Retail "Main Street" or strip plaza? (Pittsburgh, Scranton: for sale, real estate)

[piperspal]

Hi everyone - I'm new to this forum and after searching other threads, I've decided to post this question in all 4 major PA forums:
I am looking to move out of New York state due to taxes/high cost of living. I have been visiting & researching the east side of the U.S. and am considering PA to NC and all points in between.
Wondering if any of you can suggest a PA town/city that is between 50,000 - 125,000 population; has a good shopping area/main street vibe w/ variety of stores & heavy foot traffic as I would be opening my own retail venture. I want to purchase a storefront or building - I do not want to lease. A strip plaza would be ok too providing it had some "flavor" (- but hard to find 4 sale vs. leased).
I know it's a tall order, but I'd love to stay under a $300,000 price for bldg. Any thoughts? Thank you all in advance!!

[blip]

Don't know much about commercial real estate, but the only city in NEPA that meets your population requirements is Scranton. (Wilkes-Barre is close..)

Not sure if Scranton's what you're looking for-- there is a main st (Main Ave) business district in a mostly residential neighborhood, and a downtown office-worker business district with a few retail stretches. But, I don't know numbers on the foot traffic (probably more downtown). And the fit depends a lot on what your store is, I suppose.

You could look at real estate listings online to see if there are matches for your budget. Hope this is some help.

[Summering]

My favorite Main Street is Doylestown, PA. It is a thriving town with outdoor cafe's and pubs, and little shops. Some being book stores, a clock shop, antiques, crafts..........
I love the outdoor sections for dining.
Other then that PA is a big, big state..........I'm sure there are many other thriving towns.
I think you need to be in a sister location to a main city. Doylestown is not that far from Philly......
The only other town with small shop flair that comes to mind is New Hope.
I wouldn't put myself in a town that isn't already going strong, not in this economy.

[scrantonluna]

I am going to recommend that you read this post in it's entirety, it does a good job of describing the pitfalls of the local market:
http://www.city-data.com/forum/north...open-nepa.html


Scranton is growing into it's hand-me-down clothes right now. There is a lot going on, and still a lot left to go. There is only a very, very small percentage of people who actually live in downtown Scranton, which will affect foot traffic, sales and hours of operation. There are several projects underway to remedy this, but you are still looking at at least a couple years before any kind of population is established in the core of the city. Scranton and the surrounding towns have 'pockets' of retail space, and you might find your product will work in any of those as well. People WILL come to find you if you offer a product they want. All this being said, I think that you certainly could purchase a storefront for 300k or less. One just sold at a prime location in Dunmore that was listed for 250k. You might not get Lackawanna Ave for that price, but you can certainly get something high traffic. Check www.hometeamrealestate.com for local MLS. I think there is actually one for sale in the 100 block of Penn ave, but I am not allowed to list realty stuff on here due to board rules.

[piperspal]

Thanks everyone! I will definitely check the posts and links you advsd. Doylestown I have been thru briefly; New Hope I have been to twice & would love either one. Pretty sure New Hope is over my budget. But that's exactly why I posted question - PA is huge, and I'm loving this forum for readers' suggestions. Doylestown is the size, atmosphere, & proximity to larger cities/bedroom communities I'm looking for - I just want to check out any towns I haven't discovered yet. I grew up out west & think PA is an untapped gem...or one that was tapped long ago but could come alive again.

[slvs64]

You may want to check out the Shady Side Neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Very artsy area. Two main "shopping" streets w/ shops from high end designers to independent stores.

[wowbaby]

hershey is a very cute trendy little town - it gets quite a bit of tourist traffic due to the park

downtown bethlehem is worth considering. the main street is very very quaint - lots of tourists especially come musikfest time and all thru christmas.

GL!

[W-B proud]

Wilkes-Barre fits your description. There has been alot of new buisnesses opening downtown, and this is probably the best time in the last 50 years or so to open a buisness downtown. There is alot of reasonably priced properties in town right now, and a whole rebuilding of the downtown is taking place right now. Check out the Wilkes-Barre chamber of commerce online. Good Luck!

[kwiktsi]

Just FYI- we moved out of NY and to PA because it was "cheaper". We have since realized that the old adage "you get what you pay for" applies to taxes and where you live as well.. It's been 3 years for us and we have spent the last two looking at where we are going to move next and hoping that time comes soon! We lived in Albany while my wife finished at Albany Pharmacy of College and thought it was a dump at the time and couldn't wait to get out of there- now that we live here, we have actually considered moving back to either Albany or Schenectady since it was more "livable" than this place.

Edit- I wanted to add, we live in the Lords Valley/Dingmans area. I'm sure there are other areas that are better suited to sustaining life in 2008 in PA though. Me personally, I would look more towards NC than NEPA. Good luck either way.