopping needs are located about twenty minutes north in the Arena Hub/Highland Park area of Wilkes-Barre Township. Mountain Top is home to several large employers in the Crestwood Industrial Park, but once again most residents commute to the Wilkes-Barre area for work.

Mountain Top is home to the Crestwood School District, ranked among the best in the region for academic excellence. Housing prices here are quite varied; you can find a mobile home for well under $100,000 or a home in the Ice Lakes for $750,000! Just like the Back Mountain, I'm not the biggest fan of Mountain Top as I don't like seeing trees coming down left and right for McMansions at a time when Wilkes-Barre's housing vacancy rate is soaring, but nevertheless I hope you enjoy the photos!

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[ScranBarre]

Route 309, on its steep, windy ascension from Wilkes-Barre into Mountain Top.


Could this be considered "Downtown" Mountain Top?


Christ Church, South Main Road.



A pair of homes along South Main Road, between Mountain Boulevard and Nuangola Road.


Wildwood Terrace, an established housing development along South Main Road.


Timberwood, an upscale development developed in the 1990s. It's also the home of Tom & Noreen Clark from WNEP-TV.










Some scenes from Timberwood.


Polonia Estates, located along Nuangola Road.





Images from Polonia Estates.


Woodberry Manor, a brand new upscale community located adjacent to Polonia Estates.







Scenes from Woodberry Manor.


Woodland Condiminiums, also adjacent to both Polonia Estates and Woodberry Manor (Mountain Top's developments tend to "bleed" into each other).


An image from along Nuangola Road between Polonia Estates and the Ice Lakes.

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[ScranBarre]

Welcome to the Ice Lakes, a brand new upscale community along Nuangola Road that is becoming quite popular among NY/NJ transplants. Homes here can range up to nearly $1,000,000, but the pastoral lake setting is magnificent.


























The Ice Lakes, Rice Township



Kirby Estates, located along Kirby Road just off Route 309


Sutherland Library, Kirby Road


Greystone Manor, Kirby Road








More tidy suburban scenes from along Kirby Road


Mountain Top Area Ambulance Association, Fairview Township


Heading back down towards Wilkes-Barre

[MrTudo]

Wow! Nice nice!

May I ask, what happened to the pizza?????

[ScranBarre]

Ummm...what happened to the "polka?" The "panda?" The "Wicca?" The "****a?" The "pasta?" Hmmm...I'm assuming maybe you meant "****a" and my promised photos of Old Forge? Well, I had a LOT of free time today for a change, so I figured I'd head down to Mountain Top, which is a bit of a commute for me, so that I can save Old Forge, which is near my home, for a day when I'm short on time. ;o)

[Sharon R.]

Very pretty. Looks like such a beautiful, picturesque place. Too bad they're cluttering it up Honestly, those big luxurious houses are so nice for the suburban family, I've become completely immune to them. Give me the quaint bungalows anytime. I didn't see any sidewalks! I want my neighborhood to have sidewalks and the blasted garages out in back where they belong!

SWB, thanks so much for the time you take to do these. I really enjoy seeing them. NE PA is SO high on my list of places to come, and these upscale neighborhoods are just full of income potential for me! My hesitation is the weather -- I really crave sunshine (though not the heat) and it seems like it's a rather cloudy place. Is that true?

[MrTudo]

Originally Posted by Sharon R.

Very pretty. Looks like such a beautiful, picturesque place. Too bad they're cluttering it up Honestly, those big luxurious houses are so nice for the suburban family, I've become completely immune to them. Give me the quaint bungalows anytime. I didn't see any sidewalks! I want my neighborhood to have sidewalks and the blasted garages out in back where they belong!

Hey Sharon, the only problem with those blasted garages out back would be in the wintertime. When I was there we had 60 inches of snow in a 5 day period and no it doesn't melt for a while. Imagine the car being out back

[mm_mary73]

Yep, still looking for the pics of Taylor and the best white pizza from
Salerno's! The neighborhoods in Mountain Top look like where I'm living
now, minus the forests.

[sunseeker]

Gloom gloom gloom gloom gloom! Don't move here if you have Seasonal Affective Disorder! It never gets warm here. No need for air conditioning. But you can expect to have your heat on 9 months out of the year. We had our first fall frost September 30th and a majority of the leaves are gone from the trees now. Time to get ready for long hard cold grey bleak depressing winter. Yes, it is time for me to move! Somebody get me outa here!

[geos]

Thanks for the pics. I hope you're not driving & snapping at the same time! What a beautiful area but how sad to see all those energy inefficient, fire trap, maintenance hog "Home Depot" homes. What a waste of timber. At least older homes like Victorians have some charm.

However, if everyone built one of these there would be no energy crisis -

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