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Thank you both for the input. We live in Colorado Springs now, but not in the downtown area. Still, the kids wouldn't go outside of the backyard to play by themselves here either once they were older (obviously not at all now since they are so young.)
I grew up in a townhouse subdivision in Virginia Beach where we ran around with our friends unsupervized. It seems that the world is just a lot scarier now than when I grew up.
You would be better off in an area just outside of the city where you would receive better services for your taxes, and end up with more land for the same $$$ that you would spend on a house in Scranton. I do live in Scranton but was raised in the country and its definitley a better place to raise a family.
BTW - does anyone get around on bicycle in Scranton? I used to ride a bike in NYC, but when we moved to Big Bass Lake there were no shoulders on the main roads ( and there are large black bears in Gouldsboro State Park as I found out 2x’s ).
I biked around when I was too young to drive, and a bit during the summers in college, but the basic problem with biking in Scranton is that it's in a valley. So if you want to get in shape, it's good, but it's pretty tough going. Not flat like NYC. OTOH there's much less traffic, and the traffic is much slower, and you can pretty much take routes that avoid traffic altogether. However, the drivers aren't as used to dealing with bicycles.
N.b. to all concerned, I used to be jak163, but changed it to avoid getting spam.
It's nice to see we've made a positive impression on other people, but don't just take the advice of a couple of people and some pretty pictures as being the sole reasons for considering a relocation. If someone is serious about moving to NEPA, I'd seriously recommend that they spend a week up here at a local hotel and fully immerse themselves in the local environment. Watch the evening news every night to see what types of events tend to occur (in our area it's mostly convenience store robberies, tons of bad car accidents, house fires, animal abuse cases, kiddie porn charges, and the very rare murder). Set out on foot to spend a half-day exploring Downtown Scranton---meander "off-the-beaten-path" a bit, as I love to do, to try to get a less "polished" feeling for the city. You'll be surprised at what treasures you can find by traversing a new place on foot. I can still recall Upstate NY member BellaFinzi, another photo-happy person, commenting on my photo tours of the city's Hill Section and being shocked because she "always thought of Scranton as being thousands of little white houses cramped down in the valley" and never knew such beauty existed, as the homes I photographed are hidden from the areas that out-of-towners frequent. Read the complimentary newspaper every morning at your hotel. Stop by the Lackawanna County Visitors' Center on Montage Mountain. Possibly the best way to "gauge" a new area would be to wander into its local Wal-Mart, grocery store, Lowe's, or other typical chain stores that attract people from all walks of life. You can get a decent sense of what an area's demographics are like just by people-watching at a store for a half-hour or so. Drive around on the local roadways at rush-hour to get a feel for the congestion (or lackthereof around here). Pick up a copy of Happenings Magazine, which highlights just about every wonderful cultural affair in our area.
Thank you for replying. That's good advice that would apply to any location. As far as moving on a whim, I could never do that for various reasons. I've been ready to move from this state for a few years but realistically it won't happen for five years or so.
I do know what I want and exactly what I don't want so that narrows it down quite a bit. I'm not married nor do I have kids so I can go just about anywhere I please. The only roots I have here are my nephew, my sister, and my mom. My nephew is the sole reason I haven't already left this place in the dust. Oh, and I would definitely need a job lined up before I made a big move. For me, that would be the most stressful and maddening part of the process.
Didn't mean to go off on a tangent. Back on topic? Look at the prettypretty pictures.
Thank you Paul for dredging up memories of hiking through the cold woods!! I've done my share of hiking even in blizzards (when I was young & stupid)
Seeing these pix makes me homesick for the mountains!! Down here in Fla the only mountains we have are the garbage dumps & the on/off ramps for 95!!! And ROCKS!!! We have no rocks here (just Fla cap rock which is just fossilized mud) and everytime my friends would ask what I wanted them to bring me from up north I made them bring a rock!!!
I'm working with a lady in Nanticoke on a future home so one of these days you'll see my ugly puss in Lowe's.
Thanks for the memories!!!
Jungle George
Watch out for Paulie..!!! He's the NEPA ambassador..!! His positive attitude and pics and postings are one of the many reasons I purchased a vacaton home in NEPA (I'm in Fla too). I even bought my appliances and mail box from Lowe's.
Heading up in April..
I should add, I grew up in the same city as Paul, so I knew about the secret of NEPA. I just needed a good reminder..NEPA is beautiful. It is much more beautiful if you don't have money concerns. So, I have to keep working winters in Fla to keep that stress off of me. I've never had any success kissin' (political) but in NEPA. And that seems to be the only way to get a decent job.
Last edited by in2dadark; 03-02-2007 at 08:12 PM..
Watch out for Paulie..!!! He's the NEPA ambassador..!! His positive attitude and pics and postings are one of the many reasons I purchased a vacaton home in NEPA (I'm in Fla too). I even bought my appliances and mail box from Lowe's.
Heading up in April..
A-HA! I thought that was you! You know me from another forum---we spoke briefly at Lowe's the day you bought your mailbox (you had the Camry and/or Accord with the Florida plates? Right?) You'll grow to love Beech Mountain Lakes. It's right at the intersection of I-80/I-81. How's that for convenience?
A-HA! I thought that was you! You know me from another forum---we spoke briefly at Lowe's the day you bought your mailbox (you had the Camry and/or Accord with the Florida plates? Right?) You'll grow to love Beech Mountain Lakes. It's right at the intersection of I-80/I-81. How's that for convenience?
Yea.. PT.. I love BML already. I miss it so much. I like being close to duh valley without being in it. But that's just where I'm at. YMMV.... Absense makes the heart grow fonder . So I'll appreciate it all the more when I get back there.
Love your pix and that positive, uncorrupted attitude that (often) comes with youth. Don't let yourself get jaded like many of us oldsters have.
Amy, there are many options to consider when buying a new home. Among them are location, location, and...ummm...LOCATION! LOL! As you could see in my other photo tour of the Hill Section, one of those stately brick colonial homes along North Webster Avenue had a swingset in the front yard, and my "unofficial" surveys also show a number of swimming pools in the neighborhood, indicating that children do indeed live there, quite happily too. Yes, the lot sizes in much of Scranton are the size of postage stamps, but being near excellent parks (McDade, Nay Aug, Weston, etc.) make it a quick and easy five-minute drive to a natural oasis for a day of frisbee, picnicking, etc.
Contrary to what WeLuvPA says, I don't personally think that municipal services are necessarily much "better" here in suburbia either as compared to the city---do I need to remind you all of my photo tour of my neighborhood that was still impassable as of Friday afternoon after the Valentine's Day storm? I just went for a recreational run today through Dupont and Avoca, both of which are near my home, and I was appalled to see much of the sidewalks along the Main drags to be impassable for pedestrians over two weeks after the storm ended, including in front of some businesses! I had to run in the streets, narrowly avoiding impact with sideview mirrors on passing vehicles on the even narrower two-lane roadways, a few of which honked at me in the process (as if I had anywhere else to go with massive snowbanks blocking the roadsides?) I wouldn't want to think about how disabled people with motorized scooters get around town at times like this without getting creamed if I, a physically-fit 20-year-old, was shaking with fear! I'm not saying that the roadsides in Scranton are any better, but they certainly can't be any "worse." Most of the people in Scranton are "Chicken Littles" when it comes to decrying their municipal services, which happen to be just as "sketchy" as most surrounding towns---Scranton's issues are just magnified because the city is so large and densely-populated. Time and time again I hear about people in Scranton bashing their DPW employees, police officers, etc. for "not doing their jobs", and I just want to tell them all to "SHUT UP!" We haven't seen an officer patrolling my neighborhood either in years--do we act as if the sky is falling? No. We just suck it up. The township learned from its mistakes in the blizzard, and our roadway was plowed three times within 24 hours of the last 2-inch or so snow storm. Apparently, Wilkes-Barre learned as well; I headed down to King's without any sort of compressed schedule and only slid once. Since Scranton's schools/colleges likewise held class, I'm assuming they also worked the "kinks" out of their system as well. The blizzard two weeks ago was intense and unlike any other in my lifetime due to the several inches of ice in addition to the 16 inches of snow. Of course Scranton, just like every other municipality in this area, was going to have many problems clearing the streets! If PennDOT couldn't keep up with the blizzard, then how was anyone else supposed to? DUH! (It just would have been nice if employers/colleges were more understanding about their employees/students having to miss work/school due to the conditions).
As such, I don't think "poor services" is a good reason to avoid the city limits, as I can think of very few nearby suburbs that were able to do much better. As far as crime is concerned, there was a recent spate of attempted child abductions in the Hill Section last month, but they've since subsided due to the resulting intense local media attention, vigilance amongst neighbors, and increased police saturation patrols. The Hill Section of today, while still home to some blight and drug activity in certain sections, is nowhere nearly as "rough" as it was even ten years ago. It's becoming a more stable community with each new positive resident that joins its neighborhood ranks. Some recent examples include an ex-newspaper columnist and his college professor partner who recently moved here from California, as well as our very own forum professional multimedia extraordinaire who's impressed me with his work (yes, I'm talking about you, Chris!) U.S. Senator Robert P. Casey also lives in the Hill Section with his family, and I hope to likewise relocate here to raise my family and to be within walking distance of my future downtown firm. It's no longer an address to be ashamed to call home, and it's quickly becoming one of distinction, even in the once "sketchy" areas. (Which is a promising trend indicative of the city as a whole).
Scranton will probably look like a dump compared to Colorado Springs, where everything you see is probably "new, flashy, and exciting" from what I've heard from another person, but, given time, its historic charm tends to grow on you. A good compromise might even be the nearby former streetcar suburb of Dunmore, just north of the Hill Section, which may yield slightly-larger lot sizes (along with 2.4% less in annual wage taxes). Dunmore has a suburban feel with walkable, in-town neighborhoods and a convenient little downtown area called "Dunmore Corners."
Last edited by SteelCityRising; 03-02-2007 at 08:37 PM..
Reason: Typo
Thank you both for the input. We live in Colorado Springs now, but not in the downtown area. Still, the kids wouldn't go outside of the backyard to play by themselves here either once they were older (obviously not at all now since they are so young.)
I grew up in a townhouse subdivision in Virginia Beach where we ran around with our friends unsupervized. It seems that the world is just a lot scarier now than when I grew up.
Very true. Look at Columbine High School. That tragic massacre occurred in a very upscale suburban area south of Denver---Littleton was supposed to be "that place where you don't even need to lock your doors." (Sounds kind of like what Clarks Summit residents think of their town with the "it can't happen here" mentality). There has been a recent rash of arsons in the Gold Key Lakes development in Pike County---another community that's supposed to be ultra-secure. Even in Avoca, a sleepy, friendly little town near me home to mostly elderly residents, was home to a brutal double-homicide last year over a botched drug deal. The world is a lot scarier now than ever before. My own wallet was even pickpocketed back in high school during gym class at Pittston Area---an upper-middle-class school district with a similar "that stuff only happens in the city" type of mindset. I'm sure there are people in Greenwich, CT and Newport, RI who have been the victims of crime---the "shady" side of the law knows no boundaries!
I biked around when I was too young to drive, and a bit during the summers in college, but the basic problem with biking in Scranton is that it's in a valley. So if you want to get in shape, it's good, but it's pretty tough going. Not flat like NYC. OTOH there's much less traffic, and the traffic is much slower, and you can pretty much take routes that avoid traffic altogether. However, the drivers aren't as used to dealing with bicycles.
N.b. to all concerned, I used to be jak163, but changed it to avoid getting spam.
Our area, overall, is just not very "bicycle-friendly." There is indeed one brave soul who heads out during the morning rush-hour every Monday-Friday on his bicycle, maneuvering through the extremely-congested intersection of Highway 315 @ Oak/Armstrong near the I-81/I-476 interchanges. This is an area where the Pittston commuters hook onto 315 to access I-81 to get to Scranton or Wilkes-Barre for work and the point from which Scranton and Wilkes-Barre residents reverse-commute into the industrial parks in Pittston Township. That spot is dangerous enough to be DRIVING through (I've been rear-ended here before, my sister was sideswiped, and I've had to slam on the brakes, swerve, blare the horn, and flip the bird on MANY occasions), let alone trying to bike through! That man has nerves of steel! I try my best to "share the road" with what seems to be a growing number of bicyclists in the region, but it's just difficult with how narrow many of our roadways are.
I'm a big advocate of people biking and/or walking to their destinations (which is why I'm moving to Scranton), but I would never recommend someone riding a bike down Jefferson Avenue or Mulberry Street! I wish our city was more "pedestrian/bicyclist-friendly", as it would reduce congestion somewhat, and perhaps that will be something I'll research when I move into the city in 2009 (in addition to my urban forestry campaign).
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If someone is serious about moving to NEPA, I'd seriously recommend that they spend a week up here at a local hotel and fully immerse themselves in the local environment. Watch the evening news every night to see what types of events tend to occur (in our area it's mostly convenience store robberies, tons of bad car accidents, house fires, animal abuse cases, kiddie porn charges, and the very rare murder). Set out on foot to spend a half-day exploring Downtown Scranton---meander "off-the-beaten-path" a bit, as I love to do, to try to get a less "polished" feeling for the city. You'll be surprised at what treasures you can find by traversing a new place on foot. I can still recall Upstate NY member BellaFinzi, another photo-happy person, commenting on my photo tours of the city's Hill Section and being shocked because she "always thought of Scranton as being thousands of little white houses cramped down in the valley" and never knew such beauty existed, as the homes I photographed are hidden from the areas that out-of-towners frequent. Read the complimentary newspaper every morning at your hotel. Stop by the Lackawanna County Visitors' Center on Montage Mountain. Possibly the best way to "gauge" a new area would be to wander into its local Wal-Mart, grocery store, Lowe's, or other typical chain stores that attract people from all walks of life. You can get a decent sense of what an area's demographics are like just by people-watching at a store for a half-hour or so. 
Drive around on the local roadways at rush-hour to get a feel for the congestion (or lackthereof around here). Pick up a copy of Happenings Magazine, which highlights just about every wonderful cultural affair in our area.
He's the NEPA ambassador..!! His positive attitude and pics and postings are one of the many reasons I purchased a vacaton home in NEPA (I'm in Fla too). I even bought my appliances and mail box from Lowe's.
We haven't seen an officer patrolling my neighborhood either in years--do we act as if the sky is falling? No. We just suck it up. The township learned from its mistakes in the blizzard, and our roadway was plowed three times within 24 hours of the last 2-inch or so snow storm. 
The world is a lot scarier now than ever before. My own wallet was even pickpocketed back in high school during gym class at Pittston Area---an upper-middle-class school district with a similar "that stuff only happens in the city" type of mindset. 
