What does everyone like about NEPA? (Philadelphia, Scranton: property taxes, living in, swimming)

[ScranBarre]

Aside from the social regressiveness amongst many of the people here, NEPA is a perfect place to raise a family, in my humble opinion.

1.) Proximity to other areas of interest: It's nice to know that you can hop in your car at 7 AM, head to New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Finger Lakes, etc., enjoy yourselves thoroughly, and then head home in time for the 11 PM news. My friend and I are actually utilizing our mutual day off tomorrow to visit the Lehigh Valley.

2.) Affordable cost-of-living: We live just 90-minutes from some of the most expensive real estate in the nation in places like North Jersey, NYC, and SEPA. Nevertheless I've found homes I've fallen in love with in Scranton for $120,000. Such homes have 3 bedrooms, 1.5-baths, 50' x 150' lots, and require very minor (if any) cosmetic updates. What would $120,000 get you in adjacent areas? Barely a building lot, much less even a habitable shack. My peers laugh at me for wanting to stay and make "peanuts" with my Master's Degree in Scranton, but the joke will be on them; a $40,000 starting salary as a CPA in Scranton is MUCH preferable to a $60,000 starting salary in Manhattan when you factor in the cost-of-living disparity.

3.) Friendly people: Working in retail brings out the worst in people, but it also brings out the most interesting folks. I don't know if I just have a friendly personality or what, but I can't help but go 20 minutes at work without initiating small talk with customers. In the past few weeks I've had full-fledged discussions with some of our clients concerning teachers' strikes, politics, racism, etc. I can easily chit-chat with others in line at the grocery store, at the gas pumps, at the bank, etc. I think folks in Scranton are nastier than they are in places like Lewisburg, Wellsboro, or Honesdale (as per my photo tour experiences), but most NJ folks I come across all have abrasive, bitter personalities (likely spawned by years of overtaxation, congestion, and sprawl), so we should be GRATEFUL that residents around here are so congenial to strangers.

4.) Historic interest: Say what you will about Scranton, but it could EASILY become a modest tourist destination if it were to market its history more effectively. I personally have enjoyed Steamtown, the trolley museum, the iron furnaces, the coal mine tour, Everhart Museum, etc., and I've photographed hundreds (if not thousands) of historic homes in Green Ridge, The Hill, Hyde Park, West Pittston, South Wilkes-Barre, Kingston, etc. History oozes out of every pore here, yet very few respect that.

5.) Dynamic weather: MiamiMan can take Scottsdale and shove it! LOL! What "fun" is having 300+ days of sunshine per year when you can have an incessant roller-coaster ride of weather conditions that not even Tom Clark can precisely predict? I like living in an area with a temperate, seasonal climate, and I love being exposed to blizzards, severe thunderstorms, flooding downpours, triple-digit heat indices, wind, etc. It helps to make things "interesting" to say the least.

6.) Low-to-moderate congestion: Yes our area has its "choke points" like I-81 between the Central Scranton Expressway and Davis Street, the North Cross-Valley Freeway in and out of the Back Mountain, Highway 315 through the Pittstons, etc., but even our "back-ups" are no match for what residents in many other areas endure. I'd rather be traveling at 40 miles per hour with my flashers on during rush hour on I-81 than traveling at 5 miles per hour in stop-and-go traffic in North Jersey.

7.) Low taxes: Dan will kill me for this one, but contrary to what he believes taxes in NEPA (including Scranton) are actually near the national average. The Northeast in general is a heavily-taxed part of the nation (hence the Rust Belt decline), but property taxes here are well within reason. I'd be willing to pay $2,000 annually for my future dream home in the city. My parents currently pay about $3,600 for our small brick ranch in the 'burbs.

8.) Improving social conditions: As our region continues to become more well-educated and literate, social progression IS finally starting to occur. Yes, I still hear anti-gay slurs very often, but I'm sure even just 20 years ago openly-gay males around here would be physically beaten up just for kicks by uncouth losers who had nothing better to do. I'm noticing that my generation in particular is extremely sensitive to the plight and general well-being of others; my generation will inevitably be the one who will help America to become a TRUE "melting pot" of sorts in another 20 years or so. Hell, there's even a gay night club now in uber-conservative Pittston of all places, a very active Wilkes-Barre NAACP chapter, and a Hispanic radio station, so obviously we're becoming more and more diverse with each passing year.

9.) Generally low crime: While property crime here is rather commonplace, violent crime is incredibly low. I can live with having my mailbox smashed by teenagers or having my car window smashed to have my XM satellite radio system stolen, but I would NOT like to live in an area where I could go for my morning run and risk being gunned down as part of a gang initiation. For all the squawking people in Scranton do, they should feel BLESSED to have amongst the lowest violent crime rates in the nation for a city of its size.

10.) Cultural Events: Contrary to popular belief I'm never bored here in NEPA. From the Steamtown Marathon to the Festival of Ice to the Scranton Jazz Festival to the Electric City Film Festival and everything in between, there's never a dull moment around here. I'm also a fan of the Fine Arts Fiesta, Everhart After Dark, Cherry Blossom Festival, NEPA Philharmonic, off-Broadway shows at the Scranton Cultural Center, independent films at the Kirby, "The Office" Convention, Pittston Tomato Festival, St. Joseph's Center Festival, Race for the Cure, Armed Services Parades, Santa Parades, St. Patrick's Day Parades, First Night Scranton, etc., etc. It's truly a fun place to live if you're not an idiot who opts to ignore such offerings in favor of bashing the region as being "boring."

[mathjak107]

i agree with all except the pay difference and to me thats the problem with nepa. thats the only thing keeping us from relocating full time from queens ny right now. . i think i mentioned right out of school the starting pay in nyc for accounting was around 75,000-80,00 and within 2 years over 100,000 with bonus . my daughter inlaw was picked up by ernst & young out of school. its not just a new york thing either as she switched companies and now works in greenich ct.for 6 figures and moved up to white plains. like i said earlier i can make due with about 60% to 70% of our current income in nepa as housing ,auto insurance and taxes are less but no way on 60% less which is the best we could get . food, energy, college ,medical ,phone,cable and most day to day expenses are all pretty much the same no matter where you live within a few %. having some bucks left over is important too for retirement saving . of course what you spend and need to live on and support a family depends on your lifestyle and what you do and buy so im speaking only for ourselves.

[nepanite]

SWB,
I live in Scranton and would suggest that you check current tax rates for I strongly doubt that you will find your "dream home" to be only $2,000 a year. Most people would also figure on the wage tax as an additonal tax and go from there. Gotta agree about the weather though, this winter was lame for snowstorms.

[mathjak107]

as if you cant tell from most of my posts, as a hobby i write and take part in financial articles for a few publications , money magazine, wall street journal to name a few so i cant help but bestow a few words upon you. . . paul i cant stress enough to you that you need to fight 2 battles in your earning years. one battle is to support yourself and your family if you have one and to be able to earn enough to live the lifestyle you seek.

the other battle is you need to earn enough to save loads of dough for retirement. think about this IF YOU HAVE TROUBLE MAKING ENDS MEET WHEN YOUR WORKING AND GETTING A PAYCHECK, HOW DO YOU THINK IT WILL BE WITH NO PAYCHECK.

the point is you have to find a balance between where you choose to work and where you live as its imperative that you get the biggest bang for the buck in your earning years to fight those 2 battles because if you can only fight one of them, the here and now and not the retirement end you will eventually loose the war. even a million dollars today cant be expected to give you more than 40,000 a year for 30 years and thats before taxes and assuming at least 1/2 your assets are in equities so you can get at least an average 7% long term return.
you need to earn enough to more than just get by in your earning years to save this much. the average couple on medicare according to research at fidelity will need 216,000 just to cover medicare payments, out of pocket prescription drugs and other non covered health expenses thru retirement and this is growing by 6% a year. to earn enough while your working to cover things like this in the future sometimes means not living in a particular area at this time too.

you dont want to end up like most of america today where the retirement plan is WORK UNTIL YOU CANT

[weluvpa]

Mountain Biking
Kayaking
Rock & Ice climbing
Fishing
Skiing
Boating

Its proximity to the NJ shore and I might have said the snow but lately thats getting to be a maybe or maybe not.

[loveinbloom]

I love the pace of life here, the neighborhood feel, the parks, mountains and my in-laws all being within a 10 minute drive. I also love the fact that I am able to go and see my eldest two children and my sisters within a 3.5 hour drive door to door~

[mgb]

I pay $4480 for a 44-yr old house on East Mt plus $178 refuse fee,plus 3.4% wage tax--I'd say we're slightly higher than our immediate surrounding communities,like Dunmore & Taylor, with the exception of Glenmaura in Moosic, but I'm not even sure
if the taxes there are higher than ours. They should be, since the homes are much more expensive & newer. Anybody know what the average real estate tax is in Glenmaura? However, if you haven't moved in the past 15 yrs, your taxes are probably much lower. When we bought our house 13 yrs ago our taxes were $2800. We expected an increase, but not this much. Everything else about this area I like:beautiful scenery, low crime, family roots, I'm at work in 12 min, same for shopping@ Steamtown, grocery shopping @ Gerrity's in 3 min. I love the change of seasons, though I wish spring & summer were longer than fall &winter.


7.) Low taxes: Dan will kill me for this one, but contrary to what he believes taxes in NEPA (including Scranton) are actually near the national average. The Northeast in general is a heavily-taxed part of the nation (hence the Rust Belt decline), but property taxes here are well within reason. I'd be willing to pay $2,000 annually for my future dream home in the city. My parents currently pay about $3,600 for our small brick ranch in the 'burbs.

[weluvpa]

Originally Posted by mgb

Dan will kill me for this one, but contrary to what he believes taxes in NEPA (including Scranton) are actually near the national average. The Northeast in general is a heavily-taxed part of the nation (hence the Rust Belt decline), but property taxes here are well within reason.

I don't like getting a tax increase and I don't like what we get in return for them. On top of that the city is spending and spending and crying that they are broke. They NEEDED to raise our taxes while the tax office had at least $5,000,000 of city money hidden or lost in a random account?

Contrary to what you might think I understand that our taxes are lower or on average. For years we maintained a house on the NJ shore and then a condo in Jenson Beach Fl. so I am aware of what the taxes outside our area are like. That in mind, it doesn't mean that I should or the residents should just rollover for any tax increase that comes along because the taxes outside the area are higher or the city says they need it.

Lower taxes then our surrounding states is a plus for those that want to move here and are used to paying higher taxes. Those here that know only the taxes they are paying and what they get in return are affected the most by any increases.

There are also alot of people that are enjoying their lower taxes here while they have to drive to NY & NJ to make a good living.

Irregardless NEPA is a great area with alot to offer in outdoor activities. There really is good mountain biking, hiking, kayaking, rafting, climbing(rock & ice), skiing, hunting(for those that do) and I'm sure that I missed something, those are just the first ones that come to mind.

[NYRangers 2008]

I agree with Dan. Just because Scranton taxes are lower than the national average, does not mean raise them just because they haven't been raised in awhile. Plus if you're going to raise them, give the residents something in return. Don't keep spending like it's going out of style and then expect the taxpayers to cover for it. And like Dan said, there was money mysteriously hidden and they go ahead and raise the resident's taxes. I believe they know about that money all the time. How can you just misplace that amount of money?

[Southwb]

Heritage, Scenery, Family closeness, seasons what the hell I love it here.