Poconos or Western North Carolina? (Philadelphia, Scranton: house, to buy, school)

[MrTudo]

The Wife and I had a converation on where do we want to buy another house with the intention of retiring there. 3 Places here in Fla capture our attention ( we live here ). But we've traveled extensively in western north carolina and being from the northeast originally, I still get the warm fuzzies from places like wayne cnty which at least the best of my memory tells me it's still too far to commute to NYC and therefore doesn't have the sprawl that the closer counties have ( still? ).

The other day we wrote a list of the places and numbered them in terms of our preferences and interestingly enough my Wife put western north carolina dead last and went so far as telling me she would never want to live there. By the way, we spent over $20,000.00 going back and forth, starting in Asheville and working our way down to Hendersonville, then Tryon.

She put the Hideout of all places, higher than the panhandle of Fla but still behind where we are now in SW Fla. Taxes have a part to play in this by the way as does healthcare. Weather of course but my Wife has never seen temps below 30, never experienced snow in her life. Nevertheless I'm not sure that weather plays such a significant part.

I ramble. Sorry.

Which would you prefer? WNC or the Poconos area and why?

[ScranBarre]

I'd prefer the Poconos. Both Wayne County and Western North Carolina will afford you beautiful natural scenery and a reasonable cost-of-living. However, the Poconos have the edge, in my opinion, because if you ever get bitten by the "city bug" and want to see a show on Broadway, head to an art museum, see major-league sports, etc., Western NC is much further from major U.S. cities than NEPA. Asheville has nice amenities like the Biltmore Estate and whatnot, but it truly can't compare to NYC or Philadelphia. The nearest major cities to Asheville are Charlotte, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Raleigh/Durham, and Atlanta. With the exception of Atlanta, none of these cities would really satisfy someone who gets the "itch" to visit a true "city." NYC and Philly have so much to offer, and they're both close enough for great weekend getaways.

In short, the relative isolation of Rural Western NC might seem great on paper, but I think most folks get the "itch" every once in a while to visit a city to experience culture, nightlife, sports, etc., or even just to people-watch. Keep that in mind.

[I LOVE PA!]

Yay for The Hideout!!
I personally love Wayne County. It does get cold here though, and there is a lot of snow. They keep saying we won't have a white Christmas, but I honeslty don't see the stuff we already have melting in 4 days. So, even if we don't get anymore...we will still have a white Christmas. My husband would love to move somewhere where there isn't so much snow, he takes care of our house, my parents and a few paying customers with a snow blower. It's rough doing that after an 18 hr day. I don't mind shoveling 6 or 8 inches, but when you get the foot or two...then I start whining.
A garage is a must for never having to clean off the car or slip on the ice from car to house. A snow plowing contract too, and the hardest thing to find...a teen looking to make a few bucks shoveling right next door!

[mm_mary73]

Originally Posted by SWB

I'd prefer the Poconos. Both Wayne County and Western North Carolina will afford you beautiful natural scenery and a reasonable cost-of-living. However, the Poconos have the edge, in my opinion, because if you ever get bitten by the "city bug" and want to see a show on Broadway, head to an art museum, see major-league sports, etc., Western NC is much further from major U.S. cities than NEPA. Asheville has nice amenities like the Biltmore Estate and whatnot, but it truly can't compare to NYC or Philadelphia. The nearest major cities to Asheville are Charlotte, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Raleigh/Durham, and Atlanta. With the exception of Atlanta, none of these cities would really satisfy someone who gets the "itch" to visit a true "city." NYC and Philly have so much to offer, and they're both close enough for great weekend getaways.

In short, the relative isolation of Rural Western NC might seem great on paper, but I think most folks get the "itch" every once in a while to visit a city to experience culture, nightlife, sports, etc., or even just to people-watch. Keep that in mind.

Paul, darlin', I want to thank you for supporting the Poconos over the more southWestern tip of the great North State, North Carolina! You be sweet

[MrTudo]

Originally Posted by I LOVE PA!

Yay for The Hideout!!
I personally love Wayne County. It does get cold here though, and there is a lot of snow. They keep saying we won't have a white Christmas, but I honeslty don't see the stuff we already have melting in 4 days. So, even if we don't get anymore...we will still have a white Christmas. My husband would love to move somewhere where there isn't so much snow, he takes care of our house, my parents and a few paying customers with a snow blower. It's rough doing that after an 18 hr day. I don't mind shoveling 6 or 8 inches, but when you get the foot or two...then I start whining.
A garage is a must for never having to clean off the car or slip on the ice from car to house. A snow plowing contract too, and the hardest thing to find...a teen looking to make a few bucks shoveling right next door!

Keep talking like that and I'll offer you a swap for a couple months next winter

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by I LOVE PA!

Yay for The Hideout!!
I personally love Wayne County. It does get cold here though, and there is a lot of snow. They keep saying we won't have a white Christmas, but I honeslty don't see the stuff we already have melting in 4 days. So, even if we don't get anymore...we will still have a white Christmas. My husband would love to move somewhere where there isn't so much snow, he takes care of our house, my parents and a few paying customers with a snow blower. It's rough doing that after an 18 hr day. I don't mind shoveling 6 or 8 inches, but when you get the foot or two...then I start whining.
A garage is a must for never having to clean off the car or slip on the ice from car to house. A snow plowing contract too, and the hardest thing to find...a teen looking to make a few bucks shoveling right next door!

I'm sorry to say that a high of 50 on Sunday with heavy rain will have all of this snow melted just in time for Christmas (sniffle, sniffle!)

[I LOVE PA!]

Originally Posted by MrTudo

Keep talking like that and I'll offer you a swap for a couple months next winter

I might be tempted to take you up on that, maybe for a week at least!

The poor ski hills are just getting ready for the school break, I hope they manage to make snow at night still!

[jjj]

As far as taxes for retiree's, there is no income tax on pensions in Pa. As far as North Carolina there is a income exemption for retiree's at age 62 up to a certain income. We found out that property taxes were less then in Pa but with the income taxes and personal property taxes, we would be paying out more in either North or South carolina. If we can only import their warmer weather to Pa.....

[FightinPhils]

Any shows I've watched on TV about Asheville, NC, seem to paint it on a very positive light. Its about the same sized city as Scranton, but its appears a bit more thriving and trendy. Lots of little shops and restaurants and whatnot in the downtown, and also surrounded by mountains, similar to Scranton. Asheville is what Scranton should strive to be like.

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by conorsdad

Asheville is what Scranton should strive to be like.

The problem is that Scranton never will be as nice as Asheville, Charlottesville, Ithaca, Boulder, etc. because the Legion of Doom, Doherty Deceit, etc. don't want it to be a nicer place to live. They'd rather keep it down to their level because if the quality-of-life improves too much, the cost-of-living will also rise, and those dodos would have no way to survive, nor would they have anything to complain about at the podium.