How Bad is Wilkes-Barre? (Scranton, Dickson City: loans, house, buy)

[Gerania]

Originally Posted by Ell9677

Thanks for the post, Sheena12. Feedback really helps since it helps to have realistic expectations of a place. I appreciate your insight into the area as someone who was not born and raised there since neither my husband nor I are from PA and are used to places where there is a good side and a bad side of town, not mixed street by street. We are thinking about Clarks Summit, but the unwillingness to accept outsiders concerns us. I've heard that from many people now...

If you don't mind me asking, where are y'all from?

I'm allowed to say y'all because I lived in the South for a while.

[Ell9677]

I am in GA.

[jtab4994]

Originally Posted by sheena12

6. Almost all of the private colleges in W-B and Scranton are religiously affiliated. That should tell you something. The notable exception is Wilkes University. University of Scranton - RC. The King's College - RC. Clark's Summit University (which was a bible college when we lived their) Evangelical Christian.

Again. If you like these things, you may fit in better than we did.

Hey! You left out Marywood University in Scranton where my son is a Junior. It was founded in 1915 by the IHM Sisters (more of those dreaded RC's!) as a women's college. Across town the U of Scranton is run by the Jesuits (ack!) and was a men's college originally.

Personally I'd brush aside concerns about being an "outsider". I've survived 25 years in the Poconos as an outsider from Joisey and honestly I feel like an insider now. It all depends on the person and the place, though.

[jimazee]

Originally Posted by jtab4994

Hey! You left out Marywood University in Scranton where my son is a Junior. It was founded in 1915 by the IHM Sisters (more of those dreaded RC's!) as a women's college. Across town the U of Scranton is run by the Jesuits (ack!) and was a men's college originally.

Personally I'd brush aside concerns about being an "outsider". I've survived 25 years in the Poconos as an outsider from Joisey and honestly I feel like an insider now. It all depends on the person and the place, though.

Neither Keystone College, Lackawanna College, nor Penn State Worthington (the PSU Scranton campus) are currently religiously affiliated (as far as I know).

I agree being an outsider depends heavily on the person and the place...as well as expectations, 'measurements', and comparisons.

...and just for the record there are almost 200 Jesuit colleges (and many more prep/high schools etc) in the world and 28(?) in the USA...many are well regarded.

[Gerania]

Originally Posted by Ell9677

I am in GA.

Are you from the South? When I lived in North Carolina, the family across the street was from Southern Virginia. They were the first people who knocked on my door after I moved in. They had been the new family just a couple of years earlier and knew how it felt.

...but, I digress. I always do. When (Miss) Penny accompanied her husband to the annual convention which was in NYC that year, she found herself an instant celebrity. Many people asked her to say something Southern. She was embarrassed, but everyone loved her.

More digression. A guy from Brooklyn showed up at my mother's funeral service. He'd brought his guitar and asked if he could play and sing a song which she liked. He had a very New Yawkish accent. He was a wonderful person, and we talked for a while after the service. There was a spontaneous big hug.

Long story short, his wife's job as an accountant in Wilkes-Barre with great benefits trumped his blue collar non-union job in NYC.

Since you've lived here and there, I think you should look in the Clarks Summit, Clarks Green area.

[jtab4994]

Originally Posted by jimazee

...and just for the record there are almost 200 Jesuit colleges (and many more prep/high schools etc) in the world and 28(?) in the USA...many are well regarded.

Fordham, BC, Gonzaga, St. Joe's (Philly), to name a few. And of course Scranton Prep. All are well regarded, with lots of big-time alumni. But some people just see "RC" and run away. Oh well.

[Chefkey]

I felt like an insider from the moment I moved here, It's about not having your own hang ups and being able to embrace other cultures and integrate them into your own behavior. I've been saying Heyna and couple two tree for a long time now. If you don't feel like and outsider and act like one they maybe you aren't so much. I also think you need to know where you are if you want to be successful there. I made a habit of driving by instinct and memory right from the beginning all over the area here. Sure I use GPS once I get out a bit on a field trip but around the immediate area I work hard to memorize the layout. I read up on the history of the area with all it's coal glory. Visited and walked my dogs behind Georgetown and took pictures of the steam plumes. Watched Giants Despair did the fireworks. I have hung out on the square for events and been to the Kirby Center. I've taken countless trips to Scranton and Dickson City and drove the streets by heart. Know your surroundings and you'll love your surroundings and you'll never have any problems with the "natives" lol.

[Gerania]

Originally Posted by Chefkey

I felt like an insider from the moment I moved here, It's about not having your own hang ups and being able to embrace other cultures and integrate them into your own behavior. I've been saying Heyna and couple two tree for a long time now. If you don't feel like and outsider and act like one they maybe you aren't so much. I also think you need to know where you are if you want to be successful there. I made a habit of driving by instinct and memory right from the beginning all over the area here. Sure I use GPS once I get out a bit on a field trip but around the immediate area I work hard to memorize the layout. I read up on the history of the area with all it's coal glory. Visited and walked my dogs behind Georgetown and took pictures of the steam plumes. Watched Giants Despair did the fireworks. I have hung out on the square for events and been to the Kirby Center. I've taken countless trips to Scranton and Dickson City and drove the streets by heart. Know your surroundings and you'll love your surroundings and you'll never have any problems with the "natives" lol.

Shelby took the Hill Climb in 1956.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carroll_Shelby

[Ell9677]

I once drove by Marywood or Misericordia (sorry, I can't remember which) and it looked beautiful. If you maintain a B average in high school you go to college for free in Georgia (HOPE). If you are homeschooled you get to do free dual enrollment at a college during your high school years and two free years when you graduate high school. I love this about Georgia. But, I haven't seen many campuses that are beautiful like you have there.

[Ell9677]

Originally Posted by Gerania

Are you from the South? When I lived in North Carolina, the family across the street was from Southern Virginia. They were the first people who knocked on my door after I moved in. They had been the new family just a couple of years earlier and knew how it felt.

...but, I digress. I always do. When (Miss) Penny accompanied her husband to the annual convention which was in NYC that year, she found herself an instant celebrity. Many people asked her to say something Southern. She was embarrassed, but everyone loved her.

More digression. A guy from Brooklyn showed up at my mother's funeral service. He'd brought his guitar and asked if he could play and sing a song which she liked. He had a very New Yawkish accent. He was a wonderful person, and we talked for a while after the service. There was a spontaneous big hug.

Long story short, his wife's job as an accountant in Wilkes-Barre with great benefits trumped his blue collar non-union job in NYC.

Since you've lived here and there, I think you should look in the Clarks Summit, Clarks Green area.

People in Coastal GA have many different accents. I don't have a southern accent but I do say y'all. I can easily switch to "you guys." I do every time I travel north. Thanks for the advice, btw!