Any Info on the Poconos area? (Wilkes-Barre, Whitehall: sales, apartment, high crime)

[WayneMeyers]

I've had an alarm for 8 years now and never had a problem with the deer setting it off. Did they try to break into the house?

The funny thing about an alarm, is that it only works when you use it. It will only take one incident to make them wish they had not disconnected it.

Most likely, it will not be needed, but like insurance, its there if you do need it. If nothing else, it buys some peace of mind.

[regarese]

With the way the deer are practically tame in Lake Arrowhead I wouldn't be surprised if they were trying to break in!! LOL. I think my father-in-law had it set up to a sensitive setting as well so that might have been the real problem.

[sevdie]

what about the Pocono resorts? You know, ceasa's palaca and all that? I was thinking about going there for a romantic vacation.

[WayneMeyers]

I've heard that Ceasar's are nice....if you are more adventurous, look into the new Great Wolf Lodge which has an indoor waterpark.

[Pensypat]

You also might want to check out Woodloch Pines resort in the Hawley area.

[sleeplessinpa]

Kimberly:

I am a few towns away from Tamaqua and that town has a Big problem with drugs as do all the towns inside the Poconos.

What Tamaqua use to be is No more- it has fallen victim to low income gutter trash types. There is no place there to even shop- just a sad place to look at once you knew what it use to be.

The Poconos have changed and crime wise it is not bad compared to NYC or any city!

There are good places and bad. I am down by Jim Thorpe and it is quiet here. No Jobs though! My husband commutes from Carbon County to the Poconos to work every day(nice country road commute- no traffic and only problem is deer running out on the road). He makes 6 figures so we can live decent on 1 income here in Carbon.

We raised our kids here in the small town environment living one 1 income and were happy with that. No McMansion, or Foreign cars- just a typical small town life. We are happy with it.

Good luck and you can find nice places here- don't believe all of the area is Gang and Crimes filled. It is not.

[ScranBarre]

For the record, I just drove out to Marshalls Creek today to visit a friend. It took me a HALF HOUR to get between I-80 in East Stroudsburg and the intersection of Routes 209 and 402 in Marshalls Creek, a stretch of perhaps only five or six miles! 75% of the vehicles on the roadway around me were from NY/NJ (With an occasional CT or MD thrown in for good measure). People were cutting each other off in order to make left-hand turns out of businesses onto Route 209, and I saw several "suspicious" looking characters meandering along the roadway. It seemed as if every mile was marked with another billboard for a home construction company. I just thought to myself "What a congested dump! Who on Earth would want to live in this mess?" Considering I come from a metro area with about 650,000 residents, I was floored by the sheer volume of gridlock I encountered all over southern Monroe County. If I were a betting man, I'd have to say that most people who moved to Middle Smithfield Township, Smithfield Township, Marshalls Creek, Stroud Township, and these other surrounding communities in the 1990s must now be regretting their decisions.

Northwestern Monroe County and Pike County still seem to be quiet, serene, and wonderful places to live, but the immediate Stroudsburg area was nothing but gridlock and flaring tempers (I even had to blare the horn and flip the bird myself when somebody tried passing me on the left shoulder of I-80 and then cut me off when they were running out of shoulder room!) What a dump Stroudsburg has become! To think I thought rush-hour traffic in Scranton was bad?! If SUNDAYS are this atrocious in Monroe County, then I don't want to imagine how massive the gridlock must be when everyone is headed back to work on Monday morning! YIKES!

[WayneMeyers]

I'm glad I live in Tobyhanna. We do all our shopping in Scranton, and 380 is a clear run.

Traffic is worse on weekends because of all the tourists. When it was just tourists, it was probably inconvenient but manageable. Now you have a full time residential area with a half century old road infrastructure, and all the tourists on top of that.

The Marshal's Creek Bypass was meant to alleviate traffic along 209, but by the time it gets finished it will probably only become a band aid.

[Delray Patty]

We moved from N.J. in l991 to Marshalls Creek...to "escape" the city..We
bought a home in Marshalls Creek..Six months after we moved in we got a
letter from Penn Dot telling us that our house might be in jeapordy of being
razed because of the infamous bypass...Furious, angry, you bet we wanted
to put a new deck on the back of the house..so we waited and waited,
finally after 3 years we did the work on the house. after many legal battles
with Penn Dot, they decided on the final plans for the bypass and we were
to be compensated for a small piece of property they would take from our
front yard to widen the road. Guess what, we had signed the contract with
a buyer and we were legally not able to take the money...Again I felt that
we were *****ed. but what could you do? We spent 10 years there and we
enjoyed every minute of it. We learned early on to get around that awful
traffic every weekend because of the flea market on 209. coming from N.J.
you are wise to go up buttermilk falls road to river road and then back onto
209 or take the first exit into Pa. from N.J. and come up on River Rd...it's
well worth the extra minutes trust me. Now as far as the gang issue..yes
it's there unfortunately. I could see the changes from 1992 to when we
moved in 2002...It's a shame..I remember our youngest son coming home
and saying that some kids got in trouble in school they were Latch key kids
whose parent literally dumped them at a house in the Poconos and went
back to work on Monday in N.Y or N.J. and didnt' come back home until Friday.These kids were alone all week...PCP unfortunately has a very bad
reputation. A police officer from the Bronx, N.Y. once told my son's friend, a
Police officer from Mt. Pocono that they knew of the gang activity in PCP.
I don't know what the answer is...but's it's a shame this area is being ruined
by these gangs.....We still go back when we can and visit family and friends
there...Lake Naomi is a beautiful, safe community as is Big Bass Lake. I was
never afraid of walking in Downtown Stroudsburg, but after reading some of
these messages..I guess I would have to reconsider that...I know the
Pocono Regional Police Dept. is working diligently to stop the influx of crime
and they deserve all the support they can get....So yes, I would tell anyone
to come to Pa...there is still a lot to offer.....I Love Jim Thorpe, especially
in the fall and the Asa Packer Museum....

[fopt65]

Originally Posted by sevdie

what about the Pocono resorts? You know, ceasa's palaca and all that? I was thinking about going there for a romantic vacation.

Just back from Cesear's Pocono Palace in Marshall's Creek. Can be a liitle hokey at times, but the accomodations were clean, and the food was very good. Entertainment was good (and free, which makes it even better). We were happy with it overall.