Jewish population in Wilkes Barre/Dallas area (Philadelphia, Allentown: 2014, houses)

[dgold91]

So my boyfriend and I both live in Philly right now. I am from a suburb right outside Philly (where my family still lives), and he is from Dallas area (where most of his family still lives. He may want to move back to Dallas/Wilkes barre area later in life, but I am unsure whether or not I can see myself living there. I am Jewish and he is not. I am definitely not religious, but I consider myself as a "cultural jew" and grew up with a jewish community. I also grew up near a lot of shopping, good restaurants, entertainment, a big city, nice bars. From doing research it doesn't seem like the Wilkes Barre area provides all of that.

Can anyone provide me with any information about life around this area, and if there is any sense of a jewish community? Thank you!

[Wells5]

See link.


http://www.city-data.com/forum/north...-jew-nepa.html

[dgold91]

Originally Posted by Wells5

See link.


http://www.city-data.com/forum/north...-jew-nepa.html

Thank you... I have already see that thread but it is fairly outdated (around 10 years old), so I was wondering if the population has changed at all. Also would like some insight into what there is to do out there.

[rowhomecity]

I would say. Stick with an area that is a compromise. I think the Lehigh Valley would offer the best of both worlds for both of you to be honest. There definitely is a decent size jewish population in the tri cities of Lehigh. You are one hour to Philadelphia and one hour to Wilkes Barre.

Bethlehem is a very quaint colonial city (might remind you of the Philly burbs it surely reminds me a bit).

Allentown is undergoing a major renaissance. Lots of universities. Decent millennial population. And economically doing well.

NEPA. While naturally blessed with beauty. And there certainly are some prosperous pockets and pretty areas. It is struggling a bit to be frank. And might be a MAJOR transition coming from Philadelphia.


I think a compromise on the Lehigh Valley would be your best bet. And focus on Bethlehem. It is actually a young and hip city.

[briantroutman]

My wife is a native of Wilkes-Barre, and after living in various parts of “the valley” throughout her childhood, her parents eventually moved to a bucolic part of the Back Mountain area (which is anchored by Dallas). But during most of my wife’s school years (in the ’90s), they lived in a more urban setting in the Wyoming Valley West district which is on the west bank of the Susquehanna across from the City of Wilkes-Barre.

Incidentally, though she’s not Jewish, most of her friends growing up were. Many of them lived in the Borough of Kingston, which seems to be the center of the area’s relatively sizable Jewish community. Kingston is also home to some of the nicer neighborhoods in the Wyoming Valley. That said, the Jewish population has been declining over decades—as has the population of the Wilkes-Barre and the region as a whole. Here’s an article from a few years ago that might be useful to you.

From my outsider’s perspective, it seems that Wilkes-Barre (and Scranton to a certain degree), keep taking a step forward and a step back. I sometimes see signs of revitalization here and there, but it’s uneven at best. The overall situation seems in some ways to be similar to Allentown and Lancaster a decade or more ago:

Much of the inner city housing stock, formerly the homes of people working steady jobs in mines and factories, fell into disrepair as heavy industry left and those jobs disappeared. In more recent years, those neighborhoods have become a home for lower-income people priced out New York City and New Jersey—who in some cases were also looking for a better life in what they consider a safer place. But natives, the prevailing attitude was to distance themselves even farther from their ailing city as it was “invaded” by a group of outsiders they labeled as undesirable. If Wilkes-Barre follows the same path as Allentown and Lancaster, these outsiders will eventually play a role in revitalizing the city and will joined by some pioneering younger people who move back into the city—eventually forming a critical mass of activity that helps the Wilkes-Barre turn the corner.

But Wilkes-Barre hasn’t turned that corner yet—and I’d estimate we’re at least a decade from that happening (just a guess). I certainly do hope that happens, though.

Now I should point out that the above refers more specifically to the urban environment of Wilkes-Barre. Elsewhere (or so it seems to me as an outsider)—there’s suburbia much like you’d find anywhere in the country. There’s plenty of mall shopping, chain stores, newer construction houses at relatively low prices, etc. This doesn’t appeal to me personally, but it might to you. Recently, I met a nice guy who grew up in Philadelphia, works for himself, and bought a relatively nice, newer home outside of Scranton for a price he’d never be able to touch in metro Philadelphia. And the fact that he could afford all that, work shorter hours, and enjoy more time with his family made it worth it to him.

Regardless, if you compromise on the Lehigh Valley or even stay in greater Philadelphia, you’re less than two hours’ drive from Dallas. Sure, everyone’s different, but I’m about three hours from my hometown and family in Williamsport, and that’s close enough for me.

[mr.magoo]

^ nailed it.

[dgold91]

Thank you for all of the information! I appreciate it.

[SteelCityRising]

If you have to do NEPA I'd choose Kingston.

If you can compromise I agree with the Lehigh Valley, especially Bethlehem or Emmaus.

[jimazee]

Consider contacting the temples in the area. Here is Scranton.

Synagogues in Scranton - Shuls in Scranton - Jewish Temples in Scranton

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by dgold91

So my boyfriend and I both live in Philly right now. I am from a suburb right outside Philly (where my family still lives), and he is from Dallas area (where most of his family still lives. He may want to move back to Dallas/Wilkes barre area later in life, but I am unsure whether or not I can see myself living there. I am Jewish and he is not. I am definitely not religious, but I consider myself as a "cultural jew" and grew up with a jewish community. I also grew up near a lot of shopping, good restaurants, entertainment, a big city, nice bars. From doing research it doesn't seem like the Wilkes Barre area provides all of that.

Can anyone provide me with any information about life around this area, and if there is any sense of a jewish community? Thank you!

I'm a fellow Jewish suburban Philadelphia native (of the devoutly secular variety) and lived in Wilkes-Barre for a year. I enjoyed my year in the Valley and can see a lot of beauty in the region. However, without getting into shopping, dining, entertainment, urbanity, and the bar scene (which are all better than one would expect but still pale in comparison to major metropolitan areas, like Philadelphia), Wilkes-Barre has more than its fair share of issues, and I wouldn't want to raise a Jewish family here if I could avoid it.

Wilkes-Barre's Jewish community, like much of the Valley, is very tightly-knit. It's also far more culturally and socially prominent than its population of 2,000 would suggest. This makes sense since it's the remnants of a community that once exceeded 7,000 and had the institutional footprint to match; many of these institutions continue to bravely hang on. Like much of the Valley's white ethnic population, the Jewish community skews older and continues to slowly dwindle. Elders die off. Children leave town for college and don't return. Due to lack of economic opportunities, the area experiences extreme brain drain.

Today, the Jewish community is primarily concentrated in Kingston Borough, a first ring suburban town across the River from Wilkes-Barre proper. Around half of the community, or 1,000 people, lives in Kingston, including a sprinkling in immediately adjacent Edwardsville and Forty Fort. Kingston is home to two synagogues, one part of the eruv, a not-so-Jewish deli, and, once construction is completed, the new JCC. Around 400 Jews remain in Wilkes-Barre proper, where an additional two synagogues, the current JCC, the other part of the eruv, and, interestingly enough, America's only yeshiva geared toward wayward youth. Another 400 Jews have moved up the hill to Shavertown and Dallas in the Back Mountain, where your boyfriend grew up, in pursuit of more open space and better public schools. The balance of the population is scattered throughout the rest of the lower Wyoming Valley.

Suffice to say, there's nowhere in the Valley like Lower Merion or Cherry Hill, where children can acquire a Jewish identity by osmosis. Being Jewish in the Valley is not something that can be taken for granted. By all means, get to know and appreciate the area for what it has to offer. I certainly do. But I wouldn't take permanent relocation to Northeast Pennsylvania lightly.

If you have to move Upstate and want to raise Jewish children, I'd opt for the Abington Heights School District outside of Scranton, where there's great public schools and a larger and more stable Jewish population. The Borough of Clarks Summit is surprisingly charming.

The Lehigh Valley isn't much of a compromise--particularly Bethlehem, whose Jewish community is small and scattered. There's a perceptible presence in Allentown's West End and the Parkland School District, but I don't think one gains much by being one hour away from Wilkes-Barre instead of two.