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Welcome. I am not familiar with the Scranton area at all but I would recommend looking into Mountaintop and Dallas area. There are many nice little places on the outskirts of Wilkes-Barre. I would not recommend living right in the city or in Edwardsville, Plymouth, or Nanticoke. I personally did not care living in these areas. Hanover has some cute areas. Lincoln Heights is nice. Let us know how you make out.
Your options are pretty open in that price range in and around dickson city or some of the other more built up areas. Have a great time this weekend, may be chilly!
I am new to this forum too and I hope I am not jumping in too quickly with this response. Below are two links that you may want to check out, one for housing and one for your FH's employment.
One thing I'd like to add, don't just focus on a particular town or city. You'll notice that within either there are some areas that are more attractive than others. In particular, Scranton is divided into "West Side", "South Scranton", "East Mountain", "Green Ridge", etc. And in each of those areas you have subsets too such as "Tripps Park" and "Hyde Park" of West Scranton. Think of it as being broken out like Manhattan where you have the UES and LES, but also have the Garment and Meatpacking districts interspersed throughout.
Thank you all so very much for your emails and posts. I appreciate your help so very much.
Chris and I will be coming to Scranton this Friday. We're meeting with a realtor Saturday and exploring the area Sunday.
If anyone can suggest towns, I would greatly appreciate it. We're confident in terms of jobs in Scranton and Wilkes Barre. We don't want to live directly in a town/city but we do want to be within 5-10 minutes of a Target, Walmart, etc. I would like to own no less than 1/4 of an acre and have some neighbors nearby. We would, ideally, like to purchase a home for around $175,000-$215,000.
Any help is appreciated....thanks so much! Hopefully we'll be neighbors soon enough!
Hello!
The two primary chain shopping areas in the region are Dickson City, which is just north of Scranton, and Wilkes-Barre Township, which is sandwiched between I-81 and the city proper of Wilkes-Barre. In both areas you'll truly find just about every chain store you could imagine (Borders, Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, Lowe's, Home Depot, Target, Kohl's, Wal-Mart, Gander Mountain, Dick's Sporting Goods, Staples, Wegman's, Sam's Club, etc.). Your best bet if convenience is one of your top choices would probably be somewhere in the Greater Pittston area, where I currently reside. Pittston Township, which is situated along I-81 and I-476, is rapidly-growing with a lot of new residential construction, as is its neighbor of Jenkins Township. I currently live exactly equidistant from both Scranton and Wilkes-Barre and am literally 1-minute from the interchanges, making for a 12-15-minute commute to the downtown of either city. It's a 10-minute commute to the Wilkes-Barre Township chain shopping area, and it's about a 20-minute commute to the Dickson City area. The nice thing about this area is that if you're near to I-81, then you're near to everything. I live just off Exit 175. The exit for the Wilkes-Barre Township shopping area is Exit 168, just seven miles to our south. Dickson City's exit is Exit 190, I believe, which is only 15 miles to the north. Downtown Scranton is located off of Exit 185, which is just 10 miles to our north.
Some communities to check into would be:
Avoca: This community is a small town of around 2,700 that has a struggling yet still viable Main Street corridor with some mom-and-pop operations. Two newer subdivisions are available here, which include Laurel Hill and Paradise Park. My friend's father developed Laurel Hill, and most homes there average around $250,000, which would probably be just out of your price range. Paradise Park has a more well-established area with home prices that would probably average around $200,000, along with a newly-developed phase with lots and building packages available, even though I don't know the specifics on pricing. The rest of Avoca is rather quiet, but lot sizes are rather small outside of the developments.
Dupont: This is the "twin city" of Avoca, with a population also around 2,700 and a rather blighted downtown Main Street area that has been making a comeback as of late with about a half-dozen new business ventures ranging from a bakery, to an arcade/pool hall, to a restaurant, amongst others. Dupont has a very high concentration of senior citizens, and most of the residents' ideas of "fun" are bowling at Elko's, square dancing at the hose company, making Polish foods, and drinking at the VFW (not that there's anything wrong with these activities). Housing prices here tend to be inexpensive, but lot sizes, as with Avoca, are rather small in the established neighborhoods. There are some "newer" (1970s-1980s) homes on about 1/4-acre lots in the neighborhood adjacent to the kindergarten center, and there is one new subdivision here called Quail Hill, which features executive-style homes that are WAY out of your price range. I live a block outside of the borough limits, and I see nothing but potential in this wholesome little town.
Duryea: This town is larger geographically than Avoca and Dupont combined and has nearly the same population as both communities combined, but it still has a nice "small town" feel to it. There are two major subdivisions in town---Blueberry Hill Estates, where some of the lower-end homes might be in the upper-range of your budget, and Hillcrest View, which is a more well-established subdivision near the senior citizen high-rise in the center of town with homes that might average around $200,000. There's a new gated community coming to Duryea as well very soon, but I'm positive that will also be out of your price range; there's been a high-end housing boom lately in the Pittston Area School District, as it is becoming marketed more heavily to couples who work in both Scranton and Wilkes-Barre and wish to have commuting convenience. Duryea's neighborhoods just kind of bleed into one another without any real organization---you can have a newer ranch home next-door to a 100-year-old mining-era home, which is something not very commonplace in neither Dupont nor Avoca.
Exeter: Across the Susquehanna River in the Wyoming Area School District, which has a better reputation than the Pittston Area School District, lies the borough of Exeter, population 6,000, which is split roughly into half with a more well-established, tightly-knit atmosphere between Wyoming Avenue and the river and some newer subdivisions along the "back road" (Slocum Avenue). There have been a lot of flooding issues recently in relation to Hick's Creek, and parts of Wildflower Village, a newer townhome community, and Exeter Park, a well-established 1970s-era subdivision, seem to bear the brunt of it. Other subdivisions nearby are Ida Acres, Fairway Estates, and Fox Meadows (and possibly one or two more I'm forgetting). I think Ida Acres might be having issues with the flooding issues as well, so be advised. Fairway Estates has mostly higher-end homes, as it is across the street from a country club, and Fox Meadows, while also near the country club, seems to have homes that average in the low-$200k range, which might just be near enough to your budget for you to consider. There are more proposed housing developments coming to Exeter as well, but I believe they've been stalled until the borough can figure out what to do to fix the flooding issues before exacerbating them further with more sprawl.
Hughestown: Situated high on a hilltop near Pittston proper is the tiny hamlet of Hughestown, which is home to roughly 1,500 residents. The two main drags here are Rock Street and Center Street, both of which are lined with older homes (including my grandmother's). The "downtown" area of Hughestown consists of where these two streets intersect, where you'll find a Lutheran church and a recently re-opened corner market. While most homes here are older and relatively inexpensive, lot sizes also tend to be larger, even on the main drags. Also in Hughestown are two subdivisions---Stauffer Heights, which is a well-established community of mostly low-$200k brick ranch-style homes on a high bluff overlooking the valley, and Maple View, which is also an established (late-1980s-early-1990s) development across the street from the Mattei school campus (Grades 3-8) and has homes that probably average in price around $215,000. I've heard rumors that another higher-end subdivision is being proposed near Yaple Park, btu I have yet to confirm that.
Jenkins Township: Jenkins Township is amongst the most rapidly-growing communities residentially in all of Luzerne County, with an estimated population increase of about 400 from 2000-2006. This township, along with Pittston Township, is VERY geographically spread out, so it will be more complicated for me to tackle. There are several notable "villages" within the township's boundaries, and within each "village" are also many subdivisions. The "villages" consist of Inkerman, Sebastopol, Port Griffith, Port Blanchard, Westminster, Old Boston, and Shantytown, and the subdivisions consist of either partially or entirely Insignia Pointe, Sunrise Estates, Susquehanna Estates, Breezewood, Highland Hills, Willow View, Strawberry Fields, Wynd Tree Oaks, and a few others I'm sure I'm forgetting. There are also more residential subdivisions being planned. Out of all of these subdivisions, I'd say Willow View, Insignia Pointe, and the newer phases of Highland Hills are definitely out of your price range. You might be able to find a bargain in the low-$200k range in any of these other housing developments if you're good at haggling (or just lucky). The village of Westminster has a very "woodsy" feel to it and larger lot sizes, and is only about 6 minutes to the chain shopping areas of Wilkes-Barre Township. Old Boston is a village I see becoming obsolete in the upcoming years as continued commercial and industrial sprawl in neighboring Pittston Township overtakes it, and the few residents who do live here are eventually bought out. Sebastopol and Port Griffith each have rather small lot sizes, but homes tend to be very inexpensive. Port Blanchard is rather flood-prone, lying right along the river at a low point. Shantytown is home to Wynd Tree Oaks, Strawberry Fields, and little else; it's wedged between the Hilldale section of Plains Township and Laflin. Finally, Inkerman, with a population of about 1,000, is my own hometown. It is being surrounded by a slew of newer developments, but some of my best childhood memories were from when I was growing up in our little historic home along Main Street.
Laflin: Even though Laflin is just about surrounded by the Pittston Area School District, it is remarkably somehow considered the Wilkes-Barre Area School District. The average age of the homes here is probably 1975, and the average price is probably around $200,000. It was recently named a "Tree City USA," a distinction only West Pittston also has out of the communities on my list. The community has a suburban, white-collar feel to it, and it is dominated by the subdivisions of Oakwood Park, Creek Side Estates, and Hilltop Manor. The town only has about 1,500 residents, but it has its own library, fire department, Roman Catholic church, and a very aggressive police force (that loves to nab me for speeding!) "Crime" in this town is someone toilet-papering a tree on Mischief Night or some old lady's cat getting stuck in a tree. When St. Maria Goretti's Church was vandalized a few years back, that's all people could talk about for quite some time. The community is conveniently located along Highway 315, roughly across from the aforementioned Westminster neighborhood of Jenkins Township.
Pittston Township: Just like Jenkins Township, Pittston Township is likewise growing by leaps and bounds, even though there has been less residential growth here and more commercial and industrial growth. Some upcoming developments here are Home Depot, a strip mall anchored by a new Wal-Mart Supercenter, and CenterPoint, which is a major commerce park that will create thousands of new jobs in various fields. Traffic congestion on many township roads is becoming horrific, especially at rush-hour, and I expect that to only continue to worsen as the sprawl continues. It's especially noticeable with the amount of respondable car accidents we have---we tend to average about one per day in our township, according to the police reports. As with Jenkins Township, Pittston Township has several "villages", as well as various subdivisions within them. The list of "villages" includes Cork Lane, Browntown, Suscon, Glendale, and Houston City, and the subdivisions include Horizon Estates, Stauffer Pointe, Butler Heights, Gable Crest, Pocono Ridge Estates, and a few others on the way. Out of those listed, Pocono Ridge Estates or Butler Heights, where I live, would be the only ones to fit your criteria. Pocono Ridge Estates is located about five minutes away from Dupont out into the rural Suscon area, but housing prices tend to average around $200,000, and deer are commonplace. Butler Heights was laid out in the 1960s, and unlike most subdivisions, my development is less transient in nature, so it is very rare that homes hit the market (and they sell VERY rapidly once they do). Due to all of the commercial sprawl that is now surrounding us on all sides, our property values have mushroomed (my own parents' home has doubled in value since 1996), but if you want to get in on the action you'll have to wait for Mericle, a local real estate development group, to develop the remaining lots in the neighborhood, along the Dupont town line.
West Pittston: Words can't describe how much I love West Pittston. You're going to be visiting at an awful time of the year, but to get an idea of what it looks like in its fullest beauty, check out my Garden Village Photo Tour . West Pittston is a "Tree City USA" and it hosts an annual Cherry Blossom Festival. When compared to its congested and nearly treeless neighbor of Pittston, across the river, the difference in vegetation levels is astounding. A good half of the borough is upper-middle-class in nature with historic homes, sidewalks, and tree-lined streets. The other half is still friendly, quiet, and charming, albeit with less greenery (and lower housing prices). Be advised though that just like the village of Port Blanchard, West Pittston is also very flood-prone---the homes in the flood zone are all way out of your price range anyways, but you never know if the "Flood of the Century" will ever occur. The mayor is a family friend, and he has taken a bold move by banning teenagers in the borough from smoking, which has caused some controversy (although not was much as Scranton's repealed public smoking ban did not long ago). For a town that is mostly Republican, it is refreshing to see West Pittston making so many "progressive" steps. The town has a population of around 4,800, which is split amongst higher-end historic homes, typical older middle-class homes, and two newer subdivisions---River Shores, which is an upper-class enclave on the riverfront that is uniquely out of the flood zone, and Ledgeview, which has newer construction homes at the higher end of your budget. If your visit takes you to West Pittston, be sure to stop at the Blue Ribbon Dairy on Exeter Avenue, across from Ledgeview, to enjoy some ice cream. My sister and her husband are renovating a home nearby, and they frequent this hot-spot. This community is part of the Wyoming Area School District, as are the next two towns I'm featuring.
West Wyoming: There's really not a whole lot to say about West Wyoming. It is a mirror image of Wyoming, and I truly don't know why it was ever separated from Wyoming. It has roughly the same population (3,000) as Wyoming, and is also largely residential in nature. There are two subdivisions that I'm aware of in West Wyoming---Knob Hill, which is a well-established housing development with homes that might be in your price range, and Fifth Street Manor, which has your typical cookie-cutter vinyl-sided tract homes that might be just a tad above your price range. This is the least convenient community out of the ones I mentioned to shopping areas, if that's something you feel is important.
Wyoming: Ditto West Wyoming. This is the community for which the Wyoming Area School District is named, even though neighboring Exeter and West Pittston are both much larger than this town. Lot sizes here tend to be smaller than they are in West Wyoming, but there are some stately older homes in this town, especially near the Tenth Street Elementary School and along Wyoming Avenue near the State Police Barracks.
Yatesville: This town of only about 700 is dominated by the Willow View development that was mentioned in the Jenkins Township profile, as well as the Pittston Area High School. The rest of the town is rather non-descript---there is a town hall, park with bocci courts, and convenience store. There's truly not much to say about Yatesville, but be advised that the intersection of Stout Street and Pittston Avenue has had some flooding issues as of late that are being blamed on the growth in neighboring, more highly-elevated communities.
If you're not interested in the city propers of Scranton or Wilkes-Barre, then other suburban towns to consider (but I don't have the time to describe in detail tonight) would be:
Abington Heights School District: Affluent Suburban Network About 10 Minutes West of Dickson City and 10 Minutes Northwest of Scranton.
Abington Township (Including Village of Waverly)
Clarks Green
Clarks Summit
Glenburn Township (Including Village of Glenburn)
Newton Township
North Abington Township
Ransom Township
South Abington Township (Including Village of Chinchilla)
Crestwood School District: Affluent Suburban Network About 10-15 Minutes South of Wilkes-Barre and 15-20 Minutes North of Hazleton.
Dennison Township
Dorrance Township
Fairview Township
Nuangola
Penn Lake Park
Rice Township
White Haven
Wright Township
Dallas Area School District: Affluent Suburban Network About 15-20 Minutes Northwest of Wilkes-Barre.
Dallas
Dallas Township
Franklin Township (Including Villages of Orange, Carverton)
Kingston Township (Including Village of Trucksville)
Dunmore School District: Stable Inner-Ring Suburb Northeast of Scranton and Near to Dickson City.
Dunmore
Hanover Area School District: About 5-10 Minutes South of Wilkes-Barre.
Ashley
Hanover Township (Including Villages of Preston, Lyndwood, Hanover Green, Lee Park, Buttonwood, Dundee, and Korn Krest)
Sugar Notch
Warrior Run
Lake-Lehman School District: Affluent Suburban Network About 20 Minutes Northwest of Wilkes-Barre.
Harvey's Lake (TOO FAR)
Jackson Township (Including Village of Shavertown)
Lake Township (TOO FAR)
Lehman Township
Noxen Township (TOO FAR)
Ross Township (TOO FAR)
Mid-Valley School District: Encompasses Dickson City and is about 10 minutes northeast of Scranton.
Dickson City
Olyphant
Throop
North Pocono School District: Semi-Rural (Becoming Suburbanized) Area about 15 Minutes South and East of Scranton.
Clifton Township (TOO FAR)
Covington Township (Including Village of Daleville)
Elmhurst Township (Including Village of Elmhurst)
Jefferson Township (Including Village of Mt. Cobb)
Madison Township (Including Village of Madisonville)
Moscow
Roaring Brook Township (Including Part of Lake Scranton)
Thornhurst Township (TOO FAR)
Old Forge School District: Midway Between Scranton and Pittston.
Old Forge
Riverside School District: Wedged Between Scranton and Greater Pittston.
Moosic
Taylor
Valley View School District: About 10 minutes northeast of Dickson City and 15-18 minutes northeast of Scranton.
Archbald (Including Village of Eynon)
Blakely (Including Village of Peckville)
Jessup
Wilkes-Barre Area School District: Surrounds City of Wilkes-Barre.
Bear Creek Township
Bear Creek Village
Buck Township (TOO FAR)
Laflin
Plains Township (Including Villages of Hudson, Hilldale, Plainsville)
Wilkes-Barre Township (Including Village of Georgetown)
Wyoming Valley West School District: Opposite Susquehanna River from Wilkes-Barre.
Courtdale
Edwardsville (Iffy)
Forty Fort
Kingston
Larksville
Luzerne
Plymouth (Iffy)
Pringle
Swoyersville
There's the Lackawanna Hotel and the Cultural center. The downtown civic center area is parklike and in the summer is really pretty. Labor day there's a great big Italian feast. One of the best things about scranton, is the people.
Anytime you need a referral for relocation assistance, please let me know.
Best Wishes.
When was the last time you were actually downtown? Park like? Where? Lackawanna hotel? Do you mean the court house square that they cut all the trees down in for the renovations? Maybe the Radisson or Hilton? Geez I hope your alittle more aware of the housing market then you are of the actual city. Its also La Fiesta Italiano for as long as I can remember. I might not always give out the positive info on the city but at least its accurate.
I agree with you the people are so much friendlier in the Scranton area than where I live. When I asked someone that, they told me many folks of Scranton come for generations of roots.
My parents and I live in the two family homestead homes that they built over 100yrs ago. I moved back to the city because of family and the people. I might not like the local politics but I do like this city. The neighborhoods are what make Scranton what it is at heart.
I thought of one beautiful area after I responded yesterday. Warrior Run. Not the lower area but as you go up the mountain, it is gorgeous. I don't see many houses for sale but it is lovely and seems peaceful. I looked into it 2 years ago but it was out of my price range. Also, if you are going to look in the W-B/Hanover area, you may want to check out Barney Farms (extremely expensive), Liberty Hills, and Marion Terrace.
What will be the tax burden realized when the KOZ runs out? What was your last years anticipated tax burden? I wish you all the luck with selling it, but currently there are over 500 homes for sale in Scranton not including those that are for sale by owner.
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"Crime" in this town is someone toilet-papering a tree on Mischief Night or some old lady's cat getting stuck in a tree. When St. Maria Goretti's Church was vandalized a few years back, that's all people could talk about for quite some time. The community is conveniently located along Highway 315, roughly across from the aforementioned Westminster neighborhood of Jenkins Township. 
As with Jenkins Township, Pittston Township has several "villages", as well as various subdivisions within them. The list of "villages" includes Cork Lane, Browntown, Suscon, Glendale, and Houston City, and the subdivisions include Horizon Estates, Stauffer Pointe, Butler Heights, Gable Crest, Pocono Ridge Estates, and a few others on the way. Out of those listed, Pocono Ridge Estates or Butler Heights, where I live, would be the only ones to fit your criteria. Pocono Ridge Estates is located about five minutes away from Dupont out into the rural Suscon area, but housing prices tend to average around $200,000, and deer are commonplace. Butler Heights was laid out in the 1960s, and unlike most subdivisions, my development is less transient in nature, so it is very rare that homes hit the market (and they sell VERY rapidly once they do). Due to all of the commercial sprawl that is now surrounding us on all sides, our property values have mushroomed (my own parents' home has doubled in value since 1996), but if you want to get in on the action you'll have to wait for Mericle, a local real estate development group, to develop the remaining lots in the neighborhood, along the Dupont town line. 
My sister and her husband are renovating a home nearby, and they frequent this hot-spot. This community is part of the Wyoming Area School District, as are the next two towns I'm featuring. 
