Relocation from Austin Texas (Pittsburgh, Scranton: transplants, rental, house)

[TerryDactyls]

I know this sounds weird, but we want to get out of the monotony of no spring or fall. I miss the snow. I grew up in Minnesota, spent time in the D.C. area and moved to Texas for work. Now I'm closing in on retirement and I want to go back north. I'm looking at eastern Pennsylvania right now. I've driven through the Lehigh/Buck's County area but nothing further north. Obviously, we don't care about schools, and we don't care about churches. But we would like to hear about good places to live - restaurants, scenic, golf, hockey (yes I still play even though I'm in my 60's), lakefront??, friendly to new folks, etc... Price range is $350K if that helps. Any information is helpful.

[MermanMike]

350K could get you something pretty nice around here. I live just north of Honesdale. It is very rural, but there are a lot of beautiful homes and a nice quality of life with friendly neighbors and lots of opportunities to do nature-y kinds of things. We are about 10 minutes from the Delaware river and various parks for hiking.

You could probably find a nice, basic, house on the Delaware river for 350k. It would be my dream to live on the river. You could get a lakefront on one of the smaller lakes, but not on Wallenpaupack which is the powerboating lake.

There are a lot of different options for living situations from more village-y kind of settings, to many planned vacation communities, and a lot of very rural areas where you could get a house on a large piece of land. I picked my location because I wanted to be within 10 or 15 minutes of Honesdale (natural food store, yoga, and all the basics) but also be away from town enough to have a relatively large piece of land in an area where I felt home values would be maintained.

Lot's of people will probably chime in with other info, but feel free to write me if you have any specific questions about where I'm living.

[ScranBarre]

If you're currently living in Austin, Texas, which is a relatively large city, it would probably be less of a "culture shock" for you to live nearer to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area, which is a metropolitan area of about 550,000 in Lackawanna and Luzerne Counties, which are home to Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, respectively. Where MermanMike lives is a very pristine, gorgeous area, but I've seen far too many instances firsthand of city slickers moving cold turkey to places like that and then whining about the "long drive" for everything (as if they didn't know what they were getting themselves into).

Wilkes-Barre is home to the AAA affilliate of the NHL Pittsburgh Penguins, our so-called "Baby Pens", at the Wachovia Arena. Member NYRangers2008 is a rabid hockey fan himself (you should see his MySpace pictures!), so he'd probably be a great resource to consult about any adult hockey leagues in the area. I live near the Ice Box, an indoor skating rink in Pittston (midway between Scranton and Wilkes-Barre), and I know there are various leagues that play there. The local Penguins team is very well-supported in our area; for several years the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Penguins even laid claim to having the highest AHL attendance numbers.

I'd probably suggest Nuangola, near Mountain Top, to you. Situated in central Luzerne County, not far from either Wilkes-Barre or Hazleton, Nuangola is located along a lake of the same name. Some other lake communities to the south or east of Wilkes-Barre that you might want to investigate include Bear Creek Village, Penn Lake Park, and Glen Summit. $350,000 should be able to net you a decent home in any of these communities, although lakefront homes in Bear Creek Village will likely be much more expensive than that. Harvey's Lake is also nice, but it is becoming more crowded with each passing summer, as it has now been discovered by out-of-state transplants who have begun to purchase some of the small cottages in order to tear them down and build larger homes (i.e. McMansions) in their place.

Further north in Lackawanna County, near Scranton, you'll also find some lakefront living options near Chapman Lake, Moosic Lakes, Big Bass Lake, and Lake Winola, which is actually just over the border in adjacent Wyoming County.

Give us some more details about what you may be looking for (age/type of residence, proximity to urban areas/shopping, proximity to Interstates, etc.), and we'll be able to narrow down your search better.

[poconoproud]

Pocono Relocation Guide

At the bottom of the home page are links to the Pocono counties. On the county pages are links to the townships, entertainment, hospitals, etc. FYI

[W-B proud]

Harvey's lake in the Back Mountain (20 minutes north of the city of Wilkes-Barre) is the very best this area has to offer. It's absolutely beautiful in the summer and fall, and right around the price range you've mentioned. It's also only 20 minutes from the city of Wilkes-Barre and Luzerne County's largest shopping district. The malls, The Arena, restaraunts ect...I've driven taxi locally here for ten years, and have seen every nook and cranny of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton region, and this is the best area I've seen! Bar-None. Jet-skiing, sailboat, fishing, they even used to have a scubba-diving rental place, but I'm not sure if it's still there. This is the closest thing to paradise that this area can offer. I used to hate driving around Harvey's Lake because I'd get jealous I couldn't live there, and I didn't want to leave! LOL. Anyway, check it out. Good Luck with your search!

[poconoproud]

We're all proud here, hugh! My uncle lived at Harvey's Lake, and I spent a lot of summers there. I agree that it's a nice area. I used to love going for potato pancakes after our swim, and then stopping at the Hillside Dairy for fresh ice cream on the way home.

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by poconoproud

We're all proud here, hugh! My uncle lived at Harvey's Lake, and I spent a lot of summers there. I agree that it's a nice area. I used to love going for potato pancakes after our swim, and then stopping at the Hillside Dairy for fresh ice cream on the way home.

Jones's Potato Pancakes!!! DROOLLL!!!

[auntlucy]

I know what you mean about no seasons and a summer to hot to do outdoor activities. We moved here to Ft Worth, from Indiana, when my hubby retired (I am a Carbondale, PA native). PA is a beautiful state to live in. You will enjoy it. We tried to sell our house last yr and move back north someplace, but the housing market is very slow here to put it mildly. Maybe we will have better luck this yr. Good luck to you. auntlucy

[texassammie]

Terry, I moved to Austin from NEPA 30 years ago and I know what you are talking about regarding the seasons. Even though I have been gone a very long time, I can tell you that my memories are quite vivid of the long winters up north. You know how down here in Tx it gets hot in May and by September we are totally fed up with what seems like nothing but hot temps. Well, it is just the opposite in NEPA. Cold starting in October/November and by March or April all you want is some relief from the cold and a little color in the outdoors.

My thoughts and wishes are to have a winter home down here in Tx and a spring/summer home back in NEPA. I know this doesn't answer your question exactly, but the long winters are something to consider. Good luck, y'all.

[Georgia to Northeast PA]

Hi, I am moving from Georgia to the Northeast. My husband has a job offer from a University in Scranton. I would love information about the area. I have been reading this cite and decided to join so I could interact more. I really appreciate any advice in moving. We would like to move not too far away from the happenings and was told Clark Summitt was the way to go. Any insight would be great.