Where would you live? (Wilkes-Barre, Back Mountain: middle-class, appliances, houses)

[Stimpson J. Cat]

Hi. I am a longtime lurker who is about to move to NEPA from a land far away. My husband will be working in Dallas, so we are looking for a home roughly in that area. At the moment, we are considering living in the stretch that includes Dallas, Harvey's Lake, Shavertown, Kingston, etc. I am also intrigued by West Pittston, thanks to ScranBarre's photo tours. If you were us, where would you plant yourself?

A little about our family: We are aging hipsters with a small child. Artsy musician types. We would like to live in a very friendly neighborhood with good schools. Nothing too snobby, nothing too trashy (or substitute with your favorite politically correct term). We tend to prefer older homes in established neighborhoods to McMansions and treeless subdivisions. Our home would need to be less than $300,000.

Thanks so much for your suggestions. Holla if you need any more info.

[Retired Law 08]

Originally Posted by Stimpson J. Cat

Hi. I am a longtime lurker who is about to move to NEPA from a land far away. My husband will be working in Dallas, so we are looking for a home roughly in that area. At the moment, we are considering living in the stretch that includes Dallas, Harvey's Lake, Shavertown, Kingston, etc. I am also intrigued by West Pittston, thanks to ScranBarre's photo tours. If you were us, where would you plant yourself?

A little about our family: We are aging hipsters with a small child. Artsy musician types. We would like to live in a very friendly neighborhood with good schools. Nothing too snobby, nothing too trashy (or substitute with your favorite politically correct term). We tend to prefer older homes in established neighborhoods to McMansions and treeless subdivisions. Our home would need to be less than $300,000.

Thanks so much for your suggestions. Holla if you need any more info.

You can get a very nice home in clarks summit for less than that,good safe friendly area.

[memoriesbre]

If your husband will be working in Dallas I would recommend Tunkhannock! I am located in Tunkhannock and it's a short drive down to Dallas. The schools are wonderful and the small town feel is great. The people in Tunkhannock are also kind and friendly. We have all the amenities that we could need in town also. It is a safe friendly area and you could find a nice home in your price range too!

[Summering]

That sounds very nice Memoriesbre..........Did someone post Tunkannock pictures on here?
I like Dallas also........and of course........I love Harveys Lake ( but then I am a lake person)

[W-B proud]

Harvey's Lake is beautiful, that's were I would live. If you're looking for an urban setting, check out downtown Wilkes-Barre. Specifically the historic district (1-400 block of S.Franklin st. S. river, Riverside dr., South st., Ross st. ) This is a historic neighborhood, flanked by two colleges (King's and Wilkes). So it's kind of young and hip. Also a city non-profit group called City-Vest has been buying up some of the old houses in this section, and renovating them to their former grandeur. You may want to get intouch with them, and see what they have avaliable. Also, downtown Wilkes-Barre is undergoing major revitalization that includes a 30 million dollar Riverfront Project right in this neighborhood. It is also home for ArtsYouniverse (an old mansion converted into a mecca for the arts), Kirby Center for the performing arts, a new 14-screen movie theater, new ethnic restaraunts ect.. Public Square (Wilkes-Barre's centerpiece) is a public park at the geograghic center of town. In the summer and fall there is a wonderful Farmer's Market every Thursday. Food vendor's, fresh produce, live entertainment ect. Public Square also play's host to the annual Fine Arts Fiesta which, by the way, is starting this Thursday until Sunday. Anyway welcome to the area! If you do decide to move here.

[ScranBarre]

Hello!

First of all, I'm glad you enjoyed my Garden Village Photo Tour. West Pittston is part of the Wyoming Area School District, which is usually rated amongst the better school districts in the Wyoming Valley behind the upscale suburban magnet school districts in the Back Mountain and Mountain Top. I currently live about five miles east of West Pittston near I-81, and I've often been told that the best thing about living here in Pittston is "the view of West Pittston!" LOL! Next weekend is the community's annual riverfront cherry blossom festival, and you truly do get that whole "Mayberry" feeling during that time as the townspeople gather to mingle, eat, vote for a child to be crowned "Little Miss Cherry Blossom", watch the parade, etc. Every street has a sidewalk, and I'd say roughly half the town, especially the parts closer to the Susquehanna River, are lined with majestic shade trees. The town is somewhat (although not completely) walkable; you can live in most parts of town and be within a mile's walk of an elementary school, parks, a Chinese buffet, grocery store, drug stores, restaurants, convenience stores, and a few other amenities. If and when Downtown Pittston, just opposite West Pittston across the river, gets it revitalization process underway, you will also be able to walk across the bridge to a rejuvenated downtown area in a city of about 7,500.

Besides West Pittston you really can't go wrong with any community as you head southbound down Wyoming Avenue (U.S. Route 11) to the Lower West Side of the Wyoming Valley. Forty Fort is especially like a mirror image of West Pittston with is mostly flat topography, shade trees, historic homes, and sidewalks. That town is very popular with runners, bikers, joggers, etc. because the levee system has a beautiful paved trail atop it that passes by the river, athletic fields, and the Wyoming Valley Airport (small aircraft). I especially like the neighborhood in and around River Street in Forty Fort, although much of the borough for that matter is very scenic. I know Dickson City is currently leading in my photo tour poll thread, but I'm really truly hedging towards snapping Forty Fort sometime soon since it's near my workplace anyways.

The next town down from Forty Fort is Kingston, which was also featured in one of my photo tours. With a population of around 14,000 it has its fair share of problems (mostly drug activity), but overall it's everything a former streetcar suburb should emulate. The main drags through town---Wyomng Avenue, Market Street, and Pierce Street---are lined with a variety of businesses that include but are not limited to a Dairy Queen, KFC, Taco Bell, Talbot's, Walgreen's, Rite Aid, CVS, PNC Bank, M & T Bank, Gertrude Hawk Chocolates, jewelry stores, The Bake House (bakery), Mattern's (upscale interior home decor), Rebennack's (appliances), Lowe's Home Improvement, and dozens of others, making Kingston a walkable community. I attend college just across the river in Downtown Wilkes-Barre, and many of my professors reside in Kingston and walk across the bridges to campus on pleasant days.

Forty Fort and Kingston are both part of the "average" Wyoming Valley West public school district. From what I've heard there is a sharp social divide in the student body between the relatively affluent students from the Forty Fort/Kingston area and the more lower-middle-class students from the Plymouth/Edwardsville area. Also in this area is Wyoming Seminary, which, in my opinion, is the best private school in the region. Kingston also has a relatively liberal professional community with a lot of artists and a surprisingly high number of LGBT individuals---Wilkes-Barre's monthly art walks have now even expanded across the river to include some galleries in Kingston. Bridging the gap between Kingston and Wilkes-Barre is Kirby Park.

Between Forty Fort and West Pittston lie the towns of Exeter and Wyoming. While Wyoming has nearly as much charm and appeal as both Forty Fort and West Pittston, Exeter is kind of like the ugly stepchild (no offense). Driving down Wyoming Avenue through Exeter is rather drab and unremarkable---there's a lot of buildings in need of rehabilitation and many vacant storefronts. This town is also divided with a lot of upscale newer subdivision to the west of Wyoming Avenue and more established older homes to the east of the avenue. Both towns are part of the Wyoming Area School District, but if it were up to me I'd choose West Pittston over Exeter in a heartbeat.

You probably won't find anything that appeals to you in the Back Mountain/Dallas area, which is generally newer construction (i.e. McMansions), although the town proper of Dallas has several blocks of well-established neighborhoods that may seem attractive to you. While generally good advice, also ignore coartist88's comments about Clarks Summit because the lengthy drive to Dallas, especially in the winter, is not an easy one---it would involve taking I-81 south for about 25 miles to Route 309 for about 10 miles, taking Route 6 West to Tunkhannock and then Route 29 South to Dallas, or taking some random backroads through Falls and Centermoreland.

I'd probably suggest Forty Fort, West Pittston, and Kingston (in that order) to you if you're looking for walkable small towns with tree-lined streets and historic appeal. Downtown Wilkes-Barre is also revitalizing itself quite nicely as of late with some absolutely gorgeous residential architecture in the vicinity that W-B proud already mentioned to you, but I wouldn't rate the Wilkes-Barre Area School District as highly as Wyoming Area or possibly even Wyoming Valley West.

Best of luck to you, and please let us know if we can be of any further help!

[The Commish]

Originally Posted by Stimpson J. Cat

If you were us, where would you plant yourself?

I'd do that job search thing again.

[The Commish]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

West Pittston is part of the Wyoming Area School District, which is usually rated amongst the better school districts in the Wyoming Valley behind the upscale suburban magnet school districts in the Back Mountain and Mountain Top.

We don't have any "magnet" schools.

A magnet school is a public school that offers really specialized courses or curricula, usually have entrance exams, and so on. I think you're looking for another word.

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by The Commish

We don't have any "magnet" schools.

A magnet school is a public school that offers really specialized courses or curricula, usually have entrance exams, and so on. I think you're looking for another word.

I meant "magnet" in that they seem to have some sort of magnetic force in attracting the vast bulk of our upper-class transplant families. You can't go very far in the Abingtons, Back Mountain, or Mountain Top without seeing something from Prada or Armani Exchange, and more often than not the students at these high schools drive newer vehicles than the parents of students in our urban districts. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that more affluent school districts tend to consistently produce higher test scores. Why? The parents of these students generally have more fiduciary resources to devote to tutoring, prep courses, etc. to further their childrens' educations than their working-class peers in the urban core of the valley. Also, students of second-generation college-educated families tend to have more of a drive to go to college, hence more ambition to succeed on standardized testing. Where are most of today's middle-aged college graduates? The suburbs. I'm not just pulling these trends out of my derriere as you'll RARELY find an overachieving public school in an urban area.

I don't really understand the appeal of places like Mountain Top anyways---what's so nice about vinyl siding?

[The Commish]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that more affluent school districts tend to consistently produce higher test scores. Why? The parents of these students generally have more fiduciary resources to devote to tutoring, prep courses, etc. to further their childrens' educations than their working-class peers in the urban core of the valley. Also, students of second-generation college-educated families tend to have more of a drive to go to college, hence more ambition to succeed on standardized testing.

The schools themselves are different, too.

These schools generally have more money, better facilities, etc. Local funding of schools is one the worst things for inequality in education. Although it doesn't make that much of a difference in our region, as everyone is pretty much in the same boat, with the exception of Old Forge and Carbondale. God help anyone who goes to those schools!

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

Where are most of today's middle-aged college graduates? The suburbs. I'm not just pulling these trends out of my derriere as you'll RARELY find an overachieving public school in an urban area. :

Except for, excuse my using the word correctly, "magnet schools."