HELP!!!--We are friendly, upscale, literate, Long Islanders who want to ditch suburbia for the real world-- HELP!!! (Scranton: low income, section 8)

[W-B proud]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

Sorry to have upset you, Sheena! We don't get many "nibbles" in our forum here for new transplants, so when one comes along and sounds interested in relocating to Northeastern Pennsylvania we all get amazingly excited! LOL! I think we understand much better where you're coming from now and what you expect out of a new region.

In my humble opinion the "up-and-coming" neighborhood in Scranton would have to be the aforementioned Lower Hill section. Commonwealth Medical College will be enrolling its first class in Fall 2009 and will have a beautiful new campus established by 2010 or 2011. This sits on the NW side of the Lower Hill, adjacent to both Downtown and the long-troubled Pinebrook neighborhood (not a nice area at all!) The southern part of the Lower Hill is home to the ever-expanding campus of the University of Scranton. Also not far west of the Lower Hill is Lackawanna College. With the presence of three college campuses bordering three sides of this neighborhood it's only a matter of time before gentrification takes hold here. I'm gay and have already said in the past that I can very easily see the Lower Hill becoming attractive for the LGBT community. Not to stereotype, but typically when the LGBT community moves into an urban neighborhood gentrification soon follows as we tend to not have children and have more discretionary income to spend on rehabbing homes. In this sense I think you'll also see more faculty members of all three colleges (and maybe even Marywood University) seeking housing in the Lower Hill section so they can be near to their campuses. An influx of the LGBT community and college faculty members (not to mention grad students at the upcoming medical school) should all combine to boost property values in the Lower Hill. The neighborhood is "sketchy" right now (and by that I mean that violence is rare but there has been a history here of drug activities), but being surrounded by three growing colleges could soon put pressure to drive the bad elements out of that area to make way for people who will purchase those drug houses and refurbish them to house their families.

Here are a few photos of that general area:










The most "up-and-coming" neighborhood of Wilkes-Barre would have to be the Historic District, which sits adjacent to Wilkes University on the southern edge of downtown. Just a few blocks away there are many new nightlife/dining/entertainment options springing up, and the neighborhood remains relatively safe (albeit probably a bit rowdy considering the proximity to off-campus housing for Wilkes). Housing values here are on the steep side for Wilkes-Barre though (but Wilkes-Barre's housing stock overall is undervalued anyways, so perhaps it won't be so bad). The neighborhood has tree-lined streets, sidewalks, and is not far from the new Riverfront Park either.

Here are a few photos:














There is more opportunity for this in Scranton where there are more universities and hospitals than there are in Wilkes-Barre, but the cities are only about 25-minutes apart via I-81, so it would still be feasible to live in Wilkes-Barre and work in Scranton or vice-versa. A lot of people do it.

There are not more universities or hospitals in Scranton then W-B! Wilkes-Barre area has General Hospital, Giesinger South, Geisinger East Mountian, The V.A Hospital, that's actually four hospitals compared to Scrantons three. Wilkes-Barre is also home to the regions largest hospital (General Hospital). The same goes for colleges. Wilkes-Barre has two (Kings and Wilkes) and Scranton has two (The U of S and Marywood) and both cities have a few colleges on the outskirts like LCCC, Keystone, Miseracordia and The Penn State satelite campuses. LCCC just south of W-B is also the regions largest college. There may actually more opportunity in the W-B area because it is home to the biggest hospital and the biggest college in the region. But jobs in the region are very scarce right now. I just read in the newspaper that our region now has the highest unemployment in the entire state. We even beat out lowly Williamsport and Johnstown this time for our place at the bottom of the barrel. This is very bad news for our area and it's an embarrassment for our area's Chambers of Commerce. Our leaders NEED to do more to attract good companies and employers ASAP! By the way, I'd move to West Pittston. It's a nice quite town inbetween Scranton and W-B, so you'll get the best of both cities. I highly recommend West Pittston.

[memoriesbre]

Originally Posted by weluvpa

Memoriesbre come on now I love the Tunkhannock area and like I said I'm up there at least two days a week but for someone moving from the city area to NEPA and looking for a "urban neighborhood" Tunkhannock is the sticks.

I don't really think that anyone has read the OP have you? Or just the thread title?

Moscow, Tunkhannock, Scranton, W/B, Clarks Summit not one of these towns fits the description in the OP as far as what they are looking for.

Scranton and Wilkes Barre are the only two with universities and thats it.....They don't even fit the bill for the OP as what was requested....

Everyone gets on my case for not reading OP's and now I'm the only one that seems to have read it..

Museums, street vendors, artists, universities, buses, urban neighborhoods?

Please explain to me where in those areas that these things exist?

Again I'll say it.... Madison NJ is the closest thing to the OP and there is no place that I can think of in NEPA that actually fits the OP and what was requested.

It's not a long ride to Scranton Wilkes-Barre from Tunkhannock. The town is wonderful. Threre are many people that come and stroll downtown T-town.
I find that living in a peaceful area but having all the amenities that Scranton and Wilke-Barre close by. It's a thought...

[NYRangers 2008]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

Moscow is also next in line to be devoured by the Pocono-related sprawl as it continues to creep up I-380 from nearby Tobyhanna. I'd be very weary about purchasing a home with vacant land around it in the Daleville/Moscow area, as those trees may all be coming down for a new housing development in another 5-10 years!

Paul, you can't do anything about it so why worry about it. Personally, I don't care about sprawl. If I'm in a nice area away from Scranton and happy, that's all I care about.

[blip]

Originally Posted by weluvpa

Everyone gets on my case for not reading OP's and now I'm the only one that seems to have read it..

I thought my response made clear I had read it, and my suggestions of The Hill and Hyde Park are the closest thing to what she wanted that I've seen around here.

Suggesting NJ to someone from LI?! That's like telling someone in Hades to move to Hell.


I actually think this OP did a good job of spelling out what she's looking for, even if some of it will be hard to come by here. Often I feel like we need a check list of questions for people asking about the area to help spell out what they want as they're sometimes pretty vague....

[Bjm]

Originally Posted by memoriesbre

I am from Queens NY... Tunkhannock is not the STICKS! It is a wonderful place to live...

NJ is way too expensive now.. Check out Tunkhannock and if you want, you can PM me.

i agree with you. i've lived in Tunkhannock for 5 yrs now and love it. at least i know i can let my elderly mom go into town and not worry about her getting car jacked or mugged....

[bjsgirl827]

I disagree. I avoid Wilkes-Barre like the plague for everything I hear on the news. When bf and I drive through on our way home from shopping or whatever, we ALWAYS lock our car doors. People are always being shot to death in bars and apartments, its just scary. However, I use to live in West Scranton and even a few blocks from downtown Scranton and I LOVED it. Everything was so convenient and I didn't have to worry about someone shooting at me or trying to sell me stuff.

I guess it depends on the part of the city you live in. But I am very partial to Scranton. I have always preferred Scranton over Wilkes-Barre. I'd love to go back to Scranton someday, but I live with my bf in the middle of nowhereville. He bought a home when he was 22 (3 years ago) and he doesn't plan on selling anytime soon. And that's ok with me. Its a perfect place for us to raise kids someday.

Sorry, I got to rambling.

[bjsgirl827]

Haha, BJM, no way! I live in Lovelton! My bf works at P&G! That's creepy. I've only been on this site for like not even an hour yet.

[Chefkey]

Originally Posted by bjsgirl827

I disagree. I avoid Wilkes-Barre like the plague for everything I hear on the news. When bf and I drive through on our way home from shopping or whatever, we ALWAYS lock our car doors. People are always being shot to death in bars and apartments, its just scary. However, I use to live in West Scranton and even a few blocks from downtown Scranton and I LOVED it. Everything was so convenient and I didn't have to worry about someone shooting at me or trying to sell me stuff.

I guess it depends on the part of the city you live in. But I am very partial to Scranton. I have always preferred Scranton over Wilkes-Barre. I'd love to go back to Scranton someday, but I live with my bf in the middle of nowhereville. He bought a home when he was 22 (3 years ago) and he doesn't plan on selling anytime soon. And that's ok with me. Its a perfect place for us to raise kids someday.

Sorry, I got to rambling.

Don't always believe the news as I live in WB and this is child's play compared to the bigger cities like Philly or New York. Letting fear grip you in this way is unhealthly and certainly not fair to all the great decent people that live in Wilkes Barre. I know many of them as I walk my dogs and stop to chat. Even the seedier looking people will acknowledge me and say hello or even chat a bit if I start. The fear that I hear of for Wilkes Barre is so out of touch with the reality of the true dangers. Yes, there are some areas to avoid, yes, there are some bad things happening. Is Wilkes Barre a dangerous Ghetto to avoid? Certainly Not. If you keep to the main areas and don't stray into these small pockets of trouble you shouldn't have a problem. Even if you did go into a bad area you would have to run into a needy drug addict to maybe have a problem with begging.

If fear is to control us we can never look forward and see the great future that Wilkes Barre has for itself with the revitlizations. I continue to see a brighter future for Wilkes Barre and having met Mayor Leighton I know he feels the same way.

[Courtney3697]

just go check crime stats for last 3 months with local dept. may be surprised what you find

[Chefkey]

Originally Posted by Courtney3697

just go check crime stats for last 3 months with local dept. may be surprised what you find

See, this is the problem. Everyone checks a statistic and thinks poorly. It does not take into account druggie against druggie or the random lowlife against lowlife. The Majority of the town is doing just fine.